A SCARLET APPARITION

The idea of a "guardian angel" is deeply important in otaku culture. The idea of an extra-dimensional figure who looks over you and protects you from harm appears all over anime and is present within the way we talk too. "Waifuism" in its traditional sense, meant choosing one girl to be your "waifu" and staying loyal to just her for at least a while. In its purest form it is a mutually exclusive relationship with a conceptual person, exclusive in that it precludes you from other erotic relationships including those in real life. While this puritanical form of Waifuism is primarily applied tongue-in-cheek, it still has observers to this day [1]. Neowaifuism arose in the mid 2010s with an influx of younger members to the extant groups, leaking terminology that doesn't ring true with younger generations. Polywaifuism is a movement that is broadly equivalent to earlier best-girling, with a harem-based twist on earlier forms. Recently Panwaifuism has arisen, which takes most of the original meaning away from the terminology, equating "waifu" with just "2D girl". While the evolution of the movement is interesting, I'm focusing on the earlier, pure Waifuism.

While taking its symbolism from marriage, Waifuism has obvious deep differences which make it more akin to the ecclesiastical devotion and abstention found in Catholic "life consecration" such as the Order of St Benedict [2]. Vowing into Waifusim separates you from worldly good and evil, creating a priestly class of observers that are separate from the world and can act as mediators. "Wizard" is a term used online to refer to digital "consecrated virgins", and is a title given to those who reach the age of thirty without having sex [3]. While it is primarily a joke and an insult, the title brings with it a degree of respect and has the connotation that is gives the dubbed extraordinary powers.

Upon admission to the monkhood, the ordained are placed under a "patron saint", which I am comparing to the virginal vows to the chosen waifu. They can now preside over their religious tasks under the protection of this superdimensional being. The daily life of a monk is often understood quite incorrectly from the reality. Most monks must work to keep the monastery running, doing chores, raising money, general maintenance. In mediaeval Britain, many abbeys ran breweries on the side, with the monks running them. As is the life of a NEET not so supernatural. His general abstention from worldly pleasure helps keeps the maintenance low, but money must be raised to keep the vitals going, and allow them to carry on with their important religious work online.

Of course Waifuism arose along with a industry that understands the concept too. The "sky girl" trope [4] follows through from a "guardian angel" as someone who devotes their life to the protection and overseeing of yours. Not all anime romance is of this kind, the vast majority is not and fulfils a much broader appeal of intradimensional relationships, even if that dimension is that of the 2D. Two common examples of the relationship type I am talking about are "android pasocoms" and maids. Both fulfil the one-sidedness of the relationship. One whose purpose of living is to serve you in a guardian form. Usually these are presented as equal relationships, ones without a power imbalance. There are of course many departures from this, but I say these to be perversions and broadly heretical. They are either impressed upon by outsiders as a misreading of the ideal, or they are a direct perversion from it for erotic effect. The former is understandable, as both gynoids and maids are inspired by stories of these power imbalances, but if you look over otaku media with them, it is quite rare for that power imbalance to be present, or at least they are separable concepts.

The idea of a personal "maid" is quite different in otaku circles than from outside culture. A "maid" is a strong archetype that follows quite strict rules, of which I shall have to elaborate on a later date, but it does not refer to the occupation of "maid in waiting" or "house maid", but to a personal assistant without ulterior motive. They may be temporary or permanent, but while they are in the role of "maid" they must keep absolute loyalty. I think that the modern otaku maid is a combination of English class-based hierarchy (domestic retinue) with Japanese honour-based hierarchy (yamato nadeshiko/bushidou), along with influence from Christian and Shinto spiritual beliefs. What emerges is something wholly different that, in their role, matches the term "guardian angel" far better than the secular occupation of "maid".

Bibliography

[1] - Modern day waifuism

/a/ waifu thread from December 2020

[2] - The Order of St Benedict

The doctrines of the order can be read about here.

[3] - Virginal Wizards

Definition 6 given by Wiktionary.

[4] - Sky Girls

Referring to the anime romance trope of the "girl who fell from the sky", this may be literal or metaphorical. A girl that appears before the hero and whose primary desire is to become his wife. See Oh My Goddess (1988) or Urusei Yatsura (1978) for some classic examples, or Noucome (2012) for a modern example.

Glossary

Waifuism - The doctrine of monogamous erotic relationships with 2D characters. Limited to one, and strictly does not permit simultaneous real world relationships. Arose on the Anglonet circa 2005.


Neowaifuism - Modern shifts in the understanding of Waifuism. Major shifts occurred circa 2012 and persist until today.


Polywaifuism - The doctrine of polygamous erotic relationships with 2D characters. This creed understands the waifu as a personal favourite from a group, but not limited to one. Common sentiment among post-2010 otaku.


Panwaifuism - The redefinition of Waifuism to understand all 2D girls as waifus. A waifu does not carry any special personal favour but can be applied broadly to "anime girls". Growing sentiment among young otaku and the broad understanding of the outside world of the term.

Anime watchers enjoy shows that build upon an established genre, with many shows just being small tweaks to tried and tested formulas. Take isekai, or battle harem, or even four girl moe. This is part of what makes anime a tightly knit subculture, as each new entry into these microgenres builds upon everything that came before; so even if one specific production isn't great or interesting on its own, the amalgamation of all of these similar shows is.

However, being an anime fan is tantamount to a crime in wider society, and anime fans are bombarded constantly with ideals that are not synchronous with their way of life. "Anime are too tropey", "Why are there so many of the same show", "Cliches are inherently bad". We understand this isn't true deep down, and is in fact why we enjoy anime, but we don't recognise this on the surface and therefore parrot these phrases back at anything we don't like, and this in turn effects the anime that is produced.

Let's take an example of a genre that has such a strong premise that is has lasted mostly intact for thirty odd years: harem anime. From Tenchi Muyo to Love Hina to Clannad to Bakemonogatari, the concept of one down-on-his-luck guy surrounded by an (if not yet, then soon) adoring and varied cast of beautiful girls has survived remarkably well for longer than most of us have been alive. But even though it is such an established and popular genre, it has always been regarded as bottom-tier trash by adult viewers. And since the target audience, teenaged boys, are easily influenced (by nature of being teenagers), such sentiment becomes near universal among even those who are the biggest watchers of the genre. To counter this, writers build in gimmicks to appear more mature, more complex or just pretend to not be harem in the first place. The trend of the modern "battle harem" is one such trend, with shows being sold on their cool action rather than the hot girls. But the most interesting harem trend has been that of the "sarcastic emotional exorcist".

The most important show of this type is the Bakemonogatari series, not the first, but definitely the most influential of it's breed. Fundamentally Bakemonogatari is a harem show, but saying such a thing to many fans will get you thrown out the pub. "It's not like other harems", "the protagonist is different (just like me)", "the show has deep themes so isn't harem-trash". Such things are heard from harem fans that want to mature, but still enjoy harem shows. To avoid their crushing guilt for enjoying things they like, they have truly started to believe it is a different thing. The story differs from classic harems in it's aversion to life. Araragi is a jaded man with developed complexes, but the story punishes him for it, leading to conflict in the protagonist. The girls are not simply fawning/lusting over him but are in need of help emotionally (portrayed through parallel supernatural ails), which Araragi feel compelled to help them solve despite his unreserved pretense for a lack of care for the world or himself. While fans may not be comfortable with the labeling of Bakemonogatari as a harem, Nisioisin is, and has built a nuanced story that understands and addresses the same fundamental ideas harem shows always have. "An imitation can never surpass the original" is an important meta-jab from Nisioisin at copies of the series. In their fervor to reproduce the show, they often missed the point and ended up creating works with exactly the opposite message.

Bunny Girl Senpai is a show that isn't actually about bunny girls, so don't worry! This is the invariable recommendation you will get from fans of the show, which is truly bizarre since I know for certain the concept of "bunny girls" sounds appealing to every man on Earth, and I'm also sure it is one of the reasons they picked up the show in the first place. Being another "sarcastic emotional exorcist" show, jaded-protagonist-kun wanders around his high school fixing hot girls' emotional problems (manifested as supernatural ails, again). But this time the protagonist is a shell. Araragi is sometimes criticised for being "problematic" by outsiders, all this really means is that he is a fallible person and the show does not shy from that fact. The Bunny Girl guy (don't remember his name) is without blemish, and so anything stupid he does comes off as just the show being retarded since it has no idea what to make him do. The most famous scene in the show is also a case in point: [www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ir4InlrQJ9Q].

Fans will use this scene to extol the virtues of a truly nihilistic role model, while everyone else cannot help but find this scene hilarious in it's idiocy. The protagonist is being an edgy whiny arsehole, and it's obvious to see, but the show portrays his actions as chivalrous. On the surface, this aspect of the show seems to be a product of negligence and greed from the production staff, but I think that the show, or at least a small part of it, is pointing out it's own viewers' insecurities and laughing at them too. The OP has a catchy bit that goes:

"It's your fault, your fault, your fault that I'm
So cowardly and pathetic
It's all your fault!"

This could just be sung from the perspective of the girls blaming the guy, which is what is immediately suggested, but it seems rather on the nose and could be thought of as a mocking rendition of it's own main character, and in turn its fans. A recognition of fault, a shift of blame and an acceptance of self-corruption. Put like that it comes off as an insult, but the protagonist exhibits these traits throughout the show all while the audience is told he is in the right.

This twist of reality is what the entire work is couched in but never addresses: a nihilist who cares, a harem that isn't a harem, a show that isn't about its title. If you think that is cool then you are in need of help: it is a reinforcement of coping mechanisms you use to avoid your problems by calling them solutions.

Bunny Girl Senpai would have been much better if it were about bunny girls.

I've built an SQL DB to host a list of maids. It's a work in progress but I'll be updating it continuously with new maids. The aim is to build the definitive list of maids on the internet.

The link is embedded at the top of this site, and you can also view it by clicking here.

Welcome to my new website. I have a few ideas for upcoming posts, of which at least a couple will be realised in the near future.

I have plans to write an essay on otaku-internet spiritualism and mythos building through the Touhou franchise, and another on the trajectory of anime in the past and what we can expect from the future. I also plan to make more frequent shorter posts on anime I watch, trying to talk about shows that are important to me: whether that is positively or negatively and trying to dig up some older shows that are less talked about: primarily from the late '90s to early '00s period. One day I will also actually make a post about maids, it's been coming for too many years now.