Marco, Andre, and Viviana attempt to sell their doujinshi at Comisu. Then the series' cast expands as Marco's old partner, Gregorio, shows up. He's supposed to take Marco out, but he admires Marco too much and puts even less effort into his mission than Viviana or Andre. Later in the volume, Marco interrupts some yakuza who keep scaring people off and ends up forcing them to show him their base of operations, which leads to Mei, aide to the Banba family's boss, also getting drawn into Marco's weird mobster otaku orbit.

I'm gradually warming to this series, although the art still makes me wince. Ko-dai's grasp of anatomy could be better.

Gregorio was new fodder to Viviana's fujoshi fantasies, and added to the overall humor by 1) being an old annoyance of Marco's (Gregorio thinks they're perfect partners, while Marco barely tolerates him) and 2) being extremely lucky. Like Andre, neither Gregorio nor Mei seem to be otaku themselves, although Gregorio is willing to use his luck to help Marco get rare otaku goods.

Everything in this series is over-the-top, from the heavy inking to the characters' intensity and reactions. For some reason it worked better for me in this volume than in the first one. That said, the volume ended on a much darker and more serious note than I'd have expected (a flashback to Marco's childhood), which leaves me confused as to where Ko-dai plans to go with this series.

Extras:

A page of translation notes, a bonus manga in which an otaku vampire invades a Hades Girl Eurydice event and encounters Marco, a few bonus funny comics, and the sketch version of the cover art.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) ( )