Beginning in the year 1982, Ken Kubo, the main character of this OVA, is a college student who has a nice life. He's participating in his college's 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 Ken's 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 won't be able to figure them out unless they've seen those shows or have some passing knowledge of them. That knowledge isn't necessarily needed to understand what's going on, but it's 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 like-minded friends. Of course, the anime isn't 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 live-action 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 made-up 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 it's 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 don't have a lot of time to really develop or be fleshed out, or do more than they're 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 slice-of-life 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 that's neither here nor there. Another part of it could be its parodic, light-hearted satire of otaku culture in general that wasn't 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 there's nothing inherently wrong with being interested in things most others aren't, and if other people have a problem with it, screw them, they're 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 Video's message might be considered a cliche at this point, but since it's still very well liked even to this day, I think it's safe to say that it's influence isn't going to diminish any time soon. It helps that it's pretty easy to own on DVD and Blu-Ray now, though you'll have better luck ordering it on AnimEigo's website. It's also available to stream on the website RetroCrush if you don't want to pay for it.
While it may be considered dated nowadays, Otaku no Video is a must-watch anime for people who want to embrace nerd culture and appreciate it for what it has to offer.
