Diversity and inclusion: room for every fan and creator
We don’t treat diversity and inclusion as a marketing line; on OtakuOshi they’re part of the rulebook. This policy covers how we treat creators, fans and partners, which behaviour we won’t put up with and what you can do when something goes wrong, whoever you are, wherever you’re from and however you express yourself.
Why diversity and inclusion matter to us
OtakuOshi exists to let otaku art and Japanese pop culture move freely between countries. If you’re 18 or over you can share your work here, and your fans can follow you from any corner of the world. A platform with that kind of reach can’t simply tolerate difference. We treat it as one of the community’s real strengths, and we look after it actively.
Otaku culture has never been one-size-fits-all. Nobody checks your gender or nationality before you step into cosplay. Manga and illustration find readers in language after language, and doujinshi grew up precisely as an outlet for people to say what they wanted. Fandom is made up of people of every origin, identity, orientation and ability, in every sort of situation, and we want the platform to look like that crowd.
The policy covers the whole of OtakuOshi: the blog (otakuoshi.com), the social network and content platform (fans.otakuoshi.com), our official social media accounts, company communications and the way we deal with partners and brands. Think of it as a working document, not a poster on the wall: moderators and decision-makers rely on it, together with our ethics policy and acceptable use policy.
Core principles
Every call we make on diversity and inclusion comes back to these six ideas.
Open to everyone
Fans and creators aged 18 and over are welcome whatever their country of birth, nationality, language, ethnicity, skin colour or cultural background. OtakuOshi works on a global scale, and payments are processed internationally.
No discrimination
We ban discrimination of any kind, whether it targets someone’s gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, beliefs, disability, income or social background, marital status, appearance or any other personal characteristic.
LGBTQ+ inclusion
LGBTQ+ people have been part of otaku culture for as long as it has existed, and OtakuOshi has room for every sexual orientation and gender identity. LGBTQ+ cosplay, art, manga, fanfic and voice work are posted, promoted and moderated on the same terms as anything else.
Accessibility
We’re working to make the platform usable for disabled people. So far that covers screen-reader support, getting around by keyboard, readable colour contrast and alt text on the interface’s images. There’s more to do, and we intend to keep at it.
Every language welcome
Creators post in whichever language they like. Nothing restricts the language of a profile, a product listing or a chat with fans, which is why a single community often mixes two or three languages. Fandom has never stuck to one tongue, and neither do we.
Mutual respect
Respect runs in every direction here: between creators, fans, partners and our own staff. Disagreeing about opinions, style, technique or taste is part of any creative scene. Polite disagreement is fine; harassment, hate and humiliation are not.
Diversity in what gets created
Because OtakuOshi is built around creators, diversity goes further than who is allowed in. It shows in the work itself. We want the range of voices, styles, subjects and viewpoints to come from the community, with no filters handed down from above.
Representation. Your characters, plots and scenarios can be as varied as real life, or as varied as any invented world. A crossplay shoot, a gender-bent redesign, a queer romance or a story whose lead is disabled, plus-size or from a culture rarely shown in anime: all of it sits in the catalogue on an equal footing with any other work.
Open themes. If your work digs into identity, gender, sexuality, heritage, migration or disability, it’s judged by the same yardstick as a straightforward fan comic. We don’t tip the balance editorially for or against any particular viewpoint.
Style and technique. We love a mix of styles, from classic manga to contemporary digital art, from screen-accurate builds that could walk onto the Cosplay Central stage at MCM Comic Con London to closet cosplay, from studio shoots to indie clips filmed on a phone. We care about the effort and imagination on show, not how much the camera cost.
Publishing language. Post in any language you want; product listings, descriptions and messages with fans are just as unrestricted. Writing in a minority language, or in several at once, has no effect on how visible your content is or how it’s treated.
Community rules and conduct
A mixed community only holds together when people respect one another. These rules cover every interaction on the platform, from DMs and comments to posts, profile bios, published content and any other way users communicate.
No hate speech. We don’t allow content, messages or behaviour that stir up hatred, violence, discrimination or exclusion against people or groups because of their gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, disability, appearance or any other personal characteristic. Slurs, belittling stereotypes, hate memes, language that strips people of their humanity and every flavour of supremacist ideology all fall under this ban.
No harassment. You can’t harass anyone, full stop, and it makes no difference whether the target is chosen for their identity or for something else. We mean unwanted repeated messages, threats, intimidation, doxxing (sharing someone’s personal details without consent), brigading (coordinated pile-ons) and anything else that leaves a person feeling unsafe or unwelcome here. To tighten up your own privacy, have a look at our security page.
No exclusion. Nobody gets to refuse someone service, shut them out of interactions or treat them as second-class because of who they are. A creator can’t turn a fan away for their identity, and no fan gets to harass a creator, least of all over theirs. Every user receives the same level of service and protection.
Names and pronouns. Use the name and pronouns a person has put on their profile. Getting someone’s gender wrong on purpose (misgendering them knowingly) is treated as harassment, with the consequences that brings.
Turning the policy into everyday practice
These principles shape how the platform is run from one day to the next; they’re more than words on a page.
Even-handed moderation
Our moderators apply the community rules the same way no matter who is involved. Each decision rests on the facts and on our published policies, never on who made the report or who it’s about.
An easy way to report
Spotted discrimination, harassment or hate speech? Any user can report it on our complaints and reports page. Under our active response policy, discrimination complaints are prioritised, and the identity of the person reporting stays confidential.
Ongoing review
At regular intervals we go back over our policies, moderation processes and accessibility tools to catch bias, make things better for everyone and keep up with what the community needs. We never treat that job as finished.
Who works at OtakuOshi
Practising what we preach begins with our own staff. A community this mixed deserves a team that reflects it, which is why we hire, collaborate and promote on ability, track record and contribution, and never on someone’s identity, origins or private life.
The same goes for the brands and collaborators we team up with. Any partnership with OtakuOshi requires respect for the principles in this policy, and we don’t work with companies, organisations or individuals who actively promote discrimination against, or the exclusion of, any group.
Making the platform accessible
Our aim is for as many people as possible to be able to use OtakuOshi comfortably, including those with visual, hearing, motor or cognitive impairments.
Web design. Our reference point is WCAG, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. In practice that means semantic HTML, ARIA labels where they’re needed, full keyboard navigation, strong contrast between text and background, and text that scales. Pages reflow to fit a laptop, a tablet or a phone screen.
Creators’ content. We’d encourage you to add alt text to your images, subtitles to your videos where you can and clear descriptions to your product listings. These small habits help anyone using a screen reader, and they happen to improve SEO and the experience for everyone else too.
Support. Questions about accessibility can go to our support staff via the contact page, while the help centre deals with the ones people ask most. If you run into a barrier, tell us so we can fix it.
Always improving. Accessibility work is never done. We chip away at it gradually, tackling first whatever makes the platform hardest to use, and ship the improvements on a regular basis.
What happens if the rules are broken
When someone breaks this policy, the response is proportionate to what they did, and the process is open about it.
Warning
For a minor breach or a first offence, the user gets a formal notice setting out which rule was broken, why their behaviour is a problem and what we expect from now on. A note of it goes on the account’s internal history.
Temporary restriction
Repeated or moderately serious breaches can lead to some account features being limited for a fixed time. That might mean muting messaging, restricting what they can post or temporarily blocking access to parts of the platform.
Suspension or deactivation
Serious breaches such as hate speech, sustained harassment or active discrimination can see an account suspended, either for a period or for good. If an account is banned permanently under this policy, its owner can appeal via the complaints page.
The same standards on our blog
For many people the OtakuOshi blog at otakuoshi.com is their first contact with us, so it lives by the same rules. Every guide, news story, interview and long read there is held to the principles that apply on the content platform.
Who we feature. We make a point of covering creators with all kinds of backgrounds, art styles, identities and routes into the hobby. Interviews, spotlights and recommendations aren’t kept for whoever has the biggest following. Newcomers, people from under-represented communities and projects with an unusual take on otaku culture get their turn as well.
Inclusive language. Our writers avoid stereotypes and sweeping generalisations that might sideline or mock a group of people. When a sentence doesn’t need a gender, we leave it neutral, so readers of any gender identity are included.
Pictures. The pictures we choose for the blog show the otaku community as it really is, with a range of bodies and ethnicities, cosplay styles, artistic techniques and cultural settings. The right picture tells readers they’re welcome before they’ve read a word.
Your questions on diversity and inclusion
Short answers on how the policy works for fans and creators.
Yes, as long as you’re 18 or over. There’s no country block: fans and creators can register and log in wherever they happen to be. Payment methods are explained on our payouts page.
Yes. It follows the same rules as everything else: LGBTQ+ cosplay, illustration, manga, fanfic, voice work and photography are published, promoted and moderated just like any other work. A character’s, creator’s or fan’s sexuality or gender identity never triggers extra filtering, a penalty or special treatment.
Use the complaints page and pick whichever category matches. Reports of discrimination and harassment jump the queue, and we don’t reveal who made them. For anything that can’t wait, drop a line to hello@otakuoshi.com.
No. Creators can’t shut a fan out, ignore them or treat them differently for who they are, and fans can’t target creators for theirs. The non-discrimination rules protect everyone in the community equally.
WCAG guides our design work, so you get semantic HTML, keyboard access, decent colour contrast, alt text and pages that resize properly. It’s an ongoing piece of work. Spotted a barrier? Let us know via the contact page and we’ll look at fixing it.
The content comes down and a sanction follows, scaled to how serious it was. That could be a warning for a minor or first offence, a temporary restriction if it happens again, or suspension or permanent deactivation for a serious breach. We decide using the rules we’ve published, and anyone sanctioned can challenge the outcome on the complaints page.
It does. The rules reach otakuoshi.com and its blog, the fan platform at fans.otakuoshi.com, our official social channels and anything else the company publishes. Who we feature, how we word things and the images we pick are all held to it.
Not at all; use whichever language you like. Posts, product listings, profiles and messages between users carry no language restrictions. Welsh, Tagalog, Japanese or three languages in one caption: none of it lowers your reach or changes how moderators handle your posts.
Get in touch via the contact page, selecting ‘Suggestion or feedback’. Every suggestion gets read and weighed up as we develop the platform, and ideas that improve accessibility or inclusion get particular attention on our product roadmap.
Other policies worth reading
This diversity policy is one of several documents that together set out how people get along on OtakuOshi.
Ethics policy. The wider ethical rules for content and behaviour, above all on protecting minors, consent and the absolute limits nobody may cross.
Terms of service. The general conditions for using the platform, including the conduct rules and what happens when they’re broken.
Publishing principles. Covers what’s allowed on the platform and how it should be rated. Nothing in it treats a creator differently for who they are, or a work differently for who it portrays.
Privacy policy. What personal data we hold, where it’s kept and what it’s used for. Details about who you are stay confidential and are never used to discriminate against anyone or to target them.
Complaints and reports. Where to go officially if you’ve experienced discrimination or harassment, or seen this policy broken.
Come as you are
Make things, share them and geek out over otaku culture on OtakuOshi, with no need to fit anyone’s mould. If that’s the kind of community you want to be part of, there’s a place here for you.