It's strange to imagine but I never considered myself as an otaku, more than an enthusiast when I was younger (yes I understand the irony of that statement). In the 90's though when I was still in middle school and high school, being a fan of anime and video games was a double-whammy of nerdism. I heard about this OAV while I was still in my Kenichi Sonoda kick, but only one of my friends had it. I finally got to watch it when I got to college years later (but only the first OAV was available) but it struck a few chords about me when I was younger and more obsessed.
For starters, I had only myself to share my anime obsession with. It was sad. Since finding BBS's and newsgroups that were sparsely populated (that I could find anyhow), I didn't have anyone else to talk about anime with except my brother. Our news came from Protoculture Addicts and we got our art books and merchandise from a Yaohan (now called Mitsuwa).
Now going back and watching Otaku No Video, it first confused me with the live-action shots but seeing the lifestyles of some of these people in Japan and how they treat their hobbies actually got me pretty depressed and downtrodden. It can be an eye-opener for sure. Yes, it's dated (then again, I still enjoy 70's-90's anime) but honestly, there are people today that treat their obsessions to that same degree.
Hearing Kikuko Inoue and knowing she still does great VA work today is at least worth checking out.
You can take this series with a grain of salt (like you would with say, Genshiken), or watch it like the sucker I was and feel very depressed after watching it.
I won't be against finishing the OAV if I can find the second episode, but I probably would have to be drunk or with friends to share the "experience" with.
