One of Genshiken's greatest assets is its mastery of “comfy” character dynamics, and that's in full display in the best moments of this volume. The first chapter offers an excellent example of this - it depicts the Genshiken all hustling to help Ogiue finish her manga in time for Comic-Fest, which in a silly comedy-of-errors escalation results in all of them cosplaying while drawing for very sensible reasons. Second Season has firmly established the general character relationships at this point, and so the cast members are beginning to bounce off each other with an ease similar to that of the first season. In Genshiken, the little 4koma blurbs at the chapter ends are often the best part - they are Genshiken at its most pure, reveling in the idle chatter of nerdy friends.

The rest of this volume is much more dramatically focused, with the Genshiken's three day adventures at Comic-Fest dominating the bulk of the material. Virtually all the characters get some kind of moment in the sun, and the strength of Genshiken's cast is again exhibited through elements like Sue and Yabusaki carrying scenes without any of the headliners. Their confrontation with Ogiue's old classmates is a natural articulation of the new friendships she's formed that doubles as a nice bonding moment for Yabusaki and Sue. That said, the headliners definitely are the focus, with Hato and Madarame in particular taking center stage.

The two of them provide a compelling inherent contrast here. While Hato is dealing with Comic-Fest for the first time, and is thus both excited and nervous for all kinds of reasons outside of the unique conflicts his crossdressing creates, Madarame is actually old enough to be wondering why he isn't more enthusiastic. As in the first volume, Madarame's brief moments of melancholy adulthood form some of the highlights of these chapters - though the overt dramatic conflict of his time at Comic-Fest is a little more questionable.

Drama is introduced this volume in the form of angela, Ohno and Sue's American friend, who's visiting for Comic-Fest and apparently determined to jump Madarame's bones. While she's obviously well within her rights to want that (Madarame is adorable, after all), the conflict this creates feels somewhat more artificial than Genshiken's usually graceful character movements. It feels somewhat like angela is being used largely as a device to force both Madarame and Hato into uncomfortable spaces and dramatic situations, instead of as a character in her own right, and it stands out as a rare injection of artificial conflict in a manga whose claim to fame is its naturalism. It's certainly not a dealbreaker, and the resolution of this conflict (for now) results in some great gags and solid character development for both Hato and Yajima, but it's definitely a noticeably graceless and self-consciously dramatized conflict.

On the positive side, the romantic undertones of this volume do great work in revealing the ways these characters' constant fantasies influence their perceptions of relationships, with angela's blunt maturity offering a sharp contrast to the core Genshiken members. And the conflicts here resolve in a way very true to Genshiken's eternal themes of friendship and acceptance, with more honesty almost always being the answer. Genshiken's art remains solid in this volume, with the various dramatic peaks of the Comic-Fest arc offering more opportunity for Kio Shimoku to open up with a looser, more expressive style, and the scenes in between remaining as detailed and consistent as ever. This volume isn't Genshiken at its best, but it's still a great low-key drama full of insight and wit.