Anime Fandom on the Internet, Part 2

"Ask John" really does provide a good overview to some important issues in Anime fandom, so I'll note just a few of his notable answers. He is particularly good, and I believe a good purist, on the definition of anime and manga, on his discussions of such important Anime terms as moe (further elaborated here), lolicon, (also covered here), otaku, and on the whole issue of using Japanese terms at all.

Anime fandom in America often extends beyond watching or buying to dressing up (cosplay), making music videos (AMVs), and desktop wallpapers. And then there are the fan conventions, like AnimeBoston.

There's the whole world of manga, and the very important Japanese category of fan-produced works called doujinshi, which seems to have no counterpart in the west on a comparable level.

Some American fans are not content wait for officially licenced merchandise to arrive, often a long time after it has been "current" in Japan. There are a huge number of new shows airing in Japan to contend with, although fansubbers work to keep up with them. But even with all that, most can only dream of the wonders of the otaku paradises of Akihabara and Comiket and must rely on the few sites that provide an inside glimpse in English of what's on offer there. It is only in such places that firsthand insights can be gained comparing American and Japanese fandom. This is a different world that has its own unique phenomena and its own problems.