in america, where i come from, we are told at a certain age to put aside childish things. the action figures, dolls, features of our imaginations, to arm ourselves with th brutal realities of the real world, real combat, real sex. in japan, increasing numbers of people don't. they continue to live a life inside four walls, inside their mind, the life we call the computer geek, the nerd, as avatars. there's a name for it, a whole subculture of what's called otaku. once a derisive term, now a proud identifier of the geek, one who has turned his back on the real world and finds satisfaction elsewhere. manga, or comic books, hold a different place in the cultural landscape here and address different needs. there's yowi, for example.