“In this tremendous book, Patrick W. Galbraith brings to life the relatively unknown world of Japanese popular culture. His voice shines throughout thoughtful interviews, detailed ethnography, sensitive portraits of people characterized as ‘otaku,’ and nuanced readings of videogames and interactive fiction. An impressive contribution to the field of manga and anime studies.” — Ian Condry, author of The Soul of Anime: Collaborative Creativity and Japan’s Media Success Story
“This book offers nothing less than a thorough rethinking of normative sexuality and alternative sexualities through the figure of the otaku and their practices. It's everything that the fields of Japan studies, queer theory, and media history need at this moment. A virtually flawless and captivating read.” — Marc Steinberg, author of Anime’s Media Mix: Franchising Toys and Characters in Japan
"This thoughtful investigation of hegemonic masculinity and its alternatives at the margins of imagination is well-sourced with cultural and academic research as well as personal experience." — R. Tait-Ripperdan, Choice
“Otaku and the Struggle for Imagination in Japan brings much-needed nuance to a debate that is too often characterised by gross oversimplification.”
— Tom Mes, newbooks.asia
“Galbraith accomplishes two primary aims in Otaku: he provides a chronology of the process by which manga/anime obsessives went from being outsiders who cannot deal with ‘reality’ to becoming objects of fear and loathing … and then (semi)legitimate emblems of Japanese national popular culture; and he effectively shows how otaku have purposefully created alternative lifestyles that reject conventions of masculinity, productivity, and romantic love.”
— E. Taylor Atkins, Journal of Asian Studies