Kujibiki Unbalance (2006 series)

Kujibiki♥Unbalance (くじびき♥アンバランス) is a 2006 anime series produced by Ajia-do Animation Works, initially based on the story within a story Kujibiki Unbalance that originated from Shimoku Kio's manga Genshiken. It is directed by Tsutomu Mizushima and written by Michiko Yokote. It aired in Kids Station in Japan from October 6 to December 22, 2006.

Notably different from the Genshiken version, it features redesigned characters and a new, yet familiar plot line. A manga adaptation was drawn by Keito Koume and was serialized in Kodansha's Afternoon magazine from April 2007 to December 2007.

History
Kujibiki Unbalance was made into a 3-episode OVA. The second Kujibiki Unbalance TV 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.

Premise
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.

Characters

 * Chihiro Enomoto (榎本千尋)
 * The series protagonist. Up until his entrance into high school, he had always had miserable luck. He becomes a candidate for the next term's Student Council President. Five years earlier, he lost his parents in a traffic accident, and as such, he lives with his sister Shinobu.


 * Tokino Akiyama (秋山時乃)
 * Chihiro's childhood friend, who ends up becoming a candidate for the next term's Student Council Vice-President alongside Chihiro.


 * Renko Kamishakujii (上石神井蓮子)
 * Candidate for next term's Student Council Secretary. She treats Kaoruko like a slave, and produces a variety of questionable inventions.


 * Koyuki Asagiri (朝霧小雪)
 * A student at Rikkyoin Academy's Elementary School division. She is extremely shy and introverted, but also very determined. With the help of Chihiro, she comes out of her shell.


 * Ritsuko Kübel Kettenkrad (律子·キューベル·ケッテンクラート)
 * The current Student Council President. She is half-Japanese: her father is German and a CEO of a major company; her mother is Japanese. She is a childhood friend of Chihiro's, and lives in his neighborhood.


 * Kasumi Kisaragi (如月香澄)
 * The current Student Council Vice-President who lives at a shrine. Despite her gentle demeanor and a feminine bearing she is extremely powerful.


 * Lisa Humvee (リサ·ハンビー)
 * The current Student Council Treasurer. She is a good-hearted, sociable, cheerful American girl.


 * Kaoruko Yamada (山田薫子)
 * Kaoruko is Renko's "assistant" and always at her side.


 * Shinobu Enomoto (Enomoto Shinobu)
 * Chihiro's older sister and a teacher at the academy. She has the outer appearance of a lovable person. In reality she is both mean and violent with a past of being the leader of a gang of delinquents.


 * Komaki Asagiri (Asagiri Komaki)
 * Koyuki's older sister and a student at the academy. She is the manager of a small noodle shop that becomes the main characters favorite spot to hang out after school.

Anime
The series first aired in Kids Station from October 6 to December 22, 2006. Saori Atsumi performed the series's opening theme "Ai" (あい) while both Ai Nonaka and Ami Koshimizu performed the series ending theme "Harmonies". Like Genshiken, AnimeWorks licensed the series in North American territories.

Manga
Keito Koume draw and wrote the manga adaptation of the series and was serialized in Kodansha's Afternoon magazine from April 2007 to December 2007. 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 (in-universe) as the volume was originally released.

Video game
Kujibiki Unbalance: Kaichō Onegai Smash Fight is a video game developed by Marvelous Entertainment and Shade, and published by Marvelous Interactive on January 25, 2007. The game received a score of 20/40 from Famitsu, the lowest rated game of that week.