Genshiken: The Society for the Study of Modern Visual Culture, Vol. 1
by Shimoku Kio
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Genshiken is brilliant. And, one of my favourite manga indulgences. The artwork is beautiful and obsessively detailed — and the story is hugely character driven. I’m impressed with Kio Shimoku’s sense and understanding of human nature; an expression of this group of outsiders and their interactions with the world around them.
I’m always sad when I get to the last volume. Of all the manga I read, I feel this one most closely matches the world that I want to live in. When it’s over, I miss it. And at the end when the graduating members of Genshiken are moving on… I hate that it reminds me I have to move on and live my life again.
Every time I go to Japan, I go with an expectation that somehow I’ll fall into this reality. And despite the relief and happiness I feel about being there, I can’t seem to find it.
manga hoarder 