ASSIMILATION
Saki is gradually being pulled into the otaku world, whether she knows it or not. She's even beginning to find some of Genshiken's manga to be worth reading! But she can only take so much and so she orders a militaristic cleansing of all the junk in the club room. Of course, being otaku, none of the Genshiken want to get rid of ANYTHING! When she accidentally(?) starts a fire with a dropped cigarette, she gets the club banned from their meeting place. Their only hope to win back the good graces of the authorities it to show that Genshiken is an active and productive member of the school. So the group decides to enter a cosplaying contest that will be judged by their favorite anime staff. The snag in their plan is that Ohno, their resident cosplayer is sick, so that leaves Saki to dress up! And we know how far that will fly with her. This final volume also features a going to the beach episode which features a battle between Saki and Sasahara's sister for the attentions of Kohsaka. In the first episode Madarame finds himself alone with Saki, struggling to find points of conversation, and then noticing an extremely long nosehair projecting out of Saki's nose. What to do? What to do??

Don't expect any strong wrap-ups or conclusions in this final volume. If you want a continuation of the storyline I highly recommend picking up the manga version of Genshiken. The comedy in this show is dead-on, and Saki is a great foil for the club's obssessions, but in a nice twist she has begun to show a softer side, and also a loyalty she doesn't like to exhibit. It almost seems as if she has become the main character. At first it seemed as if it would belong to Sasahara, but the real revelation is Saki's evolution from otaku hater to someone that can at least respect and admire passions for anime and manga even if she can't share those passions. In a nice piece of meta-anime, an episode of Genshiken's favorite anime, Kujibiki Unbalance is included here. I wish that this show within a show would actually be expanded into an actual full blown series. The dvd also includes a long 30 minute interview with two of the Japanese voice actresses. Highly recommended.

You should also seek out the Comic Party anime.

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