One of my favourite manga series of all time.




Title: げんしけん, Genshiken - The Society for Study of Modern Visual Culture
Author: Kio Shimoku
Genre: Seinen, Comedy, Drama, Romance, Slice of Life
Serialized in: Kodansha Afternoon
Licensed by: Del Rey (complete)
Total Volume Count: 9

Series Summary from MangaUpdates:

College freshman and ACG lover Kanji Sasahara settled down his extracurricular activity in Genshiken (The Society for the Study of Modern Visual Culture) in order to become a true and thorough otaku. Meanwhile, Saki Kasukabe, the girlfriend of another freshman Genshiken member (also a bishounen) Makoto Kohsaka, was dragged into Genshiken's otaku-ish activities reluctantly, yet her resentful attitude towards otakus is changing without her notice.

Kenn's Comment: I never watched the anime, but I've been following the manga for a long time. I'd put it up with my favourites, like GTO and Keroro Gunsou. I've read a couple of reviews and comments and people haven't really liked the series. I can see why.

Anywho, the art is nice and the characters range from the annoying (Kuchii) to the loveable (Ohno, Kusakabe, Oguie), though the amount of characters seems to bug people. The 'main character' shifts quite a bit. In the beginning Sasahara and Kusakabe are the main characters, and as time goes by, their role is decreased and the main characters change. I don't see why people don't like this. Time goes by, and the main characters are governed by who is the president of the club. The beginning had that odd president from god knows when. Sasahara, Kousaka and Kusakabe were all freshmen, so it served as an introductory. Once Madrame became the president he got more of a role. Sasahara's role increased when he became president, and by the time Ohno rolled into the position she shared the spotlight with Oguie, who remained a main character for the rest of the series.

Story wise, things are a bit convenient, but it works like that in fictional stories. Couples form within the Genshiken because they have similar interests (excluding Kousaka and Saki since they technically were formed before entering the club), and it's really not too much different from Nodame getting with Shinichi. The circumstances are quite different, but the general idea is the same.

I love the series and I'm following the sequel げんしけん二代目 (Genshiken - Nidaime)