Another series down, and certainly pleased with how it all turned out. After being scouted by a weekly manga magazine for a professional gig, our lead (who has only been at it for a year and has barely broken past the smallest tier of doujinshi publishing) is quickly swept into a competition for the slot by a fellow creator in his circle of cute girls (who has been at it for some time and is part of one of the larger publishing groups). Succeeding in the challenge, he sets about with his work for the magazine, only to stumble on his way as his close childhood (girl) friend suddenly pulls away. Things are sussed out, success and happiness are in their grasp, and that’s all she wrote. Curious now to see how much of that is covered by the first season of the show, and how quickly it will make me try and get the second.

Through it all, and with the prior volumes, this has really been a story about chasing your dreams, taking challenges to it in stride, and working hard to overcome them while always striving to improve. While its a fairly common trope, and is itself an adaptation of the game, the execution here was nicely done, making for a fun read across the entire run. The last line in the book, “This is only one story of many you’ll find at a doujinshi convention,” really stood out for me, at the same time an acknowledgement of how small it is and an invitation to seek out others, or to even end up with one of your own. Its entirely true too- Genshiken and Welcome to the NHK, two of my favorites, also explore otaku culture with a similar scope, but tell entirely different stories in the process. Additionally, the entire culture surrounding fan interaction with others’ works in Japan truly fascinates me, and is one of the things that I would be most interested in exploring if/when I ever get to Japan (someday I may even do a proper writeup exploring that fascination).