Comic Party #1: New World (DVD)

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"Comic Party" was a title that I had heard about from other anime fans. It had a reputation as a series strictly for the fans, so of course I had to give it a look. The first disc in the series contains three episodes- "Fateful First Experience!?", "Put Your Heart Into It", and "Buyers, Sellers, Exhibition and Spot Sale".

This series focuses primarily on the world of doujinshi, fan-made comics in Japan. Most doujinshi that I´ve seen are knockoffs of professional manga featuring the same characters, but alternative stories. Some are pornographic. What this show reminds me of, more than anything, is "Otaku no Video", just about doujinshi instead of garage model kits and anime. However, I liked "Otaku no Video" better. Perhaps because of its shorter runtime (it´s two short OVAs), "Otaku no Video" held my attention better. Perhaps the reason is that I´m not personally that interested in doujinshi and the people that make it.

For the sake of comparison, and to help explain the culture behind doujinshi to the reader, I´m going to relate doujinshi to fansubs, anime features that have been subtitled into a different language by fans. In both cases, there are both individuals and groups that work on their projects for the personal glory more than anything else. Some groups are more popular than others: some are even well known within their respective fan communities.

The main characters in the series are the easily-manipulated Kazuki, childhood friend Mizuki, and maniacal Taishi. Of them, I was least impressed with Mizuki. She´s pretty stereotypical- long haired, big chested, high voiced, wears short skirts and thigh-high stockings, and is devoted to Kazuki, whom she has known since they were little kids. She even wakes Kazuki up in the mornings before school, a trait so old and clichéd it was made fun of in "Neon Genesis Evangelion", a TV series from the 1990s. Kazuki is also fairly bland, just doing whatever his friend Taishi tells him to do. By far, Taishi is the most entertaining. He´s drawn like a villain, with his beady eyes and classic villain glasses. Taishi even has the anime villain laugh down, yet isn´t such a bad guy. When speaking, he can´t help but drop into hyperbole while yelling at the top of his lungs, much to the embarrassment of Kazuki and everyone surrounding them. It was nice to see a series where the normal people notice and react to the bizarre behavior around them.

Taishi has a simple dream- he wants to take over the entire word through doujinshi. However, he lacks the talent to draw, so he enlists his artistically-inclined friend, Kazuki, to actually create and draw the doujinshi. Taishi gradually drags Kazuki into the world of doujinshi by first taking him to a doujinshi convention, then suggesting that Kazuki try his hand at making one. From there, Kazuki starts to walk the path on his own. Standing in his way is Mizuki. Although she was willing to go with Kazuki to his first doujinshi convention, she´s repulsed by the experience. To her, the hall is crowded with loud, rude, smelly people that trample over her repeatedly, so she´s not a fan of the doujinshi scene.