In this day and age, it's easy to forget the roots of anime fandom in the west. Major retailers, such as Best Buy and Wal-Mart, stock the latest releases on their shelves, manga constantly breaks the top-forty charts, and Saturday-morning cartoons are populated by anime and anime-styled work. Conventions dot the continent, with some events netting thousands of attendees. With these points considered, it is hard to believe that the hobby began in the basement dungeons of the most pathetic of nerds. While sources such as Wikipedia offer some insight, the full story (like a Grateful Dead concert) can only be told by people that were fans from the beginning. Fortunately for the enthusiast, Movies of My Dreams Productions has done most of the legwork (and likely prevented a number of restraining orders) with Otaku Unite!: a comprehensive and entertaining look at the roots of anime fandom in America.

Like most industry documentaries, Otaku Unite! relies heavily on input and footage from figures in the industry. Many such figures, including Animeigo's Robert Woodhead, ADV Films/Streamline's Carl Macek, and Anime Central Chairman Ryan Gavigan recount their experiences as not only fans, but members of the anime industry itself. Instead of narration, carefully arranged anecdotes drive the tale of the anime industry's rise to the quasi-mainstream. Unlike most documentaries of this type, the subjects chosen have little to lose from being blunt. The interviewees make jabs and jokes toward fandom, and never deny that the hobby (and its constituency) is indeed equivalent to Star Trek and Trekkies on the social scale. However, the stories told are far from venom-filled rants. The subjects' stories all have a role in exposing the overall picture, and everybody shares a bit of insight that fans and outsiders alike can appreciate.

Aside from the veteran commentary, the film often cuts to words of wisdom from the "average" fan. These individuals are typically the "unique" types who believe that forty-five years and a set of testicles are not barriers in the quest to become a high-school girl for a weekend, or who refer to themselves as the "Trekkies of anime" (since when was being a Trekkie considered a good thing?). Of particular note is Jonathan "Johnny Otaku" Cook: a Chattanooga native that hosts an anime-themed college radio show. Johnny provides plenty of unintentional humor as he stumbles between sentences and struggles to show off his "vocal skills." The entire segment passes as hilarious and sad at the same time, as the realization that people think of the entire anime fan community as Cook clones sets in.

The mix of insight and comedic (or horrific, depending on your outlook) moments provides something for everybody -- be it a curious fan that's looking for the inside scoup on this crazy hobby, or a cynical outsider looking for a cheap laugh at Sailor Man and Johnny Otaku. No matter the reason for watching, Otaku Unite! will leave every viewer with a new respect for the nerds, nutcases, and dreamers that make up the realm of anime fandom.

Otaku Unite! is currently available on DVD from Central Park Media.