Revisiting the Genshiken
Jul. 23rd, 2024 06:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
krpalmerAfter building a Gundam model I found myself tempted to go back to Kio Shimoku’s Genshiken manga and find the chapter of it involving the same hobby project. Whether or not that contributed to reading through twelve volumes of Witch Hat Atelier again, once I’d reached the current end of that story in print my thoughts did turn back to the older manga. This might, I suppose, betray that right now I’m making some efforts not to just fritter away all my spare time using web browsers.
I didn’t begin at the beginning of Genshiken, dropping back in more or less at the introduction of the prickly yet complex Ogiue. As I approached the end of the original story, I did start wondering about going on to the additional volumes of the “Second Season.” My understanding remained it had become more controversial among other fans for winding up focused on just who of multiple options the gaunt and untalented Madarame would manage to hook up with at last, as if to make up for him developing a hopeless crush on a real person in the original manga. Now, though, I did think I might be able to stay a bit more relaxed about the whole thing.
All of this did overlap with reading the first two volumes of My Lovesick Life as a ’90s Otaku; I did get to wondering to what extent Genshiken had tied into the term “otaku” becoming a bit less loaded with disapproval for all that it had still packed a comedic dose of “these obsessive fans are kind of pathetic; after all, most of them don’t have girlfriends!” The manga itself had been created over quite a span of time; noticing more obvious references to actual anime and manga in the “Second Season” started to get my attention even if I went from nodding at the characters in Madoka Magica “cosplay” to all of a sudden remembering mixed feelings about Bodacious Space Pirates involving its lightweight take on the topic in its title. In any case, it was certainly possible to contrast it to Madoka Magica so far as anime being remembered at all outside its airing went. When things got to the point of referencing Hi Score Girl and Golden Kamuy, though, that got my attention for those titles having felt more “recent” in terms of adaptations and releases over here, at least.
So far as the Madarame situation went, in remembering how it had been resolved at last I did take note of an advance opinion from a character who might be supposed insightful by that point. After that, I did take note of an opinion from Madarame himself. There were just a few chapters that didn’t dwell on the topic, though, and they just might have been welcome changes. In any case I got through the manga, and I didn’t have quite as many thoughts about what to go back to next even if they’ve started happening to me now.
I didn’t begin at the beginning of Genshiken, dropping back in more or less at the introduction of the prickly yet complex Ogiue. As I approached the end of the original story, I did start wondering about going on to the additional volumes of the “Second Season.” My understanding remained it had become more controversial among other fans for winding up focused on just who of multiple options the gaunt and untalented Madarame would manage to hook up with at last, as if to make up for him developing a hopeless crush on a real person in the original manga. Now, though, I did think I might be able to stay a bit more relaxed about the whole thing.
All of this did overlap with reading the first two volumes of My Lovesick Life as a ’90s Otaku; I did get to wondering to what extent Genshiken had tied into the term “otaku” becoming a bit less loaded with disapproval for all that it had still packed a comedic dose of “these obsessive fans are kind of pathetic; after all, most of them don’t have girlfriends!” The manga itself had been created over quite a span of time; noticing more obvious references to actual anime and manga in the “Second Season” started to get my attention even if I went from nodding at the characters in Madoka Magica “cosplay” to all of a sudden remembering mixed feelings about Bodacious Space Pirates involving its lightweight take on the topic in its title. In any case, it was certainly possible to contrast it to Madoka Magica so far as anime being remembered at all outside its airing went. When things got to the point of referencing Hi Score Girl and Golden Kamuy, though, that got my attention for those titles having felt more “recent” in terms of adaptations and releases over here, at least.
So far as the Madarame situation went, in remembering how it had been resolved at last I did take note of an advance opinion from a character who might be supposed insightful by that point. After that, I did take note of an opinion from Madarame himself. There were just a few chapters that didn’t dwell on the topic, though, and they just might have been welcome changes. In any case I got through the manga, and I didn’t have quite as many thoughts about what to go back to next even if they’ve started happening to me now.