He may very well be the biggest, highest-level otaku in the Genshiken, but he’s also somehow the most stylish, most sociable, and most conventionally attractive.
When you’re flying around DCS World in the Weebjet 5000, you don’t get to take yourself seriously, no matter how much money you spent on your flight sim setup.
Obviously, otaku pursuits can be life-encompassing endeavours. The 17 Sustainable Otaku Goals serve to help otaku integrate their passion into a healthy lifestyle, thus avoiding burnout and conflicts both inside and outside the subculture.
Our incentive structures are built that way. If you’re providing a lot of value to people, you’re more likely to be rewarded. If you’re not providing value for anyone, society (and life) is likely to punish you.
Fictional characters can make good role models, as their existence is as a set of boiled-down concepts, making them free from the many intricate shortcomings of being human.