Description:
Miritarī Otaku: Fascination with ›Moefied‹ War and the German Military Since the beginning of the new millennia a growing market of a pop culture genre called ›moe miritarī‹ has established itself in Japan. In this genre, military-themed content like weapon systems, military history, tactics and many more trends are accompanied by illustrations of ›cute‹ or erotic, mainly female, manga characters. In recent years, games and anime such as Strike Witches, ›kantai korekushon‹ or Girls & Panzer ignited a still-ongoing boom of ›cute‹ girls using or being depicted with military equipment. This paper takes a closer look at the consumers of such products and, by analyzing an interview with a long term ›miritarī otaku‹, or military enthusiast, the article explores why and how ›moe miritarī‹ products are consumed and where the lifelong fascination with the military (in this case the German military during World War Two) springs from. It also looks at why (as well as how) such hobbies are enacted.