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Date: 2009 December 30 07:30

A man sits in the corner of the busy square caressing his gun then pointing it at a bunch of schoolgirls who shriek in excitement and begin flashing the cameras, while another man beside him dressed elaborately in leather swishes his cape to an amused crowd of photographers. Welcome to Comiket!

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History
This year's largest manga convention opened in Japan on December 29th 2009. Comiket has had a large following since its opening in 1975. The event was started by Yoshihiro Yonezawa, Teruo Harada and Jun Aniwa while they attended university. They had hoped to be able to explore new avenues which manga could go in as they found commercial manga in Japan was too linear and mainstream.

Now
Comiket 77 will see over 200,000 visitors pass through it's doors. Some of them there to sell their hand made manga. Japan's manga craze could be counted as why Comiket is so popular, the queues reached almost a mile every year with keen manga fans itching to buy cheap underground manga by some of their favourite artists and writers. Comiket doesn't only cater for the manga fans, almost 10,000 cosplayers attended Comiket this year. Most Cosplayers come for fun, some others hoping to be featured in Cosplay Magazines which distribute nationally.

Comiket might not be the largest manga convention in the world but it still remains the most popular for Cosplayers and for people who enjoy others' cosplays.

Japan still remains strict on rules for Cosplay, attendees are not allowed to arrive in Cosplay and must change in the large hall provided by the organisers which Cosplayers must pay 600¥(around £4). These rules apply to other events in Japan such as The Tokyo Game Show.

It takes nearly 30 minutes for Cosplayers to change into their costumes and perfect their hair and make up. Unlike the Cosplay offered in Europe and America and other parts of the world, Cosplay is a serious business in Japan. Outfits sometimes are not even rated by how accurate they are to the character, but their overall appearance of the Cosplayers notably their face and hair. Some braved the cold December weather to wear costumes which are popular with photographers and publications who are eager to produce catalogues of Sexy Cosplay.

But for most attendees going of Comiket is a change to speak with writers and artists who produce artworks and stories they truly enjoy. Some manga being sold was original work but some of the manga offered, referred to as Doujinshi was fan manga based on popular anime, manga and videogames.

People could purchase love stories about L and Light from Death Note, a sequel to A Girl Who Leapt Through Time was also available. The event happens biannually every year so there is still other opportunities to enjoy the fun!

Source: Otaku News

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