Genshiken

I rarely like Anime, so the fact that I like this show so much, makes it a real gem for me. I was thrilled to find out recently that there will be a second season released in late 2006.

Unlike most anime, this show is extremely realistic. It focuses on the members of a student activity club at a University in the outskirts of Tokyo. The club is a group of slackers whose sole activity is appreciating anime, manga, hentai, cosplay and other pastimes normally associated with nerds (sometimes called "otaku" in Japanese).

Each episode in the first season more or less describes some new aspect of nerd culture. One episode shows the group getting obsessed about building Gundam models, another one shows the group going to Akihabara to buy erotic manga.

The dramatic tension of the show is created through the character of Saki. She is the girlfriend of one of the club members. She is in love with the guy, but finds all the "otaku" stuff kind of weird and many of the episodes feature her struggling to come to terms with her love of Kohsaka, but her dislike of his hobbies.

The show has very good character progression and many of the characters are allowed a depth to their characters not normal for Anime shows.

In a medium that is too often plagued with clichés and repetitive plot lines, Genshiken is a breath of fresh air that should be viewed by both anime fans and non-fans alike.

I am writing again as I have finished by 2x review of yet another anime series.

Genshiken is the society for the study of the graphic arts which includes manga (japanese comics), anime (Japanese cartoons) and video games. This organization of course has it's selection of interesting members, each with their differing interest weather it is sexy video games, watching anime or just trying to get in with the pretty boy. Genshiken is an anime about those who love all the things that we think of as nerdy and geeky. It is a fun look into the lives of the otaku and the many relationships that come about.

The series that I am reviewing was divided into two parts. In the first part the main characters are introduced and the basic ideas behind being an otaku are talked about. In the OVA new members join and the club starts to take a turn moving several out of school and into adulthood. The second season of the show works mainly on the ideas of maturity, taking responsibility for one's life and the relationships within the group.

I found this anime really good as it is not one to poke fun of otaku (I being an American version of such) and yet at the same time gives a fairly good explanation as to what they are in the end. I really enjoyed the interactions between characters showing that the story was well done. The only grips I have with the story is that there were still a few loose ends not tied up after the series ended that bugged me so be weary.

In the sub I was impressed by the detail they went to but found that they seemed to give little care when handling the American characters using voice actors that appeared to have only a basic grasp on English which made the supposed "Americans" look really stupid not being able to even communicate in their own language.

In the Dub they did a good job matching voices and I have few gripes. The Americans came from a different angle with them leaving the assumption that they could both speak at least a bit of Japanese erasing the language barrier but also erasing some of the reasons to provide tension and still not coming up right overall but a good adaptation as they were originally doing things in English.

Overall this is a great series and would recommend to any true Anime fans.

This is one of my favourite animes, as it combines comedy with drama incredibly effectively. It focuses on "otakus", a Japanese subculture made up of people who obsess over anime, manga & video games. It provides an insight into their lives as comparative outcasts without mocking or parodying them as often happens in American shows about nerds, etc. There is some subtle criticism, and personal quirks are shown without flinching, but the characters never become "ultimate nerd"-type caricatures, their humanity is never sacrificed.

There are several characters that make up the club for otakus in a college that this anime's about. The hardcore otaku Hanarobu Madarame, the cosplay(dressing up as anime/manga characters) maniacs Souichiro Tanaka & Kanako Ohno(introduced later). Ohno is surprisingly beautiful & well-endowed for an otaku, but ironically she's one of the most obsessive. There's the artist Mitsunori Kugayama, and the video-game otaku Makoto Kousaka, who is strange in that he is handsome and not the typical misfit you'd expect an otaku to be, and has a girlfriend- Saki Kasukabe-who isn't an otaku in any sense of the word but is forced to hang out with Genshiken because she's attached to her boyfriend. Saki is violent & bad-tempered but also kind and slowly begins to understand the otakus & even help them out, subtly changing them, making them more socially acceptable and less reclusive. The interaction between the fashionable & popular Saki and the otakus is a relationship at the very core of the series in terms of how interesting it is. Also, there's Kanji Sasahara, the most normal otaku, who is initially in denial, but slowly accepts his otaku-ness.

It's highly critically acclaimed & completely brilliant, but is meant for the more discerning viewer, so if you though "Dragonball Z" was complex, turn away.