Genshiken

Aaaah I love that show (and the manga, too, but I only got three or four volumes in). I definitely identified with Ohno the most at the beginning of the series but I started to identify with Ogiue a little bit towards the end with the embarassing fanfic and whatnot XD

Apparently Ogiue gets really into Fullmetal Alchemist and Slam Dunk after her "dark" side is revealed.

listmaker: I too, thought that Madarame and Angela shoould hook up. Especially with how she kinda flirts with him in the anime.

So you know in the first volume how Shimoku gave some fake names to preferred manga, anime, and games for members of the Genshiken? Well, the Wikipedia page gave the real names in the links.

• Sasahara: Hunter X Hunter, Berserk, Patlabor, Dragon Quest III, KOF '95
• Kousaka: Jojos Bizarre Adventure, Darkstalkers, Street Fighter II, Armored Core
• Kasukabe: Ping Pong Club, Crest of the Royal Family

More later. I also looked up the people who did the doujin in the back of Volume 6. Notable are the people who did Hellsing and Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei.

edited 30th Apr '09 9:40:21 PM by Magus

Hey, you know what character I liked? Keiko.

What I found interesting about her is that she pretty much gave up the whole "normal girl" thing to become an otaku. Ostensibly, all of this is for her Kousaka crush, but in the last couple of volumes I don't think she even mentions him once.

The way I see it, she gives up normalcy to become an otaku so...she doesn't need to have a boyfriend, and she's allowed to read pornographic manga. In other words, she can be a pervert with no one completely weirding out. In a weird kind of way, she can actually be herself. She couldn't do that stuff when she was a "normal" girl.

Well, I haven't read the manga, but I'd consider that evidence that something around her is horribly fucked up — either she is, or her non-fangirl friends are, or Japanese culture is. Possibly some combination.

It must be noted that aside from their otaku habits and media tastes, the Genshiken members aren't at all that weird. They're shown to interact well with each other and with those outside their group (i.e. they're not socially impaired) and most if not all of them show no problem whatsoever with their studies, so their interests aren't taking too much away from their lives. That's more than some of us (myself included) can claim.

I seem to be getting the impression that this show is the polar opposite twin of Welcome To The NHK.

Charlatan: Pretty much. Welcome To The NHK is like the Anti-Genshiken.

Or you could call it the "Dark Side" of Genshiken.

edited 4th May '09 7:08:08 PM by Galeros

Somehow my life seems to feature elements from both Genshiken and NHK.

Is NHK just a dark show about otaku, or is it expressly critical of otaku?

edited 4th May '09 7:16:01 PM by Charlatan

Watch it and find out. It's both.

I'm suspicious. I heard that sales of the show increased substantially after they included one of those bloody naughty figurines with the DVD set or something like that.

edited 4th May '09 7:22:03 PM by Charlatan

I could see how someone like Madarame could have easily turned into someone like Yamazaki had his life gone differently. Possible the same with Sasahara and Satou, but I am not 100% on that one.

Overall, I really enjoyed both series(And their Manga's, and NHK's novel). I recommend you check them both out. Watching one right after the other might cause some Mood Whiplash though.

edited 4th May '09 7:25:08 PM by Galeros

edit: Isn't the thinpak free from the horrible DVD boxart?

The show itself isn't bad, although I'm of the opinion that the book is better. Give it a look and see for yourself.

edited 4th May '09 7:27:58 PM by English Ivy

Is the wankfodder knockoff merchandise or officially sanctioned?

I'll see if I can nab the book. Somehow I find the mention of badly Off-Model animation in the show ironic.

EI: I liked the novel a lot too. It did not include as much about Otaku as either the Manga or Anime, so it came across as being less critical of them than the Manga or Anime. I liked the ending the best though. One of the best endings in a book I have ever read.

The book has its... quirks as well, namely the translation. I've noticed that Tokyopop's novels are all translated badly, which is a shame.

EI: I felt the translation was fine, but oh well.

The Manga was very interesting, and had plots that were not in either the novel or anime. It expands of Satou's relationship with Kashiwa-Senpai even more.

EDIT: Maybe these posts should be in the NHK thread.

edited 4th May '09 7:33:08 PM by Galeros

I always had the impression that Genshiken was more of a 'day-in-the-life-of-an-otaku' thing while NHK was a deconstruction/analysis.

...I will give a Mo W to anyone who fiddles around with the pages so that the Darth Wiki entries for Genshiken redirects to Welcome To The NHK.

If I knew how to, I might. But I do not know if that is allowed.

Did it.

You deserve a Made of Win Magus!

Wait, now someone needs to make it so that a Sugar Wiki link from NHK links to Genshiken.

edited 12th May '09 5:52:18 PM by Galeros

Is it really MOW-worthy if it's stated beforehand?

I dunno, he gets one anyways.