Kujibiki Unbalance
Apparently, Kujibiki Unbalance was created as a fictional anime series to be watched by the cast of Genshiken--in other words, a series within a series. But whereas only brief clips from KU appear within Genshiken, somehow three complete episodes of KU have been produced. In theory, KU is a full 26 episodes long (and is based on a manga), with the three actual episodes yanked at random from it's schedule. If I understood correctly, we have what seems to be episodes 1, 21, and 25--each R1 Genshiken DVD includes one KU episode as a bonus. Does this make any sense? If not, well, join the club, because KU as a whole doesn't make a whole lot of sense. If the OP sequence is any indicator (and I like the OP song, by the way), we can expect romance, sci-fi, martial arts, magic, and who-knows-what-else (mushrooms?). Episode one was sometimes wacky... Would it have been funnier, I wonder, if I'd had some sort of idea just how seriously it should be taken? Episode 2--I mean 21--was all over the place. Apparently the philosophy at this school is that the best way to teach a student is through competition, and, with little or no warning, teams are asked to do everything from creating the most popular website possible to taking part in swimming races with strange aliens. Episode 3 (25), the supposedly next-to-last episode of the series, seemed fairly touching--have I already begun to empathize with these characters after a mere two disjointed episodes, or is it so stereotypically melodramatic that my feelings are being manipulated somehow? Having finally seen all of Genshiken, it's clear that most of KU is composed of original stuff. Genshiken is only twelve episodes long, after all, and including all of the clips from KU would have taken up a fourth of it's airtime! Apparently this show has proven so popular that a spinoff Kujibiki Unbalance series is in the works.
My favorite line: "Mushrooms will always be by your side as your friend, mentor and entertainer" --Tokino
Last updated Friday, May 26 2006. Created Tuesday, February 21 2006.
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