Prologue: The Assertion of an Ordinary Otaku Dreaming of a Romcom

I want to be the kind of guy who can hold his head high and proudly declare that I love what I love.

I'm Ashida Masato, an ordinary high school sophomore. My grades are decent enough, but my athletic ability is an utter disaster. With hobbies ranging from anime and video games to watching VTubers, I fall squarely into the category of what society calls an otaku.

When it came to my otaku hobbies, I took a completely open stance. I had no qualms about wearing my oshi's merch out in town or to school, and whenever anyone asked about my interests, I'd proudly explain why I loved my favorite so much.

After all, you love what you love, so you ought to take pride in that.

Feeling guilty about it would be downright disrespectful to the work itself, not to mention all the people pouring their hearts into that industry.

Besides, there was a time in the past when I lied about what I loved, and I ended up regretting it bitterly.

I vowed back then that I would never go through that again—that I would never lie to my own heart again...

Still, being completely open about loving what you love wasn't always smooth sailing.

For some reason, this world tends to be awfully harsh on anyone who deviates from the norm. Even though otaku culture has gained far more mainstream acceptance than it had back in the Heisei era, it's still often treated as lowbrow entertainment. Proclaiming yourself an otaku is still an easy way to make people keep their distance right from the get-go.

And that isn't just limited to otaku culture, either. It seems to me that anyone who pursues a single passion with pure, single-minded devotion gets looked at sideways and treated like a weirdo until they finally make a name for themselves. Take that famous scholar known for wearing a fish hat, for example—apparently, he was frequently ostracized simply because his passion for fish far outstripped everyone else's around him.

A mismatch in passion easily breeds friction and isolation. That's especially true for our generation, where coasting through life with minimal effort is considered smart, and pouring your heart into something is dismissed as a total waste of time since effort never pays off anyway.

Even so, I refused to live a life where I had to hide what I loved.

If conforming to the norm was the price of fitting into the crowd, then bring it on. I'd gladly choose to walk alone.

After all, pretending the love in my heart didn't exist was completely impossible.

I'd only end up suffering and regretting it somewhere down the line. Just like the old me.

That's why I make a point of proudly flaunting what I love, while always making sure to respect what others love, too.

That was my way of the otaku—the way of Ashida Masato.

Not that I'd ever condone anything inhumane like bizarre murders or voyeurism, of course.

That said, just because I was an otaku didn't mean I had zero interest in real-world romance. I mean, think about it. Isn't it completely ridiculous to claim that guys who obsess over cute anime girls, gush about their oshi, and babble about being head over heels in love have no interest in actual romance? The moment anime fans started demanding voice actresses look like models, the answer was already staring everyone in the face.

Just like when I was a kid obsessed with tales of swords and sorcery, we yearn for these things precisely because we wish they were real. If such a miracle were possible, I'd give anything to meet "a gyaru kind to otakus" and have her become my girlfriend.

Unfortunately, in my reality, things had a habit of never playing out that smoothly. That was just the way of the world.

"Hey, Otaku-kun, why don't you try putting a little effort into your style?" a fashionable classmate would tease.

"Listen, Otaku, is it really that impossible for you to be a little less gross? I'm not trying to judge anyone's hobbies, but parading around in broad daylight decked out in anime merch is just... Yeah, I wouldn't be caught dead near you," a sharp-tongued coworker would scoff.

"Hmm, listen here, kiddo. I wouldn't say anime and games are completely bad, but wouldn't it be better to invest in yourself a little—devote your energy to something that actually benefits your future?" an older neighbor would casually lecture.

The reality surrounding me was filled with encounters with gyarus who were the exact polar opposite of what the world's otakus fantasized about.

Girls who were indifferent to anime and games—if not outright dismissive—and who occasionally went so far as to reject my entire way of life. In other words: "gyarus harsh on otakus."

As far as reality went, that was probably entirely to be expected, but it was profoundly depressing nonetheless.

Still, the time I spent talking with them felt fresh and entertaining, and I didn't think it was bad at all. Besides, what guy in his right mind wouldn't enjoy talking to a pretty girl?

To sum it up, "a gyaru kind to otakus" was practically an endangered species—she simply didn't exist.

Like they say, truth is stranger than light novels—if you scoured the entire country, there might be a handful of them out there, just like my favorite VTuber, Tsubaki Tendo. But when the chances of crossing paths with one were about the same as randomly bumping into a giant salamander on the sidewalk, you really only had yourself to blame for getting your hopes up.

Which meant I had to know my place.

I couldn't let myself misread their effortless gyaru habit of invading personal space. Above all, I couldn't afford to ruin the relationship I had with these girls who, despite their exasperated looks, still treated a hopeless guy like me on equal footing.

And so, what begins here is the rambling everyday life of an ordinary, indecisive otaku—a guy who claims he's abandoned reality to go all-in on his 2D hobbies, yet deep down still dreams of meeting a down-to-earth girl who shares his passions.

A guy secretly hoping that, one day, he might meet a girl who seems plain at first glance but turns out breathtakingly cute all dressed up; a pure, gentle girl who would gladly dive into otaku hobbies right alongside him—the ultimate ideal of every otaku on earth. A success story where, whipped into shape by the tough-love encouragement of worldly gyarus, he would polish himself into a real man and win her heart—or something like that, anyway.

Creepy? Bring it on! Putting what you love front and center—that's what being an otaku is all about!

ToC