genshiken

An anime about a college otaku club, Genshiken is the shortening of the Japanese title for "The Society for the Study of Modern Visual Culture". The show starts by focusing on a single character, Kanji Sasahara, a generic anime-loving teen and quickly expands its cast to include different otaku paradigms - the gamers, the cosplayers, and the mangakas. As the show advances, we're given a sometimes playful, sometimes serious look at the otaku lifestyles of the various club members and the trials they endure - from public ridicule/shame (the serious parts) to fights with rival anime clubs (the funnier parts).

Hopefully not a spoiler, but I find that there is a huge difference in tone between the first two seasons, starting with OVA series in between. Also, I don't know how true to life the otaku "behavior" is reflected here, but from what I've observed in Japan and on the internet, my gut feeling says it's not completely off basis. It's worth watching if you're curious about it, because I find that there are few shows that approach this subject matter without turning the characters towards extremes.

Arbitrary kenholic.com rating: 6 out of 10.