Genshiken Nidaime Episode 8 Highlights & Thoughts

This was another episode highlighting the inner struggle between Hato and his fantasy counterpart, however we do get a few minutes of banter between Yajima and Yoshitake as well as into Ogiue’s head (if only for a moment or two). But despite the lack of diverse character contribution we still have a nice episode that analyzes the inner workings of Hato’s fantasies. Spoilers ahead, let’s get to the episode!

Yajima, Yoshitake & Ogiue

In the beginning of the episode we learn that Yajima and Yoshitake are going to attempt working together for a piece in the club’s upcoming magazine. I like the dynamic between these two as they banter, it feels like a real friendship between an odd pair. I like how blunt Yoshitake is while Yajima tries to deal with keeping up her own appearances for her pride. Yoshitake is shameless and it’s great. I enjoy how both characters are very relatable as one fully embraces her weird self while the other does her best by attempting to do the right thing despite her impulses. The second half of the beginning is the contemplation of Ogiue about her partnership with Hato. It’s interesting how easy we can feel inadequate when better talent is right infront of our face as Ogiue does. As someone who is professionally published, Ogiue has even more pressure on her than the other girls to impress. I wish we could explore this stress and perspective more but Hato steals the limelight for the rest of the episode. Oh well, I’m sure we’ll return to Ogiue’s anxiety in the upcoming episodes.

Hato’s Split Personality

I really like how this show has the diverse cast it does, as it shows the struggle of Hato, a complex character that we don’t get to see often in anime (or analyzed to this degree). We get to see his split personality; the reasonable person he wants to be externally versus the inner sexual self dying to live out new fantasies. I think we always have the internal voice that wants to live out a life we fantasize about, whether it be sexual or not (sexual just holds more weight). We can see how Hato struggles with his one side wishing to have the life he reads about in his manga/doujinshi versus the person he knows he has to be in order to be respectable and be accepted by the community. I think the ironic thing is that most of this is in his head, as there are characters like Yoshitake who have no filter and have no problem with expressing themselves. I think the Genshiken group would be accepting of him no matter what, but he puts these barriers up because of his fear of coming into his own. However this episode he opens up slightly to Madarame, so I think he will open up to everyone eventually.

Hato and Madarame’s Relationship

I think it’s funny to see these two interact, they both don’t know how to deal with each other but somehow make it work. I enjoy the fact that they can relate on some level, but mostly Hato finds confidence when he is with Madarame alone. Hato finds a ‘trap game’ and instantly wants Madarame’s personal opinion on whether he enjoyed the game or not. Although on the surface it appears as though Hato wants to know for his fantasy/imagination I think he’s also looking for approval from Madarame on his own lifestyle of cross-dressing (as there are cross-dressing characters in the game he finds). Unfortunately for Hato he doesn’t really get the response he wants from Madarame. But it’s probably helpful for him to see Madarame so comfortable with his own sexuality; that perhaps with time Hato will speak easily on his own thoughts. Either way the dynamic between these two makes for an interesting watch.

Madarame’s Bad News & Hato Tries Again

At the end of the episode we get a little blurb that Madarame is considering finding another job. This mostly has to do with the fact that he personally wants to move on from university life and find a new life for himself someplace further away. Of course Hato blames himself for this idea but really I think Madarame is living in the past (revisiting the club, dwelling on Kasukabe) and these are the honest drivers for his choice. Although having Madarame around in the new season of Genshiken is nice, I think it’s true that he needs to move on as his character seems mostly unchanged and he seems generally dissatisfied with himself and his life. But who knows whether he will fulfill this desire, perhaps once Hato comes into his own Madarame won’t be needed much so he will end up leaving. That would probably be a nice closure to their relationship. But despite his bad news he does inspire Hato to try drawing the manga for Ogiue. So we see that Madarame has given him some confidence to reconcile his split personality by stream lining himself into a more respectable person and changing himself for the better. I’d like to see if he can accomplish this, and it will most likely be featured in next week’s episode.
So those are my thoughts and the highlights of this episode. Send me your comments or comment below and we can start a discussion! Thanks for reading.
Christina