Ah, the final episode of Genshiken. Continuing on with the “slice-of-life” style of otakuhood, the series concludes in what other bloggers and commenters have noted as an complete cycle that started and ends with Sasahara. I’m in much agreement with what others have said as we see Saki’s breakdown and the Genshiken club’s continual survival through all the problems they face.
I’m going to post screencaps of this episode even though it hasn’t been subbed yet. I have to say without an doubt, THIS IS MY ALL TIME FAVORITE GENSHIKEN. Not going to spoil anything for those who can wait, so click on the extended entry link to check out 70 images of Genshiken. Enjoy!
BTW, two words: Saki. Cosplay.
All I have to say is Kanako and Saki totally rules! They were the definte stars of this episode and made the episode by far the best one out of the 11 thus far! 
Beach episode BANZAI!
ComicFest episode BANZAI!
Kanako, Saki, and Keiko BANZAI!
Animation…. GAO~!
three out of four isn’t bad, right?
The Beach side story of Genshiken 10 consist of the crew going to beach, though somewhat un-willingly. Truly Saki and Kousaka are the only ones that wanted to go while everyone else tagged along, including Keiko! What follows is pure beach comedy gold as the guys don’t really want to play on the beach and instead, discuss the upcoming comic fest. Kanako is actually pretty shy at the beach and clings to Saki until forcefully told to let go (so cute!). And Keiko… well she’s there because of Kousaka. Too bad Saki won’t let her get within 10 ft of them and uses her Gator of Inflatable Justice(TM) many many times ^_^ While all that Saki-Keiko fun is happening, some of the Genshiken crew decide to take a small dip into the sea. Some more literally than others (Kanako… her cuteness just keeps going up and up!). Eventually the two groups meet and head to get some drinks, accidentally running into one of Keiko’s ex-boyfriends. Kousaka being the cool guy he is defends her without really even trying, making Keiko fall for him more while the others just watch (or in the case of Madarame, run away). They meet up with Kanako and Tanaka who built one heck of a Lupin III Castle… ending the beach story with the crew discussing which version of Lupin they like the best.
So inbetweener where Keiko realizes if she can become an otaku, she might have a chance to get closer to Kousaka. Her method? Good old “onii-chan” though he’s obviously suspicious of her sudden interest. A bit later on, when Keiko mentions she can’t wait to go to ComiFest, Saki tries to stop her by making it CLEAR they all go to buy ero-manga! Even going so far as to make the crew show her the various ones laying around the club room, Keiko is a tad… surprised. Ohno then shows her ero-manga for girls… which does something two fold. Brings in another fan to the world of yaoi manga and shows just how ‘evil’ Kanako can be ^_^;;
Now the crew is waiting at ComiFest, including Keiko and Saki. Really nothing out of the norm happens with the Genshiken club but it’s Keiko and Saki that steal the show as they discuss the “benefits” of being or dating an otaku. Pretty deep stuff as it comes to an climax as Keiko (thanks in part to Saki) learns the one lesson to dating an otaku: work around his perversions and use blackmail when needed (poor Sasahara). I should also note it’s interesting Saki quotes Madarame for once, telling Keiko that she can’t force herself to become one… it just happens. Also helps Saki speaks from experience too ^_~ Anyway, Keiko short-lived attempt to being an otaku ends and all is well… except Saki and Keiko get along better…. and Sasahara will probably be blackmailed in the future by his sister. Okay, so everything is semi-back to normal. Better than nothing right?
Barring the crappy animation, Genshiken 10 totally rocked in my opinion. I think mostly because it made good fun of otakus and centered around the lovely ladies Saki and Keiko, that I laughed and enjoyed watching thoroughly. Saki and Keiko make an awesome comedic team and it’s really too bad we don’t see any more of Keiko in the anime series after this (same in the manga if I remember correctly). I also thoroughly enjoyed Ohno in the background as she provided a lot of hilarious scenes (even if she didn’t say much or anything). My favorites have to be her little quirky sounds at the beach and her facial expressions on the train ride back home. Funny, period.
Slow episode but a good character focus on Madarame and to a lesser extend, Saki. The episode follows the simple setup of Madarame and Saki being alone in the Genshiken club room, with Madarame trying every which way to start an conversation with Saki and keep her from cracking.
Saki, on the other hand, doesn’t really notice Madarame’s attempts at social conversation as she’s pretty much just reading some manga to kill time. What followed was Saki actually enjoying the manga (and gasp, in a sense slowly become part of Genshiken) while Madarame royally messes up time and time again. It’s interesting to note that only at the end of the episode, where Saki accdentially punched Madarame does she sort of warm up to him… only for him to “run away” as stomach problems and his view on Saki stop any further development of friendship.
Madarame, our basic star of the episode, was without an doubt funny as hell! The highlight has to be when he kept imagining life as an dating sim, with simple two choice answers. SD Saki and “cool” Madarame were also hilarious to see (this is all in the dating sim “world”), but also kind of scary too. I say scary because I can totally relate with Madarame as I’ve played an dating sim or two (or ten) and do something think of how “simple” the world would be with pre-determined answers for you. This also relates to how just how social-inept Madarame really is, as he only has dating sims to sorta fall back on to try to foresee how his actions might make Saki react. Of course, none of them would happen in reality 
I thoroughly enjoyed this episode as it hit the otaku in me, but I can see how others might not like this one as much compared to other previous episodes. Also, if one is not a fan of either Madarame or Saki a lot of people will probably skip this episode entirely; probably only Genshiken fans or “hard-core” otakus will really enjoy this one. All I can say is, if one has been enjoying Genshiken so far consider continuing and watch this episode… if one is looking for the usual Genshiken cast hijinks, unfortunately it will not be found much in this installment of the series. However, if one is looking for something different from the norm and can enjoy two person(s) only stage time give this episode a shot. Who knows, one might come out as a Madarame fan afterwards
While the animation was a tad crappy, this was nonetheless an great episode for plasmo (plastic models) builders alike! Also seeing the dictonomy between non-otakus and otakus through the use of gundam model building was interesting in itself.
Basically, the episode revolves around Kanako and Sasahara building their first gundam (gungal, for legal issues) through the teachings of Tanaka. While on their way to becoming decent plasmo builders, the use of Saki to show the “commoner’s view” of it was good; plastic models are the same as toys. Of course, Tanaka’s outbrust of the differences was great to watch, especially for showing the passion behind plasmos. Interactions between various cast members on the subject of plasmos all lead up to the hightlight of the episode: Saki crosses the line and accidentally destroys a part of Kanako’s model! Seeing Kanako in tears over her long week spent building her gundam plastic model with Madarame laying down the law to Saki to finally understand the “soul” of model building was simply… really cool to watch.
And just when one thinks it can’t get better, Saki (of course) offers to do anything for Kanako to repay her back for breaking the model. It only takes a second for Kanako to ask Saki to cosplay, this time Maid Neko-Mimi mode (including the “meow” sounds ^_^). Saki, as much as she wants to repay back Kanako, storms out not willing to do it at all…. but leaves a very perverted image for the rest of the male Genshiken members to think over. ^_~
Yet another drop in animation, but the good storyline saved it from becoming one of the more “bad” episodes. Let’s see how the next episode will pan out as it’s basically Madarame and Saki alone in the club room for the whole 20 minutes. There are some parodies from dating sim games and whatnot, so it should be… different if nothing else. And even though I have episode 9 raw, I definitely need the subbed version to get all the jokes and conversation going on (though one can tell it’s a slow episode). Mentioning raws, funny that I’m currently downloading episode 10, which based on Momotato’s short review is their beach episode… with Keiko included!