2009 has been a crazy year for anime, with ups and downs and all-arounds, but amidst a weakened global economy and an industry going through some serious growing (or shrinking) pains, I find there is still plenty to be thankful about.

I am thankful for…

Great shows being licensed or made available streaming so that when I say Glass Mask is a FANTASTIC SHOW, you can now go and watch it. And Monster is on TV!

Some stellar guests at anime conventions. Between Ishiguro, Tomino, and a whole bunch of others, this has been a highly informative and unforgettable year of conventions. Thanks to Ishiguro and Tomino as well, for telling me all about Nagahama Tadao.

An explosion of new blogs. As the years pass, they just keep coming and coming. Keep it up, the only way to improve your writing is to keep writing.

An industry which is still trying, despite what others might claim. There may be some “safe” shows out there, but we’re also continuing to see the mediums that are anime and manga being challenged and made better as a result.

An Eureka Seven Movie. Sure, it might not be quite what I’d like from an E7 movie, and it didn’t capture what made the TV series great, but I am still grateful that such a thing could be made 3 years after the original finished.

Genshiken 2 out on DVD! Get it as soon as possible. Ogiue is waiting.

The friends I’ve made and the people I’ve met through the fandom. Truly you have made this an unforgettable year.

It seems like I have a tendency lately to forget important dates, even those of the things I care about most. November 20, 2009 came and went, though drawing something after having not done so in a while might have been an adequate way of marking the second anniversary of Ogiue Maniax. Still it’s no Genshiken Review, and I think I should celebrate two years of writing and analyzing and making terrible puns with some panache. Seeing as how tomorrow is Stuff Your Face with Food All Day… Day… I’ll save the Thank You’s for the next post. Instead, I’ll talk about how I’ve felt the blog has changed and changed me since I began working on it.

It was over two years ago that I began to realize that I enjoyed writing, and not just any writing but the kind that is meant to inform and enlighten and to encourage others to think. I was given opportunities on both Heisei Democracy and Towards Our Memories to write a little, and from there I decided to just dive in and start my own blog. I named it after the Genshiken character Ogiue Chika, who I believe to be the most deeply complex, emotionally moving, and overall amazing character to ever appear. I intended to use the blog to record my thoughts on the mediums that I love, even if it was just a brief inkling, and to help not only others to learn but myself as well.

Being able to accurately convey my thoughts while also challenging myself to think beyond my own point of view gave me a new and different sense of confidence that what I’d experienced previously, especially when I began to see others respond, and to weigh in with their own words. This in turn would motivate my desire to write even more, and before I knew it, I had improved as both a writer and as an anime fan.

And to you my readers, though I said I would not give thanks, I have to make an exception here. Thank you for respecting my words as much as I respect yours. The comment philosophy at Ogiue Maniax is to allow all comments as long as they are relevant, as it encourages everyone to engage in dialogue and to better understand each other. And if you’re a troll you’re all the more welcome, as it gives me the opportunity to further clarify my points. At that point, it’s up to every individual reader to decide if they agree with me or not.

Ogiue Maniax, two years old. Get ready, because this baby’s starting to walk.

From Haruhi. Not included on my list funnily enough.

After seeing Phossil’s post, and then Super rat’s post, and then Stripey’s post, I decided to post my own,  not just to see what my taste says about me, but to kill some time while Fringe downloads lol.

In no particular order, because choosing just 5 was hard enough, to put them in order too would be HELL.

• Clannad
• Genshiken
• Lovely Complex
• Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu
• Pokemon

Short version: These 5 were picked from a list of 10, was hard. They say I like mostly mushy girly anime(C,LC,NH) with some fanservice and comedy thrown in, and then some nostalgic(P) and life-influencing anime(G,LC). (The others on my list of possibles were Kannagi, Whisper of the Heart, Rideback, The Cat Returns, Kanon. Again with the girly lol.)

This was fun, might do top 5 actors, tv series, movies etc etc aswell. Picking favourites is fun, hard, but fun. And my taste/judgement runs from good, to bloody awful lol. One instance of bloody awful is that I’ve started watch Dawson’s Creek for one actor in it lol. Two if you account for Ackles season 6 appearance. But I’ve started from 1.

Long version: (And slightly different interpretation of ‘what my 5 anime says’ lol)

Hmmm… Clannad could say I should be an angsty narssasic girl who likes obsessing over a boy/man I can never have, which…. isn’t entirely innaccurate lol. But I’m under no illusion that I’ll ever have Tennant, Cusack, Ackles, Collins, Padalecki, Firth etc etc etc lol. Not like the girls of Clannad who all fawn over Tomoya like they have a chance lol

Genshiken could say… I’m a massive geek. A big otaku. Which is super accurate, mainly because I watched Genshiken, and got more like this haha. I blame Genshiken lol.

Lovely Complex could say I have a complex about only going out with guys taller than me. Which is indeed correct. Very very correct. It did however… make me more… open…. BUT still…still…

Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu could say I’m a total closet-otaku-ojou-sama. But, I ain’t. It could say I’m not good with dealing with my true self and hide behind a wall of some sort. Not so much lol.

Pokemon could say I like hunting monsters, training them and winning contests. Which I do, in games lol. But its more a childhood pleasure. I could have picked Cardcaptors or Moomins or Medabots or any of the other anime I saw in my childhood, but Pokemon is the one that made the most impact, its Pokemon to blame for all of this really. Without Pokemon, I’d probably just be a normal geek, OR, heaven forbid, not even a geek. Maybe even a high school musical-loving, soap-watching proper teen girl. Much prefer how I turned out though.

Though this post is being made one week after the event, it’s better late than never as they say, and I’d like to commemorate the life and times of the New York City branch of Asahiya Bookstores, which saw its last day on October 31st, 2009.

I did not become aware of Asahiya until many years after it opened, and even then I didn’t visit it very often, but for me it was a very special store. After I came back from Japan, the story in Genshiken was at its absolute climax with Ogiue at the forefront, and it was through Asahiya that I would buy issues of Monthly Afternoon so I could continue to keep up with the story, and it was also through them that I bought the remaining collected volumes that were not out when I was in Japan, namely volumes 7, 8, and 9. Since then, while I would also buy from Kinokuniya occasionally and Book Off especially, Asahiya was my go-to place for Genshiken-related goods, which included the first volume of Jigopuri that I reviewed. From a rational point of view, I know that Kinokuniya would have served the same function had I ordered from them, but that was not the choice I made, and call me silly or sentimental, but I had grown attached to Asahiya for that reason. It also didn’t hurt that they tended to have better prices on items compared to Kinokuniya.

So despite the paucity of hamburger and hamburger-related materials on Halloween, I made one last stop at Asahiya, where most of the manga had already been bought out, and everything remaining was either $1 or $2. I picked up a ton of manga, including another title about fujoshi.

It’s always a funny feeling when you’re at a Going Out of Business sale at a store you frequented (earlier in the year geeks in NYC saw the demise of gaming store Neutral Ground). You’re enjoying the really good deals you’re getting, but you’re doing so at the cost of having the store fold in the first place. I got a similar feeling from scooping up sweet DVD deals from the ashes of Geneon USA, and while the savings are nice I can’t help but feel we lose much more as a result.

The end of Asahiya NYC. The end of Geocities. It really does feel like the end of an era.

Genshiken tells the story of a university club, The Society for the Study of Modern Visual Culture, or basically an otaku club. While only lasting 55 chapters the first 20 or so were a very slow read for me. Right around the point when Ogiue joins did I find myself immersed in the story. Then again that may just be my inner romance-fiend that latched on to the latter half. Overall I found that otaku parts of the manga to be quite dull at times. I really don’t care about some made up (or unheard of) anime/manga/porn game so when the otaku diatribe starts I found myself tuning out. The post-chapter extras and relatively short length make Genshiken an enjoyable read.

Such is my relationship with Seitokai no Ichizon.

Were it not for one particular scene that gave me a sense of false hope, I’d have given up on Seitokai after the first episode. Said scene is shown below:

They’re obviously rifting on the old “Rabbit Season, Duck Season” routine you’ve seen in many Looney Tunes cartoons. Just in case you’re some sort of heathen monkey that’s never seen said scene, here it is so you can cleanse yourself before the Cartoon Inquisition burns you at the stake:

That little homage to Looney Tunes gave me hope that Seitokai would be smarter than advertised. I knew it was going to be a Family Guy-styled “throw references out at you and hope you laugh because it’s familiar” mess of a show, but I gave it a chance. I kind of liked Lucky Star, and it was driven mostly by “OMG LOOK AT THAT DO YOU REMEMBER THAT” humor, so I was hoping Seitokai would be a similar amusing diversion.

Instead, aside from the above scene, the series has been little more than torture. Apparently the series is tossing around references and stuff, but most of these references go right past me, probably because I didn’t watch whatever series they’re rifting. The latest episode started with what I’m assuming is a parody of Maria-sama ga Miteru. I’m not assuming that they’re referencing Maria-sama, I’m assuming that it’s supposed to be a parody. The reason why I’m not exactly sure it’s a joke is because I can’t tell the difference between this scene and a scene from Maria-sama.

This is the main problem with Family Guy’s “parodies” as well. More often than not, all they do is take a scene directly from the movie/tv show/whatever and replace one of the characters with Stewie or Peter or Brian or that pedophile dude who wants in Chris’ pants. Those Star Wars episodes? The only time they differ from the actual movie is when they do something idiotic like insert a Deal or No Deal reference. Otherwise, apparently we’re supposed to be amused by the cast reenacting scenes, word for word, from the movie. This isn’t humor, this is a bad local theater troupe put in animated form.

Seitokai is suffering from the same problem. There’s a scene in the latest episode that seems like it’s taken straight from Strike Witches. As far as I can tell there’s no attempt to make this scene distinct from an actual Strike Witches scene other than the fact that the characters have been recast. So we’re supposed to find it funny when A is replaced with B when A = B? Maybe that’s funny to someone with a PhD in Mathematics, but it isn’t funny to me and it shouldn’t be funny to anyone else. It’s just damn lazy.

Despite this laziness, I’ve watched all four episodes released thus far. I’m holding out some hope that Seitokai’s point of reference reaches beyond “let’s reference crappy recent anime,” and I’m doing so because there’s a glimmer of pleasure amiss the torrents of pain. And slowly and surely I’m starting to forget the difference between which is pleasurable and which is painful.

Hello hello everybody! We’re doing something slightly different this time: all three of us reviewing one show. Not only that, but it’s a show with 2 seasons. It’s a show with two seasons, we are reviewing both, all three of us are reviewing it, and we all liked it. Holy crap, the world is imploding on itself.

But enough of my talk. We’ll start off with a nice dose of Japanese lesson followed by a hearty review. Please enjoy the meal-sized podcast. Toodles!

Download The Girl Nerd’s Podcast 41 (102009)
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Ratings:
We all give it 7 bits! Holy crap!

It looks like Genshiken season 2 will come with an artbox, which will be packaged with the final volume. My only complaint however is that it’s coming out three weeks after the final volume without the box is released.

Also Ikkitousen Dragon Destiny volume 2 is scheduled to be released on January 26. Although there’s no mention of the extras as of yet, I assume it will at least contain ova specials 3 and 4.

And finally, the trailers for both Bamboo Blade and Rin ~Daughters of Mnemosyne~ have been posted. You can get a glimpse of what the dub is like from each show.

Name: Hopkins, Susanna
Aliases: Susie, Sue
Relationship Status: Single

Information:
Susanna Hopkins, typically known as Sue, is an anime fan from Boston, Massachusetts who was influenced at a very young age by Japanese friend Ohno Kanako. Since then, she has become a consummate fangirl whose blunt personality and striking physical features, namely her long blond hair and piercing gaze, are capable of throwing off even the most hardcore of otaku. After her first visit to Japan along with her friend Angela Burton, Sue formed a close bond with Ohno’s fellow clubmate at the Society of Modern Visual Culture at Shiiou University, Ogiue Chika, though that relationship can occasionally be an antagonistic one.

Sue is well-versed in anime and manga from nearly every decade both popular and obscure, and her tendency to use anime phrases in everyday speech is backed by an incredible memory that facilitates her language-learning capabilities. Sue’s actual age is an enigma, but the fact that she eventually starts studying abroad at Shiiou University implies that she is either over 18 or a genius, which is not out of the question.

Fujoshi Level:
Susanna Hopkins is not unlike many other female American anime fans, but Sue takes it to another level entirely, something that extends to her fujocity as well. Her knowledge of anime and manga is equivalent to that of an old-time otaku veteran, and her apparent lack of shame allows her to confront anyone and everyone while loudly expressing her interest in boy-on-boy action. Sue is a fujoshi dynamo, and woe to those who stand in her way.

You may have noticed that I avidly pursue manga and anime about otaku, and enjoy writing about the topic. Ever since Genshiken and the Densha Otoko boom (and arguably before that with Comic Party), I have been trying to expose myself to as many similarly themed works as possible. You might ask, “Do you think that stories about otaku are a superior genre compared to others?” or even, “Do you have a fetish for fujoshi?” I will tell you that I do not, and that furthermore, these questions are irrelevant.

There are those who will watch a show and desire more of the same. They will become fans of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and be disappointed when every anime they see does not turn out to be like SAC. I have no such illusions. I may love Genshiken, and may even compare other works to Genshiken, but I will never expect another work to be just like Genshiken because I know how unrealistic an expectation that is.

Instead, what I am fascinated by is the very portrayal of otaku in anime and manga itself. I want to see the optimistic and the pessimistic, the highs and the lows, the strong and honest works and the exploitative cash grabs, and everything else in between, to get a better sense of how they are seen and how creators want otaku to be seen. The Fujoshi Files are a result of this desire, and also to track the extent to which the “fujoshi character” and “fujoshi personality traits” have become prevalent in anime and manga. I like Ogiue very much, yes, but it is not due to her fujoshi attributes, but rather the way in which they are indicative of her deeper personality and thoughts. It is an academic pursuit, but that doesn’t mean it can’t get personal.

That is why I dedicate myself to finding these works. I want to know more, and if I so happen upon a particularly powerful and moving story then I am all the better for it. If not, at least I learned something.

I went to Otakon 2009, my first anime convention ever. Of course, this happened in July, and I had written up an entry for it before, but I wanna share on my blog! So here is my adventure that was Otakon back in July, I hope to go back next year!

I didn’t take Mikuru (my Fraulein) with me because I was scared of breaking her sexy legs XD But packing was horrible. I first packed in a huge bag and dad informed me that my suitcase wouldn’t fit in the tiny car. So I couldn’t even study properly for my exam the next day just thinking about it, so I packed all over again at 1 am XD Good thing I did, because dad was right, even my tiny suitcase was a tiny squeeze in the car because we had four people all together, along with food and their luggage. It was a tight squeeze Xp But about the notebook in the top pic, I got it on a shopping expedition with my L Button the other week, but I never used it. I decided it would be my Otakon notebook! So I wrote down the prices of some of the stuff I was interested in getting in the Dealers room, to make sure I didn’t pay too much or if the price wasn’t too fishy. It actually came quite in handy! My entire Otakon trip is in this notebook, always stopping to write down what I saw and how tired and hungry I was Actually… some of the entries don’t make all too much sense, you could kinda tell when I had had enough XD But I treasure this notebook now; it holds my Otakon schedule, what panels I went to, who I saw, and it ’s like… the only real thing that captured me 24/7! But now that Otakon is over, I have no idea what I’m gonna use this for XD It’s also filled with doodles from when I had to wait in line for panels.

I didn’t feel the trip there at all. Autumn (This is her nickname that she uses online, I don’t know if she’ll want me using her real name on here, so this is my friend that invited me.) and I picked up K and her bf J, which I was a bit nervous about at first because it’s like, oh, a couple, they’ll be kissing and being all lovey dovey. They were lovey dovey, but I LOVED it. They are the cutest couple I’ve ever met, and two of the nicest people I’ve ever met. I stuck with them almost the entire time. The times I wasn’t with them I was in my ~exploring~ mode and wandered completely on my own. By the time we reached this stage, we had sung, eaten chips, talked about previous cons, and Autumn and K seem to have the same tastes in anime, so Justin and I were like “We don’t really know these ” To my horror I found that most of the anime’s I’ve seen have super cute girls in them and very sad story lines. How time changes us <3

Once we got our ticket, I felt exhausted. Autumn let her friends (the other 5 people that were staying with us in the hotel room, there were 9 of us all together.) cut, so they sat around afterwards and looked at the program booklet and planned out their days. I ditched and went to look for K and J. Our roommates weren’t too social towards us, so we kinda stuck with each other. Autumn knew them from before, so we let her stay with them too. Once in the room with the other two, we looked through the booklet together and I wrote down my plan in the little blue notebook! The panels looked great, but I had to miss some to catch others. Like the Yaoi panel, I missed it for the Yuri one. Worst decision ever. The Yuri panel sucked. And we all had to choose where to sleep. K and J got a bed, the others got some spots on the floor and the other bed, and I was like… “I’m not sleeping by the door, screw that.” So I looked in the closet and saw that it was quite roomy. So I grabbed that. One of the best decisions I made all trip Sleeping on the floor still sucked though. When the others made too much noise, I just closed the door and rolled over in the darkness haha!

Sexy WUIGI.

From the Sailor Moon panel MintBunny and I attended (We attended both actually DX)

I wish I hugged her. Princess Sally Acorn ;-; Later I found out that I took it with her eyes closed and I was like NUUUUUU ;0;

K, J, and I had watched the abridged series the night before and K spotted the Yugios and she was like *grab* LOOK!!! And we all spazzed together XD The only Yami and Bakura I found at the con T_T Ruby told me she saw an Atem walking around, but I never saw him!!!

Took this one for my brother N, he loved it XD Poor people though, in those thick suits…

I built this thing for N on Thanksgiving!!! And I saw a girl walking around dressed up as it!! I have no idea where it’s from, I just remember it was a bitch to put together.

Beautiful Fakir T_T And having them paired together like that… hanyan ~<3

I honestly think I yelped when I saw them XD I want a Seto to walk around with me whever I go!! Bloody hot piece of man.

Not as many Konata’s as i thought there would’ve been. But these three were so cute <3

YEY Tohru and Momiji <333 I think I’m leaning towards their relationship now… poor Kyo. I will never support your relationship XD

One for J, since he loves and adores KAHBY.

THE KING. He was amazing, when I asked for his picture, he said, “My Boy, I wonder what’s for DINNER.” It was wonderful ;-; Yes, Javier and I love love love Youtube poop, and we are not ashamed.

Now, I’m not in to the whole Axis Powers Hetalia (I almost was.) but there were a lot of people dressed up as them! And they were carrying their flags, and they looked amazing walking around in groups! K was intrigued at the concept of it all haha

The preregistered people had to line up to get in regardless if they had badges or not.

The guy with the controller was like, controlling people cosplaying video game characters, and it was pretty awesome to watch!

Miss Tohru Honda <33 I love her smile here XD

Thanks to Ayu and Bonn, I know who the Vocaloids are XD There were a lot of twins, and I loved seeing the little kids dressed up as characters. I imagine their parents force them to wake up to anime every day XD

HMM I WONDER WHO THIS IS. Thank you for letting us cut your wonderful self at the Sailor Moon Hentai panel, that was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen XDDD PAPILLON ROSE!!!! I’m on a mission to find that! look at that guy next to us. He’s so happy.

I found Ruby at the How to Draw Yuri panel, and it was a very… unique meeting XD I was like “HI IM (Vixums).” and she was like ‘…whut?” And I sat down next to her and talked about her costume and how I like Yugioh too, and all things egyptian while she just stared at me. Then I asked her her name, and she was like “…My pen name is Ruby, but… my name is (Vixums) too!!” And we were astounded that we found another (Vixums) that liked Yugioh! Perhaps it runs with the names XD And we were both aching to draw some Yuri haha! Too bad that panel was just a bunch of girls drawing and ignoring their audience the entire time. So Ruby and I turned to each other and said, “lets draw some hot porn.” And that’s what we did. I used Bonn and Vixena as models XDDD They’re going straight to her in her package because… yeah, it’s flithy.

Name: Burton, Angela
Alias: N/A
Relationship Status: Single

Information:
Angela Burton is an anime and manga fan hailing from Boston, Massachusetts, who befriended a Japanese student named Ohno Kanako while the latter was living in the United States. Though Ohno eventually had to return to Japan, Angela would come to visit Japan on more than one occasion, along with their good friend Susanna Hopkins. While they were partly interested in reuniting with Ohno, their main task was attending the largest doujin event of the year, Comic Festival. Initially, the flaxen-haired Angela startled the members of Ohno’s club with her strong, outgoing personality and her attractive and athletic figure, but would soon become a valued friend and an otaku comrade-in-arms.

Angela has a talent for sports, allowing her to physically endure the wear and exhaustion of an all-day doujin event far better than most. Her favorite shows include General Frog and Gungal Bleed, and she also possesses a strong fetish for glasses-wearing characters, though she does not actually wear glasses herself.

Fujoshi Level:
Angela Burton is unusually athletically fit for a fujoshi, which allows her to accomplish more, but what really sets her apart is her personality, specifically her openness a fan. Perhaps due to her American upbringing (combined with the corrupting influence of anime), Angela can easily declare her fetishes in public and describe them in explicit detail. Angela’s tastes are also more diverse than most fujoshi, as she describes herself as being interested in both “male-oriented” and “female-oriented” doujinshi.

After 6 DVDs worth of Region-2 Genshiken 2 goodness, the official site back in August announced a December 2009 release of a single Genshiken 2 box containing all 12 episodes for the enjoyment of Japanese fans and those willing to spend lots of money on anime but didn’t do it the last time they released the DVDs.

The Region 2 DVD box will likely have more features than the American release, which has just begun, but fewer features than the original Japanese release, which came with Drama CDs and Pretty Menma stories and all sorts of crazy things that only I crazy fans would want. However, while I am not 100% sure of this, I am almost certain that the new box will be the best-looking of the bunch, and most likely designed to fit in with the previous box-set compilations. I previously posted an image of them some months ago, but here they are again.

Genshiken and Genshiken OVA boxes

I mean, I don’t think anyone can argue that these are the most stylish of the bunch, though I’d have to wonder who they’re gonna put on the Genshiken 2 box. Ohno is on the back cover of the OVA series, but maybe they’ll graduate her to the front for this one.

In case you couldn’t tell from all the posts I make about the Otaku Diaries, I dig any attempts by people to get a better sense of what otaku are like, be they in America, Japan, Germany, South Africa, or anywhere in the world. Recently, Famitsu revealed the results of a survey they conducted via the Otaku USA website which asked questions such as “Who is your favorite anime creator?” and “What would you like to see sold in the US?” I participated in the survey myself, though none of what I said ended up being put into the magazine. Not a big deal, the things I said probably didn’t make for interesting quotes.

The survey was answered by about 800 people. When you compare it to the 3000+ people who attend Otakon, of course it’s not exactly the most ideal sample size, but it still provides an interesting window into how (internet) otaku who at least know about Otaku USA. Even then, no one should be surprised that certain shows are more popular than others. Naruto is Naruto, Bleach is Bleach.

One pleasant surprise is that Genshiken of all things is apparently as popular as Rurouni Kenshin among these anime fans. While I loves me some Genshiken (and specific Genshiken-related character), I still did not expect it to do this well in America. If this is the case, maybe they’ll bring Jigopuri over!

Nah.

Lançando hoje mais um capítulo ‘true nerd’ LOL de Genshiken! Lançando também o primeiro capítulo de ‘Mimia Hime‘, que na verdade não é bem um projeto novo, mais a prequel de uma oneshot que lançamos há algum tempo. Você pode encontrar a oneshot para download aqui!

Agradecimentos!

Staff de Genshiken: Liv-chan, Loren & Scha-chan.
Staff de Mimia Hime: Damon-san, Loren & Enma Ai.

-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-

Links~

Genshiken V03 C17 4shared Sharebee
Mimia Hime V01 C01 4shared Sharebee

Boa leitura! o/

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Sem tempo para baixar mangás? Ou sem conexão o suficiente? Quer dar uma espiada em uma série nova, mas sem disposição para baixar o zip. Está no trabalho mas quer ler mangá? lol Que tal passar na nossa comunidade no LJ e ler online? Fanservice_Scan

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It has been kind of weird to rewatch Genshiken and discover again just how much I relate to Madarame, haha.

Not so much from the standpoint of being a ginormous anime fan, mind (the guy is way out of my league!), but more from the standpoint of not knowing what the hell to do in certain situations. While ep9 is undeniably hilarious, it is also a bit painful for me to watch, because I could insert myself into that scenario, and very little would be different. Maybe there would be less dating sim imagery as it pertains to Saki. But the moment where Madarame imagines asking an innocuous question to Saki, and then it launches into this vigorous discussion between them about the merits of the Kujibiki Unbalance anime, only for Madarame to slap himself out of the fantasy and chastise himself for being a huge dumbass, definitely hits home. Oh, how many moments of my life have been wasted retreating into the dark corners of daydreams.

The best part of the episode is the increasing absurdity of Madarame’s imagined situations. Madarame morphs into a more ludicrously bishounen version of himself as the episode goes along, while Saki becomes more loliesque. He tries so very hard to cast the situation in a way that does not threaten himself. Again, hits right home, although I never really went to that extreme with any of my daydreams. (Then again, some of my fantasies may have been just as absurd in their own ways. Just … absurd in a more normal way!) Watching Madarame freak out about the nose hair situation is quite funny, too. What do you do in that situation? I would probably be too embarrassed to say anything, but then I would be setting the other person up for more embarrassment afterward. Might as well take the less hurtful of the two roads and bring it up while you’re alone.

After such hilarity, the episode wraps it up with a strong, bittersweet ending. This is where Madarame really starts crushing on Saki, though he has not outright admitted it yet. But the feeling is there, and it’s strong. Can’t really blame him, either. Saki is a strong woman, and she’s a fighter. Who wouldn’t be attracted to someone like that? Madarame’s hidden crush on Saki is my favorite recurring story in Genshiken because it’s the one handled with the most delicacy and honesty. Won’t hint at anything down the road, just in case, but the way Madarame handles the conflict speaks a lot about him as a person. But for now he is left confused about how and why he could be so awkward around someone he had spent a lot of time with for a year. Hearts are a-fluttering~

Ep10 features a fun trip to the beach and the Keiko/Saki rivalry for Kohsaka’s love kicks into overdrive. Only it’s not really that much of a rivalry, because, really, how in the hell would Keiko ever stand a chance in hell of attracting a guy better than Saki? She looks like she speed read the make-up chapter in the How to Be a Whore handbook. Also, she is the very epitome of teenage fakeness. I went down that road once upon a time. Very rarely does one not look like a damn fool trying to chameleon his or her way into different social groups. Keiko’s completely silly attempt to become an otaku is just dumb, although the way her face lights up once she gets a load of Ohno’s yaoi doujinshi is funny as hell. “Holy shit, I can be a geek and like this stuff?! Count me in!”

Fitting into social cliques is a subtle theme of this episode, actually. For instance, you have Madarame mentioning that he would not be caught dead going to Comifes with a beach tan. When you’re alienated from a large part of society, you have to cling to whatever you can that signifies that you are a member of a whole, I suppose. Then, of course, there is Keiko trying to break into the otaku group and Saki giving her the straight dope on how that mission is destined to go down in flames. You can’t cram yourself into a group you do not understand. Like Saki says (quoting Madarame): “You either are an otaku, or you aren’t.” Saki was freakin’ miserable when she tried to be like Kohsaka. She can understand (to an extent) why they like what they like, and she can even have fun with it on a light level (she’s reading manga the whole time Madarame is being awkward in ep9), but becoming a full-fledged is not something Saki can do, nor is it something she wants to do, so she knows to leave well enough alone and enjoy the time she can.

Of course, I believe Saki can do much better than Kohsaka. She doesn’t need to settle for snatching time here and there. Aim higher, Saki. Aim higher, I say!

Ep11 is a boatload of funny. There is this weird slapstick element to it when Saki accidentally sets the spare doujinshi and figures on fire. Madarame bouncing around like a madman and waving his arms to and fro is so damn silly, but it makes me laugh so much. Ohno getting splashed with stinky water and looking like the creepy chick from Ringu is also funny in a really sad way. I can’t help but feel guilty at having a laugh at Ohno’s expense. She looks so downcast, but hell, I wouldn’t begrudge someone snickering at me if it were me with a bucket of smelly water all over me. OK, I would, but I would get over it eventually.

But Ohno gets her win later when she and the rest of the Genshiken crew guilts Saki into cosplaying at the club festival, since the school sort of frowns upon arson. One of the top five funniest moments in the first season, for me, is Saki slipping into an Ohno impression when she is onstage in front of all the otaku at the festival. She is all smiles and a high-pitched, energetic voice, and it is just so completely unnatural for her. Saki does not say it directly, but you get the feeling that is how she believes all female cosplayers act. Somewhat understandable, since she really has only Ohno for an influence.

It’s a great stroke of genius to have Saki cosplay the tough, frosty president of Kujibiki Unbalance, though, because she completely owns the role when she exposes (lol) the pervert snagging some panty video of the other cosplayers. Nobody sneaks a peek at Saki and lives to tell the tale. Nobody. She earns the hell out of those cheers after unknowingly morphing into the president to mete out some justice. (Would you watch a show about president!Saki owning the hell out of perverts and other deviants? I totally would.) Even though she’s confused as to why everyone enjoyed her act so much, Saki briefly knows the fun of cosplay . . . that is, until the real world smacks her across the face, and Saki has to endure the embarrassment of being grilled by a police officer who is just a bit too interested in the costume.

“Never again!” Saki shouts. You almost had her, Ohno. Almost.

Yesterday, I made a post about how the “issue” of moe basically came down to whether or not it was personally offensive to someone. I didn’t go into what “is” or “is not” moe, as what was important there was not to get people to agree to any one definition but to point out the fundamentals of why moe can make for such heated debates and arguments. Today though, I want to talk about one of the possible reasons why discussions regarding moe can often seem like the two sides are arguing two entirely different topics. Keep in mind that my goal is not to show one side being right and another wrong, but to help you better understand why it is you, I, or anyone have developed our respective opinions on the topic of moe.

In the past, I’ve defined moe as a strong empathy for a character’s weaknesses, but knew that not everyone would necessarily agree with my interpretation. The more I studied my own definition and others’ however, the more I realized that there was some mix-up as to what different people considered the most important element in defining moe. From there, I thought up two general categories: static moe and active moe.

Static moe is where a character’s design and basic attributes are moe. The character’s voice, personality, unique physical traits, etc. all contribute to static moe. The idea is not to pull a character completely out of their context, but to see them in a stilled moment and gain moe from that.

Active moe is achieved through a character’s actions or what happens to them in the context of an animation. It is in the way they change or interact with their world that creates moe. In a way, this moe lacks concrete evidence, and is built into how the character grows on the viewer.

If we look at Tsukimiya Ayu from Kanon, her love of Taiyaki, tomboyish personality, lack of cooking skills, and penchant for saying “Uguu~” are all elements of static moe. Ayu’s interactions with Yuuichi, the way the two characters grow closer as friends, and the manner in which we learn about her true identity are what comprise Ayu’s active moe. To generalize, static moe is the stationary character, while active moe is the character in motion.

Now, what contributes most to your perception of moe? Whether you like moe or not, do you view moe as primarily static, where the most vital aspect of it is the design of the character, or do you view it as primarily active, with the greatest emphasis on the path the character takes?

Using myself as an example, when I examined the characters I found to be the most moe (Ogiue, Eureka, Hinata, etc.), I realized that my views on moe were shaped mostly by my own emphasis on what they had done as characters. In other words, I was moved strongly by their active moe. Again though, it’s not as if moe as active will make you like it, or thinking of moe as static will make you dislike it, but I think that the view of moe people have shaped in their mind relative to this dichotomy strongly influences their opinion as a whole, whether they realize it or not.

That’s Part 2 of Another Moe Discussion. Is there going to be a Part 3? A likely possibility, as I do have something in mind.