The second four episodes of Denki-Gai, one of Ponycan's debut US releases, is somewhat less than the first in terms of content. Where the first box set of this slice-of-weird-life show trod some unusual ground in terms of female-oriented fanservice and over the top kookiness, this set is much more grounded in the standards of otaku comedy, devoting half-episodes to a discussion of the panty fetish, breasts, and a mangaka's deadlines. Sensei is the lead player in what feels like the majority of the episodes, and while that may not be strictly true, the fact that one of her episodelets is border-line offensive and that the rest are such stock fare certainly makes it seem as if she's getting the majority of the screen time. While there are still some good gags, both verbal and visual, this just isn't as much fun as the first release and seriously makes us question whether or not this series is worth the high asking price.

Things begin promisingly enough with a half-episode about underwear in the spring. Sensei is informed that her manga lacks fanservice and sex appeal because of her under-use of underwear: she only provides naturally occurring panty shots and the garments themselves are just the kind of normal underwear you buy in packs at a department or big box store. Umio takes it upon himself to tutor her in the Way of the Panty and its springtime appeal, and the over-the-top nature of the discussion is awkwardly funny. In some ways it almost serves as a tongue-in-cheek dissection of the fetishization of female undergarments with looney touches, such as the creepy voice saying (slowly) in English “Boys don't hate underwear” and the introduction of Schrodinger's Skirt. (Is she wearing panties? Is she not? Only flipping the skirt will tell!) Admittedly it is a little creepier for females to watch both this sequence and Kantoku's autumn boob theory in a later episode, but that is, in some ways, a theme of this disc.

The most difficult episodes are the ones centered on Sensei, who spends several nights at the store in order to work on her manuscript, which she has decided to submit to a new authors contest. She is unaware that the store has security cameras filming her every move, and Kantoku (and his former girlfriend turned popular light novel author) use the footage to assess her “girl's power,” or feminine appeal. To me, and I suspect to many women, her behavior looks simply like how anyone would act when they're in the middle of work: drinking the last of the iced tea from the bottle, eating nasty instant food, taking a sponge bath when there's no shower. The show plays it off, however, as pointing out her lack of femininity, essentially saying that she's a failure as a girl. While it is clearly meant to be funny – and Kantoku's narration is very well delivered by Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, who works himself up to a fever pitch – it also perpetuates distasteful and outdated stereotypes. This is likely to be the segment that is the most polarizing, even as it incorporates very successful jokes such as a computer error screen that reads “A Grave and Critical Error Has Occurred. Give Up? Sleep?”

That episodelet aside, the main thing that Denki-Gai has going for it is that it is really easy to watch. The episodes mostly just slip by until you suddenly realize that the disc has finished, making it light, simple entertainment. The lack of a dub does make it more difficult to just let it play as background noise to work by, but with a few exceptions there isn't very much that requires a lot of attention. In some ways this is good, as the character designs aren't particularly attractive (on purpose in the case of the “Lime Cat” segment) and the animation doesn't do much to enhance the dialogue in this set of episodes. There are emotional moments, such as Hiotan's crush on Kantoku and the budding relationship between Umio and Sensei, which is really very sweet, but mostly Denki-Gai is an avalanche of otaku jokes, with my personal favorite being the super-popular series Attack on Uncle. Somehow a giant, naked but for a necktie, middle aged man is just as scary as the original series...

The extras and packaging for this set are fairly identical to the first: over-sized in a clear plastic slipcase, the release includes four episodes on both DVD and BD, two cardboard posters, a double-sided fold-out poster, a poorly translated magazine insert, and a soundtrack CD of harmless bubblegum J-pop. The content of the disc(s) makes this even less of a deal than the first box, as it just doesn't elicit as many laughs and doesn't quite go far enough with the pathos to make it truly effective. Denki-Gai's second four episodes are fun, but not quite fun enough, so we'll have to hope it pulls it together a bit better for box three.