Each year, the Yano Research Institute takes a look at the wide world of otakuism, with a specific interest in how much money fans are throwing around.
But while otaku have a well-deserved reputation as unabashed consumers of escapist fiction, the two highest-per-person-spending categories both involved otaku tossing their money at flesh-and-blood recipients.
The first thing that jumps out is that yearly spending on anime, amongst the survey respondents, seems particularly light, at just 20,308 yen (US$183).
That’s less than some hard-core fans will spend in a single trip through an anime convention dealer’s room.