What is a Weeb (Weeaboo)?

If you’ve spent a lot of time on the Internet, especially on Reddit, Tiktok, or Twitter, you’ve probably come across the terms “weeaboo” or “weeb” and are maybe asking yourself what is a weeb or what does Weeb mean?

Weeb is the derogatory slang of Japanophilia which is the appreciation and love of Japanese culture, people and history to an extreme point. Today in 2021, the words weeb and weeaboo are two words mostly used as insults to describe a certain community of people from outside Japan who are obsessed with Japanese culture to an irritating degree.

But if you want more information about those terms, here is a complete article explaining you very precisely everything there is to know about the Weeb Community. #intro

What does Weeb mean?

Definition of a Weeaboo:

In the internet culture, “Weeb” is the short form of the word “Weeaboo”, which is a term that we think was first created by users of 4chan to insult obsessive fans of Japanese culture that never have traveled to Japan or experienced it directly.

 

Its Origins

At the very beginning, the word “wapanese“, a combination of the words white and Japanese in English, began to appear on Internet discussion forums to describe these over-enthusiastic people about Japanese Culture. This highlighted the fact that the vast majority of these followers were white and had an unhealthy obsession with the land of the rising sun.

Well, no lo long after “wapanese” was recorded as a becoming hating term, 4chan moderators had to replace it with something else to still allow people to discuss on their website without establishing a war zone. 

They opted for “weeaboo”, an absurd word from the webcomic The Perry Bible Fellowship. Thus, the term was born and spread from there to the rest of the Internet. But what does weeaboo mean really?

A nonsense word at first, weeaboo has been used since the early 2000s, almost since the creation of the website 4chan itself. The shortened weeb, however, doesn’t seem to have become popular until the early 2010s with the democratization of internet for personal and recreational use. For the Weeb term, is seems that he has been first used on Twitter in 2010, Urban Dictionary in 2011, and on 4chan’s archives in 2012 according to the different sources available. 

Research for the terms Weeb and weeaboo on the internet since 2004:

 

 

Basically, a weeb is a rare species of nerd who devotes himself a little too much (a lot) to Japanese pop culture. Their life is largely based on a diet of anime, manga and japanese derived video games, which can be off-putting to say the least for some.

Typical weeaboo attitudes and behavior include using lots of Japanese words and phrases in everyday speech, declaring Japanese culture to be superior to others, spending large amounts of money on anime and manga merch, and collecting more unusual Japan-made products like idol figures and body pillows (dakimura).

To picture the scene, weebs are foreigners who are so immersed in their own world that they want to become and act like Japanese that they see in manga and anime but without the authenticity that comes with it. Therefore, you can see them sometimes using Japanese words incorrectly, dressing up like cartoon characters and worshipping Japan without knowing anything about this country other than what they have seen in Japanese animation.

Closet Weeb

Because of the negative connotation of this part of the internet population not being easily accepted, recognizing itself as a weeb was a very bad move at the time, so a new form of weeb more… eclectic is born. 

A Closet Weeb is a person with the characteristics of a Weeb with a sick obsession for anime and Japanese culture in general, but that never accepts the fact that he/she is one. Furthermore, they will often insult and bully other weebs to hide their own weebiness.

Weeb Nation

However, with all the hatred against them, some weebs decided to create their own clans and private groups so that they could live their true nature to the fullest.

Weeb Nation is, for example, a club that strives to build a friendly, inclusive community with everyone who shares our passions for a variety of Japanese media and culture.

Weebs in 2021

Nowadays in 2021, the stereotypical image of a weeb is that of a young white male with poor hygiene, a massive collection of anime figurines and questionable social behavior.

A weeb is generally recognized by its inability to talk for more than five minutes about anything not related to Japanese animation, manga or video games. If they use a cartoon girl as a profile picture, you’re probably dealing with a legendary weeb that’s three times rare.

However, an increasing number of women and people of color are joining the ranks of the weeb. Otome games and the manga Boy’s Love are largely aimed at women, and the success of these franchises speaks to their growing audience.

Many of them gather on anonymous websites and social media services such as Twitter, Discord and Crunchyroll forums.

 

Weeb vs Otaku – What is the Difference?

Very popular terms in the internet world, Weeb and Otaku are two “insults” very commonly used to designate a certain type of people, passionate about Japanese culture and these two words share general similarities.

In Japan, “Otaku” refers to a person who is deeply consumed by their interests in pop culture, a hobby or any other form of entertainment — similar to “geek” or “nerd” in the West.

Otaku has often been considered an outcast who does not want to grow up and emancipate himself from the imaginary world from which most of his cultural references are drawn. and only becomes more successful after having lived through life-changing experiences, having established real social relationships and friendships.

The image of the weird and sometimes violent Otaku comes from the conventions of Anime where fans can be seen going crazy, dressing, talking and acting like their favorite anime characters to a point where their own personality vanishes into that of the character they are trying to look like.

In addition, following the arrest of serial killer Tsutomu Miyazaki in 1989, investigators, after searching the suspect’s apartment, discovered a vast collection of anime and horror videos which helped the Japanese press disclose to the public a possible link between the violent actions of some people and the frenzied passion for manga.

However, in the Western countries, “Otaku” refers more generally to someone who’s extremely passionate and enthusiastic about Japanese animation works. They love to collect merchandise of their favorite anime like plush toys and figures in exposition next to a full range of manga properly align in rows on a shelf.

But, unlike the weebs, this passion for the world of anime does not go beyond the framework of reality and doesn’t take over their daily routine and has no negative impact on their social relationships. For most of them, it’s just a hobby or a passion where they spend their free time on.

The term Weeb, on the other hand, is a much more pejorative variant of Otaku that refers to the extreme level that a non-Japanese person can reach when his or her passion takes over its daily routine and has no negative impact on his or her social and professional life.

You surely know someone with Japanese Tattoes on his/her body claiming a signification that is completely different that in reality due to their lack of knowledge on that subject and their impulsiveness. Or someone with an obsession for anime so intense that it affects negatively on this person process information and interacts with the reality and other people.

These are examples of persons that the word “weeaboo” for created for in the beginning. Individuals with a huge craving and obsession with Japanese Culture and to the point that they become disrespectful to others that don’t share the same level of passion that them.

So, you have understood well, the difference between Weeb and Otaku depends a lot on the impact their passion has on their daily lives. The Otaku is a passionate person who likes to take advantage of his free time to let his interest in Japanese culture run wild, where it literally becomes an obsession for the weeb (Weeaboo) with a global negative impact on his life.

 

Why would people want to become a Weeb?

You might be wondering why anyone would want to become a weeb. Well, it’s simple and complicated at the same time.

The best comparison that we could use to describe is comparing anime to physical sports or e-sports. Sports fans are something that is very common in our society, watching others playing while doing nothing or wearing their signature clothes seem logical to anyone nowadays so why would it be different for animes?

In 2021, Animes fans have taken their siege on popular social medias like Youtube and Titkok which has easily amplified the popularity of this art. Today, almost everybody has watched an anime episode in his/her llfe and more and more are being proud following this trend.

Attack on Titan, Jujutsu Kaisen or Naruto videos in Tiktok counts in March 2021 hundred Billions of views, so it’s only normal that more people start following this trend each day and are more aware and willling to become a weeb to get more notoriety on this platform. However, while sports are a socially acceptable pastime, sleeping with a pillow of your favorite anime character still isn’t accepted by the general population.

 

But don’t worry, nobody should judge you to do things to you would want to do, especially if it doesn’t harm anybody in the process. It’s clearly nobody’s business if you want to walk outside dresses like a cat maid character.

Maybe the term weeb won’t ever become a positive term in the internet, however, it is not a big insult anymore. And even it it was still an insult, nothing prevents you to be proud of enjoying fictional series that offers you emotional moments when real life doesn’t, nothing. 

We all hope that, on day,  weebs and non-weebs could live together peacefully, but for now, we need to accept the reality and do things as we can. To quote the smartest cat in all anime series:

Are you a weeb?

And maybe, maybe you’re already a weeb?! You’re not sure? Well, here is a very cool youtube video of MVPerry that will tell you if you are a weeb are not:

 

But if you want something structured, here is a weeb test in a form of a quizz to discover what type of weeb you are:

 

Weeb Test: 

1. Do you watch Anime? If yes, You get 1 point

2. Do you read mangas? If yes, You get 1 point

3. Do you love Japan? If yes, You get 1 point

4. Do you have a husbando or a waifu? If yes, You get 2 points

5. Is your phone wallpaper an anime character? If yes, You get 1 points

6. Does your room has more than 5 different references to anime? If yes, You get 5 points

7. Can you not stop talking about anime more than one day? If yes, You get 5 points

8. Do you talk using anime characters quotes? If yes, You get 3 points

9. Do you sing or dance every time your hear a music of anime opening? If yes, You get 2 points

10. Do you talk to anime characters directly during the show? If yes, You get 4 points

 

Results:

– 16-25 points: You are a Hardcore Weeb

Congratulations, you’re a high level member of the Weeb army and can consider yourself as one of the biggest weeaboos in the world. Good work soldier!

– 6-15 points: You are a soft weeb

Well done, you’re a very talented and are eligible to join  the first ranks of the Weeb army! However, you can do better than that, do your best and keep going!

– 0-5 points:  You’re not a weeb

Well, that’s not great. With that level of engagement, you can call yourself a weeb at the moment and need to get some improvements ASAP! Follow your reading and discover some tips to get your weeb power level over 9000 in our next chapter.

 

Weeb Starter Pack – How to become a weeb ?

So you’ve discovered that you are not a weeb or not a weeb enough, so you’re still asking yourself how to become a weeb and you want a easy starter pack list to turn yourself into a true Weeaboo? No worries, we got you!

Becoming a true high level weeb is not an easy task, but we have listed a small procedure that we advise you to follow in order to put all the chances on your side. Let’s get started!

 

1. Get your Weeb username

First of all, to be part of the weebs community, you need a name that has class and will remind everyone who you are on the different forums you go to most of your time. If you lack imagination and need some ideas, click here.

Once you’ve taken on your new identity, it’s time to discover how to interact like a true passionate weeb.

 

2. Use popular Weeb Quotes

Yes, Weebs and Weeaboos have their own way to interact with other people, so if you want to integrate inside their ranks, you need to know how to talk properly. 

First, you have to remove all your human gender and religious words from your vocabulary, you won’t need it anymore.

Second, you need to learn and add some specifics Japanese anime words to enrich your sentences and talk like anime characters.

Here is a list of TOP weeb quotes that are very popular among Weeaboos: 

– Onii-chan

Onii-chan (お兄ちゃん) is the common world to address to an older brother in Japanese with the honorific term “chan” at the end of the word that should mostly be used to address young adult male that you appreciate.

– Onee Chan

Onee chan (お姉, lit. big sister) are honorific terms used by Japanese people to address a younger female sibling. However, it’s very common to use it with people that we consider as brothers and sisters even there isn’t any blood related between them.

– Daijobu

Daijobu (大丈夫) means “all right” or “okay” and can be used as a answer or a question. If you used this word a question mark, it means that you’re asking to someone “Are you alright?”.

– Nani

Nani (なに) is the common way to express astonishment or consternation and means literally “What” in Japanese.

– Oi Oi Oi

Oi is the Japanese word for “Hey” that is used to attract other people’s attention. Using 3 times the word Oi in a sentence has the same meaning that saying “Hey, Hey, Hey”. It’s a very common spelling used by characters in Japanese animes. 

– Omae wa shinderu 

Omae wa shinderu (お前はもう死んでいる) is a very popular sentence from the manga Hokuto No Ken that means “you are already dead”. It became very popular on the internet with the famous meme where we see Ken making villains’ heads explode after saying this quote. 

– Yare Yare

Yare Yare (やれやれ) means “good grief” in Japanese and is a common quote from the character Jotaro Kujo form the manga and anime Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure.

– Tsundere

Tsundere (ツンデレ) is a common word that is used to describe a specific type of person who acts tough and cold on the outside, but is actually soft and very dedicated on the inside. They act like this because they are too shy to let people know who they truly are. 

– Baka

Baka (馬鹿) is a gentle insult in Japanese meaning literally  “idiot” or “stupid.” This word is mostly used by Tsundere anime characters, so it could be used as a Tsundere detector xD.

– Senpai

Senpai (先輩, lit.earlier colleague) is definitely one of the most commonly used Weeb words online which is a formal word to address a “upperclassman” or a superior, someone who has had more experience than you in something. 

– Sensei

Sensei (先生, lit. « first born ») is a honorific word used by students in Japan and China to address to their boss or teacher. It’s heard very frequently in anime when young heros talk to their masters.

– Kawaii

Kawaii (かわいい / 可愛い, lit. cute) is an adjective word that it is used for describing something adorable or lovely. In Japan, Kawaii is also a Women Fashion trend that is based on wearing clothes to make themselves look younger and innocent.

– Manga

Manga (漫画) is the essence of Weeb community. It’s a Japanese illustrated book that scenarizes the adventures of one of several protagonists in a imaginary world. The popularity for mangas has never been so high than in 2021 where the manga market weights over several billions of dollars a year worldwide. Some Manga has also become so iconic than everybody know them from near or far like Dragon Ball, Naruto or One Piece.

– Yandere

Yandere (ヤンデレ, lit. sick or insane) is an adjective to describe someone that has toxic personality and express affection or love of something or someone excessively. It’s a personality trait that is very common among weebs and that is derived from several female characters in some manga novels.

– Chibi

Chibi (ちび/チビ, lit. small and cute) is an adjective that is used to describe some art where artists draw small and cute versions one or several anime characters. The Japanese word chibi actually means “short”.

– Doujinshi (dōjinshi)

Dōjinshi (同人誌) are short and self-published manga novels where the artists used already existing characters or themes from popular sources to create a brand new story or parody of the original novel. Lot’s of Doujinshi novels than you can read online are not very popular and consists in sexual versions of existing manga novels.

– Hentai

Last but not least, Hentai (変態, lit. pervert) is the Japanese adjective used to describe people that have a sex fixated mind no matter the subject. Hentai is also a class of Japanese manga novels with a sexual storytelling where fictional character with different grades of hardcore and is therefore also used to describe anime porn.

 

3. Get some Weeb Merch

Nobody said that being weeb comes cheap. If you really want to become a true weeaboo, you need to get some stuff. Here is a list of what you need for your Weeb Starter pack:

– Manga Books

The basis of the Weeb trend is to watch anime but especially read mangas novels. Get your Top 10 Anime books online for cheap and start reading them to fill in your weeb gauge and get a power level over 9000!

– Weeb Clothing

First, you need to get some Anime Clothes to dress like a true passionate. Get some cool Anime Shirts and Hoodies with printing of your favorite anime characters on it and show the crowd how a hardcore weeb you are! 

– Weeb Decor

Now that you dress like a true Weeaboo, you need to live inside a true weeb house, go get some great Anime Decor to create your universe. Anime Body pillows, Anime Sheets, Anime wall art, you name it. Take everything that you need to redecorate your room into a true Anime fan base! 

– Weeb Figures

And to accomplish the highest level of weeb, you need to spend a lot in anime figures to fill your shelves with miniature models of your favorite heroes and characters.

You got everything in the list? Great, now you’re definitely ready to accomplish your mission to conquer the weeb world!