I wouldn't say HN is a strict part of geek culture or that trend (while Reddit et al. are). As far as the manga etc obsession goes - many geeks have long had a

I wouldn't say HN is a strict part of geek culture or that trend (while Reddit et al. are). As far as the manga etc obsession goes - many geeks have long had a penchant for all sorts of Fantasy [0]. And the Japanese managed to capture a lot of that "market". That obsession is almost solely directed at the parts of Japanese culture that are acutely distinct from Western culture, hence it might feed into the craving for fantasy. There's also I think a separate trend of people (who might happen to be techies) that like East Asian countries (Kor, PRC, HK, Spore, Taiwan, Jap etc) for certain cultural values [that are actually mainstream] (tho of course it can still be based on unrealistic assumptions). [0] I'd even venture to say it's a defining feature. Or that it's worthwhile to make it so.