A "phantom member" of the Genshiken, Haraguchi rarely shows up at the club room, and when he does, it is almost always bad news. He is a member of the Manga Society and Anime Society as well, but has paid his club dues for none of them.   Called "Haraguro" by those who are unfortunate enough to know him, he is roundly disliked by everyone in all three groups, and only grudgingly tolerated by his much-touted connections among semi-professional manga artists. However, as he tends to intimidate others into submission, few are willing to voice their complaints in public.

Sasahara Kanji is a college freshman who decides to join a student society to share his hidden thoughts on manga, anime and gaming. 
When he first visited Genshiken, short for "Gendai Shikaku Bunka Kenkyuu Kai" (Society for the Study of Modern Visual Culture), his groundless pride was destroyed by the plotting of Madarame, a sophomore student in Genshiken, but he still couldn't admit that he is an otaku. 
However, as he participates in society activities such as visiting dojin (private publishing) shops and anime festivals, and hangs out with other society members Kosaka (a hardcore otaku despite his extreme eccentricities and good looks), Kosaka's girlfriend Kasuga Saki (who isn't really an otaku), Ohno (a cosplayer) and the others, he opens his mind and resolves that he will make his way into the otaku world. With their help, Sasahara slowly adjusts to otaku life in Genshiken. 
(Source: AnimeNfo)

David Brimmer is an American voice actor. Brimmer has been choreographing violence in New York, as well as in regional theaters around the country for over 20 years: from the current bational tour of Jekyll & Hyde and the Off-Broadway productions of Bug and Killer Joe to the Joseph Papp Public Theater's Blood Wedding. His choreography has been nominated for a Douglas Fairbanks Award for Excellence in Theater and his work is currently on file at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.  He is the creator and current instructor of the stage combat program at New York University's (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts, and has taught at the Classical Studio, the Stella Adler Conservatory, the Lee Strasberg Institute, the Playwrights Horizons Theater School, Atlantic Theater Company, and the Yale School of Music and Drama. He is a former President of the New York Fight Ensemble (NYFE) and a member of the Society of American Fight Directors. 

It’s spring of freshman year, and Kanji Sasahara has a difficult dilemma. Should he declare his love for manga and anime fandom by joining an otaku club, like he has always wanted to? Is he prepared to deal with the social stigma attached to being an otaku? Meanwhile, Saki Kasakabe has her own otaku conundrum. How can she turn her boyfriend, anime fanboy Makoto, into a normal guy? Kanji follow his heart as does Saki. When both Kanji and Makoto join Genshiken: The Society for the Study of Modern Visual Culture, Saki chases Makoto through the various activities of the club from cosplaying and comic conventions, to video gaming and anime model figures. Saki finds otaku to be more than she imagined, but not necessarily in a good way.
 
(Source: Kodansha USA)

The Society for the Study of Modern Visual Culture, otherwise known as Genshiken, is now under the charge of a more confident Sasahara. Things have changed in between semesters, and the otaku club now has a new otaku-hating member named Ogiue. Sasahara's initial goal of starting a doujin circle and selling those fan-made magazines at the next Comic Festival becomes a reality, but reality is a cruel master... who apparently crossplays. Afterward, the club is abuzz with talk about Tanaka and Ohno's relationship, which takes a hesitant step forward. 
(Source: Media Blasters)