How not to show off an elfgirl poster
I ordered the Genshiken box set in late December as part of RightStuf’s Christmas sale, got it about a month ago, and finished watching it over the weekend. Before I got the anime in the mail, I had already started reading the manga and recently finished volume 2, the plot points of which are covered in episodes 2-7. It was very entertaining for me to watch as I was familiar with the various subcultures of fandom, like cosplaying and figure building, as well as the societal stigmas that such practioners may encounter in public situations.
The anime follows Saki’s gradual acceptance of her boyfriend Kohsaka becoming a member of Genshiken (aka “The Society for the Study of Modern Visual Culture”) after trying on many occasions to bring the club down. She manages to ruin the group’s fun in a couple instances but then feels obligated to make it up to the group. She even fights on the club’s behalf against the campus activities vice-president Kitagawa and is blackmailed by the first president into joining Genshiken.
Saki demonstrates the timekilling ability of manga
While I was watching, I was not rooting for Saki to accept being called an “otaku” because that would involve an unnatural change in character; I was actually hoping she could get Kohsaka to wane his obsessions and spend more one-on-one time with her. If someone I knew had interests in anime/manga/cosplay/etc., I wouldn’t aim to corrupt that person by forcing stuff on them and dramatically changing their current lifestyle but rather I might provide some recommendations (or refer them to someone who is better versed) and let them develop their own likes and dislikes.
A seemingly empty club room
At the time I’m writing this, I have two busy days ahead of me with stuff I have to do including filling up the empty space in the anime club’s newsletter (which I revived myself) and printing copies of it, going to Kinko’s and making laminated member cards, and running my first meeting by myself and using my laptop as the exhibition device. (Oh yeah, and also preparing a two-hour radio playlist, buying textbooks, and attending classes.) Thus I currently share Sasahara’s nervousness of leading an organization I had joined a couple years earlier as a freshman. Thankfully, I also share his enthusiasm to do new things although I’m not so ambitious as to start a doujin circle because my drawing sucks ass.
A mostly happy team from Kujibiki Unbalance
Included on each of the three discs was an episode of Kujibiki Unbalance, the anime that is very popular within the Genshiken world and of which there are a buttload of mostly ecchi and hentai doujinshi. Reminds me of a certain series that premiered about a year ago… Anyway, I enjoyed the three episodes that were there (the OP was stuck in my head for a couple days) and I think I’ll give the 12-episode reimagining that came out last fall a shot. However, I don’t have high expectations for it since (as far as I can tell) the blond, clumsy, mushroom-obsessed Tokino is instead brown-haired, very lucky, childhood friend Tokino. Not that the OVAs were great, but Tokino’s eccentricity was definitely a favorite aspect for me.
One thing I though about while watching is that I don’t feel comfortable calling myself an otaku, mainly because my interest in anime and manga is one of many fields I pay attention to (e.g. sports, politics, business). Being involved in an anime club for almost three years and writing my own blog on the subject does put me in contention for such a moniker but I still have yet to cosplay (though I do have something I want to try…) and go to a big convention. While I know those activities are not required to be classified as an otaku, I still feel that I am not quite a full otaku, like Sasahara described himself after a year of being in Genshiken. Whatever that means. Also, I feel that the name “otaku” should not be self-imposed but instead used by another to describe said person.
Overall, I really liked the anime despite one slow episode and I’d recommend it to anyone who wants to laugh while being introduced to different aspects of fandom. What little I sampled of the dub was not that impressive so I listened to the original Japanese dialogue mainly for Saki’s angry and bragging voices as well as Madarame’s speeches.
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so much work so little time. sigh D: i feel ur pain