Genshiken
| "The ending of Genshiken 2 left me on the verge of tears. What he was going through, the fear, the anxiety, the frustration, all of it is something that people my age need to face once we approach the end of our school days. And the redemption that the show gives us is that while he fell apart, tried to run away, and essentially embarrassed himself in front of everyone he cared for, he was able to keep trying. The encouragement that Saki and Ogiue gave him was not as important as the scene where he’s looking through newspapers, now with his beard shaven. Sure, encouragement to try again CAN come from friends, but it doesn’t have to be. Otherwise, what the hell are lonely people supposed to do? Sasahara’s struggles were in simply finding a job, sure, but what I connected with was his struggle of becoming acknowledged. Being chosen to do something you can actually do well at and enjoy. Job hunting means you have to get interviewed alongside several other candidates a countless number of times, and each time you get rejected, it’s a reminder that someone else is more worth acknowledging than you are. It sucks. It’s the worst when you’re not even given a proper chance. No one will give you that chance, and everyone else interviewing will wonder why you’re not being given that chance as well. It’s a horrible, downward cycle as you get more and more discouraged until you’re too weak to even properly present yourself anymore. And what’s the redemption to this struggle in the last episode of Genshiken 2? He finally and barely find a job opening that’s more focused to what he actually wants to do, and becomes able to click so well with the interviewer. He didn’t go through any training, any real emotional journey, and none of his friends found him that opportunity. He got that job purely out of his own efforts. And what did this demonstrate? The extreme significance of perseverance and patience. In Sasahara’s case, yes, he gave up and needed his friends’ scolding to get back on track, but imagine if he never did give up. Imagine if he had vented his frustrations by yelling into his pillow alone at night, but continued to get up every morning and go through those newspapers. What I got from this is that it doesn’t matter WHAT you use to keep yourself going, be it encouraging friends, encouraging anime, or even eroges-- As long as you keep searching and never lose track of what you truly want to do, you’ll eventually find that place that will accept you, regardless of your skills or experience. Of course, what Sasahara actually SAID in that last interview made a big difference in his getting hired; he was able to express his passions in a genuine way, which would have been impossible if he was still in a depressed funk. And because he was able to keep his chin up and do that, he was able to connect with that interviewer at a very deep level, way beyond the formalities and procedures of the interview process. Sasahara got to meet an interviewer who understood who he was, where he was coming from, and why he would be a valuable asset to the company. I’d say I’m a bit more optimistic about my impending job hunt next year. I feel like I understand fully what I want to do so now I just need to work on developing the skills and credibility I’ll need to get hired. And while I’ll probably end up failing many times and falling into depression, perhaps I can read back on this reflection I wrote and remember that it’s only over if I give up. It might take months, years, perhaps even decades before I can get into a job position I truly want, but the belief that it will eventually happen should keep me going." ^ I was so moved that I ended up writing all this less than 20 minutes afterwards. I just wanted to post it here in case anyone else had similar anxieties about finding work after college and felt Sasahara's struggles really spoke to them. |
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