Kujibiki♥Unbalance, also referred to as Kujibiki "Heart" Unbalance in order to differentiate it from its original incarnation, is a 12-episode Fall 2006 anime series created by Shimoku Kio. It originated within Genshiken, Kio's primary work, as the metafictional Kujibiki Unbalance, a manga series which the characters could read, watch, and discuss on a regular basis. At the same time, it was an homage to, as well as a parody of, the many clichés of contemporary manga and anime. That version was also made into a 3-episode OVA in 2004, ostensibly as episodes 1, 21, and 25 of the 26-episode anime watched by the characters of Genshiken. The 2006 version is, however, substantially different from the incarnation originally presented within Genshiken, featuring redesigned characters and a new plot line. A manga adaptation of this version, drawn by noted dojinshi artist Keito Koume, was serialized in Afternoon magazine from April 2007 to December 2007 ; the second and final volume was released on 28 December 2007.
History
This version of Kujibiki Unbalance has its roots, as with the original, in Genshiken. Within the Genshiken universe, Kujibiki Unbalance is a popular manga serialized in Kudansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine, written by Yuu Kuroki. This manga, in turn, spawns a 26-episode anime adaptation focusing on the initial "Student Body Tournament" arc, which airs some time during Kanji Sasahara's first two years at Shiiou University. Despite the Genshiken's interest in the anime, fans complain that the tone of the series is uneven: the two halves are handled by two different directors, there is shoddy animation quality in several key episodes, and the conclusion, aside from never airing during the broadcast run, doesn't actually conclude anything. As a result, the reception of the series is mixed at best. Later on, a new anime series is announced. Instead of picking up where the previous series left off, however, it is a complete re-imagining of the story, with new character designs and a story independent of the manga. This is that series. In the real world, the anime version of Kujibiki Unbalance that appeared within Genshiken was made into a 3-episode OVA, made up of episodes 1, 21, and 25 of the supposed 26-episode series; that was all that was made for this version of the anime. The second Kujibiki UnbalanceTV series was first announced as "Genshiken season 2" by Media Factory Inc. at Comiket 69. This was later clarified in May 2006, as a 12-episode Kujibiki Unbalance series. Nevertheless, the DVD releases of this series do each include an OVA episode of Genshiken, for a total of 3 new episodes. In addition to the anime, a manga version ran in Kodansha's monthly Afternoon magazine, while a two-volume light novel series was released in late 2006 and early 2007.
Story
At the gigantic and prestigious Rikkyouin academy the position of everyone in school is determined through a lottery. The school is ruled by the student council headed by the president who wears a giant helmet as a symbol of status. The anime follows the adventure of the four people who drew the lottery tickets to become next years student council. They must complete a variety of tasks set before them by the current student council, with failure resulting in immediate expulsion. The tasks will usually be of a mundane nature, but will inevitably end up in a dramatic fashion involving robots, aliens, terrorists, spies and so forth.
The plot of the manga roughly follows that of the anime, though there are some deviations, as noted below. Additionally, each volume of the manga adaptation also includes a bonus manga at the end, drawn by Shimoku Kio himself and featuring the characters from Genshiken at approximately the same time as the volume was originally released.
