We’ve discussed before how “hiding your powerlevel” is not an ideal or effective way to go through life. What we haven’t discussed is how to go about broadcasting your powerlevel.
“Broadcasting” might at first seem like an improper word to use, but think about it. If you’re broadcasting over a radio, you’re broadcasting over a particular frequency. Only people tuned to that frequency can hear you. Everyone else hears nothing.
There’s a saying: “If You Know, You Know.”
Alternatively: “Real Recognize Real.”
Simply put, people in the know will understand what you’re about if you make it known. And people out of the loop won’t understand, and that’s okay.
The tricky part is making it subtle and tasteful.
The reason subtlety and taste are important is to avoid giving a negative impression of yourself to people who aren’t in the know. The reason the guy walking around with his dakimakura in tow is given weird looks is because that’s a weird and ostentatious thing to do, not because he’s broadcasting that he’s an anime fan. Nobody cares that he’s an anime fan. They care that he’s carrying around a pillow with a half-naked girl on it.
Subtlety
I remember one time while walking out of the office with a co-worker who’d recently been hired, I noticed he had some familiar patches on his backpack. All it took was me correctly identifying them, “ISAF, Razgriz, Mobius,” and then he and I were talking Ace Combat all the way to the parking lot. He wasn’t wearing a flight suit or carrying around an Osean flag. It was subtle. Nobody knows what those patches mean unless they’re also an Ace Combat fan, but they don’t also impose upon people who don’t know about Ace Combat.
Similarly, I’m pretty particular about the patches I display on my backpack when I carry it. U.N. Spacy, Gunsmith Cats, Daten City. If you know, you know.
To go even subtler, COSPA makes a line of neckties that use color schemes and symbols associated with a particular character, and hide an image of that character in the inside of the wide end. Perhaps not the sort of thing that would get noticed immediately (Except maybe by extremely observant people who are also in the know), but they’re very tasteful.
Taste
The MA-1 flight jacket is a classic piece of Air Force apparel that’s long since made it into the paradigm of general modern fashion. COSPA took that design and made a line of Macross-themed jackets. I have the one fashioned after Roy Focker.
I regularly receive complements on it, both from people who get the reference and people who don’t. The jacket looks good independent of it being an anime fan thing. It’s not exactly the most subtle thing. The text and Skull Squadron (Itself a reference to a real-life Navy squadron) take up the entire back of the jacket. It, however, is tasteful. It’s well-made, it looks good, and it’s well-chosen. It fits me. It matches my aesthetic. I feel good in it.
Another piece I find particularly tasteful is the classic NERV messenger bag. Plain black with the old NERV logo. Certainly enough of a direct reference to catch anyone in the know, but tasteful enough that it doesn’t particularly look like something nerds buy just because it has their favorite show’s logo in it.
It’s more than a little important to pick the things you display based not just on how much you like the anime brands they represent, but on how they otherwise look and perform overall.
Conclusion
How okay are you with being noticed?
Naturally, with a certain volume of attention comes some negative attention. How ready are you to have to tell a few people to take their opinions and go eff themselves?
There are levels to subtlety and levels to taste. Most people will forgive even the least subtle display of your powerlevel if it’s super-tasteful. The reason people often respond badly to otaku displaying their powerlevel is because it’s often done in garish, ostentatious, and tasteless ways. As it the otaku wants everyone to know that they’re into X, Y, or Z, as opposed to just wanting people who’re interested to know.
It visually imposes on others. You could consider it impolite. It’s not always bad to be noticeable, but people will have a problem if they don’t like what they see. Trick them into accidentally liking your otaku stuff by making your otaku stuff visually appealing and subtle enough to only truly be noticed by folks turned to your frequency.
“Normal” is synonymous with mediocrity. Make yourself at least slightly above normal (Not difficult), and incorporate your otaku interests into that. Be willing to stand out a little bit. Your interests are interesting to you. Have them help make you look interesting. There’s no reason we shouldn’t look good while being otaku.