The tension is kept at a comfortable simmer for most of this sixth volume. Having spent several volumes stressing over his shifting feelings for Madarame, Hato finally reaches the breaking point when confronted by Sue. In a great scene that demonstrates both more relatable personality in Sue and more honesty in Hato, Hato admits his feelings have moved far beyond the realm of fantasy. This doesn't result in a dramatic love confession, though - instead, Hato decides to bottle all of it up, cutting himself off from the crossdressing and BL doujins that he assumes are “infecting” him with the fantasies he considers both untrue to his “real self” and unfair to Madarame.

This is all a bunch of nonsense, of course, and the rest of the volume is brimming with the uncomfortable consequences of Hato refusing to acknowledge his own desires. It's come up in prior volumes, but these chapters most clearly demonstrate how Hato's insecurities can end up manifesting as a kind of selfishness. Yajima, who was once most insistent on Hato acting the way he was “supposed to” as a male otaku, is the most overtly hurt by his switch - though Yoshitake frames Yajima's unhappiness as romantic, you don't need to add romance to the picture to see why Yajima would be hurt by a close friend you've come to accept suddenly deciding they're a different person. And though Madarame himself is often clueless, Hato's actions towards him only become more inappropriate the more he tries to deny his feelings, culminating in Hato attempting to, as Yajima puts it “sell senpai to Angela for BL.” This volume is full of Hato at his most stressed and unhappy, and the articulation of his feelings here manages to stay deeply relatable while refusing to pull any punches. Hato is in an unfortunate place, his actions are hurting the people around him, and young love often creates more bruises than anything else.

Hato isn't the only one who really steps it up in this volume. These chapters also feature a welcome increase in the importance and complexity of several side characters, with Angela, Sue, and even Kuchiki getting more screentime and diversity of behavior. Kuchiki has largely been a one-note joke so far, but when Hato returns to the “boy's side” of the Genshiken, he gets promoted to an equal in their banter, and even plays a key role in pushing Hato back towards embracing his identity. Sue also becomes more of a person this time, talking in full sentences for perhaps the first time in Genshiken history, and stealing many of the best expressions during the Comic Fest arc. And Angela makes the most of her non-otaku emotional intelligence superpowers, ultimately revealing that she's long been aware of Hato's feelings, has mainly been indulging him in his actions, and is perfectly willing to share Madarame with all of her friends. That scene's also the best gag of this volume, as Angela's impromptu “we all love you, Madarame” ends predictably, with Madarame running away in terror, accidentally colliding with Sasahara, and continuing his Comic Fest tradition of breaking his wrist on the convention floor. It's never easy for Madarame.

I mentioned in last volume's review that Genshiken seemed to be suffering some dramatic growing pains as it moved into full love-drama territory, and fortunately that issue is much less prevalent here. Not only is the drama that exists built more naturally out of the believable actions of characters like Hato and Yajima, but the volume is also brimming with the grounded banter that originally made Genshiken such a special read. There aren't many outright jokes, and instead humor simply rises out of the awkward intersection of all the characters' complicated feelings and communication troubles. Things have certainly gotten more traditionally romcom than old Genshiken, but at this point the series seems fairly comfortable in its new space.

Shimoku Kio's art remains as consistent as ever, with his eye for background detail, funny expression work, and control of panel flow keeping energy high through this volume's shenanigans. There are a couple moments when Kio attempts action choreography that demonstrate he's not the best at conveying dramatic character movement (there's not a great sense of weight in the transition from one panel to the next), but the Comic Fest chapters show he's a master of evoking the overwhelming bustle of public spaces. Overall, this volume demonstrates Genshiken confidently in its stride, telling stories of endearing and well-realized characters and generally just being a top notch light drama.