In his first spring as a college student, Kanji Sasahara is torn over whether to finally join an otaku club. At the same time, Saki Kasukabe is trying to turn her boyfriend Kousaka, a devoted anime fan, into someone more conventional. Both Kanji and Kousaka end up enrolling in Genshiken, the Society for the Study of Modern Visual Culture, while Saki, undeterred, follows Kousaka to learn about the quirky world of Japanese fandom. Through club activities like cosplay, comic conventions, gaming sessions, and figure collecting, Saki gains an unexpected insight into the amusing side of otaku culture.