Genshiken OVA

Title:Genshiken OVA
Overall:Buy
Keywords: , , , , , , , , ,
Notables: Animation - Media Factory
HIYAMA Nobuyuki
ISHIDA Akira
KAWASUMI Ayako
MIZUHASHI Kaori
OHYAMA Takanori
R1 License - Media Blasters
SAIGA Mitsuki
SEKI Tomokazu
YUKINO Satsuki
A new school term has started and all of the university clubs are out to recruit new members. Genshiken is no exception to needing new members, should the anti-otaku Saki-san allow it. Genshiken gets two new members, both rejects from other clubs. Kuchiki, having been rejected by Saki-san the previous year, returns after leaving the anime club and everyone is stunned when Saki-san lets him in. The manga club then pawns off one of its troublesome female members, Ogiue-san. She states she hates otaku, especially female otaku with their "homo" obsession for yaoi and shounen ai materials. Despite this, she's there to join their club. Will Genshiken survive its two newest and strangest members?
[3 OVA episodes, based on the manga of the same title.]
[edit] The ↗Genshiken & ↗Kujibiki Unbalance franchise:

Original story: Series in a series:
OverallArtAnimationCharacter Design MusicSeries StoryEpisode StoryReviewer
Rent 8 7 7 7 7 8 Ggultra2764 [series:1505#1552]
This was a decent continuation of the Genshiken series. Here, we have two new members introduced to the club in the form of Ogiue and Kukichi. Kukichi serves little more as a background character to the series for the most part so there isn't really much to discuss with him. Ogiue, on the other hand, brings about a new type of person for the club to deal with thanks to her closet otaku fandom as she proclaims she hates otaku, despite some of her actions contradicting those claims such as her interest in yaoi manga. There's also an episode that focuses on Madarame becoming more conscious of his personal appearance when he interacts with Saki and doing what he can to correct it. What I have a problem with though is that the visual quality to the OAVs is down a notch with character designs having more simpler details compared to the first TV series. Still, the introduction of Ogiue was a big plus of the OAVs as I assume she will still be given focus in Genshiken 2.

Last updated Thursday, October 07 2010. Created Thursday, October 07 2010.
Unevaluated Stretch [series:1505#628]
(One-and-a-half episodes watched):

Apparently these are faithful representations of the original manga, but I have never read those and based my expectations on the first season TV series. As such, I was disappointed. For example, I liked the way Madarame was the most militantly shameless otaku--that made him my favorite character. But here he gets uncomfortable about whether the clothes he's wearing are fashionable? That's not the same character I remember. Kuchiki just seems to act like an idiot--not an otaku idiot (he never seems to do much related to anime, games or manga) just an idiot idiot. I'm not sure what to make of Ogiue. Still, anything related to Genshiken is worth watching, even if the characters have undergone some sort of strange transformation. Yes, I was disappointed--but not disappointed because I didn't feel these OVAs were good, rather because I didn't feel they were AS good as the original series (my expectations had been very high).

Last updated Thursday, November 15 2007. Created Wednesday, November 14 2007.
Buy 7 7 7 7 8 8 AstroNerdBoy [series:1505#436]

Being a fan of the manga, the fact that the anime writers kept pretty faithful to the manga stories was a real plus for me. The modified story (episode 2) with Madarame and Ogiue buying new clothing was the weakest of the lot, since the writers stretched things out a bit much and had some not so great filler, but even then, I still enjoyed the episode. There is a reason I love the Genshiken manga so much and the anime writers seemed to know what that was and gave it to me in the anime.

On the down side, for an OVA series, this didn't have the higher production values I'd expect from an OVA series. Art, animation, and even character designs at times were not very good to me and that was a distraction a few times. Still, the positive story adaptation did allow me to overcome this.

Its clear that this OVA series was done not only to give Genshiken fans a bone, but also to set up the forthcoming 2nd TV series later in 2007. The introduction of Ogiue in the manga was a real plus and her introduction in the anime was equally so.

One additional thought regarding this anime. The first episode with the introduction of Ogiue is straight from the manga. As such, I was amazed at how much Del Rey had toned down their adaptation when it came to the homosexual topics of yaoi and shounen ai doujinshi. Ogiue is screaming in anger about fangirls and their obsession with "homos" (yes, she actually says that in the Japanese). My understanding is that she says this in the manga as well, but Del Rey played it "PC" and removed that term, choosing to use "queer" or "queers" instead of "homo" or "homos." To me, the original term in the Japanese is more funny and better shows the harshness of Ogiue's feelings on the matter. I predict that Media Blasters will also tone down the term when they release the R1 version of the anime.

Bottom line: More Genshiken goodness with some less than impressive art and animation. The anime writers made sure to follow the manga stories pretty well, making this a very enjoyable adaptation in the franchise. As such, I give it a "Buy."

Last updated Sunday, July 29 2007. Created Wednesday, March 28 2007.


Other Sites
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Official Japanese Series Web Site http://www.genshiken.info/

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