Common Name: Denki-gai no Honya-san
Alternative Names: Denki-gai, Denki Machi no Honya-san, Denkigai no Honya-san
Score: 6/10, 5/5
Length: 12 Episodes
Genre: Comedy, Romance, Drama, Slice of Life, Job Shadow, Moe, Ecchi
Summary: Nestled in the heart of Akihabara, the doujin store Umanohone is a one-stop shop for all things otaku. While the store has many floors managed by different staff, the staffers of the store's main floor are a particularly interesting bunch. Though they have their own eccentricities and hangups, they all work together to make Umanohone a place that'll welcome otakus and perverts of every kind. Yet, things aren't always fun and simple as they might seem. On top of constantly struggling to keep shelves stocked with the newest and hottest works out there, the staffers must struggle to deal with everything from government crackdowns to romance among there ranks and the occasional near-death bludgeoning from the resident zombie fanatic.
Review: There's something to be said about a show that revels in perversion yet manages to keep things relatively tame. With so many other shows that feature this kind of worship of perverse otaku culture, there's a consistent threat of cringy and outright disgusting jokes and behaviors that, more often than not, take me out of the experience for a short time. That's not to say that the jokes aren't there. Quite the contrary; this show is just as obsessed with yaoi and fujoshi-centric comedy as Kiss Him Not Me! and even has a few shots that linger on the female cast's fetishized character traits. Yet, in spite of that fact, it doesn't go down the same lines as works like Eromanga Sensei, Akiba'Strip, and even Blend S that border on the offensive just for the sake of a single, dumb gag. Instead, Denki-gai feels much more reasonable and responsible with its objectively perverse content. It feels a lot closer, in both concept and execution, to shows like Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun, Working!!!, and Wotakoi where the lewd and crude jokes are still present but don't necessarily define the show. Working!!!, in particular, is the closest comparison I can offer due to their shared themes and ultimately romantic interests. Even that comparison is not perfectly accurate, though, thanks to one key difference: their pace. Where Working!!! took three whole seasons and an OVA to confirm a foregone conclusion regarding the show's various romantic pairings, Denki-gai needed only one.
To be totally honest, though, it gets there in almost the exact same way.
So, as I've pretty much pointed out already, this show functions on roughly two to three different levels. The first of these levels is the show's nature as a kind of young person's workplace comedy. I specify that it is likely gauged at younger workers due to the simple fact that the show's cast is, for all intents and purposes, relatively young and new at their respective crafts. The characters of Umio and Sensei, in particular, are the source of this aspect of the show. Umio, being the newest hire to the Umanohone team, starts off the show as a generally awkward and blase audience insert character through which we are introduced to the rest of the show's cast. As things progress, however, Umio comes into his own in best and worst ways possible. On the one hand, he grows into his role as a clerk and promoter for the various series that the store features. On the other, his personality as an obsessive otaku that engages in waifu wars and would happily die defending the honor of some obscure dating sim game he really liked comes to the forefront, shedding him of that audience insert role. Sensei, however, follows a much more constructive line of development as the show gives a considerable amount of time and attention to her growth as a mangaka. Through a series of baby steps that make a world of difference, Sensei goes from being a sniveling nobody to a professional in training with enough skills to warrant being taken on as a professional's assistant. Though the show ends with her still having a ways to go, she's grown enough to be capable of moving forward on her own two feet.
Let's be honest, though, what introverted creative type doesn't crash and burn every now and then?
The 1.5th or 2nd level, depending on your point of view, is the show's general acceptance of all things perverse. This stance is, functionally, a fairly reasonable one given that it's a show about people who run a smutty bookstore. Yet, somehow, this theme of "hail perversion" comes across as something more than that. At no point does the show kink shame or shun anyone just for liking something different. Rather, it encourages the show's masses to revel and rejoice in their communal love of all things society might and does deem unsavory. Going one step further than that, there's even a character who actively rebels against the government and their arguably necessary role as censor of all "unwholesome" publications to join in that revelry in their own time. As if to personally drive home this notion that it is fine to revel in the things you personally enjoy, another pair of the show's cast is functionally dedicated to this idea. The fetish guru, known simply as "Sommelier," is a beast of a man that is presented as the show's strong, silent type with a kind heart that cannot and will not ever judge another person's preferences. True to his title, Sommelier has the uncanny ability to look at a person and instantly determine what that person's fetish/preferred reading material might be without saying a word, even if that person doesn't know what that might be themselves. Alongside him, there's his romantic interest, the character known simply as "Fu Girl," who is known particularly with her obsession with zombies and tendency for clubbing people she mistakes for zombies while in the grip of her fantasy of mowing down a hoard of them. Apart from Umio, who quickly becomes Fu Girl's punching bag, no one bats an eye at her less than harmless obsession. More to the point, though, the same lack of care or concern is expressed toward the obvious romantic feelings between these two characters in spite of their significant size and age differences--with Sommelier being roughly 8-10 years older and three feet taller than the diminutive high schooler.
In spite of being the show's most...concerning couple, I can't help rooting for the
adorable awkwardness these two have going for them.
The third and final level this show works on is, of course, the romantic level that makes up the vast majority of this show's runtime. Though this level is fairly self-explanatory and full of foregone conclusions once you know who the main pairs are (HINT: it's all the pairs I've mentioned up to this point plus one more I saved just for this section), there still manages to be some legitimately affecting character moments amidst the otherwise paint-by-number romantic drama this show has going for it. Most notable among these romances is the show's primary couple of the humorously manipulative "Director" and the relatively normal and klutzy Hio-tan. While the romance between these two is about as simple and straightforward as you can get in an anime, what makes this pair particularly interesting is all the deliberate thought and care that goes into their budding relationship. Over the course of the show, we see these two grow from being little more than colleagues to two people who legitimately struggle to come to terms with and then express their feelings for one another. What makes their romance really affecting, though, is the acknowledgement of the history they have to tackle before wholly accepting each other. While Hio-tan struggles with all the standard snags and emotional turmoil of a first love, the show gives a significant amount of attention to the fact that Hio isn't the Director's first love as his ex, Haruka, appears on the scene to complicate things. Before she's given any chance to do any real damage, though, their unresolved feelings are handled in a swift but believable manner, leaving Haruka to become little more than a third wheel out of some petty, selfish desire to still be part of the Director's life--a desire that she even acknowledges isn't healthy for her in the long term. Still, in spite of all that, the show ends with the general assurance that these two are going to end up in a happy, healthy relationship.
OK, the healthy part might be an exaggeration but I assure you that there's
very little ambiguity regarding where they stand when all is said and done.
Now, while I say Denki-gai works on all three of these levels, I have to admit that it only just manages to do so. Built on a plot and characters that are as flat as the manga pages they sprang from, it's hard to regard this show in any kind of serious capacity. It's a lot of good, silly fun that has something of a message behind it but it hardly gives that message the attention it needs to be all that effective. Of course, these minor nits of criticism are hardly enough to warrant any amount of dislike for the show. Quite frankly, I really liked it and appreciated the speed it handled all of its plots and the little bits of real quality that snuck in from time to time. The fact of the matter, though, is that this a fairly simple and not particularly imaginative work propped up by a lot of the anime bullshit that I can easily accept but many might take issue with. So, take that in mind when considering whether or not this might be your cup of tea.