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INTEREST: U.S. Actress Streams Otaku: The Series Web Sitcom


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Zac
ANN Executive Editor


Joined: 05 Jan 2002
Posts: 7912
Location: Anime News Network Technodrome
PostPosted: Mon Aug 16, 2010 2:52 am Reply with quote
This is a really godawful ripoff of The Guild.

I hate The Guild. The acting is terrible and the show isn't funny.

This is worse, mostly because it's just a lame ripoff of a bad show, but even moreso because somehow the acting is even worse than it is in The Guild.
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enurtsol



Joined: 01 May 2007
Posts: 14746
PostPosted: Mon Aug 16, 2010 3:36 am Reply with quote
Zac wrote:
This is a really godawful ripoff of The Guild.

I hate The Guild. The acting is terrible and the show isn't funny.

This is worse, mostly because it's just a lame ripoff of a bad show, but even moreso because somehow the acting is even worse than it is in The Guild.


Didn't know Zac has a 360! Admit it, you have the seasons in the hard drive too! Laughing

(Could ANN produce a live-action show?)
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Anime World Order



Joined: 05 May 2006
Posts: 389
Location: Florida
PostPosted: Mon Aug 16, 2010 8:33 am Reply with quote
I've communicated online with some of the people involved in this about a month and a half ago when they first put up this video, and what I discovered is that while they were indeed effectively trying to do an anime club version of The Guild (which I despise, but I don't play MMOs/WoW so I'm not the target audience), the trouble with their endeavor is quite simple:

Nearly all of the people involved are hired actors playing a part.

In other words, almost none of the people involved is a diehard anime fan who has spent significant amounts of time in anime clubs or conventions. Some of them may have watched some anime while they were in college and are watching more now that they're doing this series, but they're not really "plugged in" to the subculture that this series is aimed towards. As a result, they can't exactly draw from "oh yeah, I know a guy JUST LIKE THAT" memories when asked to portray their characters. For such specific humor as what they're aiming for, the subtleties make all the difference.

This is obvious right off the bat: the opening scene is of a girl on her bed inviting in a guy (two, technically!) to sit next to her on her bed...and everyone just acts perfectly normally, like this is no big deal. Body language, delivery, etc. all suggest a normal "yeah, we're friends recording a video" vibe, when the PROPER "otaku" reaction would be more along the lines of "oh crap oh crap a girl don'tlookatherboobsdon'tlookatherboobsjustlookat the camera OH CRAP SHE CAUGHT ME LOOKING!" But no comic situation occurs from this scenario at all.

Stuff like this is why it's my opinion that its tagline of "the most dysfunctional anime club alive" simply isn't warranted. Everyone's still just too normal. The more realistic dynamic would be "a bunch of people who aren't really friends, but since nobody else can stand to be around them, they congregate out of necessity," but how can the cast know that when the only person with significant firsthand experience with "US anime fan culture" is the series creator/writer who's also the lead actress that is serving as the "straight man" role?


Last edited by Anime World Order on Mon Aug 16, 2010 9:58 am; edited 1 time in total
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larinon



Joined: 27 Jul 2003
Posts: 992
Location: Midland, TX
PostPosted: Mon Aug 16, 2010 9:26 am Reply with quote
enurtsol wrote:
Didn't know Zac has a 360! Admit it, you have the seasons in the hard drive too! Laughing

I don't see what having a 360 has to do with it. You could always watch the Guild online even prior to it appearing on the xbox.

enurtsol wrote:
(Could ANN produce a live-action show?)

They've done a live-action news show before, but apparently it failed horribly.

As far as this show goes, after watching that preview, I don't really have any desire to watch it. Scripted reality type stuff never really sits well with me, and in general the only group of otaku that people tend to enjoy is their own group of otaku. Meaning that unless you've been around a group for awhile, and understand their idiosyncrasies (which otaku are a plethora of), then it's difficult to recreate that feeling in a production such as this one.
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nhat



Joined: 21 Jan 2008
Posts: 922
PostPosted: Mon Aug 16, 2010 9:52 am Reply with quote
As long as it's close to like Genshiken I'm down for it. Whoever didn't watch Genshiken I highly recommend it. It's good.

After watching the first episode, it had an Office vibe to it which I like. The show definitely has it's own style with their own unique people so so far I have to say I like it.
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giapet
Industry Insider


Joined: 18 Jan 2006
Posts: 205
Location: Washington DC
PostPosted: Mon Aug 16, 2010 10:22 am Reply with quote
Anime World Order wrote:
This is obvious right off the bat: the opening scene is of a girl on her bed inviting in a guy (two, technically!) to sit next to her on her bed...and everyone just acts perfectly normally, like this is no big deal. Body language, delivery, etc. all suggest a normal "yeah, we're friends recording a video" vibe, when the PROPER "otaku" reaction would be more along the lines of "oh crap oh crap a girl don'tlookatherboobsdon'tlookatherboobsjustlookat the camera OH CRAP SHE CAUGHT ME LOOKING!" But no comic situation occurs from this scenario at all.


I'm with you that the club isn't anywhere near as dysfunctional as it purports, at least so far, but frankly, it would have taken a LOT of effort and clever writing to make an "nerd who can't even fathom being near a girl" bit funny in something like this.
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Teriyaki Terrier



Joined: 26 Mar 2008
Posts: 5689
PostPosted: Mon Aug 16, 2010 10:24 am Reply with quote
I'll give them that college is challenging and can be at times, really stressful. But to make seem that being an anime fan is much harder is just absolutely stupid.

I like anime, but you don't see me running around like some ADHD kid that thinks he has it the worst in the world.

What's worse is the show is trying to be like Genshiken. Genshiken never tried to be seriously hilarious or interesting, if there was a joke, it was never over done or done far too many times.

I don't like what I am about to say, but I there is no nicer way to put said sentence. This really isn't anime news and to be frank, this really doesn't qualify as news at all. Any person with a camera and time to spare can make a live action anime show.

But mark my word, this show tries to be Genshiken but isn't any where close to the series.
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triangle_man



Joined: 07 Jun 2006
Posts: 67
Location: Texas, USA
PostPosted: Mon Aug 16, 2010 12:54 pm Reply with quote
KanjiiZ wrote:
It's amazing what gets past ANN's news filter nowadays....


Teriyaki Terrier wrote:
This really isn't anime news and to be frank, this really doesn't qualify as news at all.


Guys, Zac has been over this before in other threads. This story or whatever has the "People" tag on it, not the "Anime" tag. It's not intended to be considered news.
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OtakuExile



Joined: 16 Jun 2010
Posts: 202
Location: Neo Vegas
PostPosted: Mon Aug 16, 2010 1:00 pm Reply with quote
enurtsol wrote:
Didn't know Zac has a 360! Admit it, you have the seasons in the hard drive too! Laughing
ANN mentioned The guild website when it first started. That's back when LARPers were being openly talked about.

enurtsol wrote:
(Could ANN produce a live-action show?)
They tried, it cost too much and no one watched it.

nhat wrote:
After watching the first episode, it had an Office vibe to it which I like. The show definitely has it's own style with their own unique people so so far I have to say I like it.
Each of them are blatant stereotypes, you don't have to look hard to list what she put in there. It goes far far deeper than what you see there. There is nothing worst than an anime fan calling themselves an otaku.
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xBTAx



Joined: 05 Mar 2010
Posts: 189
PostPosted: Mon Aug 16, 2010 1:57 pm Reply with quote
That was, well, not good. I think Anime World Order said it best, in that these are actors who have very little idea what they should be acting like. It seemed like they were trying to act awkward, and ended up being so in a way different than what they intended. And some of the characters were just... well, for example, the old couple. That's not funny; it's annoying. And they're the favorite characters of both the creator and the director, so it's not like they're going to be going away...

And I found it amusing that in the interview with her that she has posted on the site, the creator basically runs through all the stereotypical characters that she included.

(I'm justified in being annoyed at the director mispronouncing Haruhi, right? And, to a lesser extent, xxxHolic is just said as "Holic", isn't it? Though that's harder to get right...)
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PMDR



Joined: 19 Jan 2006
Posts: 140
PostPosted: Mon Aug 16, 2010 7:00 pm Reply with quote
Why watch a show about people watching anime, when you could just, I dunno, watch the anime yourself?
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Jimbobaka



Joined: 25 Feb 2010
Posts: 37
Location: The city near Magic Mountain
PostPosted: Tue Aug 17, 2010 5:27 pm Reply with quote
I'm at work right now, so I can't view the first episode but the general concensus of the show seems rather negative.

Like what many others have mentioned, the idea of a live-action Genshiken seems interesting and at the same time, difficult to pull off.

I'm a fan of "The Guild" so perhaps this show will appeal to me, so when I get home tonight I'll give this series a shot.

While this show contains paid actors who are assuming the roles of "otakus" or anime fans, I'm curious to see how a more reality based show would be recieved with "real otaku." Now if there was no invisible hand guiding storylines or creating drama, would it make for solid entertainment or just an all out half hour flame war?

I have to say that the only show at the moment that succeeds in portraying geek culture is "The Big Bang Theory." They have the uber-nerd stereotype locked down. While I don't expect what seems to be a low-budget show to have amazing writing and acting, it's nice to know that a series exists that, from my opinion, gets geeks right.

I hear a lot of bad wrap from the old couple characters as well. Are they elderly or just adults in their mid-thirties to fourties? My buddy taking writing classes for television pilots told me that it's difficult to create a likable "old person" character. So far, Community seems to have nailed that character right but then again it's got a darn good actor playing the part and the writing is pretty solid after the first 2 episodes.

Well, I guess I ended up ranting and what-not but what I wanted to get across is that a lot of the negatives that are showing up for "Otaku", other shows are getting them right.

I'm a sucker for cheesy shows, so perhaps this show just needs a few bad episodes before some decent ones pop up. I remember really disliking "Community" but decided to slug through a few more episodes, and it definitely paid off.

Okie dokie pick apart my post or ignore it, I've said my peace haha.
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The Xenos



Joined: 29 Mar 2004
Posts: 1519
Location: Boston
PostPosted: Wed Aug 18, 2010 3:35 am Reply with quote
The concept isn't bad. Certainly a good setting for humor and even a little drama. Not really sure if it really lifts off the ground though.
Jimbobaka wrote:
I have to say that the only show at the moment that succeeds in portraying geek culture is "The Big Bang Theory." They have the uber-nerd stereotype locked down. While I don't expect what seems to be a low-budget show to have amazing writing and acting, it's nice to know that a series exists that, from my opinion, gets geeks right.
To me it tends to be hit or miss. Some eps get it pitch perfect, while others are a bit off. Though I must admit Sheldon is a bit too familiar, even if he's still a vast extreme from anyone I know.
Quote:
I hear a lot of bad wrap from the old couple characters as well. Are they elderly or just adults in their mid-thirties to fourties? My buddy taking writing classes for television pilots told me that it's difficult to create a likable "old person" character. So far, Community seems to have nailed that character right but then again it's got a darn good actor playing the part and the writing is pretty solid after the first 2 episodes.
I gotta say that was pretty odd. They've taken the old guy / almuni that shows up at anime clubs and combined it with the anime club couple. One is kinda odd, but combining the two makes it odder. I'm sure it's plausible, but just rather sticks out like a sore thumb. Plus having them in there does create that conundrum of writing not only for older characters among young ones, but also an older couple.
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hikaricore



Joined: 17 Apr 2010
Posts: 58
PostPosted: Wed Aug 18, 2010 4:09 am Reply with quote
just god awful, nothing more needs said
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