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{{quote|"''Those people who say that they can't jerk off to anime must have something wrong with their brains! Either that, or they're just trying to act cool!''"|Madarame [[Rule of Three|again]], as tactful as ever.}}
'''''Genshiken''''', [[Portmanteau Series Nickname|short for]] '''''Gendai Shikaku Bunka Kenkyuukai''''' (or, ''The Society for the Study of the Modern Visual Culture''), is the story of the members of this ostensibly-useless club. Formed in the past as a sort of bridge between the manga, anime, and gaming clubs, most members of those three are at best indifferent to the continued existence of the Genshiken. The new extracurricular activities board has decided to close all clubs who don't hold any meaningful activities, the Genshiken is among them, and it's up to its members to do something that prevents the club from getting closed.
From obsessing over a favorite anime to buying and reading [[Fanfic|doujinshi]], from playing one's first [[Dating Sim]] to attending a convention (the anime's "ComiFes" is a direct play on the real-life "[[Comiket|ComiKet]]", which is held twice yearly), and many other things along the way, ''Genshiken'' puts the [[Otaku]] culture under the microscope for all to see.
Comparisons to ''[[Otaku no Video]]'' are nearly inevitable, though ''Genshiken'' is much more down-to-earth. (No creating a giant one-off Macross that can actually take off, for instance.)
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There is also a novel entitled ''Genshiken: Return of the Otaku''.
{{tropelist}}▼
▲{{tropelist}}
* [[Abuse Is Okay When It Is Female On Male]]: When Angela takes off her top, Ohno punches her boyfriend Tanaka hard enough to knock him out just to prevent him from seeing Angela's flesh. This is played for laughs. There is also Saki's violence towards Sasahara (but only once, and she later apologizes), Kucchi (who brings it on himself), and Madarame (who actually likes getting hit by Saki and deliberately tries to provoke her into hitting him at least twice).
* [[The Ace]]: Kousaka, in a more down-to-Earth version than most Aces. He is good-looking, athletic, and taught himself how to program in a month.▼
* [[A Day in the Limelight]]: Kuchiki gets his own episode about midway through season two, as well as the episode starring Madarame and Kasukabe alone in the clubroom.▼
* [[Adorkable]]: Madarame. "He's actually kind of [[Moe]], isn't he?"
* [[Airplane of Love]]
* [[And Zoidberg]]: Yajima is... not as skilled with being a manga assistant as the other members of Genshiken...
{{quote|''It's a scene of pure chaos with everyone helping President Ogiue meet her deadline for the 52-page long second half of her serialized story.''
''[[Wholesome Crossdresser|Hato Kenjirou]], the'' '''guy''' ''now completely in charge of doing the backgrounds.''
''The peerlessly steady-handed inker and white-outer, [[Phenotype Stereotype|Suzanna Hopkins]].''
''[[Genki Girl|Yoshitake Rika]], now capable of cutting and pasting in simple tones!''
''Yajima Mirei, female.'' }}
* [[Anime Accent Absence]]: While not a ''foreign'' character, Ohno spent about 8 years living in the US prior to the start of the series, and shouldn't be nearly as fluent in Japanese as she's portrayed. On the other hand, her English is grammatically correct, but her accent (in the anime) is absurdly thick for having spent her formative years abroad. Of course, this is due to the limits of the actress playing her.
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** And in season two, whenever Ogiue lets her [[Yaoi Fangirl|imagination get the best of her]].
* [[Attractive Bent Gender]]: {{spoiler|Hato}}, much to Kuchiki's <s> chagrin</s> delight.
**
* [[Bait and Switch Credits]]: The second season's opening is Sasahara dreaming his life as a [[Real Robot]] mecha anime.
* [[Bandage Babe]]: Invoked by Tanaka and Madarame at the appearance of Ogiue, who had previously thrown herself out a second-story window and broken her arm.
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** Also used by Kasukabe against {{spoiler|the club council president}} to prevent her from {{spoiler|closing Genshiken}} forever.
* [[Bland-Name Product]]: Comifes, plus pretty much every anime or manga series mentioned—apart from ''[[Kujibiki Unbalance]]'', which is more a pastiche of otaku-marketed [[Moe]]. Also, "Starbooks" Coffee, and "Kujifilm", which is also a pun on ''[[Kujibiki Unbalance]]''. And the university itself, which is [http://www.chuo-u.ac.jp Chuo University] in real life but "Shio University" here.
* [[Blank White Eyes]]
* [[Blind Without'Em]]: Ogiue, when she trades her contact lenses for her old glasses in order not to be recognized at the convention)
* [[Butt Monkey]]: Manabu Kuchiki; he rather enjoys it, and usually earns it.
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** Sue as well, but only when ''imitating Madarame''.
* [[Dating Sim]]: [[Visual Novel Shot|Parodied]].
▲* [[A Day in the Limelight]]: Kuchiki gets his own episode about midway through season two, as well as the episode starring Madarame and Kasukabe alone in the clubroom.
* [[Denser and Wackier]]: The novel has supernatural elements and a bizarre plot.
* [[Digital Piracy Is Evil]]: In the fanbook there are some short dialogues between the Genshiken members, and Kuchiki brings up that he downloads all of his software from the internet, which makes Sasahara think "He's such a jerk."
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* [[Eyes Always Shut]]: Tanaka.
* [[Fake-Out Opening]]: The first episode of the anime actually starts out as the intro, OP and first few seconds afterwards of Kujibiki Unbalance, before revealing that it's actually Sasahara watching the show. It goes on just long enough to make the viewer wonder if they're watching the wrong show by mistake.
* [[Faux Fluency]]: Ohno's "English" dialogue in the anime. One can imagine [[Ayako Kawasumi]] reading off a card written entirely in Katakana, with [[
* [[Fish Out of Water]]: Kasukabe.
* [[Fan Service]]: While the manga has some of this, the anime is ''rife'' with this, especially during the episodes covering ComicFes, half of this is supplied by...
* [[Foreign Fanservice]]: Angela, the fit foreign bird who eagerly takes off her top in the presence of Ohno's boyfriend.
* [[Funbag Airbag]]: Ogiue running into much taller and bustier Ohno.
* [[Genius Ditz]]: Kousaka. While he appears to be extremely manipulable and oblivious to most things, he is unbeatable at
* [[Genki Girl]]: Yoshitake and Susan in Chapter 56.
* [[Genre Savvy]]: Obviously.
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* [[I Always Wanted to Say That]]: [[Mobile Suit Gundam|"Not even my own father hit me."]] in the manga after Kanji is on the receiving end of a slap by Kasukabe. Kasukabe, being completely out of the anime loop, takes it seriously at first until the other club members congratulate him.
* [[Idiosyncratic Episode Naming]]: Each episode title from the first season is basically a flowery description of the events within the show, and sounds like the name of a research paper.
** Which may reference the first President's research project, having used the Genshiken club as research subjects without their knowledge. Once he's gone (to write his doctoral thesis), the episode titles become much more mundane.
* [[I Have This Friend]]
* [[Ignore the Fanservice]]: Kasukabe starts hitting on Kousaka in the most blatant way possible... and he just goes out to line up for a
* [[Ironic Echo]]: Sue goes meta and quotes ''Genshiken itself'' in chapter 56, when Ogiue is fretting over the club's eclectic group of new recruits. Predictably, Ogiue panics when her infamous self-introduction is presented out-of-context to the new members, as she screams for Sue to shut up before she gets to the part about yaoi fangirls.
** [[Lampshade Hanging|"How do you know about that?!"]]
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** Yoshitake is past 20 despite her teenage appearance. To confuse the issue further, {{spoiler|her sister}} is herself [[Younger Than She Looks]] and looks like the older one.
* [[Omake]]
* [[The Only One Allowed to Defeat You]]: Kasukabe saves the club for precisely this reason.▼
* [[Onsen Episode]]: While the bath is more of a semi-outdoor furo -- much to the characters' disappointment -- they nonetheless self-consciously treat it as an onsen episode, complete with lampshading, when Ohno prompts Kasukabe on the lines she's supposed to say as the two share the bath.
* [[Otaku]]
* [[Out of Focus]]: Since ''Nidaime'', some of the former Genshiken members have pretty much disappeared from the radar, save occasional appearances. Not too surprising for Kasukabe and Kousaka, a bit more for Sasahara since he's Ogiue's boyfriend. Actually, even Ogiue seems more and more absent in the
** Which was explicitly the point of ''Nidaime'', to show what was happening with the new Genshiken membership. However, a drifting focus has been built into the series from the start as leadership has changed hands and the group has added and lost members. Kasukabe and her struggles with understanding otaku took much of the early focus, it drifted more onto Sasahara for his tenure as president, Ogiue grabbed the focus once her backstory started to come out, and now it's drifted towards the new group with Hato. Meanwhile, the other characters have moved in and out retaining a secondary focus and sometimes losing it. [[Truth in Television|It's remarkably alike to the feeling of watching a real college club evolve over several years as membership changes and the social circles
* [[Parody]]: The [[OVA|OVAs]] opening title parodies the opening theme of the remade version of [[Kujibiki Unbalance]]: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4IF_7UWJZE See Here].
* [[Phenotype Stereotype]]: Ohno's two American friends (and fellow Otaku) Angela and Sue are both pale and blonde, the former being blue-eyed and the latter green-eyed.
* [[Plot Bunny]]: Ogiue just can't help herself when she gets an idea.
* [[Post Modernism]]
* [[Progressively Prettier]]: Happens to everyone, Madarame in particular benefits.
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* [[Rapunzel Hair]]: Ohno has hair down to her hips. It's useful for all her cosplay.
* [[Reference Overdosed]]
* [[The Rival]]: Yabusaki, artist for the Manga club.▼
* [[Scenery Censor]]: The second series inserts a [[Furo Scene]] where, possibly in the interests of fanservice, Sue flashes Ogiue.
* [[Secret Keeper]]: It's implied that Ohno is this for Madarame.
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* [[Spin-Off]]: ''[[Kujibiki Unbalance]]''
* [[Spoiler Opening]]: Kasukabe's cosplay.
* [[Stealth Hi Bye]]: Prez.
* [[Stock Footage]]: That [[Guilty Gear|Sol vs. Jam match]]? Expect to see the exact same footage a lot, even when different people are playing. Fortunately, the final episode of the first season mixes it up with different footage, as well as the OP.
* [[Stringy
* [[Stupid Sexy Flanders]]: In the manga, the rest of the guys comment on how Kousaka's legs look when he crossplays. Oguie just asks "Is he really a guy?". It's hammed up even more in the anime.
* [[Surprisingly Good English]]: Rather realistically, Ohno and Kasukabe speak rather correct English with one hell of a rough Japanese accent, while Angela actually sounds convincingly American even when played by a Japanese [[Seiyuu]].
* [[Take That]]: Not too prevalent, given that it's a series about enjoying being an Otaku, but in one episode preview the club members mention that you really shouldn't sing [[Lucky Star|"Motteke! Sailor Fuku!"]] and [[Haruhi Suzumiya|"Hare Hare Yukai"]] in public.
▲* [[The Ace]]: Kousaka, in a more down-to-Earth version than most Aces. He is good-looking, athletic, and taught himself how to program in a month.
▲* [[The Only One Allowed to Defeat You]]: Kasukabe saves the club for precisely this reason.
* [[That One Player]]: Kousaka.
* [[Time Skip]]: A slight one in Chapter 56, which was created and released as a bonus together with the Japanese "Genshiken 2" box-set. The chapter told us what the characters had become, and what's going on the Genshiken club right now.▼
* [[Took a Level In Badass]]: A mild example, but the novel features Madarame leading the charge against {{spoiler|some people who have taken over the university club system by throwing molotov cocktails to break down a barricade. Saki and Kugayama also get in on the action, with Kugayama tearing down some of the barricade with his bare hands and bodily strength.}}▼
* [[Tohoku Regional Accent]]: Ogiue usually speaks in formal Standard Japanese, but reverts to her native Tohoku dialect when she gets nervous or embarrassed, which only serves to throw her further into panic-mode.▼
▲* [[The Rival]]: Yabusaki, artist for the Manga club.
▲* [[Took a Level
* [[Tsundere]]: Ogiue, so adorable but so mean too. Poor Sasahara.
** [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] in the bonus chapter of the final volume.
** As their friendship develops, Saki becomes quite a bit nicer to Madarame, which no doubt helps with their [[Fan-Preferred Couple]] status.
▲* [[Tohoku Regional Accent]]: Ogiue usually speaks in formal Standard Japanese, but reverts to her native Tohoku dialect when she gets nervous or embarrassed, which only serves to throw her further into panic-mode.
▲* [[Time Skip]]: A slight one in Chapter 56, which was created and released as a bonus together with the Japanese "Genshiken 2" box-set. The chapter told us what the characters had become, and what's going on the Genshiken club right now.
* [[Twelve-Episode Anime]]: Two seasons' worth, plus the three OVA episodes.
* [[Unlucky Childhood Friend]]: Kasukabe, much to the surprise of the others, seemed to be like this with Kousaka until he agreed to date her.
* [[Unstoppable Rage]]: Early in the series when Madarame placed cat ears on Kasukabe.
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* [[Vitriolic Best Buds]]: Kasukabe claims to hate the otakus at Genshiken, but she still hangs around the clubroom without Kousaka there, and is more than willing to stand up for them.
* [[Wall of Text]]: If given a good enough reason, [http://www.mangareader.net/genshiken/58/5 Yoshitake will go off on her own tangent].
* [[Webcomic Time]]: A one-off form of it, when the series got [[Uncancelled]] after about four and a half years, but events in-series had only moved on a couple months at most. Suddenly characters move from making references to series current to early and mid 2006, to referencing series that wouldn't even have existed yet if a strict chronology was followed on with the continuation. Angela's references to the ''[[Bakemonogatari]]'' series get only the narrowest pass if she's quoting the original light novel which came out within the rough time of ''Nidaime'' thus far, but the ''[[Puella Magi Madoka Magica]]'' cosplay doesn't fit anywhere.
* [[Wholesome Crossdresser]]: Kousaka, who crossplays to help sell ''[[Doujinshi]]''. He doesn't expect Kasukabe to show up when she does.
** Also, {{spoiler|Hato}} in chapter 56.
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[[Category:Anime]]
[[Category:Manga]]
[[Category:Genshiken]]▼
[[Category:Drawn to This Index]]
[[Category:Anime of the 2000s]]
[[Category:Manga of the 2000s]]
[[Category:School Club Stories]]
[[Category:Anime of the 2010s]]
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