and was popularized by a 1983 essay by Akio Nakamori in Manga Burikko.

Otaku subculture is a central theme of various anime, manga, documentaries, and academic research. The subculture took shape in the '60s with the release of the manga series Astro Boy and by the '70s led fans of anime such as Space Battleship Yamato to create their own manga, called doujinshi,