Genshiken is definitely 1 of those 'classic' series that I consider a must-read *and* a must-watch series. You might not like everything about it but the overall plot, characters, etc ... It's all good.
Randomly looked up Genshiken since the series is really dear to me and found your video. It is nice to see you doing anime videos again. I was a fan for a long time and sort of backed out when you started focusing more on game stuff. I am in the middle of a rewatch right now (mid OVA's at the time of this comment) and the show still has all of the charm that I remember from years ago.
I remember watching all these years ago. I personally liked the Kujibiki Unbalance OVAs over the newer full series. I did like that later on in Genshikan they showed the original hurricane cancelled Kujibiki Unbalance OVA ending clip. Was the closest thing to an ending we got for it.
I discovered Genshiken as a kid and loved it to bits. My family thought it was a strange show but I appreciated the friendship it showed and the confidence to enjoy your hobbies and find people who feel the same! Great video on this show!
Hey, just watched Genshiken because of this review. Pretty much up there with Welcome to the NHK, in terms of super down to earth slice of life. It's like seeing a bunch of Yamazakis clumped up into one club. Almost as if seeing a story through Yamazaki's persepective, instead of Satou's. I know this video is old, but thanks for the review, anyways!!!!!
@5:52 just noticed this is a reference to Shizuru from YuYu Hakusho. The way “yuake” 幽明is written in the title of the book she’s reading, the fact that the title ends in “文” which is roughly the same meaning as “書” and the Botan like character in a yellow kimono. It’s definitely an homage.
Thank you for this review! Genshiken is my fav manga, and Madarame is my fav character in all of anime/manga, I'm really glad you have high praises for them!
thanks! madarame totally gets the short end of the stick sometimes. I want a sequel set 10 years in the future to see how they turned out. I thought madarame would make a great youtube anime reviewer
What a great review of everything that is in the Genshiken universe (except for one thing which I will never consider a part of ever in my mind). In terms of characters, I like the majority of the original characters, but I don't really like the majority of Nidame which I read years ago after the original manga. I'm not into the BL culture so seeing it constantly going for that niche was kind of hard to continue reading. I also was mad that Ogiue or needle head girl did not get enough screen time in Nidame. I guess I should actually complete the TV version of Kujibiki Unbalance although I like the OP song and the character designs from the OVA more than the TV if I remember correctly. I kind of wished that they kept at least the character art style rather than completely change it so I can relate it back to Genshiken more easily. Anyway thank you for the review or should I say reviews.
yea it's weird that Madarame and Sasahara's arcs as chairmen granted them so much character development, but not so much for Ogiue. so much missed potential in nidaime
I never had a chance too read the manga. I adore Genshiken still. It did take me a while too appreciate the new series of more female cast because i was so attached too the main group. Now that i am older i get it, but i could Understand if the creator had difficulties writing people of opposite genders or if it was a certain mental sphere. Just more difficult. Or if they were pushed into certain choices from the publishing. I personally can understand sparks of rage, but i suck at writing writing long term vengeful characters or certain levels of characters holding grudges. Another aspect, is. "Write what you know" which the better written characters could come from inspo of knowing people like that, and certain characters. Knowing people are around with certain likes or traits, but not knowing what they are thinking. Due too not being close or they carry a more internalized narrative. But that is a guess from what i can understand.
I think you've convinced me to watch this. It's been on my list for a long time but always put it off because it looked boring. But now I think I'll watch it
I wish more ppl would watch this anime it’s hard to find any fans of it. It feels underground and since it first is old(like me) it sucks to try to recommended it to people. I don’t mind the last season, but I do agree with what you said.. honestly I just wanted more episodes. I’ve actually been in friend groups that watch anime together and stuff like that so it really hit home even the drama stuff really hit home. I just wish it had more. I don’t know if this will ever grow more fans since now it’s even older I can only hope
loved to have seen this review. Recently been researching anime based on our world and takes a look into aspects of our lives in interesting ways, something that in terms of animation only see in anime
Great review for a great series.I wish the manga did continue because it would be interesting to see how it would depict the otaku culture evolving in 20 years.
I also really love madarame and sasahara, (madarame is my fave) but I also really like ogiue, might have something to do with how I just finished the first manga series though.
Heavily disagree on your sentiment regarding Nidaime, it's a very fun take on Madarame as the core of Genshiken, and I love how many twists come from it. It isn't as good as Genshiken, but it still maintains the same feel. I like how Madarame, a character we grow to know greatly, is portrayed as a harem protagonist in the latter half, and his lack of self-worth and rather lost personality is genuinely endearing to the girls. There is a lot of genuine build-up and tension to the harem arc. (manga only.)
I remember your genshiken unboxing video and the disappointment lol. Genshiken is a hidden gem and one of my favorite animes. Few I give a 10 especially part 1 as a whole. Just love their comradery and reminds me when I spent my money on anime and figures. Nidaime was okay but wasn't as good as part 1 imo. I give it a 7, fun but characters did nothing for me and hated Kuchiki. I would've given it an 8 if episode 11 was split in two episodes or Hato ended with Madarame at the end. Still it was great watching your video and being reminded of Genshiken again.
I'm glad you reviewed kujibikiri unbalance, ive already seen genshiken but i wasnt sure if that was going to be any good so i just skipped it. Now i've got a reason to check it out
I LOVED genshiken!! To this day I had never heard of Genshiken Nidaime and despite my love for the anime I have no wish to watch it. Thanks for your honest review
Just finished Genshiken 2 again and ended up reading the rest of the manga from that point and I was surprised how close the anime got to the ending without getting there. It made me wonder if maybe the manga wasn't done yet or something while the anime was airing. I plan to watch Nidaime too though watching this video reminded me of how much I hated some things from that series. Madarame is also my favorite character. His relation with Saki is probably my favorite part throughout the whole series and it is great to see Madarame grow and try to better himself and on the flipside you see Saki start out at this "otaku-hating normie" and by the end of Genshiken 2 she ends up loving and befriending everyone in the club to the point to the point where she probably has the most toleration for characters like Kuchiki. I remember HATING Kuchiki the first time I watched the series. It has been a lot of time since then and I am a lot older now and I have grown to appreciate him a little more. He is super annoying and being an anime fan for so long you have probably seen this type of anime fan more than you would hope throughout the years. I do wish he got a little more development though there were definitely a few moments where you could tell he is sincere when he wants to be and just very awkward and just doesn't understand why people get so mad at him. Another side character I forgot about until this rewatch was Yabusaki. I didn't realize most of her anime scenes were original and that she did not appear in the manga until closer towards the end. She feels like a character who could have used a little more focus and would have been a great addition to Nidaime if she ended up being more relevant. This series is definitely up there with one of my favorite anime up there with Welcome to the NHK.
Haha I felt the same way about coochi kun lol but it’s true, he is a realistic representation of another segment of the anime fandom so he does grow on you. I wish we had more anime like this. We have plenty of similar anime, but only one Genshiken
@@bobsamurai Yeah there are plenty of other anime with similar premises and other anime that flesh out its characters as well as Genshiken but that combination of the two is so unique to this series you just don't see in other anime.
I just can't believe the anime skipped the whole vacation trip to Karuizawa and only showed a brief flashback. That was such an important part for the development of Sasahara and Ogiue
Does Unbalanced have a lot of high quality animation or did you just choose some of the best examples. Because some of those scenes were really good considering what type of show it is.
You know, I think this is the show I need right now. I have been increasingly agitated with Twitter as of late and I have been hating the internet more than usual lately. I normally tolerate how much I hate the anime community but I have been disliking them more than I typically do. Twitter in general is just a such a weaboo safe haven that it's just sickening to me. Seeing that red haired girl from that fucking Chainsaw Man series is enough to drive me crazy with how much she pops up and how much weebs simp for her and how people overly get defensive over shounen. I feel like my endeavors on the internet gets me little in return, if this was a lesson superhero stories tried to tell with how the heroes give so much and get little in return, then I sure as hell am feeling it. This series seems like a weird "what if" scenario. What if Anime fans are actually people you like and could potentially form bonds with. It already is because it turns out my college anime club was only formed because the guys there just wanted to make money. Shit like that sickens me to the point of depression. Plus this show has conventions and cosplayers so it's already plus since I haven't seen those 2 things together in a while. This show just seems like would happen if the stars aligned perfectly and you had a group with similar interests and there's no ulterior motive and in fighting bullshit regarding it. I will give the first series a watch soon. I was holding on it but I am giving it a look now.
Sorry, I can't understand well. This scene is focused on most in the manga and briefly in the Genshiken Nidaime OVA. Sadly it's not as good as the manga, because it was one of my favorite parts.
just limiting the content to similar videos to what I'm producing right now since youtube likes to randomly recommend people 4 year old vids lol. they're unlisted in my playlists section.
I love the original but the spin-off is okay but gotten off hard. There is also the spin-off aftermath of a manga called Spotted Flower that I don’t even know where it started and a huge time skip with a ton of drama that I didn’t know how to process it
For the Digopuri manga from what I had seen years ago from memories is that the aftermath of the character newborn baby somewhere in their teenage years or adult years. It’s full of information about the female body and the struggles of parenthood with the help of the little sister but came across of a mental struggle. By the end of reading it on chapter 9 I was slightly mentally exhausted and by the end of it I didn’t enjoy any of it.
@@handsanitizer3108 genshiken nidaime is the spin-off of genshiken is that the other characters have graduated and moved away to do career of what they are interested in. Harunobu Madarame and Kenjirou Hato are the main characters in genshiken nidaime where the clubroom has recently increased female characters that shares the fujoshi love. ( all I can say is that the original cast of characters are not students of the campus anymore and gotten jobs). For spot flower I truly do not know what is happening for the time-skip and a whole lot of drama
Love your vids but just some constructive criticism - try to make your script a bit more unsophisticated sounding lol. Your reviews are very good but the review comes off a bit earfucky if that makes sense. Just a bit, still the best reviewer on yt though
What do you mean by that? I think his script is easy to follow and english is not even my first language xD He just sounds like a cool guy, his vocubulary is not pretentious or anything like that. I also think Bob is the best anime reviewer in TH-cam. Not pleb, not fanboy and not elitist. He fortunately has good taste and keeps it real and honest with his thoughts.
@@moon_orbit yeah man I agree his review content is the most thorough and best in the anime community but compared to his older reviews the script sounds a bit clunky and slightly less entertaining in terms of the jokes and stuff. On the other hand though his reviews are more in depth now than before so overall the quality is better
![ละลาย (LALALYE) - DAOU PITTAYA ต้าห์อู๋ พิทยา [OFFICIAL MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/wo6r9TgausI/mqdefault.jpg)
Genshiken is definitely 1 of those 'classic' series that I consider a must-read *and* a must-watch series. You might not like everything about it but the overall plot, characters, etc ... It's all good.
spotted flower too
Randomly looked up Genshiken since the series is really dear to me and found your video. It is nice to see you doing anime videos again. I was a fan for a long time and sort of backed out when you started focusing more on game stuff.
I am in the middle of a rewatch right now (mid OVA's at the time of this comment) and the show still has all of the charm that I remember from years ago.
I remember you! Hope you’re doing well
Genshiken is one of the GOATS for me
Holy crap I remember watching this when I was in high school back in 2005. Had no idea the manga was so good though, I might have to give that a read.
I've been looking for something like that graphic for a while now, thanks!
I remember watching all these years ago. I personally liked the Kujibiki Unbalance OVAs over the newer full series. I did like that later on in Genshikan they showed the original hurricane cancelled Kujibiki Unbalance OVA ending clip. Was the closest thing to an ending we got for it.
I discovered Genshiken as a kid and loved it to bits. My family thought it was a strange show but I appreciated the friendship it showed and the confidence to enjoy your hobbies and find people who feel the same! Great video on this show!
Excellent overview.
I was confused by this series and you cleared up a lot of things.
Hey, just watched Genshiken because of this review. Pretty much up there with Welcome to the NHK, in terms of super down to earth slice of life. It's like seeing a bunch of Yamazakis clumped up into one club. Almost as if seeing a story through Yamazaki's persepective, instead of Satou's.
I know this video is old, but thanks for the review, anyways!!!!!
I’m glad I was able to get you to check it out! Tell your friends about genshiken! The anime/manga needs more love
@5:52 just noticed this is a reference to Shizuru from YuYu Hakusho. The way “yuake” 幽明is written in the title of the book she’s reading, the fact that the title ends in “文” which is roughly the same meaning as “書” and the Botan like character in a yellow kimono. It’s definitely an homage.
If you think of it, Saki has a similar no-nonsense tough girl personality like Shizuru. Maybe this is the animator’s way of acknowledging this.
wow i never caught that
@@bobsamurai Yeah I barely caught it watching this video. I'm sure there are plenty of other references, that flew over our heads.
Thank you for this review! Genshiken is my fav manga, and Madarame is my fav character in all of anime/manga, I'm really glad you have high praises for them!
thanks! madarame totally gets the short end of the stick sometimes. I want a sequel set 10 years in the future to see how they turned out. I thought madarame would make a great youtube anime reviewer
What a great review of everything that is in the Genshiken universe (except for one thing which I will never consider a part of ever in my mind). In terms of characters, I like the majority of the original characters, but I don't really like the majority of Nidame which I read years ago after the original manga. I'm not into the BL culture so seeing it constantly going for that niche was kind of hard to continue reading. I also was mad that Ogiue or needle head girl did not get enough screen time in Nidame. I guess I should actually complete the TV version of Kujibiki Unbalance although I like the OP song and the character designs from the OVA more than the TV if I remember correctly. I kind of wished that they kept at least the character art style rather than completely change it so I can relate it back to Genshiken more easily. Anyway thank you for the review or should I say reviews.
yea it's weird that Madarame and Sasahara's arcs as chairmen granted them so much character development, but not so much for Ogiue. so much missed potential in nidaime
I never had a chance too read the manga. I adore Genshiken still. It did take me a while too appreciate the new series of more female cast because i was so attached too the main group. Now that i am older i get it, but i could Understand if the creator had difficulties writing people of opposite genders or if it was a certain mental sphere. Just more difficult. Or if they were pushed into certain choices from the publishing. I personally can understand sparks of rage, but i suck at writing writing long term vengeful characters or certain levels of characters holding grudges. Another aspect, is. "Write what you know" which the better written characters could come from inspo of knowing people like that, and certain characters. Knowing people are around with certain likes or traits, but not knowing what they are thinking. Due too not being close or they carry a more internalized narrative. But that is a guess from what i can understand.
I loved that you used my favorite panel for Sasahara, that's a beautiful panel, love the detail in it
5:32 THIS SONG
I think you've convinced me to watch this. It's been on my list for a long time but always put it off because it looked boring. But now I think I'll watch it
enjoy!
This is so bizarre because I randomly purchased genshinken series 1 and 2 on DVD last week and have been watching the episodes over the last 3 daysZ
I wish more ppl would watch this anime it’s hard to find any fans of it. It feels underground and since it first is old(like me) it sucks to try to recommended it to people. I don’t mind the last season, but I do agree with what you said.. honestly I just wanted more episodes. I’ve actually been in friend groups that watch anime together and stuff like that so it really hit home even the drama stuff really hit home. I just wish it had more. I don’t know if this will ever grow more fans since now it’s even older I can only hope
loved to have seen this review. Recently been researching anime based on our world and takes a look into aspects of our lives in interesting ways, something that in terms of animation only see in anime
Great review for a great series.I wish the manga did continue because it would be interesting to see how it would depict the otaku culture evolving in 20 years.
I love this anime I had the first one on DVD the first Genshiken is my favorite I also love Kujibiki Unbalance the op to it was perfection
Very good anime/Manga, HUGE nostalgia
I also really love madarame and sasahara, (madarame is my fave) but I also really like ogiue, might have something to do with how I just finished the first manga series though.
This is such a great show.
Heavily disagree on your sentiment regarding Nidaime, it's a very fun take on Madarame as the core of Genshiken, and I love how many twists come from it. It isn't as good as Genshiken, but it still maintains the same feel. I like how Madarame, a character we grow to know greatly, is portrayed as a harem protagonist in the latter half, and his lack of self-worth and rather lost personality is genuinely endearing to the girls. There is a lot of genuine build-up and tension to the harem arc. (manga only.)
Great review Bob as usual
Forgot Spotted Flower
Sorry for reminding you lol
I remember your genshiken unboxing video and the disappointment lol.
Genshiken is a hidden gem and one of my favorite animes. Few I give a 10 especially part 1 as a whole. Just love their comradery and reminds me when I spent my money on anime and figures.
Nidaime was okay but wasn't as good as part 1 imo. I give it a 7, fun but characters did nothing for me and hated Kuchiki. I would've given it an 8 if episode 11 was split in two episodes or Hato ended with Madarame at the end.
Still it was great watching your video and being reminded of Genshiken again.
woah you go WAY back lol. glad to see you still around :)
Great video. I've been meaning to check it out and now I think I will
enjoy!
Madarame is my hero. The most relatable character in any manga i've read...
genshiken and genshiken nidaime very good...
I'm glad you reviewed kujibikiri unbalance, ive already seen genshiken but i wasnt sure if that was going to be any good so i just skipped it. Now i've got a reason to check it out
Enjoy!
I LOVED genshiken!! To this day I had never heard of Genshiken Nidaime and despite my love for the anime I have no wish to watch it. Thanks for your honest review
enjoy!
Just finished Genshiken 2 again and ended up reading the rest of the manga from that point and I was surprised how close the anime got to the ending without getting there. It made me wonder if maybe the manga wasn't done yet or something while the anime was airing. I plan to watch Nidaime too though watching this video reminded me of how much I hated some things from that series.
Madarame is also my favorite character. His relation with Saki is probably my favorite part throughout the whole series and it is great to see Madarame grow and try to better himself and on the flipside you see Saki start out at this "otaku-hating normie" and by the end of Genshiken 2 she ends up loving and befriending everyone in the club to the point to the point where she probably has the most toleration for characters like Kuchiki.
I remember HATING Kuchiki the first time I watched the series. It has been a lot of time since then and I am a lot older now and I have grown to appreciate him a little more. He is super annoying and being an anime fan for so long you have probably seen this type of anime fan more than you would hope throughout the years. I do wish he got a little more development though there were definitely a few moments where you could tell he is sincere when he wants to be and just very awkward and just doesn't understand why people get so mad at him.
Another side character I forgot about until this rewatch was Yabusaki. I didn't realize most of her anime scenes were original and that she did not appear in the manga until closer towards the end. She feels like a character who could have used a little more focus and would have been a great addition to Nidaime if she ended up being more relevant.
This series is definitely up there with one of my favorite anime up there with Welcome to the NHK.
Haha I felt the same way about coochi kun lol but it’s true, he is a realistic representation of another segment of the anime fandom so he does grow on you. I wish we had more anime like this. We have plenty of similar anime, but only one Genshiken
@@bobsamurai Yeah there are plenty of other anime with similar premises and other anime that flesh out its characters as well as Genshiken but that combination of the two is so unique to this series you just don't see in other anime.
Genshiken is SUCH a good anime 💕
I just can't believe the anime skipped the whole vacation trip to Karuizawa and only showed a brief flashback. That was such an important part for the development of Sasahara and Ogiue
I know! That was my favorite part :(
Hiya,
I think I see the Genshiken manga in the background there.
Bob, could we please have a closer look at the manga you've collected over the years?
I might
Last time I was this late...wait I've never been this late 😱
I guess my favorite character is the one who makes the cosplay for the group some funny scenes with her
The one who makes it is a guy, I guess you mean Ono, yea she’s great
@@bobsamurai OhNO another female manga/anime character that I like with the name of ONO.
holy shit i'm subscribing
Thanks!
Does Unbalanced have a lot of high quality animation or did you just choose some of the best examples. Because some of those scenes were really good considering what type of show it is.
It all looks like that. The 4:3 clips were the ova, 16:9 was the series
You know, I think this is the show I need right now. I have been increasingly agitated with Twitter as of late and I have been hating the internet more than usual lately. I normally tolerate how much I hate the anime community but I have been disliking them more than I typically do. Twitter in general is just a such a weaboo safe haven that it's just sickening to me. Seeing that red haired girl from that fucking Chainsaw Man series is enough to drive me crazy with how much she pops up and how much weebs simp for her and how people overly get defensive over shounen. I feel like my endeavors on the internet gets me little in return, if this was a lesson superhero stories tried to tell with how the heroes give so much and get little in return, then I sure as hell am feeling it.
This series seems like a weird "what if" scenario. What if Anime fans are actually people you like and could potentially form bonds with. It already is because it turns out my college anime club was only formed because the guys there just wanted to make money. Shit like that sickens me to the point of depression. Plus this show has conventions and cosplayers so it's already plus since I haven't seen those 2 things together in a while. This show just seems like would happen if the stars aligned perfectly and you had a group with similar interests and there's no ulterior motive and in fighting bullshit regarding it. I will give the first series a watch soon. I was holding on it but I am giving it a look now.
do you still have this anime. I've been looking for this anime but it's hard (genshiken nidaime specials)
I only have genshiken anime, manga, and some genshiken second manga. Sadly I had kujibiki but sold it before I came to appreciate it
nice review
Gua mau nanya bang itu ogiue sma sasahara kapan jadianya kapan dia nyatakan cintanya?
Sorry, I can't understand well. This scene is focused on most in the manga and briefly in the Genshiken Nidaime OVA. Sadly it's not as good as the manga, because it was one of my favorite parts.
Just finished Genshiken 2 and I'm super disappointed that Nidaime isn't dubbed.😩
Did a lot of your videos disappear or am I losing my mind?
just limiting the content to similar videos to what I'm producing right now since youtube likes to randomly recommend people 4 year old vids lol. they're unlisted in my playlists section.
I love the original but the spin-off is okay but gotten off hard. There is also the spin-off aftermath of a manga called Spotted Flower that I don’t even know where it started and a huge time skip with a ton of drama that I didn’t know how to process it
For the Digopuri manga from what I had seen years ago from memories is that the aftermath of the character newborn baby somewhere in their teenage years or adult years. It’s full of information about the female body and the struggles of parenthood with the help of the little sister but came across of a mental struggle. By the end of reading it on chapter 9 I was slightly mentally exhausted and by the end of it I didn’t enjoy any of it.
Hey I found out there is a book call Genshiken : Return of the Otaku
Can you tell me why the other characters aren’t in the spin-off?
@@handsanitizer3108 genshiken nidaime is the spin-off of genshiken is that the other characters have graduated and moved away to do career of what they are interested in. Harunobu Madarame and Kenjirou Hato are the main characters in genshiken nidaime where the clubroom has recently increased female characters that shares the fujoshi love. ( all I can say is that the original cast of characters are not students of the campus anymore and gotten jobs). For spot flower I truly do not know what is happening for the time-skip and a whole lot of drama
@@deathwizard1996 thank you
Love your vids but just some constructive criticism - try to make your script a bit more unsophisticated sounding lol. Your reviews are very good but the review comes off a bit earfucky if that makes sense. Just a bit, still the best reviewer on yt though
What do you mean by that? I think his script is easy to follow and english is not even my first language xD
He just sounds like a cool guy, his vocubulary is not pretentious or anything like that.
I also think Bob is the best anime reviewer in TH-cam. Not pleb, not fanboy and not elitist. He fortunately has good taste and keeps it real and honest with his thoughts.
@@moon_orbit yeah man I agree his review content is the most thorough and best in the anime community but compared to his older reviews the script sounds a bit clunky and slightly less entertaining in terms of the jokes and stuff. On the other hand though his reviews are more in depth now than before so overall the quality is better
It’s a shame they shit on the series in season 3
By adding fake anime fans as main characters (Yaoi/josei/reverse harem, shoujo fans)
Also a trap
omg not another seemingly good anime with a convoluted watch order
Not complex at all, but very thing is chronological
You rated Nidaime a 7; if it's that bad then why didn't you rate it a 5 or lower?
i still said a fair amount of positive things about Nidaime
15:23 wow he answered your message!? could prolly tell you really care about the series lol
i hope so!
and its get worse, because spotted flowers manga is a "spiritual sequel" and madarame and the trans get together
That’s not Madarame. The only connection to Genshiken it has is a fake visual novel that exists in both stories
@@bobsamurai yeah, he is not, but come on the characters are way too similar. Maybe is a joke by author-san
First
Ya lucky Bastard! 😂😂
I'm late that's 10 pushups for me
how are you doing captain?