Review: Genshiken Volume 1

"I want to read a manga series that deals with manga, can you recommend one?" Why, yes! I'm glad you asked! Here's a favorite of mine:

You learned about how to get published, manga-wise, in Japan. This title tells the life of an otaku, the consumers of anime, manga, video games, cosplay and such. I'm writing a paper about this and I'm kinda occupied with anime right now.

Genshiken Volume 1: (by Kio Shimoku) tells the story of Kanji Sasahara who has recently moved from the rural area to the city for college. As college life is boring, people are obliged to join circles that fit the interest of a student. Our main protagonist is a shy one and therefore he can't say things outright. Sasahara then joins the "The Society for the Study of Modern Visual Culture" or Genshiken for short, by "conventional means." Along with the other Genshiken members, Sasahara now embarks on his journey to otaku enlightenment.

Conventional means.

Art: The art is quirky and fun. It takes advantage of the story so it blends really well. The characters have simple designs to fit every kind of otaku there is; an anime buff, a closet otaku, a bishounen otaku, an avoidant otaku, an open but strict otaku. Of course, later on, the booming fujoshi--rotten girls/females who read yaoi manga--are represented too.

The detail that they kept really detailed is the background. You notice the books, the magazines, the doujinshi, the posters, heck, even the bookshelves are detailed. It really shows the obsession of an otaku. It's like pokemon, they want to have it all.

Why pokemon? If you're an otaku, you probably won't age as much and you would still want to catch everything.

Story: Like the art, the story is simple too; the day to day life of a college otaku. The characters also develop and is seen the most within Sasahara. He accepted being an otaku and is now living his life as an otaku. They don't give much background to the characters but you don't need that when you're telling a story about the present.

The story is straight, with no gimmicks and tricks being used. It's not clever, it's realistic. You feel attached to the characters as they are as real as can be.

I'm probably like Kugayama, I'm really shy in conversations and dislikes eye contact. Why do you think I made a blog instead of a video review of manga?

Bottomline: Read it. You might want to research the otaku culture to get the jokes that they pull on you. It's entertaining and educational at the same time. You learn about the reality of college life and the toll it puts on your manga reading/anime watching time.

I would recommend reading this one chapter at a time. It's a really exciting to read this series but if you're like me, slowly buying each volume as soon as a deal comes in, I recommend enjoying it slowly. If you choose to fly by it, you are free to do so but it would be unsatisfying as when you take it slow.