I was looking through family photos, and I noticed something peculiar.
One of my brothers, at the age of 2, had a Daitarn 3 t-shirt.
If it wasn’t for me becoming a horrible anime nerd, this would have forever remained a mystery.
Category Archives: anime
THE END (not really): Genshiken 2, Episode 12
In an effort to create an ending for the series despite the same time frame in the manga being only the beginning of what is yet to come, Sasahara’s job search was expanded on in previous episodes as well as this one. It’s a painful journey and one I can relate to.
Sasahara, after a hard fight and a reality check from Genshiken members past and present, manages to get a job as an editor, and he talks to Ogiue on the phone. How does Ogiue feel about it?
Wait what was I talking about again?
Oh right, the best Christmas present possible. Thanks, ARMS!
Genshiken 2 DVD 1 Arrived
That was FAST.
It came with the box, and a drama CD. The DVD itself is nothing special, with two episodes and some basic non-credit intro/outro extras and such.
The big selling point is the Drama CD though, because Sasahara Keiko is actually in it and is essentially the main character of the Drama CD. I am glad to see that they haven’t totally forgotten about her.
I may translate the drama CD at some point, but don’t hold your breath. I’ll at the very least try to write up a summary for it though.
If Moe is to Survive, Compromises Must be Made
Moe is associated with lolicon largely because Moe is about weakness, and little helpless girls are about the easiest way of conveying moe. We’ve seen this trend before in American comics, only it was about gruff manliness and it was called 90s EXTREEEEEEME. What better way to show that someone is a real man’s man than giving him 8 guns and arms the size of a buick with veins everywhere? What better way to show a girl has her weak side than by making her weak physically AND emotionally?
When you take a girl and make her defining traits just her weak points, that becomes her whole character. It is easy, yes, but I would dare call it lazy. Why bother actually creating character flaws when you can just make someone pure and perfect and helpless? As with 90s extreme, I feel moe, as it continues to exaggerate certain specific features, as more try to take advantage of it with half-hearted attempts, will receive a backlash. Some might welcome the backlash, that’s okay. But for those of you who do like moe, you’re going to have to accept that certain changes have to take place. Rather than the moe character, we must have the character with moe traits.
We already have these characters among us. They are the ones who we CAN see as competent, but as with all humans they are not perfect. They have emotional problems, doubts, and fears. I believe people like moe in the first place because it allows us to relate to a character on a very emotional level, that our feelings are understood by others, and manifested in characters. I believe it is a common fear among otaku and dorks in general that those in normal society are “perfect” and never have to deal with the same issues that they themselves face constantly. Moe characters if they are too extreme are too far-removed from reality, and thus lose their significant impact. If instead a moe anime uses more “normal” characters, but show that they have the same issues that otaku face, then we have more than just a marketing tool, we have something that can motivate otaku to move forward, to come to a greater understanding of others.
Genshiken, Season 3?
UPDATE 1/23/2013: ANNOUNCEMENT OF A NEW GENSHIKEN ANIME
No, this is not an announcement or rumor for a 3rd season, so please don’t misinterpret the title of this post. Instead, this post is about the possibility of a 3rd television series vs another OVA series.
As we sit here, one episode away from the end of Genshiken 2, those of us who have read the manga know that there is so much more to go through, including what is the most important plot development in Genshiken. It’s already been set in motion throughout season 2 (and even emphasized more heavily when compared to the manga). Of course, I’m talking about Sasa x Ogi.
I really think there is still enough content for another television series. We still have two entire volumes that have been untouched, we have a few stories that were skipped in Genshiken 2 (namely Keiko taking the Shiiou University exam), and we also know that Studio ARMS is not above creating new content or extending existing scenes and doing a good job of it.
If we do get an OVA though, obviously the most important thing it needs to cover is the Sasa x Ogi climax, and that alone provides enough content for two half-hour episodes, if not three.
Why I Like Ogiue, Part 1
I think perhaps it is time I talk more specifically about Ogiue. I mean, I’ve talked about Ogiue in the past before (in case you haven’t noticed), but now is the time to begin discussing the topic of WHY I like Ogiue. I’m referring to this as Part 1 because it’s inevitable that I’ll have more posts on this topic. For Part 1, I am going to focus on my emotional response to Ogiue’s character.
I have always described Ogiue to people as possessing True Moe. Now, I know moe is hard to define, as is truth, but Ogiue is a character I care for deeply because I feel a connection to her plight, her interests, and her progress from self-hating fujoshi to fujoshi girlfriend. She speaks to anyone who has ever been concerned that their otaku nature excludes them from any sort of conceivable romantic relationship, and that includes me. We all have doubts as human beings, but Ogiue’s doubts are very similar to my doubts and to see her overcome them eventually, it’s inspiring, it’s life-affirming, and really, if it were possible, I would give her a hug whenever she needed one. She is someone to whom I can relate, but she is someone else entirely. She’s also a fictional character, but even though she’s not real, her concerns are realistic, and they affect me in such a way that she’s always somewhere either in the front or the back of my mind.
Ogiue is in my opinion the most beautiful and attractive character ever, and the reason why her presence hits me so hard with respect to sex appeal is that, while a lot of her physical and personality traits are things I’ve always liked, such as tomboyishness and having the hottest eyes ever, Ogiue also possesses many traits which I never realized I liked until I read Genshiken. Her harshness, her softness, the way she wraps her doubt in a facade of hate, her problems taking criticism, her tendency to let her imagination run away with her her spurts of creative energy, and yes, even her body type all make her incredibly attractive, but it’s not because of those traits that Ogiue is beautiful.
No, those traits are beautiful because Ogiue possesses them.
One chooses not to acknowledge the mistakes of one’s adulthood
So I decided to buy the Region 2 DVD 1, with box, poster, and drama CD.
That’s $53 for 2 episodes, and over $300 for the entire series.
And a season 3 is inevitable.
This might be what you call a bad idea.
You Too Can Be Straight for Oscar
I’d like to design an eroge based on 70s-era shoujo manga and anime, the kind with impossibly sparkly eyes and whispy bodies and extreme melodrama. The sad(?) fact is, that computers simply were not advanced enough in the 70s to pull this off, so we must make up for lost time
The plot would be of that time period, and rather than the stereotypes we get today with the loli, the tsundere, the loli tsundere, and all that, it would incorporate common character types of 70s shoujo as well.
And the sex would involve rose petals flying everywhere and symbolic lightning.
Ogiue, Complex Emotions, Sexiness, such is Genshiken 2 Episode 11
Episode 11 of our illustrious second season of Genshiken covers one of the best Ogiue-themed chapters of the manga, Ogiue selling her doujinshi at Comifes. Watching her relationship with Sasahara further develop is such a joy, even though I’ve seen it all before.
With the introduction of Ogiue’s junior high “friends” though, they’ve set the stage for a Genshiken 3 or at least a handful of OVAs. They absolutely cannot let this plot thread dangle.
Ogiue’s “friends'” names, by the way, are Nakajima and Shigeta. Nakajima is voiced by Endo Aya and Shigeta is voiced by Iguchi Yuuka. Also, with how close those two are, I wonder if Nakajima and Shigeta are, shall we say, pitching for the other team.
Also, Shiro recently made a post about the joy that is a certain tomboyish Gundam SEED character with wet hair (who is also one of my favorite characters), and also the excellence of anime girls with wet hair in general. Good timing, for Genshiken 2 11 also brings this.
Yeah.
I’m done.
A quick summary of my favorite characters
OGIUE MANIAX 