Kujibiki Unbalance - Reviews

This anime makes me want to punch the people at Asiadou studio in the face for creating this abomination. This anime is what it is, an obvious ploy to make a few extra bucks off the fans of Genshiken. For anyone who hasn't watched Genshiken, Kujibiki is the show the characters of Genshiken are always watching and are huge fans of. Due to the fact that it's played off as a generic anime for otaku it ends up becoming just that, completely generic in every way.

Story: 3

Poor generic average loser Chihiro Enomoto, a kid cursed with bad luck has been suckered into becoming a candidate for next years student council. What this means for him is he and his friends have become the slaves of the current student council, and if they fail to accomplish any of the difficult tasks given to them, they will be expelled. Thus begins the zany antics of Chihiro and his crew doing one task after another. Throw in some random aliens and you have the plot for this show. The only redeeming part of the story is that Chihiro and his female sidekick Tokino have a past with the current president Ritsuko and try to do what they can to break her out of her shell of apathy.

Animation: 3.5

Being an anime within an anime, apparently the creators of this show decided it would be unnecessary to put to much effort into the animation. The result is a show that looks cheesy and childish, with characters that were drawn by an elementary school kid. Basically the characters look like a bad (ok really bad) knock off of Lucky Star.

Sound: 3

Even the opening and closing of this show seem to have been done half-assed. The voice actors who normally do decent jobs in other anime seem to have purposely "dumbed" down the voices of the characters in this show, apparently to fit with the theme that everything in this show is well...just dumb.

Characters: 4

If anyone ever asked for the definition of generic anime characters, I would refer them to this show. Chihiro is the same bumbling idiot with a "good heart" that you've seen in dozens of other anime. Tokino is the same cheerful sidekick childhood friend that has had a secret crush on Chihiro since birth but he's too oblivious to notice. Renko is somewhat interesting but she is also just a generic arrogant genious inventor, though her and her android sidekick do create the best humor in this show. The president, Ritsuko, takes being the generic stoic to the point of having an almost non-existent personality. In all, you've seen these characters before, and not just that, but you've probably seen way better versions of them.

Overall: 3.5

If you've seen Genshiken and you really want to know what the show they watch is about then feel free to satisfy your curiousity. For anyone else who is just looking for a decent anime to watch, steer clear of this one because it borders on being an insult to anime fans.

Kujibiki Unbalance, as I understand it, was originally just a "show-within-a-show" on Genshiken, a fictional creation that the characters of Genshiken would talk about and debate, and we would be entertained with alleged clips of Kujibiki Unbalance during Genshiken. Although inspired by this source, this telling of Kujibiki Unbalance is its own story, quite capable of standing alone on its own.  It differs slightly from the KU as seen in Genshiken, and some fans do no like this fact, but I personally did not mind.  It is a solid, fun story; the characters are engaging and appealing.  The Student Council president is frigid at first but shows warmth later (and in flashbacks, of course).

Although slightly different, watching this KU first will enhance your enjoyment of Genshiken later if you watch this series first.  I went back and re-watched Genshiken after watching this stand-alone series, and I definitely appreciated it more.