Genshiken ep.8-9

December 28, 2004 | 2 Comments

These two episodes are completely different from each other that one must wonder if it was created by the same people. Hell, halfway through episode 8, I wonder if the animators purposedly make the episode looks ugly because I don't know any graphic artist who'll purposedly jeopardising their career by creating such a sub-par arts unless the art director and the producer are aware of the intention. The episode also somewhat boring despite my interest in plastic-model building. Episode 9, on the other hand, is quite fun. In fact, the last episode I remember being this entertaining was episode 5. Both episode, however, shares the same theme of how members of Genshiken finds Saki unapproachable. Having said that, she does make some small attempts to understand the guys better. So while she has her flaws, she's not exactly a bad character either.

Episode 8 begins with Saki coming to the Genshiken room only to find Madarame and Kugapi playing video games. Ohno, Sasahara, and Tanaka then arrive to show off their latest purchase: plastic model kits/plamos. Saki, however, wonders why they are so excited about toys like that. So Tanaka has to explain how unlike toys, plamos have to be built so it's more personal to those who built them. Saki, of course, can't care less. The next day, Tanaka is seen teaching Ohno and Sasahara step by step in building their model. They, however, become nervous when Saki comes into the room because she inadvertently dropped Tanaka's plamo while playing with it the day before. Feeling that she's out of place, Saki decides to get out of the room and smoke-chained her way. While doing so, she encounters Kitagawa who tells her that the other clubs next to Genshiken have complained that their room smells like paint thinners.

Because of this, the guys end up doing their paiting outside the room. This however, still does not please Kitagawa so she and Saki have another mouthful confrontation with one another. Despite the problem that they had to go through, Ohno and Sasahara never the less manage to complete their creation. However, upon seeing the finished model, Saki can't contain her curiosity and asks Ohno if she can touch it. Ohno seems to hesitate but allows Saki to touch it anyway. Unfortunately for her, Saki ends up breaking one of the leg joints of the model. Ohno is obviously sad about it because she spent hours building the model. But Saki can't understand this effort and thinks that she can just buy Ohno a new model to make up for it. So it's up to Madarame to explain the emotional attachment that the plamo has to its builder. Saki then agrees to do a favour for Ohno but when she finds out that she has to cosplay, she refuses.

In episode 9, Madarame comes to the Genshiken room after buying some ero magazines only to find out that Saki is the only person in the room. At first he is weirded out with the situation since this is the first time the two are alone in the room. However, he remembers that it's been a year since she's been with Genshiken so he makes an attempt to converse with her. He asks Saki if she watched yesterday's Kujibiki Unbalance and surprisingly she did, although she thinks there's nothing special about it. So Madarame ends up pointing out what a masterpiece the episode is and manages to make Saki agrees with him. Well, it turns out the whole thing turns out to be his imagination since in reality, Saki remains quiet while reading manga. Madarame then tries to find something he can talk about like the manga that Saki reads or talking about the Kujibiki on TV. However, she remains unresponsive and very different from the Saki in Madarame's imagination.

Later on that day, Madarame notices that there is a hair sticking out of Saki's nose. However, he can't gather the courage to tell her about it. So he ends up imagining Saki as a character in a dating game and thinks how easy things would have been had this is a game situation. Unfortunately for him, this is a reality and judging from his past, he often acts in inconsiderate manner to the point that girls found him repulsive. Never the less, he is unable to stop his imagination to take over and believes that Saki will thank him if he pulls the hair out of her nose. Unfortunately for Madarame, Saki is quite engrossed in the manga so she ends up seeing him as some kind of monster and proceeds to punch him. When she realises what she's done, however, she becomes apologetic. Madarame, on the other hand, tries to pretend that it doesn't hurt despite his swollen face. In the end, however, he manages to tell her about her nose hair.

Impression:

Episode 8 is probably the worst episode in the series, animation-wise. To top it off, the series lack the humour that characterise the first 5 episodes of the series. The only saving grace for the episode is the information on plamos building. But since I've done this kind of model building, I don't find the information to be much of a use. Episode 9, on the other hand, is a return to form for the series. While I didn't exactly laugh out-loud, it still amuse me to see Madarame and his over-active imagination. The part where imaginary Saki acts embarassed is a complete contrast to her real personality when she rejects Madarame's drink offer, for example. Never the less, it was interesting to see her reading a manga up to the tenth volume, no less! Maybe in time she'll be assimilated to the group. Okay, so maybe that's kind of pushing it but some people that I know started off because of manga addiction.

© memento 2003