Otaku No Video?

ProdigySim · Post by **ProdigySim** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 11:16 pm

I finally got a chance to see this... and frankly, I'm unimpressed and a little pissed off...
The first OVA was believable.. But then, I heard the English-Speaking guy ("Shon Hernandez") in the second one. They dubbed over the English guy with Japanese, and it didn't even line up with what he said! I could hear him talking about the differences between Japanese Anime and American Cartoons, but the subs said things like "I felt it was God's will for me to come here and pursue this art... I sold all my US possessions to come to Japan... My favorite character is what they call 'Satan' in the US..."
It was really terrible what they did to this guy!
So I'm wondering... What else was fake in Otaku No Video?
Can anyone shed some light on what this is all about?

narcted · Post by **narcted** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 11:27 pm

Otaku no Video animation is supposed to be a parodied origin story of how animation company Gainax got started. (Hence, the Daicon Bunny parody.) The rest is a documentary of anime fandom.

I remember watching it years ago before anyone had even started to shoot anime documentaries in America. It's been awhile so I don't remember much. I can't even recall the parts you're talking about. I found the animation itself not memorable, but the interviews are scary and true. I liked how they confronted the guy about his past cosplay. The video recording otaku was scary how he got called to remember to record a show during the interview.

Org Profile · Post by **GloryQuestor** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 11:45 pm

The whole point of Otaku No Video is to give you the story behind GAINAX's (aka "Giant X") creation and presents you with what being a true otaku is about -- cosplaying at conventions; spending all your time and money buying anime, manga, and merchandise; excited at being able to see cels before it becomes true animation.

Otaku No Video's successor would most likely be FLCL, another anime series produced by, and paying homage to, GAINAX (and features parodies of GAINAX's more famous anime features, mostly Neon Genesis Evangelion, but also a parody of Daicon).

(IIRC, the "documentaries" are really "mockumentaries". I think they used GAINAX staffers for all the documentaries, because more than a few really do sound a bit rehearsed.)

RichLather · Post by **RichLather** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 1:34 am

The true successor to Otaku No Video is Genshiken, focussing on college-age anime fans/otaku.

DTJB · Post by **DTJB** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 4:53 pm

I need to watch that again sometime. My favorite part was the interview with the ex-cosplayer...who had his Char helmet with him in his office.