Genshiken: The Society for the Study of Modern Visual Culture, Volume 8

by Shimoku Kio

OTAKU LOVE The Genshiken girls have been trying to spark a little romance between Kanji and Ogiue for monthsand a Genshiken trip to a hot springs resort seems like the perfect opportunity. When Ogiue... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345491564
• ISBN13: 9780345491565
• Release Date: March 2007
• Publisher: Del Rey
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.5" x 0.7" x 5.0"
• Age Range: 16 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 11 and higher

Customer Reviews

GETTING TWO LOVERS TOGETHER

Sasahara and Ogiue have been eyeing each other for months now but neither have a strong enough personality to come out in the open with their feelings. So it's up to the other two girls, Saki and Ohno, to bring the aspiring couple together. Their methods are sometimes subtle, like getting Sasahara to care for Ogiue when she's sick, and not so subtle, like when they suggest the two should go out on a date. But Ogiue is holding a dark secret related to her yaoi fantasies. Years ago when she was in school she actually drove the boy she had a crush on from their school because of drawings she did with him in compromising positions with another boy. Now she's afraid she'll drive Sasahara away as well when he finds out she's been doing yaoi doujinshi starring him and Madarame! Volume 8 was a nice change of pace for Genshiken. While it still had a huge anime and manga flavor to it, this book was really a nice little romance story about two people who care for each other, but don't have the guts to tell each other without a little urging. The flashbacks to Ogiue's past serve to enlighten us a lot about her character and are bittersweet and sad without being sentimental. The art is gorgeous and detailed in a cutish adult manner. So far there have not been any dud volumes in Kio Shimoku's masterpiece of otaku culture and friendship.

Genshiken is good

This is the only manga i'm still following, i've falling totally in love with all the characters & can't wait to see what happens next for Kanji & Ogiue, they are the perfect couple! The extras weren't as awesome as the previous volumes, but that can take nothing away from the book as a whole. And watch the second season of the Genshiken anime if you know what's good for you!!!

Ogiue Takes Center Stage

In this 8th volume of the manga, Ogiue-san gets a big focus with Sasahara having a major part to play as well. The volume begins with a flashback to Ogiue in junior high school. We get to see how she was into yaoi doujinshi and manga back then. However, her works featured a male classmate that liked her, causing him to quit school. Ohno and Saki work to get Ogiue hooked up with Sasahara. Sasahara confesses his feelings for Ogiue which leads her to face what happened in the past since she's done yaoi art featuring Sasahara. After all, if they are going to date, he'll have to know about this. Meanwhile, Ogiue's attempt to get a boot at a doujinshi event is rejected, but when Genshiken does its spring membership drive, some girls from the manga club stop by as one is interested in doing doujinshi work with Ogiue. I tried to be careful of doing any real spoilers. That said, I found this to be a very powerful volume. Ogiue gets more character development than any of the other characters in my opinion. We get to see why she acts the way she does and the personal struggles she has with herself, especially since she does yaoi works. Even though it caused someone great pain, she can't help but continue and now that could cause Sasahara pain if he learns the truth, and he could leave her. I found myself feeling the emotions of what Ogiue was going through. Sasahara and Ogiue becoming a couple is very sweet. I really like how this is playing out and we'll see how Shimoku-sensei continues things in the 9th and final volume of the series. They really make a good couple and even though there are two other couples attached to Genshiken, Sasahara and Ogiue get a lot more work done with them. Bottom line: I learned more about yaoi doujinshi/manga than I EVER wanted to know. Still, as a vehicle to carry the story, it works very well. This is a more serious volume than previous ones, but it may be the best of the lot yet. As such, 5-stars!

How do you best get two people together...

...despite one's irrational hatred of herself and the other's stifling hesitation complex out of concern for everyone's feelings? The answer: get'em drunk. Or, at least, get one of them drunk, as the Genshiken girls ply Ogiue with copious amounts of alcohol to get her lips loose enough confess as to just why she hates all otaku. So drunk, if fact, that Sasahara is forced to watch over her (and her massive hangover) the next morning. The dominant story this volume covers Ogiue and Sasahara's massive do we/don't we conversation, lasting several meetings and days and ends with "Pit-Viper" Madarame wondering why he is the last to know things yet again. The last chapter introduces a few new side characters in the form of three female members of the Manga Club, who know Ogiue, showing off a few more fandom character types not already present in the Genshiken. The art is the standard fare with quite a good bit of blush tones to go around... with good reason. Some of Ogiue's freakout panels are just priceless and, if I had the money, I'd pay for the originals to have them mounted, framed, and on display in my home. The story and flow pleases, with just a few nitpicks here and there I had concerning Ogiues suicide dream/fantasy where it's hard to figure out what actually happened, what she wished happened, or whether it's all in her head. I recommend a buy, especially if you've been on pins and needles over the whole Ogiue/Sasahara romance arc, but in terms of general fandom slice-of-life storytelling, this is one of the weaker volumes.