OTAKU NO VIDEO
Showing that not everyone at Gainax are introverted mind-fuckers. Much...
Review by: M.H. "Anime is my food" Torringjan
Length: 2 episode OAV
Genre: Mockumentary
Watched: both episodes, subbed.
I've never seen "This is Spinal Tap." I've only seen part of "Meet the Ruttles." As such, my ability to comment on a film from a genre like this, which threatens the very definition of the Fourth Wall, may be slightly limited by my lack of experience. Nonetheless, I figured that I'd watch something else that Gainax put out, running the gauntlet once again. I'd heard mixed opinions on this title, but the overall opinion was that it was worth a watch. So I figured, “what the hell,” and I rented it. What I got was a couple of hours of eerily familiar animation looking back at me from the TV.
Plot Summary: Kubo (who, oddly enough, has no last name) is an everyman at his college; liked by everyone who knew him, going out with a pretty nice girl, on the school's tennis club, and an all-around clean guy. One day, he meets up with Tanaka (who, in a strange twist of fate, has no last name, either), a friend of his from high school, who is a member of a local SF club. This group is made up of a bunch of local dorks who sit around all day and obsess over their respective areas of specialization. Kubo goes with Tanaka to their headquarters (which looks oddly like my dorm room) and begins his plunge into otakudom. Tanaka and the others lure him in by promising to make him a specialist in all of their fields, ending up with the overarching anime specialization. As he moves further towards otakudom, the rest of his life spirals slowly down the drain, as he quits the tennis club, starts pulling more all-nighters, finally ending with his girlfriend dumping him. When he realizes how the world looks down on otaku for specializing in what they do, but not other groups for their interests, he vows to become the master otaku, the otaku of otaku, the OTAKING!!
Artwork: It's Gainax, so you know that the artwork is going to be good. This time, they went for a more realistic style of drwaing, similar to Kare Kano, as opposed to something that Salvador Dali could have drawn, like End of Evangelion. The detail used in the drawings was excellent, frequently making throwbacks to other anime series, popular and obscure. Lupin, Macross, and Mobile Suit Gundam all make cameo appearances in some function or another. I'm sure there were other series referred to in there somewhere, but I don't recognize them. And if you do, don't say so. You'd only date yourself.
Music: The music works pretty well in the context of the show itself. It doesn't do as well as a stand-alone, since the music pretty much plays off of cliché scores set to the situtations on the screen. They pull it off pretty well, though, so it's not all that bad. The opening theme song and the closing theme songs are probably pretty catchy, but they're much too 80's for my liking. Some might say that's because they were written in the 80's, but I'd reply to them, "bite me."
Characters: The arrangement of characters drives home exactly how familiar the plot is. Kubo is the normal guy who makes the long journey down the road of fandom, wishing to become the ultimate otaku. None of these characters are all that deep, but what would you expect from a two-episode series? Case in point, Kubo's actions are almost entirely driven by the motivation of revenge. Society, individuals, whatever, he doesn't do anything unless he can get back at someone. Tanaka is the anime fan who takes Kubo under his wing and makes him what he is. He ends up as Kubo's subordinate, though. Sato Yuri is the illustrator for the doujinshis that the SF club does, who becomes a higher-up at GP, along with the other members of the SF club. Mizuzu Fukuhara is the first employee of Tanaka and Kubo, she believes in Kubo with everything she has. She also reveals herself to be one heck of a character designer. Ueno Yoshiko is Kubo's original girlfriend who stops dating him as he turns slowly into more and more of an anime dork, the final straw for Kubo coming when he calls her up and finds another guy at her place. She apparently holds some sort of grudge against him, although it's never explained, since she returns as the antagonist later on.
Plot: This plot is depressingly similar to what I foresee my life becoming in as soon as two or three years. On the up-side, if that happens, at least I've got an animation company to look forward to in my future. The plot isn't the deepest thing in the world, but seeing as how it's supposed to be a semi-biographical account of how Gainax got its start, creativity is kind of limited. The creativity and wit of the piece really lies in the mock interviews they perform, the "Portraits of an Otaku." The subtle sense of humor of the makers of the series really got its chance to shine as the otakus glorify their infinitely pitiful existences to the viewing public. The slightly sardonic attitude showed itself in the interviewer, who frequently asked rather confrontational questions to the otakus, such as asking the hentai otakus if they had ever considered having sex with real women. The invention by the television otaku that removed some of the censor blurs, the repeated insistence of the computer hentai otaku that the girl onscreen was "really cute" (with which I personally won't argue; she was wearing glasses!), and the desire of the businessman otaku to hide his obsession all spoke volumes of the sarcasm intended by this piece. It was very well-done, but I must insist that the hentai otakus really hit a *bit* too close to home for my liking.
CHICKS!! There's a couple of nice ones in this one. First, there's the bespectacled Sato, who, the second time you see her, is cosplaying as Lum, tiger-print bikini and all. She's got a nice body that she's apparently not afraid to show off, and a determined personality that says that no matter how obsessed you are with something, she's willing to make it work out. Fukuhara, the first employee, is a shy, reserved, oh-so-cute girl who shows incredible loyalty to Kubo, even when everyone else has turned against him. She's also good at drawing, which could come in handy at some point in the affair (Titanic scene, anyone?). Ueno is a kind of confusing girl. She starts out as such a cutie pie (almost makes me hate Kubo for ignoring her after gettnig into anime, before I remember that I am him), trying so hard to be close to Kubo, even when the relationship is strained by the SF club. Then, after she breaks up with him, the next we see of her is when she's sneering over Kubo's failure, looking like a naughty DS otaku herself. So, you could see her either way you want to, old cuteness or new hotness. Or, if none of those really float your boat and you absolutely *have* to have a chick from this feature, go ahead and go for the chick on the hentai game Otaku's computer screen, Hitomi (IIRC). Her character's about as well-evolved as any of the others, and you actually get to see her naked. Plus, she wears glasses. Don't know if I mentioned that, but it's true.
Overall: I am amazed. I made it through an entire Gainax production without once feeling as though my mind had been raped by an umbrella made of bauxite. The artwork was decent, the concept was interesting, and the writing was intelligent and witty (for the interviews). To tell the truth, I rather enjoyed this selection, and it would only have improved if they had had more character development and explanation. I'd say that this was more the sort of thing that I'm looking for out of Gainax, as opposed to Abenobashi Mahou Shotengai (which was a decent series in itself, although a little heavy on the mind-fucky over-the-top humor). If you've got a couple of hours to spare, download this one (or rent the AnimEigo if you *really* have to) and watch it for a pretty decent time.
In a Nutshell:
+ Really funny humor.
+ Intelligent concept
+ No mindfuck!
+/- Music worked for the series, only for the series.
- No character development
- Generic artwork
Final grade: 8/10
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