This 1991 OVA by Gainax, back when they were still highly experimental, is a bit of a mini-landmark amongst ‘otaku’, fans who obsess about a subject to the point of excluding all else. This is because it focused on them - it put the subculture centre-stage. It’s a strange little two-part OVA, alternating a fanciful animated retelling of Gainax’s history – with plenty of artistic licence – with mockumentary interviews with real-life otaku, painting them in the worst possible light: cosplayers are ashamed of their pasts but can’t go to work without a Gundam helmet stashed nearby, porn obsessives masturbate on camera, a gaijin otaku’s dialogue is dubbed over with really over-the-top praise for Japan, and otaku come over as the lowest form of life on the planet, just under the sea slug. It’s the satirical juxtaposition of silly, posturing otaku-takes-over-the-world-and-yet-sticks-with-his-buddies idealism and an exaggeratedly grim reality that makes the concept work, and because it’s so brief, it doesn’t matter that there’s not a whole lot to develop; Otaku no Video doesn’t overstay its welcome.
A few things have changed in 16 years, and not just because VHS is obsolete, posters on an Otaku’s wall would likely be less Galaxy Express 999 and more Gantz, and cosplayers more likely to shun Lupin III to embrace Loveless; there’s also things like the Internet’s presence on an Otaku’s daily life, and increased numbers of otaku meaning increased segregation between subsets (how many gun otaku mix with anime otaku now? Even the crossover between sci-fi and anime otaku grows exponentially less prominent). But nevertheless, the similarities between Otaku no Video and Genshiken are remarkable, down to the unlikely parts (how attractive female members of the club (and the main character) are, for example, how well they pull off cosplay), despite what is almost a generation gap.
Hilarious in concept, quite funny in execution, Otaku no Video is an amusing self-referential vignette, as well as a bit of a vanity project for Gainax (who enjoy pointing out just how good the Daikon IV animation is). It is well worth watching for anyone who identifies with otaku culture, but perhaps too bizarre for the uninitiated.
(originally written 28.04.07)
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