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R1 DVD Reviews
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Written by maehara
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Sunday, 15 July 2007 17:00 |
 Treading the same territory as Otaku no Video, Genshiken takes a look at the lives of a group of 'typical' Japanese anime & manga nuts - and it's positively scary when you can see yourself in the show... ^^; As to which parts of this show I can see myself in, I'll answer with a firm "no comment" for now - although a trawl through the archives to see what has a 5-star rating should give you a good idea. Will Genshiken be joining them..?
1 - The Study of Modern Visual Culture
Kenji Sasahara's an otaku-in-training, if you like - he's obsessed with anime series Kijubiki Unbalance, and wants to get more into anime & manga, but doesn't know quite where to start. Conveniently, though, he's just starting college - and they have a "Society for the Study of Modern Viual Culture", aka the genshiken - an anime and manga club, really, just with a more upmarket name. Now all he has to do is work up the courage to join. Kenji's first lesson: the road to happiness is paved with H-games. Meanwhile, fellow otaku & new Genshiken member Kohsaka has trouble spotting the signs when childhood friend Saki starts making moves on him...
2 - Comparative Classification of Consumption and Diversion Among Modern Youth
The genshiken are away to Akihabara, on the lookout for h-games and doujinshi - except for Kohsaka, who's away shopping with Saki. Sounds fun - except that while she's got seduction on her mind - 'surely and thoroughly' - Kohsaka's clueless enough to completely miss his chances. Sasahara, meanwhile, is getting his first experience of shopping for doujinshi. Two otaku, two different shopping trips - equally disastrous results..?
3 - The Issue of Regional Cultural Advancements and its Merits
Sasahara & the rest of the club are away to ComiFes, where doujinshi nirvana awaits. As Sasahara himself realises on the train there, 'the otaku percentage here is 100%'. The day gets off to a bad start, though - as if being stuck outside in the queue & the rain isn't bad enough, Madarame manages to break his wrist while playing around. Not that he's about to let that come between him & some limited edition Kujibiki Unbalance trading cards, although before too long it seems he'll be doing well to make it through the day. Sasahara, meanwhile, works on improving his otaku credentials until he runs into one of the school teachers, who tries to persuade him to switch from the genshiken to the Manga Club...
4 - The Sublimated Process of Mental Blocks Regarding the Dissimilation Between Dress and Costume
Genshiken has a potential new member, who's come along to see what the club is like - Kanako Ohna, who's just returned from America. Saki does her best to persuade her that Genshiken's a waste of time, but one mention of cosplay and Kanako's hooked, much to Saki's disbelief - although it does give her a chance to see how that rare breed, the female otaku, lives. Meanwhile, the club's decided cosplay could be a good plan for the upcoming school festival, while Saki meets up with a guy - could it be her ex?
Otaku no Video fans will no doubt claim that their take on 'modern otaku life' is more representative (I can't really comment, having never seen it), but Genshiken does seem to cover all the bases - for every stereotype here, most anime fans will be able to say they know someone, online or off, who fits the bill. That's what gives the show a lot of its appeal - while it's not always laugh-out-loud funny (most of the humour is quite understated and subtle, and comes from anime & manga references hidden in the series), it's almost "train wreck TV" in terms of watching the episodes and seeing how much of it you can relate to. Then you go and cry in the corner, when you realise you're just as much an otaku as the guys on the screen. As I said before, positively scary - but ultimately, compelling viewing.
The initial episodes work to introduce the characters and their major quirks, with the side-story of 'normal' girl Saki's attempts to pull an otaku - and her frustrations when she just can't manage to have more appeal to Kohsaka than his hobby. I should show this to my wife, just to make her realise I'm not too bad. Later in the disc, new recruit Kanako adds a certain amount of fan-service to the show (although she isn't half as cute as Saki in nekomimi), which is no bad thing. Apart from that, the show continues to play pretty much to a simple idea - namely, "let's see what these otakus get up to today". Don't expect too much of a plot.
Very interesting so far, then, but I'd be concerned over how much they can do with the formula - over a few episodes it works really well, but I don't know how it will do over a 12/13 episode series. I will be watching to find out, though. Moving on the second part of the package, then...
Kujibiki Unbalance 1 - An Unbalanced Encounter
"Mr Happy Fortune" (real name, Chihiro Enomoto) doesn't always live up to his nickname - his sister alone is a piece of misfortune in her own right. He's just starting highschool, and it doesn't take long before he realises his new school is a bit... strange. A Student Council president who hides under a huge helmet, a homeroom teacher who really takes no interest, a fellow student with what seems to be a mushroom fetish - what else could possibly surprise him? Perhaps a high-stakes cooking contest, featuring mushrooms? With Tokino (her of the mushroom fetish) on his team, this should be easy...
Call me a heretic, but Kujian really doesn't make much sense to me. I'll admit it's a strange beast - it's an anime within an anime, if you like, so perhaps treating it as I would any other show is a mistake on my part. The problem is that as a first episode, it doesn't really give you enough to get a feel for the show, other than that the President & Chihiro have a Mysterious Past™, and that their school has a strange thing about contests. If I was having to buy it from scratch, then based on this episode, I wouldn't.
The flip-side of that argument is that you don't have to buy it - since it's an extra to Genshiken's DVD release, you can take it or leave it without it actually costing you anything. That idea I like. At the end of the day, you can't really criticize something that's 'free'. While Kujian probably wouldn't stand on its own, as an extra to Genshiken it's an interesting and welcome idea.
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