Ed Chavez
August 28, 2008 
Despite the odds, the latest edition of Comic Market persevered possibly bigger and stronger than ever! The semi-annual doujin convention continues to be the world’s largest comic convention displaying the creative and economic force that fandom possesses in Japan. In what might be an era where intellectual property rights are being threatened worldwide, including Japan, Comiket showed that with self-imposed controls and some minimal management from an army of volunteers any event, no matter how big, how controversial, and how chaotic could run smoothly. In the 74th edition of the event, more than 35000 artists paid tribute to pop culture without the fear of prosecution. To the contrary, more than ever before Comiket has become the place for promoting the fastest growing sectors of the Japanese visual culture market – PC games, media mix manga and light novels.
The tone for this summer’s Comiket was set weeks before the event took place. An accident on a major escalator within the Tokyo Big Sight complex forced the con’s management to institute new regulations and plot out a brand new floor layout for fans to follow. Escalators which once sped up movement from the atriums and throughways to the major sales halls were now restricted dramatically. Patrons were forced to take stairs and even people movers were shut down and cordoned. While most of them were shutdown entirely, the few that were in operation only went down with restrictions — one person to every two steps; no walking on the escalator; and all patrons must hold on to the handrail. The most frustrating result of the layout changes had to come from the new route to the industry halls on the fourth floor of the West hall. Patrons were forced to exit the convention center and climb a long narrow flight of stairs outdoors. With the high temperatures and rain throughout the weekend, the proposition of being outdoors for up to 30min winding through a line to only get into other lines once in the hall must have turned some con-goers off as the new larger industry hall was nowhere near as crowded as in Comiket’s past (and lines, while long, were relatively tolerable for most studios.)
Threats of domestic terrorism forced the local police to insist on performing bag checks for all regular patrons attending the event. Comiket’s already notorious for having long lines, and some that were several thousand long were now moving at a snail’s pace in order to protect the public’s safety. Police presence was quite evident this year. Costumes, particularly weapons, were regulated because some of the threats found exclusively over the Internet mentioned grenades. At one point on Saturday, a small swat team was dispatched to the first floor restaurant alley that leads to the new location of the cosplay area. As of yet, little has been released regarding the situation but the convention organizers quickly re-arranged the foot traffic patterns to direct cosplayers into the changing area and force cosplay photographers off the complex after they walk through the garden.
Even with the threats and restrictions, more than half a million people completed their semi-annual pilgrimage to Tokyo Bay for what is often referred to as “the world’s biggest comic book convention.•bCrLf Lines began to form for Comic Market 74 early morning August 15th, with people eagerly trying to find whatever advantages possible to get to their favorite circles within the Tokyo Big Sight early. Once the doors did open at 10:00 am, a welcome message was played over the public address system and a huge crowd (large enough to fill sports stadiums) began to file into the complex. Those fortunate enough to know someone connected to one of the circles selling wares that day got to get in relatively quickly; the rest had to wait in line for up to 3 hours! And inside was where the real battle began.
Lining up to get in is expected given the overall size of the event. The lines that certain artist circles such as the Bamboo Broom, Miduki Takehiko (Indian Summer), Kouga Yun (Loveless and Earthian), and Kojima Ajico (Tonari no 801-chan) drew were risks on public safety and public health in their own right. The Bamboo Broom (better known as TYPE-MOON or notes) line in particular wrapped halfway around the 600-meter long exhibition hall and was half a dozen people wide. Fans endured the extreme weather to pay anywhere from 100 to 4000 yen for fan made content, most of which was only available for one day at the event. Lines for the popular circles started in the shade of the Big Sight’s large roll-up doors and lead outside the 
building along loading areas and parking. Inside, the smaller groups, which make up the bulk of the con, sold their wares with a slightly more personal touch. While lines could also get long inside, many groups would actively ask con patrons to sample their books, most of which were parodies of popular pop culture references.
This edition’s most popular themes were quite similar to the last one, which took place over the New Year’s break last year. Shonen Jump’s REBORN and SquareEnix’s Fullmetal Alchemist were the most popular titles at the event; with sports titles the Ookiku FuriKabutte and The Prince of Tennis following close behind. The number of circles rendering the most popular titles ranged in the thousands, often devoting large chunks of floor space to different couple pairings. What was different was how these titles, while still immensely popular, had actually lost some of their luster. Shonen Jump, once the darlings of Comiket, had lost some of its fans to Shonen Sunday, Shonen Magazine, Afternoon and even salaryman-friendly magazine Evening. These other genres and demographics were always represented at Comiket, mainly by a handful of dedicated artist/fans. This year, though, their numbers were large enough to make an impact on the overall feel of the event. Logistics changed as girls day actually started a day earlier on Friday. Friday also featured sci-fi and fantasy titles, which were usually left for day two or three. The second day also featured a ton of yaoi, but the twist on this date was the large 
doujin soft presence. Doujin video games, software, hardware and music took up much of the west hall this day and a large contingent of cosplay albums also went on sale this day. Sunday as usual was a day for the maniacs. Gag comics and military manga went on sale along side much of the doujinshi that has made the genre infamous worldwide. Everything from loli to kentaros, and bote to shokushu was on sale featuring almost every anime/manga/game character imaginable. Such is the beauty of Comiket• If you can endure the horrors, no one is ever left disappointed because there is always something for every taste(/fetish).
