Have you been enjoying the new Genshiken anime? I call the manga of Nidaime "Genshiken II" because that's how I started, while I call the anime "Genshiken Second Season" because that's how it's widely advertised in English. While it makes things easier in terms of separating my anime and manga posts, I do feel a bit contradictory or incongruous in doing so. Anyway, here's Chapter 91, which is a turning point, the latest of many.
After Yajima talks to Hato in an effort to tell him that he can't simply dump Madarame onto Angela so he can get back to reading BL, Ohno calls to ask Hato to complete the Bodacious Space Pirates cosplay as the main character. Eager to rid himself of the fujoshi that is his mental alter ego, Hato agrees, but by doing so actually appears to reaffirm his feelings on Madarame. Hato apologizes to Angela, but Angela has other ideas, simultaneously confessing the mutual feelings of her, Hato, and Sue. Madarame, like a deer caught in headlights, tries to run but accidentally slips and fractures his wrist (again) when he sees Keiko.
I quite like how Kio Shimoku writes and draws Angela, as for all of her simplistic character traits she still comes across as a fully developed person. Angela makes various comments about basically having a foursome, but I don't think we're supposed to interpret that as her wanting that sort of relationship. Instead, I think the fact that her words intentionally sound like they're coming straight of an eroge is what's important. Previous chapters have established that Angela is extremely savvy and strategic when it comes to putting the moves on Madarame, such as Angela hoping that if she's aggressive enough the timid and virginal Madarame will use her as masturbation material, and I have no doubt in my mind that she's trying to appeal to that basic otaku side of Madarame, to give him the temptation to fuse fantasy and reality in his mind. There's also the fact that Ohno stops interpreting out of embarrassment, so Angela has to be as braindead obvious with her words as possible.
Of course, the other component of all this is that Angela is blasting through the ambiguity in a way which normally Sue would, but this is not Sue's area of comfort at all. It's funny how the more social and perceptive characters in Genshiken have generally been the ones to point out budding feelings and similar developments where the dorks of the group have been oblivious, like when Keiko nonchalantly asked if Sasahara and Ogiue are dating before they started doing so. Even though Keiko makes only a brief appearance at the end, I think she provides a good amount of interesting material to analyze as well.
When I think about it, Keiko and Angela appear to be approaching Madarame in the same way, by trying to actively appeal to his otaku sensibilities. The way I see it, the key difference is that Angela is an otaku herself while Keiko is not. Angela is using her knowledge of anime, manga, and video games, her experience interacting with fellow otaku, and even how her own mind works, to feed into Madarame's fantastic desires. Keiko, on the other hand, is giving herself a more natural appearance, maybe even one closer to Kasukabe's, in an effort to appear less a part of the Shibuya world which most otaku reject. The fact that Angela has a dynamite body may or may not play a factor in this battle.
Hato's feelings meanwhile are practically overwhelming him at this point, and the clarity that this chapter brings also serves to complicate things further. As silly as this may sound, I find significance in the fact that the "other Hato" has a different breast size compared to the "other Kaminaga" who has been appearing in Hato's consciousness lately, as it basically means they're two aspects of his mind. Both are representative of something inside him, but the other Hato, with her larger chest, speaks towards Hato's ideal of the generic woman he's aiming to visually emulate. As mentioned before in a 4koma, when Hato crossdresses he tries to have as many "female" signifiers in his appearance, and breasts are one of them. The other Kaminaga, on the other hand, has small breasts like the actual person, which I interpret as Hato tying that persona closer to the real Kaminaga, or more specifically her words, and her ability to cut to the heart of the matter. The fact that Kaminaga is literally the person he was originally trying to emulate has to mean something as well.
Aside from a panel or two, there wasn't really an Ogiue content this chapter, but I do find an off-hand remark by Kuchiki to be interesting. Kohsaka and Sasahara mention to Hato that there's nothing quite like the wrath of not so much a scorned woman but a humiliated one, which causes Kuchiki to refer to them as the " DT," or "not virgins," to which Madarame and Kugayama react nervously. While Kohsaka is generally seen as the attractive guy, there's something hilarious about having Sasahara considered even remotely close to being a stud.
This time, to finish, I'd actually like to talk a bit about the art, which I typically don't get into much during these reviews. The same page where Kuchiki calls the two of them "not virgins" is rather nice, I think, because of the way the panel of Kohsaka up top anchors that small moment in time, as well as Kohsaka's words ("I don't think you can take thing back at this point"). This isn't just because it's a large panel, but the lack of a background contrasts with the busier panels before and after, which in turn makes that panel act as both a breather as well as a moment of impact. On top of that, it rests well at the top of the page and makes for a balanced composition. I think in general Kio is good at using these large empty panels, and if you look through previou chapters I'm sure you'll find more examples.
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