Genshiken: The Society for the Study of Modern Visual Culture

I discovered Genshiken when I came across the title on an online playlist of anime themes. Curious, I set about to look for fansubs. Fansubs are always a great source of anime when it isn't available locally. Also, I'm the type who likes my anime in the original Japanese dubs because I think I get more of the emotion from the way the characters are voiced in Japanese. The only problem is I don't speak Japanese, so I mostly rely on fansubs for translations. The other extra feature many fansubbers include is short explanations of the context of some of the conversations. Many cultural nuances can't be captured by the translated English dubs. Fansubs have short notes during the scene to explain what's going on and what the subtle jokes refer to.

Anyway, going back to the series, Genshiken is short for the name of the club that is central to the story.  It follows the lives of students in a Tokyo university, all members of the Society for the Study of Modern Visual Culture. There's an anime club and a manga club, but no other club could be more otaku than the Genshiken. The club name hints of this. The purpose of the club is to gather together otaku or hobbyists of different hobbies. They are bound together by their love of anime, manga (mostly doujinshi or fan versions of popular titles) and video games. Hence the club's name that alludes to all of 3 mediums of expressions as part of modern artistic expression of visual arts.  Come to think of it, they may be on to something. The love of anime, manga and video games has become so mainstream, labeling it as a sub-culture would be reducing its true influence as too minor in today's society. The club's name may be a bit high-sounding, but yeah it is very descriptive.

The anime is actually an anime adaptation of the manga of the same name. The story starts with Sasahara trying to find a club that would fit his personality. It was awkward in the beginning for him to admit he was otaku. There's a certain stigma attached to being called otaku. To admit being one would be to admit being too obsessive about your hobby. But after spending some time in the club room, he finds the Genshiken to share too many things in common with his personal hobby that the question of joining them or not became moot.

After he joins them, each of the characters are explained in the subsequent episodes. Kousaka, a fellow freshman who joined Genshiken the same semester as Sasahara, is the ultimate gamer among the group. He beats everyone in all fighting games. Madarame is obsessive about his analysis of manga and anime, but he isn't much of a gamer. Kugayama is the most shy of the group, often stammering when he participates in discussions, but he is the only one with a true talent for drawing. Tanaka is a talented and obsessive Plamo enthusiast and Cosplay costume maker. He is a perfect match for Ohno, who is introduced a few episodes in as a returnee from the US. She loves Cosplay and she is their main attraction in school fairs. Her cosplay act is by far their only main club activity during school fairs. Kasukabe is the odd one of the group. Her sole reason for hanging out in the club room is to be with Kousaka. She isn't otaku like the rest, often claiming she hates otaku. But later on in the series, she is forced to cosplay with Ohno and soon warms up to the otakuness of it all.

Overall, I find the reviews to be true. If you are otaku or if you like anime, manga, videos games or tech gadgets or any variation and combination of them, you will definitely relate to the characters of the series. If you have a hard time explaining to friends and family why you're so obsessive about your hobby, this is a good funny anime to show them how it is to be otaku. It is often difficult to admit being one, but if you are one there isn't any use denying it. It is obvious in the way we are sometimes awkward in social situations or too shy to admit we like manga or anime. In the past, I've received comments like "cartoons are for kids" or "you must watch anime because you like cartoon porn". It gets even more awkward when you try to explain it isn't like that at all. But then again, this series does say to otakus out there that it's ok if the rest of the world can't understand you. What's more important is that you're true to yourself.