1 post tagged “akihabara@deep”
i was interested in this show because Akihabara was on my list of destinations when i visited Tokyo, but it wasn't nearly as shady as this show suggests. akihabara@DEEP so far follows four main characters: Page, a socially awkward stutterer who uses his computer to speak aloud; Box, who has a fear of dirt and naked women; Taiko, who "freezes" occasionally (it's hilarious when he does--reminds me of Makki in My Boss My Hero making that constipated face when he doesn't want to be called on in class); and Akira, who works in a maid cafe, goes to the gym, and is known for her fighting skills as well as beauty. there's also the mysterious Yui-san who brought them together via Internet chats and the phrase "The only way is up." the first episode revolves around Otaku-hunters, who go around beating up otakus, and how the four try to defeat them and protect "akiba."
the intro song is a creepy remake of something popular that i don't remember the name of and sets the tone for the rest of the episode. the intro also pretty much gives away the moral of the series right then and there: Akihabara . . . it's the holy land for us who are called otaku by others. we won't be bothered by anyone. it's the land that allows us to be addicted to our own interests, to forget our gloomy lives - the oasis in the desert for incompetent people like us. no. perhaps this world is actually our real life. but we don't know it yet, because we're afraid of being hurt. the door that has been rigidly shut until now is actually a curtain called "the future." with a little courage and enthusiasm, anyone can equally open it. (translation thanks to the subbers at Love Song.) with that kind of an introduction, do you really need to watch the rest of the series? that kind of preaching is exactly what annoys me about a good deal of Jdramas; the focus is always on social misfits who need to become full-fledged members of their communities by changing what made them interesting and special in the first place. not that i agree that escapism is a good way to live, but encouraging conformity and BRAINWASH really, really sucks.
still, there are little contradictions and hypocrises within many of these dramas which make them more complicated and fun to watch. they're not entirely black-and-white and do have moments that catch you offguard... Taiko's "freezing" definitely got me by surprise...
in the beginning when Page was on the Internet chatting with Yui-san, everything seemed like sexual innuendo... especially the phrase "the only way is up." i wonder if that was intentional--he was at a maid cafe, after all, and sex is a big theme in the show, especially since it's dealing with otaku... one of the maids gets raped by an otaku-hunter later, as well. speaking of which, there is a LOT of violence in this first episode that i can only hope will not continue the rest of the series. the first violent scene was saved IMHO by Taiko's freezing (yeah, this is the third time i'm mentioning it. i'm really a big fan of it. check out the pictures!), which occurred mid-beating.
one thing i wonder about is how actual Akihabara-ns feel they're being portrayed in this show and whether it comes close to reality. not a resident of Tokyo or even Japan, i have no idea. another thing: the bald otaku-hunter looks like one of the classmates in Nobuta wo Produce. i'm pretty confident it's him, he looked badass back then already.
artistically the general orange tone of the drama isn't my taste, and i can't say much about their choice of music, but the ending sequence is cute--pixelated thingies!!
