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Genshiken Returns
“Gendai Shikaku Bunka Kenkyu” (現代視覚文化研究) is the long-form for “Genshiken”(げんしけん, or 現視研), the contraction that the Otakus in Shimoku Kio’s (木尾士目) manga adopted for their activity club. The term “Gendai Shikaku Bunka Kenkyu” means “The Study of Modern Visual Culture”.
現代視覚文化研究 – 前人未踏のアキバ系カルチャー読本 -
The scholarly sounding title is but a euphemism for Genshiken’s otaku activities. They were nowhere near a society of high-minded literary critics. That said, geeks being geeks, Otakus make natural critics. Sansai Books (三才ブックス) realised the vision of “The Study of Modern Visual Culture” in a digest-sized mook bearing the title – “Gendai Shikaku Bunka Kenkyu” (現代視覚文化研究) and sub-titled “An Unprecedented Reader on Akiba Culture” (前人未踏のアキバ系カルチャー読本). It’s a journal on geek culture written by geeks, for geeks.
GENSHIKEN
The mook, a supplement to Sansai Book’s “GAMELABO” (ゲームラボ), was published last December. It is positioned as a critical journal, collecting essays that reviewed the trends and recent phenomena in anime, Otaku and Akihabara culture. Many of the contributors are luminary critics such as Tohru Honda (本田透).
The main feature of the journal examined the typologies within the wider anime culture, from the commonly known Moeru anime (萌えるアニメ), to sub-genres such as the “Single-men/virgin-men anime” (喪男 アニメ – anime that features “Mo-dan or Mohtoko/喪男” male characters. Examples include Father Anderson from “Hellsing” and Kyon from “Suzumiya Haruhi’s Melancholy”), “Air-type anime” (空気系アニメ – “Kuu-ku Kei” anime, the type of anime with non-climatic, ‘nothing ever happen’ plots such as “Kamichu!”, “ARIA”, “Lamune”), “Coconut Crab anime” (ヤシガニアニメ – Yashigani anime, anime with poor production qualities. Most America action cartoons falls under this category), Tear Jerkers” (ガン泣きアニメ), “Boy Love” (BLアニメ), “Cross dressing boys”(女装少年アニメ) etc.
Table of Contents
Other interesting articles include interviews with the producers with the ‘worst anime of the century’ – “Musashi Gundoh” (MUSASHI -GUN道-), an study of the subliminal messages in “Bouken Desho Desho”, the OP of “Suzumiya Haruhi’s Melancholy”, a peek into maid cafe “Schatzkiste” (シャッツキステ) , the life of a manager in an ero-game shop and lots more.
The journal is not just filled with text. Being a journal about ‘visual culture’, there’s a healthy dose of graphics, illustrations and manga. There’s also fun articles on the construction of “Anime Weapons”:
Bikon-Bikon Hammer
Laser and Flamer
EMP Bomb and Railgun
Once you are done with the journal, you can take the Otaku certification test annex attached at the end of the digest.
現代視覚文化研究検定試験 – powered by 全国統一オタク検定
You can mail the answer sheet to for scoring and processing by the National Otaku Certification Panel (全国統一オタク検定).
As this is an ‘experimental publication’, and the periodicity of this mook would depend on fan feedback. If there’s enough support, the next issue would be published this summer. It’s certainly a long wait. I do hope that there will be a follow-up issue sooner than that, and this journal will become an on-going periodical – perhaps a quarterly mook like “Great Mechanics”.
AKIBA RETURNS
There’s quite a number of books written on Otaku culture, such as Patrick Macias & Tomohiro Machiyama’s “CRUISING THE ANIME CITY: AN OTAKU GUIDE TO NEO-TOKYO“. However there’s none in English that’s dedicated solely to Akihabara. But for those who can read Japanese, there’s quite a good selection of literature on the Otaku Holy Land.
In 2003, Akihabara had already evolved from a tired consumer electronics town into a wired Otaku wonderland. This phenomenon had attracted the attention of critics – from academics such as Kaichiro Morikawa (森川嘉一郎) to Otakus who’re natives of the Holy Land. In the same year that Morikawa’s “LEARNING FROM AKIHABARA : The Birth of a Personapolis” 『趣都の誕生 萌える都市アキハバラ』 reached the bookshelves, the Akiba-kei Homo Sapien Tetsuhito Fujiyama (藤山哲人) published his treatise “Moeru Holy Land Akiba – Akihabara Maniacs” 『萌える聖地アキバ 秋葉原マニアックス』. Morikawa’s work is a thesis written for general consumption – like any other academic text; Fujiyama’s book on the other hand, is written from a perspective of an Otaku – for the service of Otakus.
萌える聖地アキバ2006 秋葉原マニアックス リターンズ
Last year, Fujiyama released the service pack 1 for “Akiba Vista”, as “Akiba” is soon moving over to a 128-bit platform. And the sp1 is none other than the follow up to his bible on Akihabara – “Moeru Holy Land Akiba 2006 – Akihabara Maniacs Returns” 『萌える聖地アキバ2006 秋葉原マニアックス リターンズ』.
Akihabara underwent some significant transformation in between 2003 and 2006. Investments from IT companies came pouring into what used to be a town filled with consumer electronics and electronic parts shops, breathing in new economic life into the area. The following urban renewal saw the construction of big corporate buildings and department stores. The new rail line Tsukuba Express (TX) sprung from Akihabara, connecting Tokyo to the Ibaraki prefecture in the east.
A year after the books on Akihabara were published, a legend was being born on the single men board of 2ch. The threads following the romance of Densha Otoko was collected and published into a best-selling novel, which was then adapted into a box office movie, a highly rated TV drama, a stage play and four interpretations of manga. The exposure of Otaku culture threw Akihabara into the mainstream limelight. That brought hordes and hordes of domestic tourists into what was once an exclusive and sacred realm of the Otakus.
That did not slow down Electrical Town’s (電気街) evolution into a IEEE Town (IEEEの街). Fujimiya made this observation under the shadow of the IT Building next to the Akihabara station. IEEE (read as “Ai triple Ee”) stands for Information, Electronics, Entertainment & Energisch. The last “E” can also be a place holder for Economy (driven by Otaku consumerism) or Erotic (Akihabara is to 2D sex just as Shinjuku is to 3D sex). Akihabara has become the transmission base for poisonous electromagnetic waves (毒電波発射基地).
Fujimiya, who cut his teeth as a writer of technical manuals for TechDOC, puts on the hat of an Otaku writer and churned out the documentation of Akihabara’s evolution over 300+ pages. The topics include the expansion of maid cafes, not only in numbers but also the range of services offered – such as foot reflexology and also retail/service shops using the maid motif to snag the wallets of the Otaku denizens. Being a techie himself, Fujimiya also dedicated some space to the marginalised electronic hobbyists. The growing number of robotics hobbyists have brought this group of geeks back to the former stomping ground of their progenitors.
Among the topics, I find the opening chapter the most interesting. Fujimiya updated his observation of the new tribes that had descended upon the Holy Land:
ELECTRONICS HOBBY MANIACS
The former wireless, transistors, reprogrammable Integrated Circuit electronic hobbyists have given way to the robotics maniacs.
Electronics Hobby Maniac
This tribe of maniacs can be seen shuttling around the warren of alleys looking for bargain capacitors and soldering parts.
OVER CLOCKERS [MOD]
As the CPU’s engineering has become more stable and capable, the number of microprocessor over-clockers had dwindled. But a new breed of hardware hackers have came up to take their place.
![Over-clocker [Mod]](http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q224/zer0takuher0/Gendai%20Shikaku%20Bunka%20Kenkyu/akibareturns008.jpg)
Over Clocker [Mod]
The emergent breed of Over Clockers are known as Video-Cardists or PC Silencers. The Video-Cardists are maniacs seeking to push the limits of their video cards, while the PC Silencers are hobbyists who intend to find innovative ways of cooling the PC without having to use more noisy motorised devices.
DOUJIN MANIACS
Recently, it’s observed that there’s more n00bs entering the doujin scene. This had led to a polarisation within the doujin maniacs. The new entrants had earned the ire of older, hardcore veterans.
Doujin Maniac
The veterans had retreated to Nakano and Ikebukuro to feed their habits, while the n00bs continue to pour into the streets of Akihabara. More of them would appear during the half-yearly Comiket.
ANIME FAN
What’s the difference between the Doujin Maniac and the Anime Fan?
Anime Fan
The Anime Fan has a keener sense of sight and hearing. The Anime fan is able to tell the differentiate the voice of one voice actor from the other. His eyes is able to catch the fleeting moment of panchira even though it was a flash of 0.08 sec. Unlike the Doujin Maniac, the Anime Fan is always spotted at Voice Actors/Actresses appearance events.
ERO GAME MANIACS
There’s more Ero-game shops than the number of shops selling iPods in Akihabara. With the number of late night anime based on ero-games, it can be inferred that this tribe is quite significant in numbers. But who are they?
Ero Game Maniacs
The Ero Game Maniac looks no different from your stressed-out Salary man or high school student. It’s not how they appear on the outside, but what they’re carrying inside their bags or attaché case.
MAID LOVER (New Species)
The maid cafe boom had attracted a new species of maniacs to Akihabara.
Maid Lover aka Maidsky (try saying Meido-Suki with a Russian accent)
Usually, this new species of maniacs are dressed too stylishly to look like the typical nerd or Otaku. Armed with point-cards, they flash their 3L33t status with the number of stamps they have accumulated. This species has the uncanny ability to lengthen the time-limit for interaction with the maids.
MS LAYER(New Species)
“Layer” is the short for “Cosplayer”. More than half of this group of cosplaying maniacs happen to be females.
Ms Layer
This new species is often spotted around shops selling costumes (what else?) and also anime related fashion accessories.
FIRST TIME TOURISTS (New Species)
This is what the “Densha Otoko” tide had washed ashore. Mainstream media that continue to portray Akihabara as a novel curiosity continue to bring in the non-pilgrims to the Holy Land.
First Time Tourists
These tourists have made Akihabara an attraction of the same stature as Tokyo Disneyland. This species is the least welcome by the denizens of Akihabara.
ABSOLUTE TERRITORY
Akihabara is the Holy Land (聖地) Absolute Territory (Zettai Ryoiki/絶対領域) for all Otakus. Fujimiya has included a pull-out atlas for Otakus navigating their Holy Land.
絶対領域
Japan might look like a daunting place for those who are unable to speak the language or read kanji. For pilgrims that do not have the benefit of an free English guide, there’s now a free guided tour conducted in English. Here’s a glimpse of the promotional video of the free guided tour:
New Discovery of AKIHABARA: Pop Culture
New Discovery of AKIHABARA: Shopping
Although its not like the Akiba Guide ｢秋葉でガイド｣ tours led by Maid-costumed girls, the itinerary looks comprehensive enough for the gaijin Otakus to familiarise themselves with the area before they venture off on their own. Even without a proper English guide, that should not prohibit any financially independent Otaku from making at least one pilgrimage to the Holy Land of Akihabara.
