Otaku Unite!

The directorial debut of Eric Bresler (TLA Entertainment Group employee, Drexel University graduate and purveyor of Japanese pop culture through his website) is this affectionate tribute to international fans of Japanese animation. Rated "O" for Otaku, it gives us an encyclopedic nutshell of the history of anime and the growth of its viewers. We learn about aspects of anime conventions from fans and personnel with names like Thag and Ogre. We see fans dressed in their favorite anime characters wrestling it out in the ring to the enthusiastic cheering of the teeming throngs of fans. Starting with such revered names as Astro Boy, Robotech and Speed Racer, Bresler takes us on an intimate journey: a journey which began with a small number of fans struggling to get decent VHS 10th generation copies of their favorite anime. It progresses from talks with Carl Macek, credited with bringing anime to U.S. network television, to the first conventions in the mid-eighties, to the explosion of conventions and festivals in the 21st century. The documentary is an excellent mix of talking-head interviews and exciting montages of men, women and children dressed in imaginative and professional costumes, performing dance numbers on stage and intimate skits in conference halls. Debated in the beginning of the film, the definition of "otaku" is hard to locate. Is it a badge of honor? An obsessive geek? Otaku Unite! does an admirable job of not pigeonholing fans, allowing viewers to make up their own mind as to the meaning, and all the while having fun in the process.