It’s time for a new anime season, even though I still haven’t caught up with the previous one. There are some nice new shows starting up this time, including a “second season” of Bakemonogatari, more High School DxD. a reboot of the Rozen Maiden gothic doll series, and an anime based on the popular (and ecchi) Cho Jigen Game Neptune games for the PS3. I’m also happy to report that, for the first time in six years, we’ve got new Genshiken to watch. Genshiken is a slice-of-life series about a “circle” (what a club at a university is called) dedicated to the study of Modern Visual Culture, mostly related to anime, manga, games and cosplay, and along with the Daikon IV opening animation, Gainax’s seminal Otaku no Video and Welcome to the NHK, it’s really come to define what being otaku is. What I like best about the series is its realism, the way different types of fans (Gundam plamo builders, ‘layers, BL loving fujoshi, ) interact with each other in realistic ways, and nitty-gritty details like how they go about getting jobs after college are part of the story. The new series features all your favorite characters plus some new ones, and updates the story nicely…though how is it they’re making Bakemonogatari and Oreimo jokes if the story is supposed to be set in 2004-2005?
It’s great to have new Genshiken to watch.