Denki-gai no Honya-san

Denki-gai no Honya-san (デンキ街の本屋さん) is a 12 episode slice of life comedy based on the manga of the same name by Mizu Asato.  The series originally aired in Japan in the Fall of 2014.

    The story focuses on the oddball characters who work at a manga shop in Akihabara called Umanohone.  The stores staff has odd, descriptive, nick names.  Sensei-san, the aspiring manga-ka.  Fu-girl, the zombie obsessed pervert.  Kantoku, the store’s manager.  Sommelier-kun, the stoic manga recommendation genius.  There isn’t much of a direction for the plot and each episode is made up of small vignettes that are sometimes unrelated.  The show progresses by giving more detailed information to the motives and personalities of the characters.  The only consistent thing in the series is the underlying sexual tension between all the employees.  Everyone has someone they like, but no one is able to actually express their feelings.  This tension is usually used for comedic purposes, with very little in the way of drama. 

    This was an entertaining series that had fun picking on stereotypical otaku types in a semi-perverted manner.  The artwork is sub standard but it wouldn’t fit to have super high quality character designs and backgrounds for this story.  It’s like the lower quality comedic version of what everyone from Genshiken would do if they continued living 100% as otaku after college.  It is nowhere near as deep or interesting as that excellent series though, so there is really no comparison.  This was fun, is standard fare.  The series ends as it begins, with no real direction or resolution.  If they make more fine, if not, no loss to the world.

The anime was simulcast on Crunchyroll.  No word on a disc release in North America.  The manga is currently unavailable in North America.