Name(s): Geeks’ Video / Otaku no Video / おたくのビデオ
Format: Original video animation [OVA] (2 episodes)
Studio(s): Gainax

Geeks’ Video / Otaku no Video Review

1991 OVA Geeks’ Video provides a parodical glance into otaku culture and a loose, fictionalized retelling of studio Gainax’s founding. Main character Kubo is an everyday college student experiencing dissatisfaction with his life and hobbies. A chance reunion with his old high school friend Tanaka drags him into the world of otakus.

Kubo leaves his “normal” life behind and vows to become the “Otaking.” The anime skips forward in time, following the two friends from fanboys, to plastic model distributors, to independent anime creators. Their struggles’ highs and lows arrive in comedic, hyperbolic fashion, complete with underdog heroes and dastardly villains.

Dividing these chronological updates are odd, live-action mockumentary interviews. These are staged interviews about otaku culture between Gainax employees and associates with obscured, mosaic faces and digitally altered voices. Being made in an era when “otaku” more often referred to general geek culture rather than that of anime, you even see focus on things like airsoft gun fanatics. Fake recording dates are given along with timely major national news, seemingly to punctuate these surprisingly self-loathing segments and their mockery of oblivious escapism and empty social lives.

Self-Deprecation That Goes Too Far?

These interviews border on mean-spirited, even though they stem from Gainax making fun of themselves. By hiding their identities in a presumed attempt to depict broader otaku culture, they end up dragging the identities of general otaku fans through the mud, as they’re portrayed as antisocial, perverted losers.

For every question sincerely probing the interests of various subcultures and their appeals, there’s three that target the interviewee personally. These are questions such as “do you ever go outside” or “have you ever had sex?” Clearly, public perspective hasn’t changed much since 1991. For an OVA ostensibly celebrating the passion behind otaku culture, it comes dangerously close to making its condemnation of the scene louder than its affection.

On one hand, this approach may seem honest. Geeks’ Video‘s anime section depicts the optimism, solidarity, and excitement of otaku culture, complete with a comedic, melodramatic storyline. As a counterbalance, they acknowledge the realistic, negative parts of it. But consider that not even the anime segments are free from this negativity and industry remorse. The more binary, negative display in the realistic segments tips the scales and makes the bitterness more impactful than the jubilee.

Who Is It For?

It’s a shame that I can’t determine Geeks’ Video‘s target audience. Who is it “for?” Probably not otaku, for the frequent contempt it shows towards its own members’ ways of living. Also, the fact that the anime segments don’t focus much on the otaku lifestyle. Rather, it’s mostly a very brief rags-to-riches story set in otaku culture—something almost no one watching will find relatable. The eccentric presentation and title will keep non-otaku miles away, and the depiction of the “real” otaku will make any one of them desperate to avoid that path.

Even not taking it seriously, Geeks’ Video is just too sour for its own comedic purposes. It’s often too self-loathing in a tired, reductionist way to provide a jovial time. There’s too much heavy fictionalization to be an historic document of Gainax’s inception.

Scattered throughout are some high-spirited moments. Characters stubbornly defend their interests despite society’s scorn, hoping to end the prejudice. However, the creators’ negativity and own lack of confidence and up burying these ideologies.

Geeks’ Video / Otaku no Video Verdict

And yet, the OVA is likable enough. In addition to crisp, colorful Blu-ray animation, this OVA’s very existence and even the contradictions about it are a testament to Gainax’s peak eccentricity and the concept and result is something that could only come from the incredible creative forces behind the studio and beyond it. It’s delightful. Not for any possible attempt to capture otaku culture or Gainax’s founding, but its display of the personality that made the studio so unique. In other words, this isn’t a video for otaku—it’s a video for Gainax dorks. Are you one?