Sunday 21 July 2013

Genshiken Second Season - Episode 3

He might not strictly be a member of Genshiken at this point, but it's Madarame who takes centre stage for this week's episode of Second Season.

Having decided to enjoy his lunch break in the club room for once, Madarame finds himself alone, albeit not for long as Sasahara's sister decides to pay an unexpected visit to the club.  It's thanks to this that Madarame learns an inconvenient truth, that being that everyone knows about the light he holds for Saki Kasukabe; it's a thought that is mortifying to him as he denies it fervently, but unfortunately for him it's a feeling that isn't as well-hidden as the photos behind the desk in his apartment.


Speaking of that apartment, it seems as if Hato is spending more and more time there changing, and thus he keeps running into Madarame.  Having perhaps consumed a little too much Boys' Love manga, Hato is beginning to brew up fantasies of himself and his senior as he goes about transforming himself, and the chance to enjoy a drink and a meal with Madarame himself threatens to send some of these thoughts boiling over and pouring out of his mouth; not that Madarame seems to be fazed by the whole thing in the slightest.  Then again, maybe he'd be more concerned if he knew that Hato has also discovered his stash of photos of Saki in cosplay...

Once again, Genshiken Second Season seems to be doing a frighteningly perfect job of adapting its source material to the point where it's actually even more enjoyable than watching the manga - admittedly I'm a sucker for Monogatari references, but even beyond that it's just so much fun watching the show's cast bounce off one another while sharing the same kind of enthusiasm for all things otaku that... well, that I presume we all do, otherwise why would you be reading this?  It's this which is really Genshiken's crown jewels - it simply does such a good job of depicting what it means to be enthusiastic about these activities that you can't help but relate and love its characters no matter what, and thus far this series has done a nigh-on perfect job of bringing this second generation manga to life.

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