Malt Alt ruffled a lot of otaku bloomers with his recent CNN article on the state of anime, and after my visit to Comiket 77 today I am here to tell you that the situation is far more dire than he suggested. Not only has moe/lolicon taken over animation, it has completely ravaged the manga world. As far as I could tell, the only items targeted at males today were the same uninspired pedo-dolls, pedo-pillows and pedo-porn manga at every table.
What's even sadder is that the other 60% of the floor was covered in "boys love" books. Sure, I can't help but smile seeing Flashman give Megaman the flying camel or the entire male cast of Resident Evil in an elephant walk on the cover of a comic, but I don't think I am supposed to be laughing. Shame on you, ladies.
Is there really such a high demand for this stuff that the rest of the market has been eradicated? Apparently, yes. While it's easy to blame studios for making lousy, plotless harem anime, everything today was fan created! It wouldn't be so bad if there was even a hint of creativity or originality in the mix. Everything was just so humdrum and typical. Bummer.
Maybe those were just the themes for today, I don't know because I didn't buy a catalogue. Shintaro Kago and Kentaro Takekuma are going to be there on the 31st, so at the very least I can expect to see some interesting perversion.
That being said, the cosplay was top-notch! The cosplay zones were swarming with beautiful ladies who kept getting in the way when I was trying to take photos of creepy old men, Nazis and crossdressers. Here are a few choice pics:
What's even sadder is that the other 60% of the floor was covered in "boys love" books. Sure, I can't help but smile seeing Flashman give Megaman the flying camel or the entire male cast of Resident Evil in an elephant walk on the cover of a comic, but I don't think I am supposed to be laughing. Shame on you, ladies.
Is there really such a high demand for this stuff that the rest of the market has been eradicated? Apparently, yes. While it's easy to blame studios for making lousy, plotless harem anime, everything today was fan created! It wouldn't be so bad if there was even a hint of creativity or originality in the mix. Everything was just so humdrum and typical. Bummer.
Maybe those were just the themes for today, I don't know because I didn't buy a catalogue. Shintaro Kago and Kentaro Takekuma are going to be there on the 31st, so at the very least I can expect to see some interesting perversion.
That being said, the cosplay was top-notch! The cosplay zones were swarming with beautiful ladies who kept getting in the way when I was trying to take photos of creepy old men, Nazis and crossdressers. Here are a few choice pics:
My favorite costume of the day. He kept apologizing to me for cosplaying as Jesus.
The best and trickiest to take pics are candid shots at the concession stands.
This guy was pushing 50.
This mofo vogued and told me to take his pic before I even noticed he was standing next to me.
The vocaloid girl was by far the most common costume for both men and women.
Which did you see first: Douchebag otaku K-1 fighter or pedo-pillow?
One of several WW2 Axis cosplay circles I ran into, and the only one that allowed photos. If they are there on the 31st, I am going to try to interview them.
Don't be fooled by his boyish charm, this asshole threw a fit after I snapped this, demanding that I erase it.
His Nazi evasive maneuvers were top-notch, but after flanking him for 15 minutes I finally managed to get a photo. Rather than get pissy, this jerk just seemed ashamed of himself.
 | Click here for more pics from the event! |
| Comiket 77 Day 1 |
More creepy dude photos! And why don't some want to be photographed? Are there cosplay events without a 20 to 1 ratio of photographers to cosplayers?
ReplyDelete@Brian: There are plenty more creeps in the picasa album!
ReplyDeleteAlso, that's one of the questions I want to ask the Nazi cosplayers myself.
Don't like boys love and moe? Sounds like you're just bitching because your own brand of porn isn't there. When anyone complains to me that I don't write what they want to read, I tell them to go write it themselves. That's what I did. And it turns out a lot of people like what I do.
ReplyDelete@Anonymous: The part about writing it yourself if very sound advice. Do you have a website? I'd like to see your work.
ReplyDeleteI didn't expect to find my brand of porn there, I prefer real people for that. I did hope to see something a little less stale than what most people there had to offer, though.
I gotta say, even though I'm Jewish, I can't really feel any rancor towards the Nazi cosplayers. They're probably just history nerds - god knows I wouldn't mind engaging in a bit of Nazi cosplay myself. I'm not so sure the rest of my family would feel the same, though (especially not my grandmother). Ah well.
ReplyDeleteStill, though, if you're in a remarkable costume in public at an event full of photographers, you should expect to be photographed. If you don't want to be photographed at Comiket, you should leave your fucking Hitler costume at home. Srsly.
I was under the impression that comiket has been all about the porn for years now though? Do you really think this mirrors the general downturn of anime or could it be that most fans have always had a one track mind?
ReplyDeleteJulian-
ReplyDeleteI think Voidmare just suffered from post traumatic stress disorder from seeing his favorite characters raped and pumped full of bodily fluids before his very eyes.
Creepy fans are nothing new, though they are definitely in vogue. However, as pendulum swings both ways, I can hope in my heart of hearts that the industry will make smart changes before it eats itself. There still making episodes of Hellsing Ultimate! There's still hope!
Why the hassle to come all the way and when just piss people off and bitch? Strange hobby... Btw. it's not allowed to take photos of people without their consent. ^^; You are by far the bigger asshole here.
ReplyDeleteMio: Thank you for your comment. This is a valid question. We try to keep a balance of meaningless garbage and useful information. As far as the dudes getting their pictures taken taken pictures, it's perfectly legal to photograph people in a public place. We may be assholes, but at least we're not Nazis.
ReplyDeletehell yeah
ReplyDeletemore girls less guys.
ReplyDeleteWe are called historical re-enactors, not cosplayers. Though we do attend cosplay events in historically accurate uniforms and outfits. Do not mistake us for Neo-Nazis. For all we are doing is portraying the uniforms and equipments of WW2. Public display of all insignias are strictly for historical accuracy.
ReplyDeleteNow I'd like to make a statement about it all being offensive. Yes, we all know what went down back in those days bit that's all history now. Also, the Soviets committed way more atrocities than the Nazis ever did. And nobody claim offense now, do they? But back in the 1960s to the 1980s, Communism was abhorred even above the Nazis. People were arrested for displaying the Soviet symbols. But why are we all no longer finding the Hammer and Sickle symbols offensive? Because we have accepted that as a part of pop culture. That is also the same with the Nazis. Like come on, take a good look around and try to count just how many movies and games have been made about WW2, with Nazis in it. Yes they're mostly the bad guys, but if we can accept seeing Nazi symbols in our games and movies, we should no longer find that offensive.