Genshiken ep.2

October 25, 2004 | 5 Comments

As I mentioned before, I don't have that much time to blog right now so I'm afraid most of my summaries are going to be shorter from now on. Anyway, onto the series itself, the second episode finally features the actual opening for Genshiken. In comparison to Kujibiki Unbalance, however, this is not as memorable. The opening simply shows the various characters going about their daily routine or doing some anime/manga/video-game activities. The song, My Pace Daiou is okay though. I'll probably grow to like it in the future. Animation-wise, there's nothing earth shattering here. I know some people have said that the series is kind of boring because of its lack of animation. However, I think the simple animation works well with the laid-back nature of the series.

In this episode, the Genshiken geeks decide to take Sasahara to Akihabara to look for some doujinshi while Kousaka has to take Saki shopping at Harajuku. An interesting juxtapose happens here as Saki is seen trying to decide which dress she wants to buy while Sasahara wonders around a bookshop trying to decide which doujinshi he wants to buy. In the second part of the episode, Saki tells Sasahara and other Genshiken members that she finds anime porn in Kousaka's room. She finds this unacceptable because well, it's anime. So it's up to Madarame to convince her that it's perfectly okay to fantasize about anime characters, much to Saki's horror. There's also a funny scene where the geeks suddenly finds Saki attractive after they find out that Saki is a real-life example of the 'childhood friend' characters that are often found in anime series.

Impression:

This episode is great. It definitely highlights the gap between anime fans and non-fans. I've heard some of the things that Saki says in this episode from non-anime fans. Things like "I don't understand how you can find an animated character to be attractive", etc. At the same time, I think the otaku reaction in this episode is a little bit over the top. I don't think I've ever meet anime fans who wet themselves when they see someone who they think is a real-life representation of an anime character. And I guess in a way, I think that's just taking things a bit too far. I like to separate my anime hobby away from my real life. I think there is a danger of not being able to tell which one is real and which one is not once you start mixing up the two.

Posted by Garten

Comments

October 26, 2004 | Momotato wrote:

Good read, as usual.

The OP song by the way is My Pace Daiou, not Paizu. The kana is written pe-su, which is how pace is written over there.

October 26, 2004 | Garten wrote:

Yeah, my mistake. For some reason I keep thinking that the romanization of ペーズ is 'Paizu'.

BTW, Momotato, if you see this again, I've always wondered about this: Pe-su is pace and Daio is the great king. So is it actually possible to translate 'My Pace Daiou' into a sentence that actually makes sense in English?

October 26, 2004 | Momotato wrote:

The -implied- sentence meaning could be "A great king that takes things at his own pace."

But a direct sentence translation of just My Pace Daiou, no, I don't think it's possible.

October 26, 2004 | Garten wrote:

I thought it was impossible. But thanks for the explanation of the implied meaning.

November 21, 2004 | Ai Ling wrote:

Considering "Kujibiki Unbalance" (Kujian) is the "hot anime" that's currently running in their world, it's a bit unfair (IMHO) to compare its opening with that of Genshiken. :) Do you know, I read your review first before downloading, and I honestly thought that Kujian was a "real" anime until I saw two episodes of the show! :)