If Akihabara is the spiritual center of the otaku world, the Tokyo Big Sight is surely its physical center, around which hundreds of thousands of people gather to worship in a bi-annual pilgrimage to the gods of amateur comics, erotic games, and cosplay.
Comiket 69 was no deviation from this pattern, and I find myself now with little more to say about it than what I’ve said about prior events. Lacking in circle ticket I was once again in the trenches of regular participation, meaning a brace of very early mornings and long hours standing in line; compared to last winter’s blizzard this year’s weather was much more bearable in that respect.
While the event usually spans three days, C69 was limited to two due to scheduling conflicts. Photography was also limited, as usual, to outside the venue and inside the designated cosplay areas only; I didn’t have much time for cosplay pictures this time around, so I hereby present an excessive amount of shots of the Big Sight exterior and hordes of people in line in front of it.
waiting for the first train of the morning
exiting the Kokusai Tenjijou train station near the Big Sight
choose your own adventure: the east side, or the west side?
the Big Sight in profile
huddled masses in waiting
more huddled masses
the flood is unleashed
a strange birth defect leaves the faces of many Comiket attendees unrecognizable
up the stairs, into the courtyard
the approach
entrance to the inner sanctum
the cosplay pavillion
Day 2: December 30th, 2005
starting the morning right
approach to the Big Sight from the nearby monorail station
yes, that is a saw
huddled masses redux
the race is on
WARNING: Do not click on the following image unless you are above the age of 18 and want to have any notion of “artistic taste” dispelled from your head forever. Also: note that the majority of doujinshi sold at Comiket is not pornographic; I just tend to buy the stuff that is.
…you were warned.
I picked up a circle application for Comiket 70, which I have until early February to fill out. Here’s hoping it doesn’t join the pile of others from past events that languish, blank as driven snow, in a despondent corner of my room…
Thanks for the photos, they were… impressive, for lack a better term that would better express my utter amazement each time I see photos from a Comicket. I will count how many faces there are on each picture to pass time while Moonphase is on hollyday.
Happy new year and congratulation for your hard-won Megatonotoriety ^^
I am convinced that something needs to be done about the huge ass mega popular groups that command lines that ofter prevent browsing of entire isles for hours at a time. Did anyone else see that guy at the far end of East 3 (day 2, about noon) with the ice pack on his face? Poor guy got knocked over in the pulsing throng and met up with someone’s elbow in his eye.
But really, when you’ve rented out fucking Big Sight–and you still need space–what the hell are you going to do?
Good year overall. Found myself buying more postcards and stationary (wtf??) than doujin this time around for some sad sad reason. My girlfriend bought more porn than I. Somehow I feel like an under-achiever of sorts.
Of well, least I have some cute Maruo-esque stationary…
East 3 was definitely the worst mosh-pit-esque congestion I saw on the second day. Fighting my way through that mob is one of the few times I’ve been greatful to have my head out of easy Japanese elbow’s reach, although the groin was another matter…
It may just be my imagination, but I’d say the crowds have grown perceptibly since C63. Certainly the lines for the industry booths have, as they now intrude on the cosplay space for the first few hours of the morning, which is horrible for the cosplayers (and photographers) as they need all the space they can get.
I agree – good year overall. I bought a bit less than at a typical event, which I’m not at all disappointed by (not broke at month’s end, yay!), though I managed to miss the stationery…
The Type Moon line was far too long for its own good, though waiting near the cosplayers was well done. I enjoyed it overall, though waking up so early and lining up for so long was not so cool.
I had to ship 9kg~ of stuff home, way too costly after comiket -_-
Just curious, Is it against the law in Japan to post photos with people in them without their consent, hence the blured photos above. I know in america if you are in a public place you can be published in a photograph without your consent.
Or could it be you were just having fun :p
Great article though, thanks for informing those of us who are ignorant :)
As far as I know it’s not against the law, but it’s considered common courtesy here (especially when events such as Comiket are involved, where one might not want ones hobbies known to a broader public audience). It’s the same reason that many ero artists publish under pseudonyms, I think, and the same reason I use a handle when posting on this site (though a quick whois of the domain turns up my real name soon enough – OR DOES IT).
Given the context and readership of HD I could probably get away with posting pictures uncensored (and may have in the past, I haven’t hunted through the archives recently) but I’d rather not trample on any toes unnecessarily.
love the doujins you bought. very nice collection of erotic stuff. wish i can go.
btw, i don’t think it’s illegal to post pics of people online uncensored. i think some people censor them as a sigh of respect to their privacy. i’ve seen plenty of cosplay/convention pics where people in the background were left uncensored. as long as you don’t print their names and info, it should be fine.
sign*, not sigh ^^;;;
Yeah, it’s not illegal. But I’d rather be safe than sorry; it’s a small country. ;;
Out of the 40 or so doujin I bought there, none of them appear in your haul. It just goes to show how much variety of stuff they sell there.
>>GabbyJay
Truth. Depending on what genre you’re into you can go through a day at the event and never see even a fifth of what’s on sale, let alone buy enough to have a reasonable chance of overlapping with another random person’s haul.