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Genshiken 2
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Animation - 7.4 |
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Sound - 7.0 |
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Story - 5.8 |
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Character - 6.6 |
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Value - 5.6 |
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Enjoyment - 6.1 |
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Average - 6.4 |
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| Average |
7.0 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
7 |
| Value |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| What a huge disappointment following up the first season. Genshiken 2 might as well be called something else. It hugely strays away from what made the original Genshiken an excellent show and focuses more on other issues that college students face in Japan. The themes it goes over are really great themes to cover, and it actually did a pretty decent job of presenting them. Where it really collapses is a very disturbing episode fully dedicated to yaoi manga, a steroid boost in fanservice, low budget, and just overall sloppy execution.
Following up from the three episode OVA, two new members are introduced to the club in Ogiue; a soft spoken and cute little girl that hates otakus--and herself--but has a strong passion for drawing manga--specifically yaoi doujins. And the second Kuchiki, who thinks that the only way he can interact with others and maintain relationships is to be aggressively annoying. Surprisingly a lot of the story focuses on Ogiue and Sasahara as many of the original members have graduated.
Since Sasahara's promotion to club president of genshiken, we actually see a huge decrease in club activities other than the famous comicfes, a bigger concentration on getting a job, and an increase in love relationships between other members. What made the previous season such a joy to watch was how we as the viewer actually felt like members of genshiken. It captured our attention so well because it presented some of the situations through familiar concepts in video games and other anime, like the episode where Madarame plays out his decisions like a dating simulation.
With the second season, instead of feeling like you're a part of genshiken, you feel like you're watching otakus have discussions through a TV or computer monitor. As you can guess, this often gets boring and it would have been unwatchable if the first season didn't already establish a great base for the characters. Watching Genshiken 2 felt so mechanical, and the joy of seeing how otakus operate is just lost completely.
Where Genshiken 2 really doesn't fail as much is the two new characters, specifically Ogiue. Why would someone hate on otakus when they're an otaku themselves? This is briefly covered over the course of the anime, and it could be said that there was a lot of wasted potential here for great character development, but it still did a pretty good job of covering Ogiue. Kuchiki is another interesting prospect because we all know of people whose idea of good social skills is to be annoying, though even more so than Ogiue, his character development was also sort of wasted too. Though the under development of these two great characters isn't really making Genshiken 2 anymore of a decent watch.
Genshiken 2 had some high standards to hurdle over, but ultimately fell way short of expectations. It was disappointing that Genshiken 2 really limited the whole enjoyment of seeing our favourite otakus getting stuck in social situations and really handling them with the utmost awkwardness. Add a little polish to this anime and it would have been a pretty good anime, but as it stands, don't expect much from it.
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1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
4.5 |
| Animation |
5 |
| Sound |
5 |
| Story |
4 |
| Character |
5 |
| Value |
4 |
| Enjoyment |
4 |
| Q: How do you turn an exceptional manga into a mediocre anime?
A: This series.
How did one of the most stellar mangas of this decade get reduced to such mindless mush?
1. A lesser studio took on Series 2.
2. They had a smaller budget.
3. They didn't re-hire the original voice cast.
4. They omitted/ignored the most important parts of the 2nd half of the manga.
5. Focus shifts from intelligent discussion to cheap humour tactics.
The first series of Genshiken was a great example of what it's like to be an anime fan and what comes with it. The manga did such a great job from start to finish on not just what it's like for a male anime fan, but for the female fans. It gave an honest account of their tastes and desires, along with what comes with it. Specifically the experiences and tastes of Ogiue, whose journey from reclusive otaku in denial to a more confident woman was inspiring and the crux of the second half of the manga, particularly with the sensitive material that was tactfully handled.
The makers of this second series seem to have forgotten what Genshiken was supposed to be about and decided to do their own thing. Ignoring the crux of Ogiue's story and shifting the focus to Sasahara's search for his dream job - which was only a side-issue in the manga - why they did this, who knows. But it backfires worse than fireworks in a room full of dynamite.
Focus is an issue that haunts this series from start to finish. When interesting things happen, the focus seems to slide from it quickly. Yet minor events get an episode's worth focus in other cases. It's so utterly frustrating that only fragments of a cohesive, solid story got through the conversion process. With underfunding and poor treatment, this is the unfortunate result. It is also disheartening to see Ogiue, who was a character that broke the mold for female characters that were anime fans or similar, get merely an episode or two out of the lot. Saki has been watered down to a mere distraction instead of a jolt of welcome energy. Kousaka's charm has vanished to just naivete. Kikuchi's random yet properly timed acts of silly yet somewhat amusing perversion are amplified to horrific proportions and occur too often. Ohno is watered down in personality and her bouncing breasts get too much exposure. Sasahara is made to look like a sad, clueless emo rather than the simple yet passionate person he actually is. Add that together and it makes for shaemful viewing. Add in the complete omission of the hot springs trip - the highlight of the 2nd half of the manga - and it's pathetic.
However, the 5th episode was quite a good laugh and was well done. Which then makes me think if they could make such a good thing of that particular one - why did they get the rest so wrong?
Genshiken 2 is a sad example of mismanagement and underfunded stupidity. Just stick with the manga.
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1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Roto |
(2008-06-05 01:08:43) 2008-06-05 01:06:42 |
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| Average |
6.5 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
6 |
| Story |
6 |
| Character |
7 |
| Value |
5 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| Okay well I have to first say that Genshiken 2 disappointed me. Yes it does indeed follow the manga however the way how they delivered it was just awful.
When I watched all of this. My thought was this, they completely changed the topic of Genshiken. Well it does continue off from Genshiken 1 and the OVA. They do get into the ComiFes. They get sell their own Doujinishi. Now here's the problem. Because of that it made me feel that this was turning into one of those adult anime. I mean you see the guys blushing seeing those Doujinshi. Not to mention the girls that is Oguie making Yaoi manga. I really can't see myself doing that in college.
Anyways we have all the characters back. However most of them will not get those screentime, because of their jobs and job hunts. But i will say that the story does focus more on Sasahara. So at least they can give me an idea who the main character is unlike in Genshiken 1. The story is still the same just the story about normal otaku beings except for Saki.
Now I don't know if this was suppose to happen or not. But i did notice that each characters face color was different from the neck color. It may have been bad quality for me, but if it was on purpose. I did not enjoy that. Since it kept bothering me when i saw that.
Now what was truly disappointing about Genshiken 2 was that it didn't finish like the manga. I mean it could have gone all the way to then like in the manga. I mean you do see that Sasahara and Oguie start dating. Also you see the reason why Oguie hates Otaku. That would have helped the story a lot. However that did not happen.
So in the end Genshiken 2 just continues off from season 1 and the OVA. You just watch the anime that could represents Otaku life. Not much humor going on except when the Americans come. I thought that this was hilarious because i thought it was making fun of the Americans with the English. It was quite enjoyable. My favorite character would have to be Suzy. Reason is that she looks scary when she's not. And she brings up funny moments which got me laughing.
So those who love Genshiken should watch this.
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0 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
6.7 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
6 |
| Character |
6 |
| Value |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| In order to understand what's going on in Genshiken 2, one must watch the OVA after the first season. 2 Starts directly to it. Basically, this should be called Genshiken 3, but I digress.
The second season continues the life of the "The Society for the Study of Modern Visual Culture" club and its members with the new leader being Sasahara Kanji. If anyone recalls, the rather milquetoast member that's just opening to his otaku self. Two new members join the club, Chka Ogiue, who is a fan of yaoi and a respectable artist in her own right, and Kuchiki Manabu, a loud and abnoxious guy who serves mainly as comic relief.
There's really nothing notably special about the animation. Being a slice-of-life, it's pretty explanatory that there won't be any outlandish effects beyond the otaku minds of the members. The surroundings and atmosphere carry a highly monotone and urban feel of Tokyo, Japan to contrast the colorful fantasies of the characters.
The music department's average, if not, a little disappointing. The OP, Disarm Dreamer by Misato Aki, was adequate with its upbeat J-Popish tune, but I preferred Manzo's performances from the OVA and first season. However, I did like the OP animation which is a clear homage to mecha anime, Gundam specifically. It's like a prophecy fulfilled by God himself to otakus. ED, Clubhouse Sandwich by Yumao, is a much more laid-back and relaxing song like the ED of the first season. I clearly don't remember the BGM if there were any. Other than that, there's not much to write home about here.
Genshiken 2's story mainly serves to provide closure to the characters. The club members face the challenges and trials of passing college and deciding their career paths while still maintaining their passion for the otaku culture. To achieve this, the comedy has been toned down compared to the first season and there is more drama involved. Fans who watched the last Genshiken for the laughs would be disappointed, but for those who care for the characters would be delighted.
As I have said, this season pretty much closes the story for its cast. As a result, there is only very little character development for a few of them. Some of the new members get their own dedicated episodes so as the viewer would care for them. Each character is very diverse with a couple of members of Genshiken being cosplay enthusiasts and a few being skillful doujinshi artists. I'm sure the viewer would easily pick a favorite for various reasons.
To state the obvious, one should watch the first season and the OVA to get the most out of Genshiken 2. People who are curious of otaku life in Japan or those who are otakus themselves will be treated an almost realistic mirror to this eccentric culture.
Even though the show suffers with some obvious quirks, I still liked the second as much as the first. I didn't roll over the floor laughing while I was watching this, but rather it made me think about what I should do about my life. Because, when it all comes down to it, we have to grow up sometime.
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mystvearn |
(2008-03-29 17:23:30) 2008-03-29 17:23:10 |
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| Average |
7.0 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
6 |
| This continues where the first season left. It continues directly with no character introduction. The focus is on character development 2 comic-fes but its clearly on club member relationship. As a person who watched the 1st season, this is slightly a let down. I guess that this is the only way to conclude the anime. Genshiken in itself was meant to be a one off as its really hard to talk about what the club activities, what the club does without showing what it is in the first place. People go to comic fes to find doujins, as this is a normal anime and not h-anime, a lot part of it has to be obscured for general viewing.
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1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Jarik |
2008-03-01 09:20:42 |
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| Average |
7.8 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| Genshiken 2 focuses a bit more on character development in comparison to the original series.
It certainly has a rather mature feeling in the way that many of the characters grow up and leave Genshiken, and you see new characters appear to take their place. In fact, a large amount of the series focuses on the subplot of most of the characters attempting to secure jobs for themselves.
Personally, I didn't find this as interesting as the plot of Saki trying to get used to hanging out with otakus (which was the underlying subplot of season 1), yet at the same thing, I find it very intriguing they decided to take this road on a parody/comedy anime.
You do see a development in the characters themselves, with Ohno being a lot more assertive, rather than shy like she was initially, and Saki being more used to all the antics of her club.
The animation, once again, is excellent. I love the simplicity, and the way it can convey so much about the character's emotions, yet keeping it seeming realistic.
Though, on the downside, I found that they did start making Genshiken more like a typical comedy anime at times. Characters like Kucchi, or the visitors from America, were too over exaggerated. One of the things I really loved about the previous season was that the characters all seemed like *real life characters*. They did normal things, they reacted in normal ways and so on. Genshiken 2, to a minor extent, started to lose this feel and make it feel more 'anime-ish'.
Overall, once again, very nice. A more drama focused anime, especially to the end. As they categorize it, "A slice of life". Though, if you watched the first season and liked it, what are you doing reading this review? You should be watching the OVA + second! And if you haven't watched the first season, well, what are you doing reading this review? Read ones about the first season! =P
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Budding |
(2008-02-25 08:31:20) 2008-02-25 08:30:29 |
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| Average |
7.0 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
5 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
5 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| Genshiken 2 is the 12 episode sequel to the 2004 anime Genshiken. Released in 2007, it focuses much more on character development than the first series, leading to a decline in several other areas.
The graphics and animation of Genshiken 2 are pretty much the same as it was in Genshiken. Simplistic yet sufficient most of the time, there exists the occasional scene where the amount of detail significantly increases. However, those scenes are scarce, and overall, Genshiken 2 hasn't improved much over Genshiken animation wise.
Maintaining the lifelike setting and characters, Genshiken 2 features the same high quality voice acting as in Genshiken for most characters. There are a few foreigners introduced in Genshiken 2, and although the grammar and accents of the voices in the foreign language are not bad by any means, the punctuation is quite a bit off, which damages the overall believability of the anime. Music wise, Genshiken 2 features several pleasant to listen to theme songs. The background music is, once again, nothing too noticeable, but does not harm the anime in any way.
As Genshiken 2 focuses heavily on character development, its storyline is rather lacking. Although perfectly believable, nothing significant nor exciting takes place. The storyline feels like something that is present simply to complement the character development. Nevertheless, from my personal experience, I can confirm that the anime portrays a perfectly realistic story, and especially ending. I personally found the ending particularly satisfying, but that is because I had to recently go through the exact same experience. People who have never had to experience the competitive jobs market, or who have had nothing but success in their career seeking might find the ending less pleasing.
If nothing else, Genshiken 2 excels in its character development. Although not many new characters are introduced, almost every existing character in the anime is developed to a significant extent. Relationships between the characters are also greatly progressed, and all this takes place without damaging the believability of the the characters or storyline. With the exception of the foreigners, the entire cast in Genshiken 2 is well voiced and their actions and emotions very realistic.
Overall, Genshiken 2 does not impress when compared to its predecessor. It might be an excellent watch for people who loved the first series, but does not offer much enjoyment for everyone else. Certainly, the ending had me pleasantly surprised, but that was because I had personally experienced something very similar, which Genshiken 2 almost perfectly portrayed. In terms of recommendations, it would have to depend on whether the viewer enjoyed the first series. If the answer is no, then Genshiken 2 will definitely not change their minds.
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| Average |
5.0 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
6 |
| Story |
5 |
| Character |
3 |
| Value |
4 |
| Enjoyment |
4 |
| While I learned a lot about the doujinshi scene from Genshiken 1, Genshiken 2 was a complete bore and I had a hard time relating to it.
I watched Genshiken 2 many years after the first series, so I had only a minor recollection of the first. The story focuses on Sasahara as the new president and the same Genshiken university club aka "The Society for the Study of Modern Visual Culture", the official club title for 'studying' anime, video games, manga, etc. In comes a new character Ogiue, who happens to be a girl who is supposed to be Sasahara's love interest.
Genshiken 2's biggest weakness is how the president has no back bone. I really do not understand how people can deal with a guy who bows his head every episode to everyone. Sure, he is supposed to be portrayed as shy and polite but I really do not think he cuts it as a leader and watching his carrying out his duties with such difficulty is hard to bear.
My second annoyance is how they try to put subtle otaku sexual references in the anime. Mainly, it is the subtlety of the references that makes me feel dirty watching it. The way they portray sex is like a forbidden fruit, with so many dirty blushing males longing for just one taste. While open fanservice is inoffensive, the subtle fanservice vibe that Genshiken 2 emits is disturbing.
Third, Genshiken fails to captivate me in anyway. The pacing is slow, nothing eventful happens, etc. To be fair, Genshiken 2 is supposed to be a dramaticization of the life of an otaku and the legitimate worries that come with it. Nevertheless, when it pertains to issues like these, I rather watch something like Welcome to the NHK, which has more of a fictional attitude towards it.
Bottom line, unless you are interested in otaku culture or are an otaku and want to watch a slice-of-life that is realistic and uneventful, then give this a shot. But mind you, Genshiken 2's humor is really flat.
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| Average |
3.0 |
| Animation |
0 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
2 |
| Character |
2 |
| Value |
3 |
| Enjoyment |
1 |
| verall, this anime was very bland and lacked much excitement, drama, and adversity. The whole series was pretty uninteresting, and was predictable from the very start.
The animation was the only good part of the series, as to be expected of this recently released anime. The character models are all well done and interesting and the backgrounds are pretty good.
The sound is boring, cheesy, and completely forgetable. Also, the voices were pretty annoying, though I suppose it fit their personalities.
The story was fairly pathetic. Completely generic and predictable, no true plot twists (even the one at the end was very predictable and therefore lacked tension and drama), and all of the "conflicts" and "dramatic" scenes were about as dramatic and tension-filled as an episode of Care Bears (like: "ohmygosh the ferret is stuck behind the clock!" or "ohno we ran out of pickles!")
horrible anime, specially compared to the 1st one
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| Average |
9.0 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| Genshiken 2 is pretty much the continuation from Genshiken and the OVA, and this time, it draws the story to a close as most of the cast is graduating. Thus the story is not only about being an otaku, but how an otaku has to face in the real world.
The animation follows directly from the previous series, but the quality has been bumped up and is actually the same quality as the OVA. The characters are more detailed than from the previous series as a result.
All characters reprised their roles and they did an excellent as always. The big cameo by Yuki Kaida speaking English is certainly are mixed surprise. On one hand her English is quite fluent, but then, it somehow detracts from the anime as it still not really into the character. But a good side bonus is that we get to here Kawasumi Ayako speaks English, which is actually tolerable.
As before, the main focus of the story is about the otaku's graduating. But we also get to see the relationship between Ohno and Tanaka as well as Sasahara and Ogiue. And throughout the whole series, it touches on various topics that relates really well to the otakus in real life.
It's pretty hard not to watch it if you have already watched Genshiken. And if you haven't watched this, it is a good excuse to get the whole series from the first season, as the thing stringed together into a very enjoyable piece of anime.
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