Welcome to the NHK Volume 1

Overall Rating: B
Synopsis: It's difficult to summarize "Welcome to the NHK". Written by Tatsuhiko Takimoto with art by Kendi Oiwa, the series follows Tatsuhiro Satō, a 22-year-old hikikomori (a shut in) who has no job. His only source of income is his parents giving him money. He is also a massive pervert. In the first volume, he learns that Kaoru Yamazaki, a fellow otaku from the same High School, is living next door (and playing anime soundtracks loudly). Tatsuhiro also meets Misaki Nakahara, a mysterious young woman who claims to be part of a group that helps hikikomori. Tatsuhiro and Kaoru decide to develop a porn video game, and hijinks ensue.

I kept running across Welcome to the NHK in stores and considered buying the first volume. Then Amazon started recommending I buy it. I don't know if it was the fact that I kept running in to the title, or whether the concept eventually convinced me to give it a try, or what, but I recently decided to take the plunge and read volume 1.

Having finished it, I'm still not sure what to think. The story teeters between Tatsuhiro being an endearing otaku and an outright pervert. He develops a disturbing lolita complex, that gets so bad he goes to take upskirt photos of school girls as they leave school. It's hard to root for a guy that's so disturbed, but I found myself hoping he would pull out of the tail-spin and get his life together.

I will say this, the book made me laugh and cringe, sometimes at the same time. I will probably flip through the second volume to see if it's worth following the series.

Train Man

Overall Rating: A+
Synopsis: Based on a true story, Train Man, or Densha Otoko, is the story of an Otaku who intervened when a drunk man was harassing women on a train. Train Man has a huge crush on one of the women being harassed, which likely resulted in him trying to stop the drunk man. After the incident, Train Man begins awkwardly dating the woman he has a crush on with advice from his online friends. Through the course of the movie, he goes from geek to...well not exactly chic, but definitely less of a geek.

I can sum up Train Man in two words, awkwardly adorable. Watching the main character struggle with his otaku personality, and trying to figure out how to impress the girl he is in love with reminded me of when I first started liking girls. Fortunately for me, I didn't have quite so far to go, and I didn't have to resort to help from my equally inept online friends, but I had my moments.

At any rate, the real fun of the movie begins when Train Man starts posting his story to a board he frequents and starts getting advice from his online friends. They consist of a student-age shut-in, three other otaku who hang out in internet/manga cafes, a married couple who don't realize they are both on the same board because they have grown so distant, and a nurse. These 7 "friends" give Train Man advice on hair cuts, places to eat, and more to try to help him win the girl. There are moments of geeky excellence, where TM is able to overcome his otakuness and do some very sweet things, and some moments where it becomes a train wreck, where you keep watching even though everything is going wrong. It all comes together as a movie that feels like it really happened (probably because it did ;-) and had me going "Aw!" a lot and clasping my hand over my mouth. Definitely worth seeing if you like geeks and romance.

Genshiken

Overall Rating: A+
Synopsis: Written by Kio Shimoku, the manga version of Genshiken is nine volumes long. It covers the lives of a college club of Otaku, but does it in a way that makes them seem real and interesting instead of the usual stereotypes.

One of the reasons I love this series so much is the remarkable number of similarities between the Genshiken club, and the club I helped found at Guilford College, the Yachting Club. Granted, we didn't really have a Saki (who hates geeks and is only in the club because her hot boyfriend, Kousaka, is an otaku), and we had secret rituals, but otherwise very similar. What really made me fall in love with the series though was how it focuses on the lives of the otaku, and their relationships. When I read volume 8, I started running around wildly clapping (a habit I have when I am excited) until Leah read it, so I could gush about what happened. When you're that devoted to the characters, you are either insane or the book is really fucking good. In this case, it's a little of both.

Another crazy/awesome thing about Genshiken is Kujibiki Unbalance, a manga/anime made up for the series. During the chapter breaks in the manga, you learn more about Kujibiki Unbalance and its characters. Genshiken was also made into an anime, that covers the first five volumes of the manga, and you get to watch episodes of Kujibiki Unbalance as a special feature. How fucking cool is that?

If you're a geek, and if you're not I have no idea why you're reading this, pick up Genshiken now! You'll thank me.