Tokyo Comiket 79
Okay, so now that I'm a little more coherent (though still just as squeeful!) I am going to post about Comiket. It was just as crowded as I expected it to be, even on a weekday, as this particular Comiket fell on a Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
I skipped the first day, because I didn't really have the money to go all the way to Odaiba twice in 2 days, let alone enough to be spending frivolously on more doujinshi. I missed the Hakuouki ones, but I decided to be good. It still seems that most of the Hakuouki doujinshi feature one of the guys with Chizuru. There are a few other circles that have yaoi doujinshi, but not many. Pity. There is such massive potential for yaoi in that series. Not that I hate Chizuru, I think she's adorable, but just not in doujinshi. She has that sort of wholesome feel to her. I'd like her to stay that way in my mind.
The main reason I wanted to go to Comiket was for Higuri You, as I had read that she frequents Comiket. She wasn't at Summer Comiket, but I read on her website that she would be at Winter Comiket on the 30th. Awesome. With the hope of meeting her, I had brought my Cesare costume with me, and so I packed it in a suitcase and dragged it to Odaiba. Just as well. It was far too hot to wear my heavy satin and velveteen Cesare costume at Summer Comiket.
One of the downsides of Comiket is the fact that, because it's such a huge venue and so many people frequent it, that there is no parking and thus somewhere to store your gear. It's not uncommon to see everyone dragging suitcases around the venue. There are coin lockers, but usually those fill up almost immediately. You'd be very lucky to find one at all. Good thing Japanese suitcases are easy to wheel around.
Another downside is, because of the lack of parking and insistence on the use of public transportation (which is utterly fabulous in Japan, period) you are not allowed to wear your costume outside of the venue. Even though Japan is the birthplace of cosplay, it's not nearly as accepted in public as it seems to be in Canada and the US. Not that I would say it's accepted there, either, but people are more likely to flout the rules of "normal society" there. It would be unheard of for the restaurants near the Big Sight to see cosplayers come in for lunch or to see people in costume on the train. Part of the fun for me is seeing the faces of the normal people (mundanes? Or maybe muggles?) when one parades about unabashedly in costume. Japan lives by the book, and considering some of those costumes and the space they take up, as well as how crowded the trains get before and after the event each day, it makes sense that such rules are in place. Staff at the nearby train stations are on hand with megaphones to keep the craziness to a minimum. That alone should say something about the amount of people that attend.
Nevertheless, even with my knee on the mend after it dislocated again on Christmas Eve, I made it my mission to go and see Higuri-san. I arrived, took a short time to find the women's cosplay dressing room, and quickly got into costume. They had one large conference room designated for changing, so you had to grab what space you could among a room full of girls. I was expecting actual changing rooms, but this is much better, given that the changing rooms would have taken up a lot more space and there would have been a longer wait for them.
Once I was ready, I repacked my suitcase and wheeled it along with me. I remembered to bring some extra bags with me this time, as the first day of Summer Comiket I hadn't thought to. I learned that lesson fast. If you plan to buy several books, an extra bag or two will come in extremely handy. Now it was off to the West Halls to meet Higuri-san.
I got nervous when I entered and began to look for her booth, West Hall 1, hiragana "re", table number 21. I wondered if she would be there at all, or if she would recognize me as Cesare. Those silly thoughts went clear out of my head when I approached the table and one of the ladies behind said "That's Cesare, isn't it?" They'd recognized me immediately! There were a few women there with Higuri-san, and all of them were quite impressed. I tried my best to say everything in Japanese, but my language skill, though intermediate, is not quite enough to express myself quite as eloquently as I would have liked to. Fortunately one of the women there asked if I spoke English, and then offered to interpret. Lucky! I told her how I really wanted to come today to see her and support her and show that I was an avid overseas fan of her work. She asked me if I made the costume myself, and I answered yes, and she and the others looked impressed yet again. They also asked where I was from, and I said I was from Canada. I am so glad I did bring that costume with me, even if it did take up space in my luggage. For that experience alone it was entirely worth it.
One of the women wanted to take a picture of me with Higuri-san on her cell phone, so I asked if she could take one with my camera as well. She was happy to, and so I have a memory of my meeting of one of my all time favourite mangaka. I wonder if she will post the picture or talk about me in a side column or atogaki in one of her manga. I can always hope! I bought a Gakuen Heaven book from her and wished her luck in the future. I hope one day she'll draw some Cantarella doujinshi. (I kind of wish I'd told her that, though.)
I didn't buy many books, In fact I think I only bought about 4 or 5 for myself and a few for sailormac, totalling about 10 or 11. I didn't have time to get to the photoshoot area, but with such a huge venue I wasn't sure where it was, and I was hungry, so I opted for food instead.
I did see several recognizable characters and many beautiful costumes. Of the recognizable costumes I saw there were a couple third versions of Kanda, Lavi, Allen and Lenalee, as well as Cross Marian and Howard Link from D.Gray-man; Okita Souji, Harada Sanosuke and Yukimura Chizuru from Hakuouki (both versions of Chizuru and first version Souji, one with Shinsengumi haori and one without, and first version Sano) a boatload of various versions of Sheryl Nome (black bunny, white bunny, cowgirl) and Ranka from Macross Frontier; Akira and Shiki from Togainu no Chi; Judith from one of the Tales of games, I believe it's Tales of Vesperia, but I may be wrong about that; as well as Beatrice and Virgilia from Umineko no Naku koro ni. One that really stands out in my mind is a beautiful tutu-like dress made of blue and yellow and orange roses with organza bows. I don't know what character she was, but I had to tell her that her costume was really pretty.
A few of the circle artists I bought books from commented on my costume. They really liked it, and I am pleased with it. All in all, it was a fantastic experience and I fulfilled another one of my goals I'd set for myself before I went to Japan. Yatta! >w< What a way to end a year!
I skipped the first day, because I didn't really have the money to go all the way to Odaiba twice in 2 days, let alone enough to be spending frivolously on more doujinshi. I missed the Hakuouki ones, but I decided to be good. It still seems that most of the Hakuouki doujinshi feature one of the guys with Chizuru. There are a few other circles that have yaoi doujinshi, but not many. Pity. There is such massive potential for yaoi in that series. Not that I hate Chizuru, I think she's adorable, but just not in doujinshi. She has that sort of wholesome feel to her. I'd like her to stay that way in my mind.
The main reason I wanted to go to Comiket was for Higuri You, as I had read that she frequents Comiket. She wasn't at Summer Comiket, but I read on her website that she would be at Winter Comiket on the 30th. Awesome. With the hope of meeting her, I had brought my Cesare costume with me, and so I packed it in a suitcase and dragged it to Odaiba. Just as well. It was far too hot to wear my heavy satin and velveteen Cesare costume at Summer Comiket.
One of the downsides of Comiket is the fact that, because it's such a huge venue and so many people frequent it, that there is no parking and thus somewhere to store your gear. It's not uncommon to see everyone dragging suitcases around the venue. There are coin lockers, but usually those fill up almost immediately. You'd be very lucky to find one at all. Good thing Japanese suitcases are easy to wheel around.
Another downside is, because of the lack of parking and insistence on the use of public transportation (which is utterly fabulous in Japan, period) you are not allowed to wear your costume outside of the venue. Even though Japan is the birthplace of cosplay, it's not nearly as accepted in public as it seems to be in Canada and the US. Not that I would say it's accepted there, either, but people are more likely to flout the rules of "normal society" there. It would be unheard of for the restaurants near the Big Sight to see cosplayers come in for lunch or to see people in costume on the train. Part of the fun for me is seeing the faces of the normal people (mundanes? Or maybe muggles?) when one parades about unabashedly in costume. Japan lives by the book, and considering some of those costumes and the space they take up, as well as how crowded the trains get before and after the event each day, it makes sense that such rules are in place. Staff at the nearby train stations are on hand with megaphones to keep the craziness to a minimum. That alone should say something about the amount of people that attend.
Nevertheless, even with my knee on the mend after it dislocated again on Christmas Eve, I made it my mission to go and see Higuri-san. I arrived, took a short time to find the women's cosplay dressing room, and quickly got into costume. They had one large conference room designated for changing, so you had to grab what space you could among a room full of girls. I was expecting actual changing rooms, but this is much better, given that the changing rooms would have taken up a lot more space and there would have been a longer wait for them.
Once I was ready, I repacked my suitcase and wheeled it along with me. I remembered to bring some extra bags with me this time, as the first day of Summer Comiket I hadn't thought to. I learned that lesson fast. If you plan to buy several books, an extra bag or two will come in extremely handy. Now it was off to the West Halls to meet Higuri-san.
I got nervous when I entered and began to look for her booth, West Hall 1, hiragana "re", table number 21. I wondered if she would be there at all, or if she would recognize me as Cesare. Those silly thoughts went clear out of my head when I approached the table and one of the ladies behind said "That's Cesare, isn't it?" They'd recognized me immediately! There were a few women there with Higuri-san, and all of them were quite impressed. I tried my best to say everything in Japanese, but my language skill, though intermediate, is not quite enough to express myself quite as eloquently as I would have liked to. Fortunately one of the women there asked if I spoke English, and then offered to interpret. Lucky! I told her how I really wanted to come today to see her and support her and show that I was an avid overseas fan of her work. She asked me if I made the costume myself, and I answered yes, and she and the others looked impressed yet again. They also asked where I was from, and I said I was from Canada. I am so glad I did bring that costume with me, even if it did take up space in my luggage. For that experience alone it was entirely worth it.
One of the women wanted to take a picture of me with Higuri-san on her cell phone, so I asked if she could take one with my camera as well. She was happy to, and so I have a memory of my meeting of one of my all time favourite mangaka. I wonder if she will post the picture or talk about me in a side column or atogaki in one of her manga. I can always hope! I bought a Gakuen Heaven book from her and wished her luck in the future. I hope one day she'll draw some Cantarella doujinshi. (I kind of wish I'd told her that, though.)
I didn't buy many books, In fact I think I only bought about 4 or 5 for myself and a few for sailormac, totalling about 10 or 11. I didn't have time to get to the photoshoot area, but with such a huge venue I wasn't sure where it was, and I was hungry, so I opted for food instead.
I did see several recognizable characters and many beautiful costumes. Of the recognizable costumes I saw there were a couple third versions of Kanda, Lavi, Allen and Lenalee, as well as Cross Marian and Howard Link from D.Gray-man; Okita Souji, Harada Sanosuke and Yukimura Chizuru from Hakuouki (both versions of Chizuru and first version Souji, one with Shinsengumi haori and one without, and first version Sano) a boatload of various versions of Sheryl Nome (black bunny, white bunny, cowgirl) and Ranka from Macross Frontier; Akira and Shiki from Togainu no Chi; Judith from one of the Tales of games, I believe it's Tales of Vesperia, but I may be wrong about that; as well as Beatrice and Virgilia from Umineko no Naku koro ni. One that really stands out in my mind is a beautiful tutu-like dress made of blue and yellow and orange roses with organza bows. I don't know what character she was, but I had to tell her that her costume was really pretty.
A few of the circle artists I bought books from commented on my costume. They really liked it, and I am pleased with it. All in all, it was a fantastic experience and I fulfilled another one of my goals I'd set for myself before I went to Japan. Yatta! >w< What a way to end a year!