>>150935329
>>150935991
In Japan the entire medium and hobby, along with manga, is associated with maniacs and degenerates. Here is the west really being into cartoons as an adult is just kind of looked at as weird at worst. In Japan really being into anime and manga as an adult means you are an emotionally stunted pervert at best and a dangerous predator with homicidal tendencies at worst thanks to a series of murders of little girls in the late 80's by Tsutomu Miyazaki, the Otaku murderer. The guy did some seriously heinous shit to 4 little girls but the case birthed a nation wide moral panic about anime and manga after it was discovered this guy was an avid fan of violent anime and manga and had a huge collection. It was essentially Japan's version of the satanic panic we had here in the states. Anyone, especially adults, seen enjoying anime and mange was looked down upon and seen as a potential killer or criminal. Women would tell their children to avoid them. It was bad and that's why a lot of Japanese nerds either hide their hobbies from friends and family or just fully embrace a lifestyle of being a borderline outcast

There were a few other cases afterward that reinforced this stereotype but the fact that the term otaku has such negative connotations today is mostly because of this case. Of course it's not as bad today as it was in the 90's but being an otaku is still seen as something bad.