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Old 2006-01-02, 02:23   Link #1
furigana
Eurekaaaaaa!!!
 
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Comike / Comiket discussion

Anyone else went there?
Unfortunately I spent most of my time in the cosplay area and only got to the doujinshi sellers when most of them had already packed their stuff oh well, I'm not much into doujinshi anyway. But the place was really crowded, it took something like twenty minutes to maneuver between the cosplayers to get from one end of the cosplay area to the other...

I uploaded the pics I took here, so feel free to browse, comment, whatever.
http://albums.photojerk.com/?uid=20601&gid=1992

If for some reason it doesn't work, just complain
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Old 2006-01-02, 05:04   Link #2
Cloudnine
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Join Date: Dec 2005
buuu~ I couldn't go since I had to go back to the states for the holidays... >.>

I really wanted to check out a few Doujinsoft circles like Frenchbread, 7th Expansion, and Nekoneko Soft. A comrade of mine was there though and promised me part of her spoils so it's not so bad

Ah~ I heard there were alot of To Heart cosplayers this time around though I don't see many in your album. (great pics btw!)
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Old 2006-01-02, 05:28   Link #3
kj1980
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Join Date: Nov 2003
Age: 43
I ended up going around quite a lot, especially since one of my major objectives was to go to 07th Expansion for Minagoroshi-hen.
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Old 2006-01-02, 07:24   Link #4
furigana
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Join Date: Apr 2004
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cloudnine
Ah~ I heard there were alot of To Heart cosplayers this time around though I don't see many in your album. (great pics btw!)
Hmm, the only To Heart one I saw I took pictures of... I was kinda surprised, considering the popularity of the series, but maybe I was just there at the wrong time and missed the others. There sure was a lot of Gundam SEED and Naruto cosplay though, too bad I'm not really interested in either. I'm really happy that I found some Eureka Seven cosplay, although no Talho...
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Old 2006-01-02, 08:49   Link #5
Dragnfly@Gamefaqs
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Join Date: Oct 2004
As with every comiket I bribed an army of people to go hunt out the things I want. Mainly the Nanoha bedsheet (for the record: No. I don't intend to sleep on it. I'm going to cover it in pastic formwrap and use it as a huge poster).

I haven't heard from them yet. I hope they survived. I know one is proficient with First Aid and a survival knife so perhaps he's still swimming back from Japan. hahahaha
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Old 2006-03-16, 10:03   Link #6
Scribble
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Join Date: Dec 2005
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Question Comiket...is it worth it?

I took a trip to Japan in January, and I loved it.

One of the highlights of my trip was visiting Akihabara in Tokyo, where I found some really cheap merchandise in Mandarake, and bought doujin from Toro no Ana. It was great to be able to pick up merchandise for the anime that were currently being aired, like Rozen Maiden Traumend, Mai Otome, Canvas 2 and Kashimashi.

However, I found that I couldn't find ENOUGH merchandise for the series that were currently airing and that I enjoyed. Toro no Ana mostly had Fate/Stay Night, Maria...miteru, School Rumble and To Heart 2 doujin, and places like Animate and Gamers had ok merchandise, but they were kind of pricey.

Would Comiket be the best opportunity for me to pick up cheap doujin and merchandise, and many cool freebies? I also want to experience more of the anime/manga aspect of Japan, so would Comiket fulfill that? Comiket looks very exciting, and there it seems that I won't have difficulty picking up doujin for my favourite anime characters and cthe most recent anime series.

Note that I didn't go to Japan expecting it to be an anime wonderland....(well, Akihabara was, kinda), and I still enjoyed it. I am just wondering if I am missing out on the anime side of things if I don't go to Comiket.

The problem is, the summer comiket takes place in Summer. Which apparently means:

1. Peak season, so the plane ticket will be much more expensive, like 200 pounds more.

2. Tokyo is very sticky and hot during this time

Despite this, is it worth it just for Comiket (note that I only want to go to Japan for a very short time this time)?


Please share your Comiket experiences.

Thanks for your help!
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Old 2006-03-16, 10:14   Link #7
Bloodseeker
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Join Date: Mar 2006
I can't say anything about Comiket, but I will say that Akihabara is awesome. I remember walking into a videogame store and seeing about ten of PS1 games that I've been looking for. Its too bad that you can't enjoy a story that's being told in a language that you can't understand without a translator.

I was actually visiting Tokyo with my mom... You remember those hentai shops that they had there? Well the first store that we walked into was a hot pink hentai shop. My mom had this "WTF" expression on her face the entire time that we were in there. And she gave me a really weird look when she made a comment about a promotional Full Metal Panic poster and I said that FMP was one of my favorite anime.
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Old 2006-03-16, 11:17   Link #8
Scribble
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Talking haha

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bloodseeker
I was actually visiting Tokyo with my mom... You remember those hentai shops that they had there? Well the first store that we walked into was a hot pink hentai shop. My mom had this "WTF" expression on her face the entire time that we were in there. And she gave me a really weird look when she made a comment about a promotional Full Metal Panic poster and I said that FMP was one of my favorite anime.
Yeah, haha, the "basement" sections of nearly every anime related store I visited.
On my quest for Rozen Maiden and Mai Otome doujin, I accidently went to the third, fourth and fifth floors of Toro no Ana not knowing that all of them contained adult doujin. I found a Shinku and Suigintou doujin there which wasn't labelled 18+, and had an amusing conversation with one of the employees, as to whether it was adult or not (I couldn't see beause it was wrapped, obviously).

That was great. I went with my mother too, and she's actually seen and liked a few anime series like AIR, Elfen Lied and Fullmetal Alchemist. She even bought a One Piece calendar from Animate to put into the kitchen (pity that same calendar was sold in Osaka with a free gift, as we found out later)

I would have liked it better if I had an anime loving friend to browse the stores with, though. I guess Comiket is probably even more overwhelming if you don't have someone to go with.
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Old 2006-03-16, 13:38   Link #9
kj1980
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Join Date: Nov 2003
Age: 43
Yes, but be prepared for LONG LINES that'll make any foreigner's head spin who is not accustommed to seeing over 300,000 attendees.

Tips on coming to Japan the next time:

One the best kept secrets for foreigners coming to Japan is that....you do not want to use online booking sites. The best deals are found in Japanese travel agencies that has offices in major metropolitan areas around the world. They are able to provide the cheapest tickets (even during peak seasons in the summer and winter) because they buy tickets in bulk from the airlines (Japanese travel agencies are known to be one of the largest consolidators for airline tickets in the world).

So while an online site such as Travelocity, Expedia, or Cheaptickets will give you a roundtrip ticket from Los Angeles to Tokyo for about USD$1000, you'll be able to find tickets for only $600 or even cheaper. All you have to do is to visit Japanese travel agencies such as HIS and the like. You might want to use an online translator to find if there is a HIS near you.

Note that the entire site is in Japanese. That doesn't mean that you can't buy them. In fact, these Japanese overseas travel agencies have top-quality customer service which will sit down with you to discuss everything from obtaining a JR Rail-Pass (basically an all-you-can-ride train pass similar to Europass) to numerous advice on where to go to see Japanese culture.

As you reside in the UK, you might want to call and check out HIS' London office at http://www.his-euro.co.uk/ Once again, the site is in Japanese, but everyone can speak English for those people who "found the secret."
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Old 2006-03-16, 15:08   Link #10
Radiosity
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Every post by kj1980 is an education Thanks for the link to HIS, that'll come in handy when I decide to visit.
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Old 2006-03-16, 15:16   Link #11
Scribble
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kj1980
As you reside in the UK, you might want to call and check out HIS' London office at http://www.his-euro.co.uk/ Once again, the site is in Japanese, but everyone can speak English for those people who "found the secret."
Good, because I actually live in London. In the very small English section on that site, there are pretty cheap flights (tax excluded, but I doubt it'll exceed the 600 and something price I saw on the onlinetravel.com site). Many thanks.
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Old 2006-03-16, 19:55   Link #12
Dragnfly@Gamefaqs
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Join Date: Oct 2004
I've contemplated summer comiket many times. I -REALLY- don't want to go to Japan for various reasons but the pull of cool stuff is pretty strong, and growing stronger by the day. I had the chance to go last year and even had the money for my oh-so-saught-after massive Nanoha poster (I refuse to call it by it's proper item name: Bedsheets) but ended up changing my plans.

Perhaps next year. I'll likely go whenever Touhou X gets announced. Tho I really hope it's winter. Summer is just another reason I don't want to go.
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Old 2006-03-16, 22:22   Link #13
Potatochobit
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what exactly is tora no ana? its a shopping mall and a company? i browsed their webiste but they had so much stuff i couldnt figure out what they do. they have been releasing alot of figure sets lately like tsukihime and tsukuyomi moon phase.
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Old 2006-03-17, 00:29   Link #14
Sushi-Y
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Join Date: Dec 2004
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Age: 38
Quote:
Originally Posted by Potatochobit
what exactly is tora no ana? its a shopping mall and a company? i browsed their webiste but they had so much stuff i couldnt figure out what they do. they have been releasing alot of figure sets lately like tsukihime and tsukuyomi moon phase.
Tora no Ana is one of the specialty chain stores in Japan that specializes in Otaku goods. The range of goods sold in these stores go from Anime DVDs, CDs, mangas, PC/bishojo games, to misc goods including figures and collectible items.

Most importantly, they also deal with doujin goods: you can find doujinshis, doujin games, doujin musics, etc. sold in these stores, many of which are the same ones you'd find in Comikes. Doujin creators often consign their leftover stocks (or reprints) to these shops so that their fans who weren't able to make it to Comike/weren't able to obtain the doujin product can get them here. The price is usually slightly higher than the event price.

Other stores that are similar to Tora no Ana include Melonbooks, Animate, White Canvas, Sofmap, etc.. All of them have multiple storefronts inside Akihabara, some specializes in a particular type of product over others.
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Old 2006-03-17, 01:45   Link #15
_yeah
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Join Date: Jun 2004
Quote:
Originally Posted by kj1980
One the best kept secrets for foreigners coming to Japan is that....you do not want to use online booking sites. The best deals are found in Japanese travel agencies that has offices in major metropolitan areas around the world. They are able to provide the cheapest tickets (even during peak seasons in the summer and winter) because they buy tickets in bulk from the airlines (Japanese travel agencies are known to be one of the largest consolidators for airline tickets in the world).

So while an online site such as Travelocity, Expedia, or Cheaptickets will give you a roundtrip ticket from Los Angeles to Tokyo for about USD$1000, you'll be able to find tickets for only $600 or even cheaper. All you have to do is to visit Japanese travel agencies such as HIS and the like. You might want to use an online translator to find if there is a HIS near you.

Note that the entire site is in Japanese. That doesn't mean that you can't buy them. In fact, these Japanese overseas travel agencies have top-quality customer service which will sit down with you to discuss everything from obtaining a JR Rail-Pass (basically an all-you-can-ride train pass similar to Europass) to numerous advice on where to go to see Japanese culture.

As you reside in the UK, you might want to call and check out HIS' London office at http://www.his-euro.co.uk/ Once again, the site is in Japanese, but everyone can speak English for those people who "found the secret."
That's interesting. Can you give some more examples of such travel companies that would have foreign offices?
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Old 2006-03-17, 09:44   Link #16
Scribble
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Smile

Thank you for your help....

I know it would vary, but how much spending money would one expect to have for Comiket? For those who usually spend "a lot" there, how much would "a lot" be? (In yen)
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Old 2006-03-17, 13:21   Link #17
Dragnfly@Gamefaqs
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I was planning on 100,000 yen (I think that's about $1000cdn. Too lazy to check xe.net) in spending money for the whole trip. Large items and small. So I figure that as a whole for comiket may be considered a large sum. I see most doujins I collect go for between 200-800 yen. But the larger items like doujin models and doujin games tend to be a lot more. I have some doujin models that went for about 6000 yen I think. Also, official items sold at comiket are pretty expensive.
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Old 2006-03-17, 13:40   Link #18
kj1980
Gomen asobase desuwa!
 
 
Join Date: Nov 2003
Age: 43
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scribble
Thank you for your help....

I know it would vary, but how much spending money would one expect to have for Comiket? For those who usually spend "a lot" there, how much would "a lot" be? (In yen)
For reference purpose only:

I'm considered "average" as I only spend 100,000 yen per Comike.

Hope that helps.
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Old 2006-03-17, 14:01   Link #19
kj1980
Gomen asobase desuwa!
 
 
Join Date: Nov 2003
Age: 43
Quote:
Originally Posted by _yeah
That's interesting. Can you give some more examples of such travel companies that would have foreign offices?
The other major companies that I know other than HIS are:

IACE (so far only in the US and Canada)

JTB http://www.jtb.co.jp/soumu/group/group.html#oversea (scroll down to see links to their overseas offices)
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Old 2006-03-17, 14:06   Link #20
jsnut2
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it would be nice if the webpages were in the english language


Quote:
Originally Posted by kj1980
The other major companies that I know other than HIS are:

IACE (so far only in the US and Canada)

JTB http://www.jtb.co.jp/soumu/group/group.html#oversea (scroll down to see links to their overseas offices)
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