Genshiken

"Nekomimi plz? kthx"

Man, it’s been a week without me posting something, I must be sick… Well, heres the Genshiken post I promised.

Genshiken, besides being a comedy/slice of life anime is simply an anime about Otakus. Anime fans can watch this and relate to situations that the characters find themselves in. Like how people who aren’t anime fans react to someone when the find out they’re Otakus. Or how people have to wait in line for hours on end in order to get into ComiKet, and even when inside, theres still more waiting in lines to get to the stands themselves. Genshiken touches all the different aspects of Otakuism (not the blog :P), from Gundams to Doujin, it’s all there. It also shows that some Otakus can be social outcasts due simply because they have a passion for the subject, most people can’t understand that, and dismiss them. It’s a good anime to watch if you feel yourself to be an Otaku as well, that way you can feel a connection to the characters. Genshiken chose its basic plot on a good subject that not a lot of animes have done before, but as Otakuism is becoming more accepted, we can all watch and laugh, and those people who are Otakus can watch and say “Haha, that happened to me yesterday”, it’s a good feeling.

Genshiken made a clever move, they made a fake anime to refer to during the series rather than having to refer to a real one and bother with copyright stuff. So you’ll see posters and mangas and anime DVDs in the background, all with this fake anime. Well… I thought it was clever… The OP is also really addictive, and the animation for the ED is constantly different, you’ll see minor differences in the background that has something to do with the episode. I enjoyed the fact that they went over all the different aspects of Otakuism by making each character an addict of a different type. Ones addicted to Gundams, ones addicted to Cosplaying, ones addicted to Anime and Manga, ones addicted to Doujin…etc.

Overall Genshiken is the anime for those who watch anime. It’s like a guidebook on how to be a good Otaku and I seriously felt myself reach a new level of Otakuism after watching it. Learning the abbreviations for the different levels of Gundams, the grueling lines you have to wait at anime markets and how out of the way youll go to get one issue of a manga/doujin you like. It’s all there, and it’s done well. There’s also a second season of Genshiken, but I'm not entirley sure I'm going to watch it yet, we’ll see. I’ll be posting some episodic reviews soon, like Tengen 17 and maybe Claymore, which I haven’t posted on before, ciao for niao.