Kio Shimoku

Reading this series is incredibly nostalgic for me. Much of what goes on at 'The Society for Modern Visual Culture' feels like my own college experiences--regardless of the difference in culture and time. Nerds are nerds wherever you go, I guess and the personal journeys you see for individual characters 'accepting their inner otaku' or learning how to deal with the people around them socially or even just the single-minded devotion to discussions that are the anime/manga equivalent of show more 'which tech is superior, Star Wars or Star Trek?' ring absolutely true. Shimoku holds a big mirror up to nerd-culture and does it with a light touch that makes this series accessible even to the armchair otaku.
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This volume focused much less on 'otaku culture' in general and turned the spotlight squarely on Oguie, both individually and in her relationship with Sasahara. Her backstory is finally revealed and she is forced to come to terms with both her past and the possibilities of the future. Her story and how she is able to come to terms with herself and with Sasahara's acceptance of Who She Is provide more than the usual depth you expect from this series. I enjoyed this book immensely and expect show more that to reread it more than a few times before the next volume is due out.
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I'm going to admit that I'm kind of oddly disappointed by the fact that Kenjiro Hato isn't transgender, though as the series stands thus far, it's entirely possible that the character could be revealed down the road as being TG after all, but in denial.

Still, it's a good continuation of Genshiken, and it's a nice new start. It's also nice to be a series focused on otaku that isn't focused entirely on material for male audiences, though we'll probably have some stuff along those lines in show more later volumes.

I look forward to reading the next few volumes. show less

This was a decent read, but I'm really not sure who it's meant for. Most of the material in this book is material that is compiled from the manga, which means that if you're a fan of the manga and you've already read it (and own the volumes), then you've already read everything in here. If you're not a fan of the manga or haven't read the manga yet, you'll either be lost, or have the manga spoiled for you. Honestly, I really don't see much of a reason to check this out.

That said, I did enjoy show more the book, and little bits of new material we get (including interviews with Kio Shimoku and Ken Akamatsu about anime fandom) are really enjoyable. However, I can't really recommend buying this unless you're a Genshiken completionist. show less