Genshiken Nidaime

I often find myself puzzled by the anime industry's undying obsession with high school. Genre or story appear to have no influence-- teenagers are here, there and just about everywhere else. It is rare to find an adult (or any character above the age of 17) unless they are filling the obligatory teacher or villain role. Which is a bummer, as titles like Genshiken show just how fun the university setting can be.

Coming after two full seasons, Genshiken: Nidaime might seem confusing or out of place. The characters' voices have changed. Nearly everyone from the main series has graduated and moved on with their ... lives. The identity of the anime club has shifted from a male-dominated space to a fujoshi-dominated one, pushing major characters into minor (sometimes non-existent) roles. Still, Nidaime is the same old Genshiken that we've come to enjoy. It may have a new coat of paint, and sure, a few extra screws loose, but everything that was great about the original Genshiken remains-- and more still. Change doesn't always have to be a bad thing.

The story of Nidaime follows Ogiue (now club president) and the horde of freshmen who (perhaps inadvertently) find themselves pulled into the Genshiken club. Most notable of whom is Hato, a male BL fan who... well, cross-dresses as a woman. Almost too convincingly, as he seems to have no problem pulling off a female voice.

Assuming you aren't a fan of effeminate males or BL, this will inevitably set off warning signals in your mind. Has Genshiken now turned into an anime for yaoi fangirls? Not exactly. Whereas the previous seasons focused almost entirely on the moe and yuri fandom, Nidaime merely flips that around and shows us the otaku subculture from the female perspective. Very, very rarely do we see that in anime. It quickly becomes apparent that, hey, males and females aren't all that different when it comes to enjoying nerdy hobbies. Even if you have zero interest in understanding the BL fandom, Nidaime's characters are still cute enough to appease both sides of the audience. Male viewers have just as much to enjoy here.

That aside, Hato's character is written with a surprising amount of maturity. He could very easily have been a vehicle for pandering, but he is not. There is a genuine reason for why he cross-dresses in the company of female otaku. Hato's friendship with Madarame also proves an interesting view on sexuality, as god knows how many anime would start and end his characterisation at "jk lol, he actually has a penis".

Speaking of Madarame, anyone who enjoyed him in the previous seasons (I'm sure there's more than a few) will find much to like in Nidaime. There is no shortage of him here. Sure, while Madarame's scenes may lack the usual craziness of his character, there is instead a much greater satisfaction in learning that he is an ordinary person like anyone else. He finally finds closure to his feelings for Kasukabe, and while Genshiken's strong point has surely never been its drama, the scene where Madarame finally confesses to her is easily the most powerful moment in the entire series. The drama works well here because it is not overused. It knows its place.

The only real issue with the characterisation is that while Hato, Madarame, and Ogiue receive plenty of focus, the rest of the cast (both new and old) are relegated to the background. Sue, Yoshitake, and Yajima are just along for the ride, occasionally adding to the conversation or having a funny moment here and there. Most importantly, what the heck's going on with Sasahara's new job as a manga editor? We never got to see what happened with him after the end of the second season. I suppose this is for the better, though, since splitting 13 episodes between a massive cast of characters would undoubtedly lead to nasty results. As for Coochie, well... you know what to expect from him.

Nidaime perfectly captures the otaku subculture that it is rooted in. Rather than parody it like Lucky Star or critique it like OreImo, Genshiken seeks instead to provide a realistic portrayal of the otaku lifestyle. Because the characters are adults capable of doing their own thing (unlike the billions of high school anime), we get a detailed look at cosplay, conventions, and even what it is like to sell ero-manga at Comiket. I have never had any interest in interacting with anime fans outside of the internet, but Genshiken has me thinking that it might not be such a bad idea after all. For the most part, anyway.

The visual quality is surely nothing that will blow your mind, but it is well above the average anime. The character designs look a bit more 'modern' now, though whether that is a downgrade or not depends entirely on personal preference. The added colour is also a nice change as I always found the previous seasons to be visually bland.

More impressive is the audio. The opening and ending songs are stellar, effectively conveying the light-hearted atmosphere of the series and continually bringing a smile each time they played. The biggest issue that people will have with Nidaime is the change in seiyuu, but after a few episodes it ceases to be noticeable. I actually thought that Ogiue's seiyuu was the same as before because it fit her character so well.

Genshiken Nidaime is a joy to watch from start to finish. Rather than be complacent as "just another Genshiken season", Nidaime takes the series a step further by realising the full potential of the setting. There is a sense of maturity to the dialogue and characterisation that so few anime have managed to accomplish. It is truly the anime industry's strongest portrayal of the otaku subculture, and a damn good show in its own right.

Hey, Japan, can we have more anime like Genshiken?

“To a hikikomori, winter is painful because everything feels cold, frozen over, and lonely. To a hikikomori, spring is also painful because everyone is in a good mood and therefore enviable. Summer, of course, is especially painful...” - Welcome to the N.H.K.

For most fans of anime or manga, we might all once experienced a moment when we went through a phase where we couldn't stop watching/reading a piece of work from a franchise until we get that feeling of, “ah, now that was a masterpiece....”. I know I have and those moments feels great especially for something we've enjoyed. However, it may also feel a ... bit painful as well. Then again, there's always a better series out there in the future that comes by. (most times anyways) Why am I saying this? Well, that's because I've enjoyed the previous seasons of Genshiken and never thought the day another season would be adapted. Then, a news came in the month of January of 2013. Genshiken gets another adaptation. From there, I thought, “Thank you wishing stone, thank you”.

Genshiken Nidaime is a new season adapted from the manga of the same name written by Shimoku Kio. There's a few important points to take notice here though. Even though the series is titled as such, it is imperative to watch the previous seasons and from my perspectives the OVAs as well. The reason being that is because some of the main characters from the previous seasons all make their debuts but plays more of a minor role. Therefore, to get a satisfying experience, I recommend watching the previous seasons in order.

For a brief refreshment, the show Genshiken is an abbreviation of a club's name - Gendai Shikaku Bunka Kenkyūkai. As for the club itself, it consists of a group of young college students that embraces the otaku culture and its lifestyle. As such, prepare to experience references from other franchise (anime/manga/video games) thrown at your face every episode. These can include popular anime from both the past and present times such as Madoka, School Days, Squid Girl, Bakemonogatari, and the list goes so on. The show constantly portrays the otaku culture as a fun way of lifestyle presented in a comedy manner. This is especially true involving the characters' cast of this series.

This season follows a set of characters that offers a different type of enjoyment for viewers. Chika Ogiue now plays a sort of leader role in her position at the club. In fact, she even manages to recruit new members with her artistical skills. These new characters offer a fun new outlook on the show especially in the comedy department. It's no surprise though that the new characters seems to have some trouble adjusting to the club at first. In fact, one particular character is a cross-dresser that seems to have trouble getting in and out of his clothing. At many variances, it plays on the gender bender trope with humorous results along with compromising situations. However despite this, the clubs' members continues to bring forth entertainment and offers great promise.

For returning characters, there are some noticeable ones such as Susanna Hopins and Marunobu Madarame. In particular, Susanna takes the role of the cosplay girl portraying as various characters from other popular series. For fans unfamiliar with her, Susanna is the type of girl who is antisocial but comes with a great fascination in yaoi. The way she blurts out various anime and manga references is also hilariously amusing. Marunobu's return to the show is also quite refreshing as there's not much change to his character. He is still in love with a particular girl from the previous series but at the same time offers to help out a new crossdressing member of the club. Other characters from the show also makes their cameos from here and there to progresses through the slice of life style of Genshiken.

The new club members might be a bit difficult to get used to at first. Even for some people, the gender bender theme plays on the new member of the club, Kenjirou Hato. Nicknamed as the “mysterious beauty”, Hato embraces on a feminine side by putting on a wig, speaking in a feminine voice, and attends the club meetings as a 'girl'. This spells out some awkward moments and confusion at first. Even later on, his interactions with Madarabe creates tension. It doesn't also help by the fact that Hato is fan of BL and this brings forth even more complexity in their relationship. Along with our cross-dresser, there's also a fujoshi and a somewhat antisocial girl introduced to the club. All three members brings a new and natural experience to Genshiken as we witness their daily lives and experience the way of an otaku.

Because Genshiken plays on the otaku culture, there's plenty of activities related to it beyond just cosplaying and referencing. In this season, the club also work on their own to present to the world their own pieces of work. These comes in the form of BL manga and doujinshi. With the new three members in check, they all offer their talent in building their dreams. These dreams takes them to places such as the Comic Festival, a large anime/manga convention. They each possesses their own skills whether it's background imagery, page cleanup, or getting by deadlines.

The comedy of the show is generally tolerable although sometimes feels a bit repetitive. The heavy doses of BL vibes can feel like a loop at times since it's played out a bit more than what I expected it to be. Furthermore, there's the character interactions that offers various forms of entertainment. In one way, most of the character seems to get along well. On the other hand, there are times when we scratch our heads and may ask 'what just happened?' For me though, Genshiken's character interactions focuses more on reality. It portrays it as a slice of life anime and succeeds in presenting the otaku culture. Viewers gets the chance to feel as if themselves are there with the club. The way the members work around the club to perfect their art also shows how dedicated they are. The pieces of comedy connects together even with a touch of supernatural to it with a floating spirit in particular episodes. If comedy is what you're looking for, then Genshiken will not be a painful experience. However, it can be somewhat painful to witness a few of the characters' interactions to sudden situations or scenes in the show. It becomes a bit cliched and predictable along with its awkwardness. Trust me, if you're a guy, then it might even be more awkward.

The artwork of this season also remains not only consistent but also realistic. The simple club room is presented exactly as the way it should be with the background anime/manga images. The merchandise that appears here and there also fun to take notice. Along with that, character designs gives a refreshing appeal to how an otaku is dressed such as Madarame's glasses, Susanna's various cosplaying outfits, or Kuchiki's body proportions. Even Susanna's American friends gives off their refreshing feelings of being foreigners accompanied with their English accents.

Unfortunately, soundtrack is perhaps one of the lesser focus of Genshiken. There's not much strength in the OST as most of the soundtrack remains generally the same and hardly noticeable. The OP song “Genshi, Joshi wa, Taiyou Datta." by Sumire Uesaka is perhaps the only catchy tone with its J-Pop like rhythms accompanied by its montage plays. However, if we talk about voice acting, then there's definitely some to take notice of. In particular, Kazutomi Yamamoto gets praise for her double portrayal in voice acting because of the gender bender involving her character. Voicing a character with a dual personality is not easy but she pulls it off marvelously. Naomi Ohzora's voice for Susanna can also be noticeable for someone who plays a girl that is not sociable towards others. The accents of the foreign characters seems more out of place though and can be more taken in as comedy although not too impressive on any scale.

The Genshiken franchise is the ultimate portrayal of the otaku culture. It's a place where we get to see the lifestyle of otaku in various ways. The cosplaying and references brings forth both an entertaining and refreshing appeal to fans. It might also bring back some nostalgia as well for fans of the original series. There's a lack of highlights though in some of the main characters from the previous seasons so be aware of that. I don't take this as a backlash though because it gives chances for our new characters to shine that offers potential. That potential and execution carried out might give you a different impression. However, it's not just this series that impressed me. It's the way of Genshiken. Otaku isn't just a culture for the kids in this show, it's a way of life.

So I take it that if you are reading this, you have already watched Season 1 & 2 of this show. Which was released about 6 to 7 years prior to Genshiken Nidaime. I have watched every season and every ova and special there is about Genshiken. So I am gonna write how I feel about Genshiken Nidaime specifically.

HERE WE GO!!

Genshiken Nidaime is full of bullshit. Genshiken actually was supposed to be some slice of life show which revolves around all the adult Otakus' lives. And season 1 & 2 did a pretty good job at it. It was fun and interesting and very ... good. But then comes Genshiken Nidaime, which is all about FUDANSHI. Yes you read it right. Nidaime has so much BL, yaoi and fudanshi in it that it makes me wonder why doesn't it has a Josei or Shoujo tag.

All the club memebers in this season are girls full of BL crap and as typical fudanshi does, they freaking ship every freaking male character in the show. To make the matters worse, we have Kenjiro Hato as one of the main characters, who is a boy who loves to cross dress as a girl and eventually develop feelings for Maderama. So, a bunch of episodes are from Hato's perspective and are about how he feels for Maderama.

There were couple of moments in this show which really made sense and I think I don't need to say that those were definitely with the old characters. Apart from those, this show has nothing going for it. Its a full on Fujoshi fest for Yaoi fangirls.

Until you are big on yaoi, I won't recommend you to watch this, specially if you are a male. This show is a nightmare for most of the Male Otaku community.

I don't usually write reviews but I made an exception for Nidaime, because after watching it, I feel like I have been robbed of my good memories that I had from the previous 2 seasons.

CONCLUSION:-

Genshiken Nidaime is not like the Genshiken you know. This is a Yaoi freak fest with a lot of Fujoshi. Please don't watch it if you are a Genshiken fan.

There were too many things done differently with this installation of Genshiken. So much to the point where in the end I was left with mixed feelings.

After re-watching Genshiken (the originals) then coming back to Nidaime it's sort of like the new characters make the story a bit.... complicated so to speak. I mean personally, I'm okay with gays and transgender or BL (I have no issues with trans) however this series focused a bit way too much on Boys love, transgender, etc that I just couldn't enjoy it as much. I found it rather difficult to continue watching, however if it wasn't for the ... most of the original characters I would've just dropped it.

A few things I liked was that the new characters, Mirei, Rika, etc they were tolerable. I like how after a few episodes they really blended in as part of the OG cast. Honestly, I would've been happier if the Nidaime focused more on Chika, however and again, to a certain extent the main focus was on Hato, the trap and Harunobu. I did like how towards the middle of the series I got to see Chika get the spotlight and all but still...

The parodies. homages, easter eggs whatever you want to call them were great. I loved how they had little parodies of Bakemonogatari, Attack on Titan, Panty and Stocking and so much more. But my favorite of them all is the skit between Sue and Madarame because I like Bakemonogatari and my favorite skit in that show is the "Oops I stuttered" bit between Araragi and Mayoi. So seeing another show do it was like really funny.

The soundtrack to the show wasn't really good to me. In fact, as i'm writing this, I can't even say if the music was any good or not. I did however love the voice acting. I really liked Yukana Nogami or Oono's seiyuu. It came as a bit of a surprise that she could speak English pretty well and I don't remember her ever using it in the other series. Madarame and Sue's voice actors were great too because again, the Bakemonogatari skit was so spot on.

Lastly, I'd say that I enjoyed Nidaime just a little. Once again the sense of enjoyment I got from this series compared to the rest was a bit of a downgrade. However that didn't stop me from actually liking the show even if it was just a little bit.

Overall I gave this show a 7/10 because while it was good in a sense, it just didn't seem like the story went in the right direction.

So i talked in a previous review about the first season of Genshiken so i thought it would be appropriate to say a few words about this,the last installment in the series.

I would be lying if i said i thought it was interesting or funny in any way.I only enjoyed 2 or 3 eps and that cannot exactly be called an accomplishment,can it?

Now 2 seasons after they sat down and thought it was time to change gears and go all in..Problem is that they bet all their money in black and the ball sat to red.And while this anime in some weird way wasn't a ... total borefest it certainly wasn't comedic and as for parody..Can you really call parody something that had very few refs of other anime,by which i mean you can count them in the fingers of 1 hand.

But that wasn't the most crippling weakness of the show.For me at least was the turn the show took as a whole.

It's the characters..Now the old ones are a mixture of the second season and a bit more maturity.In that regard they did great,it has at least a sense of continuity and doesn't go too far to show how much way they've covered.....As for the new characters...I can only describe them as the PC sjw feminist's dream cast.In fact the whole show now reeks of political correctness and leftist agenda.

Now for the sake of coming clean i do see myself as part of the left but not the far left of the ridiculous identity politics proffesional victims and the likes,where people go around with a book 400 pages long about the "correct pronouns" for all 890 sexes they dreamed up.That doesn't mean i lean to the right either cause i clash by nature with too many of their opinions,so i guess you can call me a centrist.

And if you sit there thinking why i bring such things into an anime review,it's simple.This anime is all about identity and gender politics,which in turn means that they couldn't just sit there and let men have their way,so they did what they do best..They don't make something of their own,cause who can bother when we can take over something that's already there and ruin it going "oh i know let's have some women that aren't the usual skinny girl cause we hate everything that is beautiful,let's throw a cross dresser in there too for no reason other than a forced diversity....Oh and don't forget to mention gender politics and possible homophobia every 2 sentences"..Now i wouldn't have any problem with any of these subjects IF they were a part of a more serious anime where the characters would benefit more and they could point out issues those groups face in everyday life.And by issues i mean the real issues not the made up ones..

But taking an anime and turning it into a gender identity fanfare?That's ridiculous and the way it was presented was laughable and it showed in every possible way.Every conversation in the anime was like a to do list of quotas.So a PC anime just for the sake of being PC and nothing more.

Suffice to say i didn't like it one bit.It's one thing to make an anime about politics,like say corruption or any other political drama and build a story on that and another thing to bring political agendas into the anime world.And it's all the more worse because these people sadly influence the anime industry by being constantly offended by cat girls and whatnot,cause of course the world needs to be after their depressed image.

As for the anime itself as an anime?The animation is just as atrocious as ever.The characters look like they sculpted potatoes and used them as reference for the design,apart from the backgrounds which were way better portrayed..

It still doesn't have a story,it's slice of life.

Music and VA's were ok-ish nothing to write home about really.

All in all if you want an anime that has little to nothing storywise,animation that will make you scream in terror and political agendas cause it's the new thing these days,by all means watch it to your heart's content.If by any chance though you want an anime that has actual story,fun,comedy etc then i suggest you look elsewhere.

I'm not sure if you seen anime or read the manga of the first series of GENSHIKEN but I personally love the first series more. Why, simple because the characters in the first series is more interesting with more humor. The second GENSHIKEN series didn't really got me interested I hated how it killed off my favorite characters from the first series Saki Kasukabe and her boyfriend Makoto Kousaka I always wanted to see more how his & her relationship more after graduation as everyone knows he IS a hardcore otaku even tho he got the looks.
This second series focus mostly on a boy who ... cross dress Hato, from the first series hardcore otaku Muradame, and a fujoshi Ogiue while the others are either just tag along, or occasionally have some or a few moments not much. But to have Muradame with no Saki and kousaka just makes me lose a bit of interest.I don't mean I want Saki x Muradame ..becuz I love Saki x Kousaka together more, but when Saki there it makes things more hilarious fill with humor.
Well if your interested BL or effeminate male u might enjoy this more than I do not tat I have anything against BL or anything but because I'm personally not a fan of a guy who cross dress as a girl and act like one when watching anime.

By this point, one knows what to expect from a _Genshiken_ and whether one likes it: the clubroom will be stuffed full of figurines and posters from real anime which the viewer can enjoy trying to identify; Ohno will be cosplaying all the time and try to get others to cosplay; Sasahara will be mild and helpful; Kousaka will be pretty and not do anything; Ogiue will draw yaoi manga while looking like a paint brush; Madarame will be cadaverously thin and live in his head (but be much more subdued and less of a delightful eristic); Sue will be very blond and very blue-eyed ... as she occasionally quotes some anime; and Kuchiki will be an asshole, who serves to remind us, as we reminisce about our anime club days, how there was always that one guy who was irritating & obnoxious; the club will attend summer Comiket, buying & selling stuff; someone will worry about graduation and going into the real world (Anno: "I wonder if a person over the age of twenty who likes robots is really happy?"); etc.

Having mostly graduated, the club faces its usual recruitment crisis and Ogiue's drawing of a guy from the Japanese civil wars reels in a few more yaoi fans: a genki girl, a trap, and a fat girl. Genki is a decent supporting character, and I found the fat girl interesting: anime in general do not seem to include very many fat women as characters, much less sympathetic ones, and usually plays them for cheap laughs as grotesqueries (the most recent one I've seen being in _Hataraku Maou-sama!_). The trap character, unfortunately, is played pretty much as one expects: a cheap source of laughs and ambiguously-sexual tension with one of the few remaining male characters, Madarame. The trap has almost the same back story as Ogiue and the ultimate resolution is odd. I don't mind the yaoi material, in fact, I appreciate it as symmetrical to the earlier seasons which focused on a mostly-male cast and their corresponding interests and as some coverage of a subculture I know little about with their correspondingly nerdy arguments (even if I have no freaking clue who are the generals they are arguing about), but the trap is just a waste.

Episode 11 was the main highlight of the series for me (especially since I am older than when I first watched _Genshiken_ season 1 all the way back in 2006 or so): it finished the Saki/Madarame plot thread, the main outstanding issue from the 'first generation'. Shut up together in the clubroom, with figures and posters of _Kujibiki Unbalance_ (and particularly the Saki-stand-in character) prominent in the background, both finally speak aloud what everyone knows: Madarame has a crush on Saki. And Saki turns him down. As expected, as is realistic. Their connection is cut, unfinished business resolved. To their surprise, the release of the tension, even after being rejected & rejecting, is far better than the rejection. Madarame sadly, wistfully, smiles one last time (and here I'm reminded of Anno's comment on Rei Ayanami: 'At the end Rei says "I don't know what to do," and Shinji says, "I think you should smile," and Rei smiles...Afterwards, when I thought about it, I cursed. In short, if she and Shinji completely "communicated" there, then isn't she over with? At that moment, Rei, for me, was finished. When she smiled, she was already finished, this character.') and comments "It really was fun. It really was... fun." And we flash to an empty clubroom (from the earlier seasons, I think).

And with that, Madarame's story is over. We can look back and see the whole arc, beginning to end; to quote Gene Wolfe's critical essay "Nor the Summers as Golden: Writing Multivolume Works" (http://gwern.net/docs/2007-wolfe):

"The ending of the final volume should leave the reader with the feeling that he has gone through the defining circumstances of Main Character's life. The leading character in a series can wander off into another book and a new adventure better even than this one. Main Character cannot, at the end of your multivolume work. (Or at least, it should seem so.) His life may continue, and in most cases it will. He may or may not live happily ever after. But the problems he will face in the future will not be as important to him or to us, nor the summers as golden."

And even more with that, the world of the original _Genshiken_ is gone. Each generation is its own world, and the members begin separating. Saki and Kousaka are inseparable; Ohno & Tanaka are going into cosplay business and marrying; Sasahara & Ogiue are on the first rungs of the manga world; Kuchiki is (as we're told repeatedly) going into finance; Madarame's destiny is not yet fixed but is away from the university; like the original President, they surely still exist and will go on to other things, but the viewer has a definite sense: they may (or may not) live happily ever after, may or may not become famous mangaka or powerful editors or prestigious businessmen or wealthy bankers. But they will keep their memories of the Society for the Study of Visual Culture, and the summer Comikets will never be as golden.

For those who like the new cast, this is fine. Out with the old, in with the new. For those who identified much more with the old cast than the new, _Genshiken Nidaime_ may be the end of the road.

Synopsis

Whether you’re familiar with Genshiken or not, this season introduces a largely whole new cast of characters, so those previously unfamiliar with the series can jump in. It’s about the The Society for the Study of Modern Visual Culture, which basically breaks down to be a bunch of otakus obsessed with anime, video games, and cosplay. The old crew has graduated, with the only links left being Ohno and Sasahara’s girlfriend who is the new club president, Ogiue. Now the club is comprised mostly of “rotten girls” who are into BL (boy’s love) and are female otakus. The times have changed in Genshiken which used ... to be almost exclusively male club members, but the guys make re-appearances, with Madarame being the center of attention for a multitude of episodes. Although there’s a large cast, the story focuses mainly on the character development of cross-dresser Hato, and his attempts to be accepted by a group of women. Madarame helps Hato a lot in this regard, and Hato also helps Madarame back, and they end up learning a lot about themselves as they enter adulthood. The students banter back and forth, and get up to some pretty nerdy stuff, which is fun to see for any anime fan.

Presentation

It’s been a number of years since Genshiken was first televised, and since then there’s been a lot of improvements visually to the art style. Now the animation is polished compared to the first 2 seasons of Genshiken which were animated a bit sloppily. Seeing the drastic change surprised me, as I didn’t know what to expect when I pressed the play button for the first episode. The art looks really great, and the old characters are cleaned up for a more fluid look to fit the update. It makes characters like Madarame look much less geeky, but he still sports the signature snaggle tooth, showing that they’ve still kept to their roots. Each character’s design is interesting and contrasts one another as there are characters like Sue who don bright blonde hair. The show in signature fashion pays homage to other animes by means of cosplay, and background touches like figures and posters, which is fun to see visually and offers for a bit of fanservice to the otaku fans who came back for a new episode each week. Naturally they had the returning voice cast for the old characters, which can be appreciated by the returning fans of the series. Both the opening and ending songs are nice on the ears, and every now and then they throw in a pop hit which any otaku could recognize. The Second Generation with its impressive updates get a 8.5 out of 10 for presentation. Gone are the days of sloppy animation, and the updates on all fronts are welcome for this aging series.

The Story

If you read the synopsis you might be wondering exactly how the story all fits together. Unfortunately for the other characters, it is almost exclusively interested in Hato and his character development. This leaves the interaction and development of the other members to limited segments never extending past the 5 minute mark at best. The reappearance of Madarame as a main character of focus is a bit surprising, as I didn’t expect him to become the focal point for a lot of episodes (but he becomes this through his close relationship to Hato that bridges on romance). Having him back is a nice addition, as he was my favourite character in the first series. But with such a small focus (being Hato and Madarame) their development is something to be desired. It goes into more explanation than development, and when they do finally change the season is pretty much over. The change is barely gradual, and it is thrown together last minute. My other issue as I mentioned before, is the lack of development on the other characters’ part. We get to meet 2 new members, Yoshitake and Yajima, but their presence is merely to interact with and challenge Hato’s sexual identity. Although they’re very likeable, I felt as though their contributions were minimal. Ohno’s existence is barely noticeable, Sue is a combination of one-liners and Kuchiki is forgettable. Ogiue has her moments of being the wise sempai, but is forgotten in the mix along with the others. A lot of moments are spent with nothing exciting happening, save for the interaction between Hato and Madarame. For all the potential this season had of exploring the dynamic between the old members and the new, they not only forgot about all the old members, but also all the new! The story gets a 5.5 out of 10. There are a lot of gripes I hold with the story, and it mainly concerns the lack of conflict, deep plot and development.

The Characters

As I mentioned earlier this season not only has the old club members as returning faces, but we also get a plethora of new characters who join the club for the first time. First there is Yoshitake, the boisterous and stubborn true “rotten girl”. Then there is Yajima who is heavier set, but convicted to what she believes is right and wrong, and of course this conflicts with her own rotten girl personality. Then there is the main focus of the show, Hato who is a rotten girl, but actually a guy. He struggles with accepting his identity that conflicts with the general conventions of what a man should like, versus what he really likes. He maintains to be heterosexual (although there is definitely a lot of romantic tension between him and Madarame). We also have returning characters from the manga that never made a television appearance, Ogiue, Kuchiki and Sue. Ogiue is the president who is working towards her professional career as a mangaka. She doubts in her own abilities but remains a strong role model for the other girls in the club. Sue is an American who is more of the observer than the participator, but whenever she acts she does it for the benefit of her fellow members. It makes her funnily altruistic, which contrasts with her moments of loud bursts of sudden revelation. Last is Kuchiki, the only current boy student in the club. He exists only to act as an overly perverted catalyst to Hato. Obnoxious and forgettable, we never get in his head or get any reason to be sympathetic to him. With the returning characters most of them are unchanged from the earlier seasons except for Kasukabe and Madarame. Although Kasukabe’s appearances are short, she’s become a much more understanding and peaceful person (surprising, I know). There’s also Madarame who’s toned himself down, and decided to live the Salary Man life, while visiting the club infrequently. His character is a bit sad as he remains passive to most things; he has lost passion for his otaku lifestyle and his overall vibrance for life. Seeing the older matured characters is kind of a nice reminder of how the story has evolved. All the characters are diverse and interesting as they contrast each other a lot. It’s hard to see how they can all be friends, but their otakuness is what binds them together. I’m giving the characters an 8.0 out of 10. They’re all interesting and relatable for different reasons. And although most of them are under-developed, they still have fully fleshed out personalities that challenge the norms of what would consist in the everyday person.

Final Thoughts

This anime is a bit of mixed bag for returning fans and newcomers. For a returning fan myself, I find myself conflicted between the lack of unity among developed characters mixed with the welcomed return of the old characters. With the main focus of the story focused around a character I didn’t particularly like, I found it hard to be engaged fully in the show. What motivated me was the dynamic of Madarame interacting with all the new club members, and how he developed. I can’t say I wasn’t happy to see Genshiken returning for another season though, as it offers refreshing moments that this time around, related more to women than men. From the above scores this anime gets a 7.3 out of 10. It loses out on its story, which wasn’t diverse enough nor engaging enough. For the plethora of characters it offers no attempt to immerse them fully into the driving plot, and they are merely there for their interaction with the main plot driver, Hato. Because of the lower score this anime received, I’m more inclined to pursue the manga, which I imagine goes above and beyond Hato to feature the other characters more fully. Perhaps I’ll be doing a review on the manga itself once I’ve gotten deep enough through the series to offer a fully formed opinion.

Still telling the activities of a club or group of otaku students and the twists and turns of their lives.
But in this season, you could say a lot of things have changed, such as club members who were originally male dominant now become female dominant in this season. And I think this club should change its name to fujo club or GEH fanatic club (lol). Not without reason why I said that, because in the previous seasons it was the dominant male who always discussed the anime or Eroge game that men used to play or watch. In this season, very often and a lot ... is discussed about things that smell like GEH or traps in doujins and games.
In short, this season contains the lives of a group of Fujoshi and many scenes imagining the relationship between men that Fujoshi usually does.
*So this is how women feel when they see men discussing or watching Anime Harem or Ecchi -_-“ (lol)*
Leaving aside the Fujoshi issue, in this season what made me continue to watch and ignore these fujoshi scenes is the love triangle conflict that is starting to be focused here. In the previous season, this love triangle was not so exposed, it was only shown that feelings began to grow a little, and finally in the 3rd season it began to be focused and began to be deepened. In addition to the love triangle conflict, there are also other conflicts such as looking for a job after graduation and the personal conflict of a Crossdresser.
What makes me interested in Genshiken is that the depiction of an otaku I's life here is not so exaggerated or almost real. Hopefully there will be a continuation season and not many GEH scenes.
Hehehe..

I liked the first two seasons of Genshiken, they were pretty good but I didn't find it particularly amazing. This season though. IT. WAS. BRILLIANT.
Firstly, this season tends to revolve largely around one character, introduced in this season, by the name of Hato who is just pretty much my favourite character ever. The following may count as a very small spoiler, but nothing you don't learn pretty much up front and it's a big part of why I love the season, so I'm going to say it anyway.

Hato is effectively a trap fudanshi. That enough would have me sold, but even better than that, he's ... pretty much the main character and is actually quite a deep character who develops throughout the season remarkably, not just some comedic caricature. I genuinely love this season, and this character, so much. While the other characters are certainly still there, and are still developed upon, Hato is definitely the star of the show in my opinion, and I honestly can't speak enough to how much I love this character.