Category Archives: ogiue

Genchoken: Otaku na Radio

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I apologize for not having posted about this previously. Somehow it always escapes me.

During Genshiken 2’s run, Animate TV WEB did a bi-weekly radio show with Mizuhashi Kaori (Ogiue) and Hiyama Nobuyuki (Madarame), where they discuss various aspects of otaku culture and receive letters from otaku. Topics include “Moekipedia,” “Normal people are weird,” and a Fujoshi corner.

Often times, there would be tricks using the voice actors. One episode had Ogiue fantasizing about Shishioh Guy x Madarame. Another episode had the phrase “Ogiue Chika-sensei.”

Mm.

The last episode actually has the original voices of the Vocaloid mascots Hatsune Miku and Kagamine Rin.

The official site is at http://www.animate.tv/digital/web_radio/detail_114.html so if you can understand Japanese, please have a listen.

Why I Like Ogiue, Part 2

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Last time I talked about the reasons that Ogiue’s overall character captivated me, but this time I’m going to discuss the path my obsession took, from beginning to end. This might just double as a Genshiken review without me realizing it.

I first discovered Genshiken due to a combination of the Jinmei Juushin scanlation of the first volume and the fansubs for the first series appearing online. Genshiken was great. I loved how it was a somewhat painful look at the fandom, that I enjoyed it and both lamented my own status as anime fan because of it. I particularly liked the Opening, which was so very appropriate for a series about otaku. I showed it to friends, they enjoyed it as well, and many good times were had.

Then I went to Japan to study, and it is there that I found Ogiue.

My first exposure to Ogiue was in the ending credits to the last episode of the first Genshiken anime, prior to my staying in Japan. I think this is probably where a lot of people first saw her. Seeing as she was facing away from the screen, my initial reaction was towards her hair. I worried that her unrealistic hair style meant that she was an unrealistic character, and that it would mark a downhill trend for Genshiken.

Ha.

Anyway, in the city where I lived in Japan, I found a Book Off, and there I found Genshiken Volume 5. I had read previously that the anime covered roughly volumes 1-4, so I figured I could start with 5 and not lose too much. So my initial exposure to Ogiue wasn’t “I’m Ogiue and I hate otaku,” but rather her hesitant reach towards the stack of yaoi doujinshi, Saki waving a hand through her fude, and the tears on her face during the troublesome times of creating their first doujinshi. Of course, above all that the first thing I noticed were her eyes, and as I’ve said in the previous post in this series, I have a, ah, shall we say, preference for those kinds of eyes.

So volume 5 came and went, and then I found out volume 6 was coming out soon. I bought the normal edition because at the time, I was a fan of Ogiue, but I wasn’t a major fan, and I figured, what was the big loss?

Of course, now I want to go back in time and force myself to cut class to obtain it.

While volume 5 had not made me into the Ogiue fan I am today, volume 6 was the catalyst, and it all began with her scene of walking in on Sasahara pulling on Madarame’s necktie. Ogiue’s rampant fantasizing was one of the most wonderful things I’d have ever seen, and still is today. Anyone who talked to me at that time knew how much amazing I thought that one scene was. This isn’t even mentioning how great the rest of volume 6 was, with the disguised Ogiue, the cosplay Ogiue, and of course the graduation of Madarame, Tanaka, and Kugayama. That last one isn’t Ogiue-related but still.

It was around this time that I finally accepted myself as an otaku. I had been walking to school, and the only thought I had was, “How would I make SRW animations for Zambot 3?” Then I stopped myself, realizing that if this was the highest priority in my mind, then what could I be other than an otaku? It’s not something I proudly declare or aspire to be, it’s something that I simply am. These feelings of discovery and change I believe coincided with my discovery of Ogiue such that her impact became that much more significant.

Volume 6 was done, and I began turning directly to the actual Monthly Afternoon serial magazines to get my fix. I think somewhere around this time, I was in Akihabara with Shingo from Heisei Democracy and Kransom from welcome datacomp, and I completed my back catalog, with volumes 1-4 and the official Genshiken guide book.

My memory is a little hazy, and I don’t remember if I bought Genshiken volume 7 while I was in Japan, or while I was back in America, but eventually I had to return home, and began simply importing issues of Monthly Afternoon. Volume 7 came out, and it was once again incredible, further cementing my love for Ogiue’s character.

Then, in the final chapter, seeing Ogiue so very happy, seeing all she had gone through, and most of all, seeing her as one extremely sexy Kaichou, it was about as satisfying a series ending as I could have hoped for.

Except it wasn’t over.

For those of you who’ve read Del Rey’s releases, the way I and anyone else who kept up with Monthly Afternoon was a little different from the way you did. After the contents of Volume 7, there was originally just enough content for one final volume, so we thought it would be an 8-volume series. Imagine our surprise, then, when we found out that Volume 8 would contain two, new, never-before-seen chapters, and that there would be a Volume 9! It was a good day for Genshiken fans. On top of that, they were releasing a Drama CD, with Ogiue! If Ogiue had a voice, surely that meant an anime would be on its way! And of course, I wanted nothing more than to see an animated Ogiue.

The new content of Volume 8 had me floored. I remember sitting in a Chipotle, eating a burrito with Genshiken volume 8 in hand, my jaw wide open as I read

“Our date’s not over yet.”

And then Volume 9 was practically all new content, and once more I read the ending.

Truly, it was a good time.

Genshiken Novel Announced!

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The official Genshiken website announced 2 days ago that a Genshiken novel is on its way!

Light Novel Genshiken: Hainyuuranjin no Yabou ~The Return of Otaku~

Release date: January 22nd, 2008

Cover Artist: Kio Shimoku (of course)

Author: Iida Kazutoshi

Note: The Japanese title is some kind of horrible pun that I can’t quite figure out, so I can’t give a proper translation of the title. It means something like “Ambition to be the Orchid Endosperm.” Note that this is not what the kanji actually mean if you actually read it, but that I suspect they were going for something else. Most likely, it translates to something like “Ambition of the Dutch Pilgrimage.” That also doesn’t make too much sense.

My initial suspicion was that it was a play on Hi-Nu, as in Hi-Nu Gundam.

THE END (not really): Genshiken 2, Episode 12

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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!

What did I do for Christmas?

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Well, some family stuff, but that’s not really a concern for this blog.

The important thing is I’ve been buying Ogiue-related imagery from dlsite.

Someone please stop me.

Genshiken 2 DVD 1 Arrived

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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.

Genshiken, Season 3?

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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.

On Relationships in Genshiken

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Genshiken walks a dangerous line by having almost all of its members end up in romantic relationships throughout the course of its run. I have seen the occasional criticism from both English-reading and Japanese-reading people that perhaps the tale of Ogiue is too idealistic, and that at that point Genshiken moved from being a realistic portrayal of otaku to being a sort of wish fulfillment for otaku. While I think that there is a good deal of optimism within Genshiken, I don’t think it’s unrealistic for these incredibly hardcore otaku who comprise Genshiken to have boyfriends and girlfriends, for one important reason: All of them put effort either before or during their relationships.

Saki and Kohsaka are the most normal couple by far, but Saki’s acceptance of otaku has largely to do with her interaction with Kohsaka. They got together fairly simply, and largely due to physical attraction, but the fact that they stayed together through 4 years and their interactions when on-panel show that a lot of progress is made that we are not immediately aware of as readers.

Tanaka and Ohno, even disregarding the anime’s interpretation of how they got together, have a relationship that was fostered through continuous friendship and time spent together. Tanaka not only has good qualities about him, but he has shown these good qualities to Ohno.

And finally Sasahara and Ogiue. While I understand very well the difficulty of a relationship with someone who is into primarily boys’ love, I also understand that Sasahara and Ogiue make a concerted effort to understand and support each other. The entire build up to Sasahara alone with Ogiue in her room was made up of sweat and tears and painful amounts of soul-bearing. And even after that, they know that a relationship isn’t that easy, but to them it’s well worth it.

Otaku being in relationships with attractive individuals isn’t unrealistic, but being in relationships without putting forth any effort IS unrealistic. I’m not saying that romantic relationships are a must for otaku, but then again I am. Otaku are people too, after all.

Why I Like Ogiue, Part 1

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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

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Argh

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.