The post for the study of the adaptation of visual media
Or just another post with scattered thoughts comparing the Genshiken manga and anime. Manga and anime spoilers abound.
Fateful Encounter. In the manga, we were not shown how Saki and Kousaka met in university. [Add: WRONG. orz It's in the omake at the end of the first volume of the manga. The anime just showed it right up front in chronological order.] The anime opened with her trying to pick him up but then having him recognize her as a childhood friend. I liked the latter a lot as it played up the childhood friend factor, the serendipity of their meeting and the humour with Saki's slack-jawed recalled of Kousaka, Shaven Head version. It also gave this relationship the impact and focus as the 'anchor event' that then ripples through the series where a key dynamic was Saki, as the non-otaku, bouncing off the rest of the otaku cast and Kousaka as the credible reason why she was forced to take the time to get know everyone in the gang. Though I have to say, art-wise, it's in the manga that Saki and Kousaka come across as being both beautiful and stylish much more convincingly, especially with respect to the detailing of Kousaka's clothes and rendering his face and build in a more obviously willowy bishounen way.
Trap trap trap. Kousaka cross-dressing for ComiFes in the third episode of the second season was pure win. But I really preferred the manga version where he cosplayed as Tachibana Izumi; this seems much more workable given how Izumi's a tomboy and flat-chested. Plus he looked oh so sultry in the manga when talking about copying Saki's makeup technique. Yeah, I'd totally hit that, man. But I guess the imperatives of promoting the 2006 re-imagined release of Kujibiki Unbalance had the studio roll out Kousaka as the much-hairstyle-improved Akiyama Tokino. An added touch in the anime which I liked very much was how they added Kousaka going: 'Aha~♥ What do you think, Saki-chan?' when she walks in on the Genshiken ComiFes stall. It just underlined so strongly how Kousaka is really hardcore otaku and as Madarame said, not just from a different planet from ordinary people but from a whole different galaxy.
Forbidden Love. Madarame's attraction to Saki seemed to get more attention in the manga. Of course, this could have come out in the three OVAs between the two seasons but I haven't managed to see them. And the 'confess/don't confess' doramaz chapter was too far down the manga time line to be animated for the second season. I particularly liked how he successfully decoyed the photos of Saki's cosplay of Ritsuko Kettengard with S&M DVDs. LOL The anime did draw attention to this via Angela noticing it but in the manga this seems to be an open secret among everyone in the Genshiken other than Saki who remained blissfully oblivious. Though Ohno almost let the cat out of the bag. LOL
Natural Pair. On the Tanaka-Ohno pairing, the manga more-or-less presented us with a fait accompli but I enjoyed very much how the anime dedicated an episode showing how they got together. It addressed a possible objection in the minds of readers of the anime - other than cosplay, what do the two see in each other? Sharing hobbies is all good but it's not a sufficient condition. The anime portrayed how Tanaka wrestled with his lack of self-confidence, how Ohno struggled to get him to make the first move and how the gap was bridged by, among other things, opening up communication and eroge. Cutie Tonko to the rescue!
Trails and Tribulations. Similarly, Sasahara's job search seemed a little too easy in the manga. The anime heightened the drama by showing us how he struggled during and after the interviews, experiencing the bitter taste of rejection and clawing self-doubt and then declaring defeat and showing up in the clubroom unshaven. The double whammy of Saki and Ogiue expressing their disappointment in him was a dramatic indication of his nadir as well as the provision of force for him to move on. After all, people are only disappointed in others when they have expectations to the contrary; much better, IMHO, than 'Believe in yourself' exhortations. It was also a great milestone in the budding Sasa-Ogi romance. Even though the anime didn't have the time to explore it, this sprouting gave me the impetus to start reading the Genshiken manga - Ogiue was indeed such an interesting and fascinating character and really added to the dynamics of the group for great justice and love powah!
Related posts:
- The 512,000th 'Genshiken Was Awesome' post on the interwebs
- Da Capo II 10 – Possibly my last DCII post
- Sick puppies
About Zyl
hontou ni sou omou?
January 14th, 2009 - 23:52
What did you think about the peek into Ogiue’s mind in terms of fantasies she had for the yaoi episode?
January 15th, 2009 - 06:55
Oh that was awesome and win, I couldn’t get her fantasy mode BGM out of my mind for a while. But jpmeyer had already hit the nail on the head with his comment so I didn’t really feel the need to comment about it in the post.