It left it until right before it’s conclusion for it to reveal two in quick succession, but I guess I shouldn’t be too shocked that Gainaxs mockumentary ultimately provided the orange-related goods.

Otaku no Video is kind of a weird production – it tells the story of how a normal guy gets corrupted by his otaku friends and forms his own company in the hopes that he can spite the girl who dumped him when his fanboyish tendencies got too much for her, running from 1982 until, errr, 2035, punctuated with important world (or at least, otaku) events over the intervening years.

What makes it kind of weird is that the animated story is interspersed with live action “interviews” with assorted otaku on various fanboy-related issues. They’re basically a counter point to the main story – they portray otaku as being sad, loney and ashamed individuals as opposed to the Genshiken-esque band of friends they are seen as in the main story. Honestly, though, it was a cute gimmick at first, but by the end of the production it was a little on the grating side, and I found myself tuning them out rather than paying attention.

Still, the animated story is pretty charming, and the DVD does actually have the option to just watch those sequences. I doubt it’s quite the potted history of Gainax that some have claimed (although if the founding fathers of Gainax take to space in search of the planet Otaku in a Gunbuster/Yamato/Macross hybrid in the year 2035, I’m quite happy to take that back), but there’s enough of a hint of truth about the events that it can be taken somewhat seriously despite how wacky it gets at times. I’m sure some of the stories about things like the staff getting harassed whilst queuing to see Nausicaa on opening night are probably true (at least for those who didn’t work on the movie), though. There were plentiful enough nerdy references to keep me amused as well, though those who are less well versed in pre-90s anime probably won’t get much out of that.