げんしけん: 二代目 Chapter 84

Maradame’s announcement that he quit his job has Rika and Yajima discussing things on their way to the clubroom, including the rumors that Saki rejected Madarame romantically. Arriving in the clubroom, Yajima notes that Madarame always comes over when Kenji changes, which is the case here. Rika tells Madarame bluntly that Genshiken is now mostly a fujoshi club, so despite him being the “normal” otaku, she has no intention of stopping the discussion of fujoshi materials. Madarame says that’s OK, preferring they not pay him any mind, so Rika fires up a conversation with Yajima.

Kenji arrives as “Hato-chan,” apologizing to Madarame for getting in the way again. Madarame reads his manga while Rika and Yajima yack away, Kenjiro simply sitting and listening. Rika notes Kenji’s silence, figuring he’s being bashful in front of Madarame, but since Kenji had yelled out about Madarame being a sou-uke, she doesn’t see why and loudly proclaims this. Yajima silences her by slamming her face into the desk.

Kenji, still in Hato-chan guise, is home (?) wondering how he’d explain the massive stack of yaoi porn images with Madarame as the sou-uke, since it makes him look gay. Ogiue calls him, asking for help with a doujinshi she’s doing for the winter Comifes. Kenji agrees to be the guest illustrator for the doujinshi, which also has Yabusaki helping Ogiue. Because of the type of doujinshi Ogiue is doing, Kenji thinks he needs to change his perspective, which he attempts based on his fantasy of Madarame and himself in a homosexual coupling.

Sometime later at Madarame’s house, Kenji is changing into “Hato-chan” with the imaginary, naked Hato-chan floating behind. Kenji is annoyed with “Hato-chan” and decides to put her away by finishing changing into Hato-chan. Vowing to keep reality and fantasy separate, the imaginary Hato-chan persona is now an imaginary Kaminaga, who reminds Kenji that his dressing as Hato-chan is a manifestation of fantasy, shocking Kenji.

At the club room, Kenji vows not to be tempted, but when Madarame notes the short haired wigs Kenji is wearing, saying it looks good, Kenji blushes. Yajima notes this and wonders what is going on, starting to ponder if Kenji is in love with Madarame.

Sue bursts in with her usual flair, but is stunned when she sees Madarame there. When Madarame greets her, she blushes, then flees.  Yajima wonders to herself on what is going on with Genshiken now.

More and more, Rika is starting to annoy me as a character. She gets so carried away, I was actually glad when Yajima slammed her face into the desk and gave her a bloody nose. Rika’s, “SCREW YOU!” attitude is fine in some aspects, but when she stomps the crap out of others in the process, which happens far too often, she deserves to get some sort of payback.

That aside, this was yet another episode for Kenji to reflect on his homosexual attraction for Madarame. Here too, I’m growing weary of all this.  As far as I’m concerned, Kenji is homosexual with the one exception being Kaminaga. Kio-sensei hasn’t come straight out and stated that Kenji had a crush on Kaminaga, but I think he did. Regardless, I’m sick of this story thread and just want it over, which could be done by Kenji doing his version of a confession to Madarame, and Madarame shooting him down.

Sue’s arrival and reaction to Madarame is something that not only surprised me, but was something I welcomed. I’ve been a Sue x Madarame shipper for some time, though I’m not even sure that he’d go for her (though it would be awesome if he did).

Angela gravitated to Madarame from the start,  and was overt in her desire to bang Madarame. On Sue’s second visit, after she’d seen Ogiue’s Mada x Sasahara art, she got Madarame to carry her on his shoulders at Comifest. Once Sue moved to Japan, it was Madarame whom she thought of to help Kenji and his need to have a safe place to change. It was Sue who suggested to Madarame that he needed to find a new love to get over heartbreak (this before his fateful encounter with Saki and resolution to that part of his life), doing it in such a way that one could say she was suggesting herself. When Angie returned, Sue took apparent offense at Angela’s increased, aggressive attempts to seduce Madarame. Then when Saki returned, Sue did not appear happy at all, knowing Madarame’s feelings for Saki. She even goes so far as to give him a kiss, which I don’t think she’d do for just anyone.

The implication from this chapter is that Sue hasn’t been coming by the Genshiken clubroom lately and wasn’t aware of Madarame quitting his job and coming by daily. So, it was cute seeing Sue caught off guard by this, then blushing. This is part of the story I could go for. ^_^

Anyway, my weariness of Kenji and irritation with Rika aside, I’m not close to giving up on Genshiken.  I just hope that the tedious Kenji storyline gets resolved sooner rather than later.