Geeks! Watch Out !

Some enterprising young Japanese boys have been continuing the tradition that has spanned the ages. Namely, beating the shit out of the class geek, but with a decidedly intelligent twist: they target -

junior high school students they referred to as “Akiba-kei,” or geeks who like the otaku culture found widely in retail outlets throughout Akihabara.

The reason for this is as simple as it is clever -

“Otaku are weak and they’ve got money, so we went after them,” one of the arrested youths told the police.

On a serious note, while reading this story over at The Mainichi (link) I couldn’t help but feel a little moved by the tale of the 14 year old boy who’d set out to buy himself an anime doll, only to get mugged. His alienation from society is probably finally complete now.

Saturday, September 30th, 2006 Japan, Japanese Culture, Japanese News Trackback URL for this entry