Female idols in Japan: Desiring desire, fantasmatic consumption and drive satisfaction

Abstract

In this article, the author explores the idol-phenomenon in Japanese society and, more specifically, how the relation between the idol-image and the otaku should be understood. By analysing the way in which the otaku interacts with his desired idol-image, the author is able to explain how an otaku comes to desire an idol-image and how his supportive consumption of her commodities constitutes an investment in her grand-narrative of lack. He also shows how this consumption, as driven by the otaku’s desire to desire, concerns a consumption of fantasies of the supposedly writable sexual relationship as well as a consumption of images that satisfies the scopic drive. Eventually, the author concludes that the interaction of the otaku with his desired idol-image, an interaction devoid of female subjects, remains beyond any true love whatsoever.