げんしけん: 二代目Chapter 73
Genshiken Nidaime Manga Chapter 73

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Ogiue wants Genshiken to give her love story ideas based on their experiences in high school. Rika scoffs at this, considering how they all love 2D characters. However, when Yajima is hesitant to agree with her, Rika tries bribing her with a massive stash of snacks. Yajima recalls how a guy used to tease her about her drawing, proving he could draw better than her. However, the last time she saw him, he addressed her by name, rather than by a nickname.

Rika cites Yajima’s story as proof that Ogiue won’t get what she wants, but despite the low bar that Yajima has set, Rika confesses she never dated in high school. She was in the History Club, but it was actually a club for otaku.

Rika turns to Hato, who is very embarrassed. His reaction and turning beet-red has everyone interested, so Rika tries bribing him. Yajima is uncomfortable with what’s happening and runs interference for Hato, citing how he was a fudanshi in high school. As such, she thinks they should drop it, but Rika ponders whether girls at his high school would have really bullied Hato for his interests, considering how the girls in the club accepted him. However, there’s the possibility that something bad did happen with the girls at his high school.

Hato is saved from talking about it by Kuchiki making an entrance with flair. They shoot down his cosplay plans since his they are trying to protect Hato and not have traps being used to bring a negative light to otaku, especially since Kuchiki would be seen as a fetish-having, gross otaku.

On a whim, Rika asks Kuchiki if he went out with a girl. He says he did, much to the shock of the others. Kuchiki recalls at the bonfire celebration at his school, a girl younger than him asked him to go out with her. This is enough to cause Ogiue to be revolted and immediately call off plans for a high school romance story. As such, she’s going with her normal stories, which Hato agrees to.  Rika and Yajima are depressed to know they have less experiences than Kuchiki, while Hato is relieved that Kuchiki unintentionally saved him.

Thoughts/Review:

Bwah!ha!ha!ha!ha!  Kuchiki had a girl confess to him. *lol*  Oh man.  Of course, her calling it off the next day after a 3-minute conversation with him shows that someone can SEEM cute, but when they open their trap, the good looks fade quickly.  I’m guessing most of us have had such experiences.

I’m pretty sure that Kuchiki was imitating Razor Ramon Hard Gay when he entered the club room.  Hard Gay often made that pose upon entering a room, combined with a loud, “HOOOOO!”  The guy playing Hard Gay, SUMITANI Masaki, has been trying to move beyond the character he created, but I’m not sure how popular he is today.  That being said, Genshiken should be set during the time when Hard Gay was popular, but that hasn’t stopped Kio-sensei from putting in modern references into his manga.

Yajima’s tale is one that makes me think that the guy who teased her probably liked her, at least at some level, which Yajima appears to have figured at well.  However, neither her tale, nor Rika’s tale were ones I could relate too (I dated in high school for a start), but I’m guessing there are some that could.

As to Hato, I found that I really wasn’t all that interested in his tale, so I wasn’t disappointed when we didn’t learn anything. Heck, that’s what I expected.  I’m not sure what Kio-sensei will ultimately do with Hato, but he seems to throw a lot of stuff out there in regards to Hato.

In the end, while the chapter was OK with me, it wasn’t anything that great. Again, the weakness of Yajima, Rika, and Hato as characters rears its head for me. They are just too niche much of the time, whereas the original Genshiken crew had a wider appeal to otaku and to sci-fi/fantasy fans in the U.S.  Oh well.  Onto the next chapter, when it comes out. ^_^