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About Otaku World(as described by Webmaster Dov Sherman) |
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I think first we have to ask "What is an otaku?" An "otaku" is a fanatic, an enthusiast. Usually, it means "someone who loves anime and manga." Recently, I've seen a few of the other professional anime/manga places on the web described as "great non-otaku websites." But that's always struck me as odd. Don't the people writing and working on those sites love anime and manga? Aren't they otaku? Well, of course they are. They wouldn't be doing what they do if they didn't love anime and manga. But maybe they're just embarassed about it. Anime and manga are gaining popularity but they're still not all that well known. But we aren't afraid to say that we love anime and manga. We can't get enough of it! Maybe those "non-otaku" sites are just concerned about the unfriendly connotations the word "otaku" has taken, picturing in their minds that obsessive, fanatical anime freak who would sneer at anyone who would dare to watch anime in an English-dubbed form. The very elitist. The otakuer-than-thou. Well, you won't get that from us! We're otaku but we're the nice kind. Watch your anime any way you like. It's fine by us. Personally, we like dubbed and subbed both. We'll even watch it untranslated, if we can't get it dubbed or subbed. But we're certainly not going to tell someone else how they should watch anime. That's why Otaku World is dedicated to doing the best job we can bringing you fun anime and manga computer toys, detailed information, and pointers to great sites about the anime and manga titles you're interested in. We want to make this site the kind of site we otaku would want to visit ourselves. Otaku World exists for the sake of all otaku everywhere! We're Otaku and proud of it! |
What the heck is a "webmaster" anyway? Basically, I do a lot of the artwork, icons, that sort of thing. I organize the KiSS, Import Games, Anime Add-Ons, and Desktop Themes areas and I do all the research for the Theme Guide which is my own little invention.Jennifer "Giniko" Diane Reitz, Webmistress Jennifer finds all the great PC toys for her anime toy chest and drew all the cute icons there and the wonderful festival backdrop on our front page. She also owns the Otaku World domain name and she finances everything we do. In fact, Otaku World was her idea to begin with. Without her great vision, Otaku World wouldn't even exist! Also, Jennifer is my very important sempai. A lot of what I know about the web and the video game world, I learned from her. She's my patron and my guru. And she puts up with my silliness more than most people would so I guess that makes her my very dear friend, too.Stephen P. Lepisto, Webmaster Stephen is the technical genius who keeps the Otaku World server running so well. He does a lot of HTML and JAVA writing all around the site. He also helps me debug and finesse my horrible spaghetti code for the CGI stuff that makes the Theme Guide work.And if you're wondering why Stephen and Jennifer's names sound so familiar, scratch your head no further. They, along with business genius Sandra Woodruff, are Accursed Toys and originally founded the formerly fantabulous Happy Puppy Games OnRamp. HP hasn't been such a happy pup since they lost ownership in a hostile takeover but, if you remember what it was like in its glory days, that was all the work of these three golden ones. So, you can see why I constantly count my blessings to be working for amazingly talented people like them! If you'd like to read more about us... 
Visit our bio pages... Dov, Jennifer, and Stephen |