Editing Otaku no Video (section)

== Production ==
''Otaku no Video'' is based on the experiences of Gainax employees which started as a sci-fi and anime [[Fan club|fanclub]].<ref name=":3" /> Staff involved in the OVA include [[Shinji Higuchi]], [[Takeshi Mori (director)|Takeshi Mori]], [[Kohei Tanaka (composer)|Kohei Tanaka]], Yu Honda, [[Hidenori Matsubara]], and [[Toshio Okada]].<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=株式会社インプレス |date=August 22, 2014 |title=約30年前のおたくの生き様、OVA「おたくのビデオ」Blu-ray化。ガイナックス制作 |url=http://av.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/663259.html |access-date=June 9, 2024 |website=AV Watch |language=ja |archive-date=June 9, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240609002245/https://av.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/663259.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Since ''Otaku no Video'' was partially based in the personal life of the original creators of Gainax, who started their careers as otaku during the late seventies and the beginning of the eighties, many anime titles from that period are shown as footage or referenced in the OVA (in costumes, cosplay or other related material). Among them are ''[[Gatchaman]]'', ''[[Uchuu Senkan Yamato]]'', ''[[Urusei Yatsura]]'', ''[[Captain Harlock]]'', ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam]]'', ''[[Dirty Pair]]'', ''[[Space Adventure Cobra]]'', ''[[Lupin the Third]]'', ''[[Phoenix 2772]]'', ''[[Silent Möbius]]'', ''[[Magical Princess Minky Momo]]'', ''[[The Super Dimension Fortress Macross]]'', ''[[Macross: Do You Remember Love?]]'', ''[[Genesis Climber Mospeada]]'', ''[[Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honneamise]]'', ''[[Gunbuster]]'', and the ''[[Daicon III and IV Opening Animations]]''.

It is believed that all the subjects in the Portrait of an Otaku segments were Gainax employees or connected to Gainax at the time of filming.<ref>"...the acting is particularly hammy, and each person is actually a friend or employee of Gainax..." http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/buried-treasure/2007-11-15 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130729055645/http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/buried-treasure/2007-11-15 |date=July 29, 2013 }}</ref> The first otaku interviewed bore a remarkable resemblance to [[Toshio Okada]], a principal founder in Gainax, in both background and physical appearance. The [[gaikokujin|gaijin]] otaku, Shon Hernandez, has been confirmed to have been Craig York, who with Shon Howell and [[Lea Hernandez]], whose names were borrowed for the character,<ref>"Shon Hernandez" is a combination of Shon Howell and Lea Hernandez, who, together with Craig York (the real person in this segment), were the core of General Products USA." http://www.animeigo.com/liner/anime/otaku-no-video {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101030091922/http://animeigo.com/liner/anime/otaku-no-video |date=2010-10-30 }}</ref> were the main staff of General Products USA, an early western branch of Gainax's merchandising enterprise in the early 1990s. The interview with "Shon Hernandez" has been a point of contention with Lea Hernandez, who, in an interview with ''[[Pulp (manga magazine)|PULP]]'' magazine, noted that the interview was unscripted and that Craig York had been fairly sincere in his thoughts and had felt that Gainax insulted their American members.<ref>{{Cite journal|first=Carl Gustav|last=Horn|date=August 2001|title=The Curse of Urusei Yatsura: Interview: Lea Hernandez|url=http://www.pulp-mag.com/archives/5.08/interview_hernandez_01.shtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060913202702/http://www.pulp-mag.com/archives/5.08/interview_hernandez_01.shtml|archive-date=September 13, 2006|journal=[[Pulp (manga magazine)|Pulp]]|volume=5|issue=8|pages=28–9}}</ref> In the interview, the words spoken by Shon Hernandez in the background are noticeably different from what is shown on screen via subtitle (which is based on the Japanese voice-over "translation").

At [[FanimeCon]] 2003, Hiroshi Sato, an animator and another Gainax member, mentioned that he had been in one of the interviews in ''Otaku no Video''. In ''Otaku no Video'', the garage kit otaku was given the pseudonym "Sato Hiroshi" for the interview.