This is the story of college freshman Kanji Sasahara and his fellow members of the college club he joins, The Society for the Study of Modern Visual Culture (aka Genshiken), as he goes shopping for doujinshi, attends conventions and slowly but surely makes his way down the road to fandom.

Alternative title:

Genshiken 1 :

• 1. Study of the Modern Visually-Oriented Culture
• 2. Comparative Classification of the Modern Youth Through Consumption and Entertainment
• 3. Problems and Merits of Local Culture Promotion
• 4. The Sublimating Effects of the Dissimilation Brought on Through Makeup and Costume on Mental Obstacles
• 5. Limits of Rejection and Reception as Observed in Autonomous Behaviour
• 6. Theory of the Individual Outside the Boundaries of the Subculture
• 7. Aspects of Behavioral Selection in Interpersonal Relationships
• 8. Comparative Research in Production Models and Processes
• 9. Concerning the Existence of an Expository Requirement under Special Non-social Circumstances
• 10. Leisure Time Expenditures on Fetishism Considered as an Economic Result
• 11. The Theory of the Existence of Malice Within Urban Crimes
• 12. The Countermeasures for the Issues that Occur during the Reorganization of a Group

• 1. The New Chairman's Ambition
• 2. Meetings are Disastrous
• 3. A Hot Summer Day
• 4. Are you two going out?
• 5. Madarame, the Incumbent Sex Slave
• 6. A matter of taste
• 7. Graduation Syndrome
• 8. Cosplay Research Club
• 9. It's Always Raining During Job Hunts
• 10. Otaku from USA
• 11. Realistically Hardcore
• 12. What Lies Ahead