Comiket 78: Day 3

During the third and final day the press of bodies reached a fever peak. The air in the convention center shimmered with the heat of the crowd. These mirages were strong enough to trick you into believing that beyond the next row of porn comics would be something worth your time.

Lo and behold, we were rewarded for our perils, but barely struggled back outside with our lives. I could scarcely believe that what I held in my hands was real and not a side effect of the heat sickness. Gaze upon the proof!

The Best of Comiket 78 Part II!


If Team America and Toyfair mated, the resulting spawn would be Jihad Warrior TALIBAN! Even I'm not a big enough asshole to spend eight bones on a paper-thin gag, but the proprietor was giving them away for FREE under the condition that we "don't get angry." Perhaps he felt guilty for single handedly burying all the other merch at Comike under a hail of insipid insanity. In either case, we will be back to discuss in-depth the stone-cold truths of World War III!

The birth of the New Taliban! All this and more next time.

The newest issue of Takekuma's brainchild Mavo dropped today and we jumped on the chance to shake our sweaty hands with the man behind the genius satire Even a Monkey Can Draw Manga. This latest issue will be the last printed release, as Mavo is moving on to solely electronic publishing from volume 6. The highlight of volume 5 is unquestionably the 16 page special Iya~n Ecchi no Suke by Demerin Kaneko. His booth was also the first place to get your hands on the one-man animation that's being lauded as the next Daikon IV, The Messenger from the Sea (海からの使者).

First you die... Then the nightmare begins! Truer words have never been spoken. Dream Sequence presents a stunning series of ghoulish pinups that wouldn't look out of place gracing the cover of a Clive Barker novel or the pages of a Monster Manual with their amateur charm. And no, those dates aren't tacked on to make it feel more authentic. These guys have really been at it for over 20 years!

Now, a Gundam X Dragon Ball Z parody might seem obvious. But obvious and overplayed are on opposite sides of the credibility spectrum, and the suffocating volume of Hatsune Miku X Moe Flavor of the Week mash-ups make this low hanging fruit into golden apples by comparison.

This is a relic from a time when fandom was guilty by association as opposed to guilty by a court of law. A single shot ringing out in the dark in the hopeless conflict against a mad loli world... Where are the New Taliban when you need them?


These Da vincian sketches illustrate the horrible reality of moe physiology to help bridge the gap between fantasy and reality. Big floppy feet may be a visual shortcut for childlike innocence but they suggest monstrously swollen bones. A lifetime of knock-kneed poses has permanently bent the legs inward, while the idealized heart-shaped face hides a rat-toothed alien skull.

The anatomical correctness makes this more perverted than any ero-guro "artist" could pretend to dream of.

Alan Moore threw one of his patented hissy fits when he found out that manga Swamp Thing re-wrote the character as a florist searching for his lost girlfriend.

Execution reenactments are the new big thing with military cosplay fanatics.

The highlight of the weekend was meeting the legendary Air Man face to face. Ironically his costume isn't ventilated so I hope he didn't get heat stroke.

Plain-clothes rider cosplay seems like cheating until you realize that these guys watched the show as children and had to wait over twenty years to grow up and carve enough notches into their transformation belts to play the part authentically. That's dedication!

The most appalling gaffe of the day was from a twenty-something who mistakenly labeled this costume as Kendo Man. What's wrong with you kids? Read the crotch! Don't you know Big the Budoh when you see him?

Seeing his foam rubber nose made me think about how awesome it would be if the Jim Henson Company teamed up with Studio Ghibli.

Mr. Xbox 360 was standing with his friends Mr. Phillips Interactive, Mr. Jaguar and Mr. Virtual Boy but they faded into obscurity too fast for us to snap a picture.

Rocking his beach bum duds, Master Roshi knew how to beat the heat while the other maniacs were roasted alive, trapped inside their giant human toasters.

Is it worth risking your body's precious bodily fluids and an ambulance ride for the sake of a few chuckles? Gag cosplayers are beyond reason. At least the Zaku is trying to take the edge off with his Zeon-issue crocs.

The middle-aged, portly version of Eiga Dorobo is part of a spin-off campaign against installing spy cameras into public toilets.

That's that! I hope you enjoyed the trip from the safety of your air-conditioned bedroom. Comiket was an excellent spectacle but a terrible thing to make a habit of. One day should be more than enough sweat, tears, and moe for any normal person. Now I need to spend the rest of the week recuperating and restoring my electrolytes. That, and enjoying the goods that were too sketchy even for us to post.