Otakuism

So the final volume of Genshiken came out in English a couple weeks ago and I finally got my hands on it to read recently. This final volume is a perfect send-off for the series, with the return of old characters and plots while providing just the right amount of closure.

The best part of this volume was probably the return of Sue and her hilarious antics. Angela forces Ogiue to stay with Sue for a night to see just how weird Sue can get, from speaking random Japanese to stealing Ogiue’s panties (the best running joke of the series). Aside from all the jokes there’s also a great emotional bond formed between Ogiue and Sue. The two together are definitely a double-moe knockout. Ogiue also takes her first step towards being an actual manga artist and it was nice to see her developing to be more passionate about her art.

This volume also featured the culmination of Madarame and Saki’s forbidden relationship, at least in Madarame’s eyes. He never gets up the nerve to confess to Saki, but instead chooses to appreciate the strong friendship he’s formed with her. I find something very admirable in Madarame’s stoic resignation of his love, and hope he’ll be able to hook up with someone someday. Angela would do him good.

The second to last chapter features no words at all, just scenes of the gang having fun and reflected. You really have to appreciate Genshiken’s powerful storytelling in that it doesn’t even need words to convey its powerful emotions. Kio Shimoku’s work here in these final chapters is truly beautiful. And now it’s time for the final chapter, where much tears are shed and goodbye’s are said. It’s very much a “life goes on” ending, which is the best you can get from a manga like Genshiken. The reappearance of the spying from the other room gag was a nice way to bring things full circle. Ogiue was also made President! Moe-est president ever.

Genshiken is definitely one of my favorite manga’s. Nothing else has come so close to accurately portraying the otaku lifestyle. While the relationships in the second half may have diluted this theme, it seems natural to me that as people grow older new relationships open up and become important. Hobbies become more a part of our life rather than consuming it. I really hope the final chapters of Genshiken are animated soon, as these really are some of the best parts of the show and I want to see how the studio would put their unique twist on them. Even more Ogiue fanservice please.

Best ” OVA ” - ARIA the Arietta

Ok, actually ARIA the Arietta was probably the only OVA from this year I saw, but it doesn’t mean it wasn’t good. Like everything about ARIA, it was great; calming, funny, whimsical, and slightly melancholic. Fortunately the OVA did not signal the end of the great ARIA franchise, but as a detour on towards better things. I’m sure almost everyone will be checking out ORIGINATION in the coming weeks.

Best ” OVA that didn’t come out this year but I finally saw ” - Giant Robo

Now tell me that’s not awesome?

Best ” Artsy Show ” - Sayonara Zetsubou-sensei

It was a toss up between Sayonara Zetsubuo-sensei and ef ~ a tale of memories ~ for this category, but ultimately I enjoyed SZS’s stylistic flair more. From the orgasmically surreal OP (BURE BURE BURE BURE) to the several design quirks that characterize Akiyuki Shinbo’s work, it is impossible to say SZS didn’t have style. The style could either enhance a joke to something truly hilarious, make an incromphrensible joke even more cryptic, or stand alone in silent beauty. I’m looking forward to see what the second season will showcase in its artistic melting pot, but as in SZS tradition I have to ask: SUBS?!

Best ” I couldn’t believe it could turn out this bad show ” - Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS

It’s amazing to see how StrikerS went from the darling anime of the year to being derided by almost everyone, even hardcore fans. I tried to put up with it, but there were just too many flaws and I dropped it shortly after Vivio was introduced. The endless training, introduction of too many characters, poor villians, shoddy animation, bad pacing, Vivio, disappearance of old characters we loved; all a perfect mixture of fail. The only good things to come out of StrikerS were Subaru and Teana; Subaru’s a great character all around who deserves a better show, and Teana just because I think her design is sexy. They do make one hell of a lesbian couple, another thing that couldn’t save StrikerS.

Best ” Show that’s halfway finished ” - Code Geass

Great plot, great action, great characters, great pizza, great ass. I look forward to more in the spring.

Best ” Honi Honi ” - Potemayo

I had to give Potemayo something. There is not a more sugary sweet, diabetes inducing moeblob in all of anime. The show never took itself seriously and had fun with its characters, creating a great comedy show all around. Also desperately in need of a second season.

Best ” Romance Show ” - Genshiken 2

I’m not much of a romance guy. Too much romance in anime seems forced and unnatural to me, and often times it is, but Genshiken 2 got romance right. Genshiken had the benefit of being a slice-of-life/romance show, so it never had to rely on romantic intrigues to carry the story but could also insert gundam references. The natural love between Ohno and Tanaka and Sasahara and Ogiue grew throughout the series, and in the case of the later couple hasn’t even come to fruition yet. Hopefully we’ll get some OVA’s to finish up that story.

Best ” Other show made by SHAFT this year ” - Hidamari Sketch

For that other awesome show made this year by SHAFT. Also can’t wait for the second season airing soon.

Best ” Show of the Year ” - Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann

Could there be anything else but Gurren-Lagann for best show of the year? Everything about it is perfect. Stellar animation, manly GAR characters, and an epic plot that encompasses the entire universe. It had a couple problems in pacing halfway through, but nothing could stop this juggernaut from reaching the top. The spirit of this show - its characters, its emotions, and its many great monologues - will definitely stay with me in the coming year.

On a personal note, it’s been a pretty good year overall. The blog reached one year old. Readership increased dramatically, declined dramatically, and finally leveled of. My fanboyism of Type-moon reached new heights with the Fate/stay Night patch, but due to the lack of any new games has settled down to a kind of pessimistic cynicism. My fanboyism in touhou was similar, with much reading of doujinshi and playing of games at the beginning of the year leading to me not even thinking about touhou now. Too much too fast I guess. I discovered a love for mecha and tokusatsu which does continue now and have been watching as much as I can in those areas, which has definitely been reflected in the blog. And I got a cute girlfriend who I love, which was the best part of the year. And she has seen the blog and agrees: otaku make great boyfriends.

Finally, in mimicry of what one of my favorite bloggers does, let’s look at which post each month you readers most commented on and, I assume, liked.

January - Series Review: Black Lagoon Second Barrage - several people seemed to agree with me on how great this anime was. A third season is still sorely missed.

February - Saigar Update: Quarterfinals Match 3 aka. Good Night Sweet Prince - Archer’s lost in Saigar prompts a discussion on what the hell GAR is.

March - Greatest Haruhi Pic Evar - still rings true.

April - I have found it! - video of the first live action attempt at Lucky Star dance. Not to be viewed by the faint of heart.

May - Claymore Manga: Awesome, Claymore Anime: Meh - everyone agrees the girls of Claymore are moe.

June - Game Review: Fate/stay Night - FATE Route - still waiting for UBW patch.

July - Impressions: Sayonara Zetsubuo Sensei - the beginning of the madness.

August - One Year Anniversary Extravaganza - looking back, it wasn’t that big of an extravaganza.

September - Final Thoughts on Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann - the end of a legend.

October - Tomoya’s Dating a Retarded Person - more people really need to watch It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

November - Prelude to the Ultimate Battle of Manliness V.2 - it’s on in a couple of days.

December - I Hate Keyches - I love inventing new words.

Well, that’s it for 2007. Happy new year everyone and I’ll see you in 2008!

Today’s random Kamen Rider kamen goes to Genshiken 2 with its feature of a cosplaying Garren from Kamen Rider Blade, next to some other non-descript riders. Fear all of my knowledge.

Non-sequitars aside, this was a really good episode of Genshiken. Yes, every episode is good, but I liked this one a lot. Rarely in anime do you see a realistic relationship; not even shoujo gets it right half the time. The anime really changed things in regards to the manga here. In the manga it was already assumed that Tanaka and Ohno were dating, it just needed to be revealed to the rest of the cast. The anime makes Tanaka and Ohno not even sure of their relationship, moreso with Tanaka, and goes the completely unique route of having the love confession over an eroge! How many of you guys wish your girlfriend asked to play eroge with you? Or should that be changed to wish you just had a girlfriend?

The makeout scene was a little too porno for my tastes, especially the slurping sounds, but it does emphasize the consumation of the relationship and I loved Tanaka’s “I learned kissing from eroge” line. Kuchiki was also great at the end, with fake breasts flying and everything. The anime really seems to have more of a handle on his character, rather than how much of a non-person he is in the manga. So far Genshiken 2 has been a perfect manga adaption for me: sticks to the plot but introduces enough subtle changes, character innuendoes, and jokes unique to animation that makes the whole story fun to see again. Next week is the hilariously disturbing debut of the Sasahara-Madarame yaoi couple. Oh what jokes will ensue from there?

Genshiken 2’s OP is just flat out, awesomely perfect. The gundam references were great, I had to laugh at the comiket spaceship, and the Sasahara vs. Madarame bit was exciting. Sasahara was looking pretty manly there. Actually, Sasahara was cool this whole episode. The comiket arc really brings out the best in him. The music is also great, more so because it fits the images and sounds better than it would alone. Also had to love the incredibly sexy fanservice this episode. Shotacon is A-Ok when the President is that hawt. I think the OP and the sexy fanservice had the most budget out of both episodes so far, not that there’s anything wrong with that.