げんしけん: 二代目Chapter 91 Manga Review

Yajima, still in cosplay, brings a bag of BL doujinshi to Kenji and demands he buy them from her. She further demands he not through his senpai (Madarame) overboard for BL and that Kenji can pay her back later. Madarame is confused, so Kousaka clarifies and says he doesn’t have to go out with Angela. Madarame gives a sigh, but denies it was a sigh of relief, but merely a sigh reflecting that it was a shame he didn’t have to date her.  Kousaka says that it is too late to cancel the agreement, and he and Sasahara agree that it would be a bad idea to put a woman out like that.

Meanwhile, “Hato-chan” emerges above Kenji, striking the normal BL fantasy chord. She dribbles on and on with her fantasy, leading Kenji to be somewhat panicked. Ohno interrupts to ask if Kenji can cosplay since the guys are done shopping. So, Kenji agrees to do the cosplay for Ohno, even though he’s cosplaying a female pirate character to fit in with the other Genshiken members cosplaying other characters from the same series. Hato-chan turns into Kaminaga. As Madarame looks on from the audience, Kenji starts blushing, which Sasahara notices, leading him to realize whom the fourth person is who’s interested in Madarame.

Afterward, Kenji apologizes to Angela for his role in everything. She says she’s known about his feelings since the summer when he interjected himself between her and Madarame. She grabs Sue and suggests Madarame love all three of them. Ohno stops translating, irritating Angela. Angela proceeds in English to suggest a next step, causing Sue to send a palm to Angela’s chin. That just causes Angela to tighten her grip on Kenji and Sue as she tells Madarame that they all are in love with him. None of the others seem to understand, but Ohno does and is shocked.

Eventually, Madarame realizes what has happened and starts to flee. He doesn’t get far before he encounters Keiko, who greets him. While trying to avoid her, he slips and breaks his wrist.

Bwah!ha!ha!ha!ha!  Poor Madarame. He has a cute but somewhat weird American otaku girl interested in him (Sue), a hot, cosplaying, American otaku babe after him (Angela), a cross-dressing otaku after him (Kenji), and an attractive hostess club girl (Keiko), who just happens to also be a member of Genshiken and the younger sister of Sasahara.  The harem route indeed.

I’ve long been a Sue x Madarame shipper because I like Sue and she seemed to be a good fit for Madarame. At the same time, I wouldn’t have been unhappy with a Keiko x Madarame pairing because I think Keiko would do things to make Madarame happy. However, with this chapter, I’m now down with Angela ending up with Madarame. While the normally boisterous Sue clams up when it comes to Madarame, Angela usually plays things pretty straight, as she did here. So, there are pluses and minuses everywhere.

I’m glad that Kio-sensei is bringing this all to a head. I’m REALLY hoping that the whole thing with Kenji cross-dressing and having his crush on Madarame gets over with. I’ve long been weary of his mental problems and such, so I’m hoping that will come to a conclusion soon and we can move on to more interesting topics. I am interested in seeing more of Ogiue’s and Sasahara’s relationship for a start.

Speaking of which, I’m glad that Sasahara has had a much bitter role of late. Very cool since he’s been really passed over since Genshiken resumed.

Anyway, back to Angela. She really is a force of nature, getting right to the heart of things. In some ways, she’s like the female Kousaka, who also has a way of getting to the heart of things. So far, everything about her this time out has been pretty awesome. She’s no longer just going after Madarame for her sole self, but considers her friend Sue as well as Kenji.

Madarame’s running away was funny and expected, but that’s what made him encountering Keiko all the more enjoyable. She really has gotten cuter over time. Her introduction had her set up as a kind of skank, but even though she works at a hostess club, she’s really straightened herself up.  I’m hoping that we get to see more of what attracts her to Madarame as well as Sue in the upcoming chapter(s).

With Madarame hurting himself, one wonders who will be his nurse, eh? Sadly, Kenji has the inside track there, being a guy with access to Madarame’s apartment. Angela has to return to the States so no go there. Sue is too embarrassed. And Keiko is Keiko.

We’ll see what happens next chapter.