For many people anime was this super secret niche thing that nobody knew about and you had to jump through hoops in order to find it or go out of your way to some really obscure places to find it. I grew up during the 2000s so this wasnt the experience I had with anime but anime only started coming to the US in the 80s and not in one piece if you know what I mean. Nowadays we take anime and what it can offer us for granted but back when you couldnt access it as easily as we could now anime used to be this mysterious awesome amazing thing that anyone who didnt actively seek it out couldnt access. Liking anime and manga was a hobby most people didnt understand or appreciate back in those days and even now theres still a big of a stigma against anime fans. But if you love something and arent hurting anyone with it then whats the big deal? Such is the subject of todays review a little two episode OVA called Otaku no Video. Beginning in the year 1982 Ken Kubo the main character of this OVA is a college student who has a nice life. Hes participating in his colleges tennis team and has a nice girlfriend. One day he runs into an old friend of his from school Tanaka who frequently hangs out with anime fans and enthusiastic hobbyists. Kubo decides to reconnect with Tanaka and get to know his circle of friends better. Soon he finds himself more and more drawn into anime as a hobby to the point where he quits tennis and starts to let himself go a bit which causes his girlfriend to break up with him. Eventually Ken decides to fully immerse himself in the world of anime and starts to see why Tanaka likes it so much. And thus begins Kens journey to become the ultimate otaku or as he calls it the Otaking. Now for modern fans Otaku no Video might come off as a product of its time because many of its pop culture references are solely on stuff that came out during the 80s like Urusei Yatsura the original Gundam Captain Harlock Macross Nausicaa Minky Momo and so on. People who grew up during that time period will recognize those references immediately but modern fans nowadays wont be able to figure them out unless theyve seen those shows or have some passing knowledge of them. That knowledge isnt necessarily needed to understand whats going on but its a fun little bonus for those who do. But whether you grew up during the eighties or not the OVA still manages to really capture what it means to be a fan of something and the absolute joy one gets from being able to share those hobbies with likeminded friends. Of course the anime isnt afraid to show the downsides of it as well showing the stigma anime fans receive due to untrue stereotypes and how some fans take their passions too far. There are liveaction segments spliced into the anime called Portrait of an Otaku which are said to be interviews with actual otaku and showing how being one affects them both good and bad...though those segments are actually staged parody mockumentaries with Gainax employees playing madeup characters as a way to make fun of both the stereotyped portrayals of otaku and themselves with Hideaki Anno in particular playing the part of an otaku who loves Noriko from GunBuster. Considering Gainax was originally started up by a group of anime fans that says a lot. On the technical side of things the animation is pretty good for something that came out in the early 90s. The character designs are distinct the actual animation and movement is fairly good the backgrounds are well drawn and the animators really did their best not only to pack in as many references to actual anime as possible but even replicate them down to their finest details. Although I did notice some characters body parts were a bit off model at times. On the other hand the soundtrack is absolutely amazing on all fronts. The opening song in particular is catchy fun and has no right to be as awesome as it is for an anime like this and the soundtrack itself...I can only think of one word for it: energetic. From the eighties synthesizers to the saxophones flutes trumpets and full orchestras the soundtrack is just brimming with life and every single piece of background music slaps so hard its not even funny. The show is only two episodes long both about 45 minutes long less if you decide to skip the Portrait of an Otaku segments. Because of this the characters dont have a lot of time to really develop or be fleshed out or do more than theyre shown here. That being said I found the characters to be fine. Nothing groundbreaking but they serve their roles pretty well Ken in particular is a cool dude and we do see the main characters change and grow as a result of the decisions they make throughout the OVA. Otaku no Video really goes out of its way to show how being an otaku can effect people both for better and for worse by showing how Ken deals with both the happiness he gets from connecting with these new friends and the discrimination he faces from people who only see otaku as overgrown manchildren who live in their parents basements. I do kind of wish some characters got more screen time and development such as the new girlfriend Ken gets in the second episode. All of this now begs the question: What makes Otaku no Video special to begin with? It sounds like just a goofy sliceoflife anime. For one Gainax the company that animated this was also made up of anime fans so you could argue that Otaku no Video is the story of Gainax themselves and how they managed to succeed in fulfilling their dreams...that is until it all went to shit in the future but thats neither here nor there. Another part of it could be its parodic lighthearted satire of otaku culture in general that wasnt afraid to poke fun at itself every now and again. But I think the reason it continues to be revered as a great starting anime in general is because of its accepting attitude towards people who love their hobbies. Otaku no Video shows that being an otaku is not easy but that theres nothing inherently wrong with being interested in things most others arent and if other people have a problem with it screw them theyre likely not worth listening to anyway. Granted nerd culture is becoming more and more accepted in the 2010s and 2020s though it still has a long way to go so Otaku no Videos message might be considered a cliche at this point but since its still very well liked even to this day I think its safe to say that its influence isnt going to diminish any time soon. It helps that its pretty easy to own on DVD and BluRay now though youll have better luck ordering it on AnimEigos website. Its also available to stream on the website RetroCrush if you dont want to pay for it. While it may be considered dated nowadays Otaku no Video is a mustwatch anime for people who want to embrace nerd culture and appreciate it for what it has to offer.