The Average Yappie

Another selection from the Yappie Handbook, that rose-colored look at what mid-Eighties otaku could'a been but never actually were.

"Yappie" is the term for elite anime fans ranging from middle schoolers up through college age. The majority are, in keeping with the current state of affairs in Japan, middle class, and as such full-time students outnumber youth that hold down jobs. Yappies make no distinction between public and private schools, and roughly 10 - 20 percent of the anime fans attending a given school could be considered Yappies.

As students, Yappies tend to be more outgoing, but as anime fans, tend to be more reserved. Some are at the top of their classes, while others not so much. But one thing is for sure: no Yappie is a total bookworm or a total delinquent. Both males and females tend to avoid flashy clothing, and can be distinguished from normal students from their subtle use of anime items to accent their fashions. But perhaps the biggest characteristic of a Yappie is that a true Yappie never refers to themselves as such.

(Caption: Yappies are ACTIVE anime fans. It's important to inspire oneself and other fans.)

Comments

[Lawrence Eng]

That sounds like a lot of people I knew in college, but they'd never admit it ;)

Thanks for posting these!

[Tim Eldred]

Huh. That actually sounds a bit more like today's US high school teens (based on experiences with my own daughter) minus the anime activism, since there isn't much call for it now. And I sure do prefer 'Yappie' to 'Otaku,' which is a word that's gotten just a LIT-tle too much play in my opinon.

[Jeremy Neiman]

The description is just like a horoscope, so vague all-encompassing that it could describe anyone. Outgoing and resevered, top of the class and not, etc. It's like they KNOW that Yappie won't catch on and are trying to describe everyone.

[MattAlt]

>>The description is just like a horoscope

So true! It's like a pep talk for what must have been a pretty downtrodden segment of society, if the contemporary slang ("maniacs," "sickos," "gloomy") was any indication.

The sneaky, "Fight Club" style bit about never actually telling anyone you're a Yappie is a stroke of genius too -- it's a convenient, disbelief-suspending excuse as to why you never heard anyone actually use the term!

[Lawrence Eng]

I agree, it's pretty clever writing. I half wonder if it's all a put-on or parody.

In any case, there is at least one easy-to-spot disqualifying trait that's mentioned: the wearing of flashy clothes.