Genshiken ep.6-7

December 12, 2004 | 0 Comments

I can't believe that one week away from blogging ends up leaving me with a long list of backlog but unfortunately that's the reality. There are so many episodes that I need to catch up with, it's becoming a bit taxing at times. It's good when the episode is funny like episode 6 but when the episode is annoying like the episode that follows it, I find it hard to find the motivation to blog the episode. I probably was in a bad mood when I watched episode 7 but I felt that the episode basically consist of nothing but scenes of 2 annoying twats not mixing well with the regular characters. Top this off with a short appearance of Haraguchi, and this ends up becoming an episode where the regulars (and myself) get mentally tortured by 3 unpleasant characters.

Episode 6 begins with Saki trying her best to attract Kousaka's attention away from his video game. Unfortunately, even though he momentarily comes over to give her a hug, he then leaves her in cold again when he realised that there's anime he needs to watch. The next day, Saki tries to ask Sasahara and Madarame's opinion on what a girl should do to attract an otaku's attention. So Sasahara and Madarame tells her that the girl should try to do some of the things that the guy likes. Upon hearing this, Saki decides that she wants to learn to play video game and thinks that Puyo Puyo Fever will be a good game for her. Unfortunately, despite her best attempt, Kousaka manages to beat her easily when she gets the chance to play the game with him. Upset with her boyfriend's insensitiveness, Saki can't do anything else but crying underneath the blanket.

The day after, Saki is seen looking grumpy inside the Genshiken room, causing the others to worry for their life. Meanwhile, Sasahara receives an unknown phone call, which later turns out to be from his sister. The geeks are excited to know that Sasahara has a younger sister but Sasahara tells them that they shouldn't be too excited because his sister is a Ko-Gal. The guys quickly realise the truth in Sasahara's words when they see his sister, and find that there's nothing similar between her and Sasahara. Keiko uses a lot of make-up and is quite annoying in general. She also seems to be attracted to Kousaka even after he embarrasses her and Sasahara by displaying his gigantic anime poster in public place. The episode ends with Saki and Kousaka about to get hot and heavy. Saki, however, is a bit turned off when she sees the giant poster hanging on the ceiling.

Episode 7 begins with the weird Genshiken president announcing that he intends to step down from his position and choose Madarame as his successor. Things seem to be going well for Genshiken members too since Kitagawa decides to approve their new application. Unfortunately for them, a guy called Kuchiki and another one whose name I can't bother to remember decide to join the group. Saki immediately dislikes the two losers and so do I. Never the less, in order to celebrate the arrival of the new guys, Madarame decides to take everyone for a drinking party. It is in the restaurant that the two guys reveal what a tool they really are. To begin with, Kuchiki turns out to be a militant vegetarian and is quite intolerant when other people want to order some meat dishes. He also likes to scream around like an idiot every time he opens his mouth.

On the other hand, the other new guy is seen trying to hit Saki unsuccessfully. He also reveals that the only reason he joined Genshiken is because of the girls. As if the night can't be any worse for the group, Haraguchi then appears and tries to tell Madarame that he's not happy with the fact that Madarame is the one who's been selected as the new president. So he intends to keep an eye on the group as a curator. Loser. At the end of the day, it's up to Saki to save the group. She tells the guy who's been trying to hit on her that if he can beat Kousaka in Guilty Gear game, then she'll kiss him. But if he loses, he'll have to leave Genshiken. It doesn't take a genius to figure out the result. Kuchiki also decides to stay away from the group for a while when he remembers how he embarrassed himself by singing Kujibiki Unbalanced theme song in that horrible voice of his.

Impression:

It's unfortunate that the series never really let the viewers know what Kousaka really thinks or feels in episode 6 and as a result, he ends up coming across as an inconsiderate guy in that episode. This episode also makes me think that Saki is far more compatible with Sasahara. Despite being an otaku as well, Sasahara seems to know when to stop his hobby and start interacting with other people. It's interesting how Saki becomes more and more comfortable with the Genshiken crews to the point that she often runs to them for advice. In fact, the part where she runs away to them when Kousaka starts displaying the gigantic anime poster was hilarious. That scene suggests to me that she thinks being seen with the guys is far less embarrassing than being seen with Kousaka and his giant poster. I do wonder how long she will stick around there especially when her relationship with Kousaka is becoming more and more tumultuous.

Episode 7, on the other hand, almost turned me off from the series. I really hate Kuchiki and his antics. I think the group dynamics is perfect with only 7 people plus the weird president. The addition of Kuchiki and the other guy whose name I can't bother to remember tips this nice balance. The minor appearance of the tool called Haraguchi does not help either. I also get the impression that the animation is quite uneven somehow. But then again these days it's quite normal for an anime series to have a good quality first and last episode and mediocre ones in between. Anyway, anyone who has read the manga knows that unfortunately one of the annoying characters in this episode end up becoming a permanent member of Genshiken. I have to admit this severely affects my enjoyment of the manga. I'm hoping, however, that the anime doesn't reach that point of the story.

© memento 2003