#hatagoyalife

I think a lot of people know about Comiket that happens twice a year in Tokyo. It’s the biggest of it’s kind in Japan, and I won’t be going.

Not that I don’t want to go, but I’m living at the most north part of Japan, and with plane tickets being there most expensive this time of year (A good $200 - $450... ONE WAY....) I’ll be passing.

But what I think a lot of people don’t know about, is that tons of smaller doujinkai happen all throughout the year and all throughout Japan. I went to my first one today, and I thought I’d share some similarities and differences to the anime conventions back home. (in Canada at least.) 

On the way to Sapporo’s Community Dome from the train station! It was kinda cool seeing so many woman heading out there. :D (And a few normal families heading there to see a plane show or something.)

THE EVENT: I went to Odekake LIVE. I invited a friend to come with me, but she was busy today so I went alone. (TwT) It cost me 800 yen to enter and one of the main differences is that these events usually only focus on a few series, rather then in the west where it’s just all anime under the sun. At the event I went to, the main series’ that were focused on were Tokenranbu, My Hero Academia, Assemble Stars, Osomatsu-San, Jojo, Yowamushi Pedal, and Border Line. Osomatsu-San deeefinitely had the most merch. It’s still ridiculously popular here. This event was very yaoi centered, but it didn’t feel like walking into the BL section of Animate. I expected balls, half-naked ikemen,18+ stamps and gasping uke faces everywhere, but it was fairly tame to be honest. Just a lot of cuteness everywhere. (Not to say that that stuff wasn’t there, but not nearly to the degree that I was expecting. Not that I mind ether way. ;) YEHHEEE~.)

I honestly thought the event was gonna be a lot smaller. Heh.

THE MERCH: What surprised me the most, was the fact that there wasn’t as many doujinshi as I thought there would be. I thought it was JUST gonna be manga that was sold there, but no actually - there were people selling keychains(There were a lot of keychains), jewelry, stickers, postcards, shirts, tumblrs, etc. (EXCLUDING POSTERS. Unlike in the west where EVERYBODY sells posters, that is definitely not the case here. Everything is a lot smaller in size with no huge displays like you’d see in the west.) I also thought everything was gonna be very constricted to just the series I mentioned above, but there were a few people who branched out and sold other things too, which was cool to see. There was even some original designs and art. It was sooo much fun to walk around and look at everyone’s stuff. Everyone had such fantastic art.

 I’m kinda poor at the moment, so I couldn’t buy much, but everything is CHEAP AF HERE. In total I spent 900 yen for everything below. (A doujinshi, 6 stickers, and a tote bag.) Everything is very inexpensive, and I just don’t know if printing costs are cheaper here, or people just aren’t trying to make a profit. (*- * ); But for my poor self, I appreciated it.

THE PEOPLE: Obviously the vibe is entirely different from a western convention. In North American conventions, people are very energetic, excited, hugging strangers, squealing/screaming, and just having a good time being themselves. People are twice as outgoing as they normally are. (Sometimes people get a little too crazy, but I digress.)

Obviously, it’s not like that here. Japanese people just generally aren’t outgoing in the same way westerns are, but I freaking LOVED the atmosphere here. It’s something so different from normal Japanese society. So many girls were so visibly excited, chatty, fangirling over their favorite characters and being so open. There was this overwhelming sense of acceptance. Being there just felt like, “Oh, THIS is Japan.” I felt like I was seeing a new side of this country that I hadn’t seen before. I’ve heard some people talk about Comiket, and say it feels very cold, and nothing like a western convention. But here, it felt very warm and familiar. I wish I talked to more artists and people then I did, but for the ones I talked to - there was so much warmness and passion. Maybe it could just be how the people of Sapporo are, but either way I loved it here.

THE COSPLAYERS: I’m not gonna say much on this, because I didn’t really stick around to look at the cosplay shoots, but the quality of cosplays was definitely high here, and as time went on more and more people were dressing up. What I found interesting though, is when I was going to the event, I thought maybe I’d see some cosplayers on the subway - but there was none. I saw some people carrying props in bags, but that was it. But inside I saw a sign that said you can’t enter or leave wearing the building wearing a cosplay. Which I thought was interesting. Maybe it’s considered an annoyance to have someone dressed up on the train? I dunno, but it seems like a bit of a pain.

In conclusion, it was a really great experience. BUT HOLY SMOKES IT WAS SHORT. ONLY 1 DAY FOR 4 HOURS. I went alone and just looked at all the merch, so I was done within’ an hour and a half. But if I was cosplaying with a bunch of friends, and trying to buy a bunch of stuff... it seems a little short. But maybe I’m wrong.

A quick look back at the progress of my art in the last 7 years. What a mess it was lol. But it ultimately led up to my current style, which I can gladly say is “me”. It’s a style I’ve been searching for, for the last 7 years and I’m glad I’ve finally found it.

[Please excuse the huge wall of text that follows. I’m just reflecting on my art after all this time. hehe.]

2009: I was in grade 11, and this was when I started doing digital art. At the beginning of the year, I did everything with a mouse. Which looked like poop. But by August I bought my first wacom tablet and I went NUTS on that thing. I was super into the deviant art community, so I was always drawing, entering contests and looking up tutorials. By the end of the year, it really made a difference in my skill. At least - in comparison to how I was earlier that year.

2010: Last year of high school, and beginning of college. I was still drawing a lot and I kinda fleshed out my animu style, but I still hadn’t found “my” style yet. everything was shiny and smooth and crap. But I was also trying out this other weird style with realist hair and eyes and????? It’s really jarring to look at now.

2011: This was a weird ass year. I really wasn’t happy with my style, so I was constantly looking for inspiration. So my style was constantly changing. But this is also the year I discovered the artist “Hime+You”, she is a vector/traditional illustrator. Everything about her art was what I wanted. I loved the thick dramatic lines, the bold colours, her adorable characters, and how unique everything was. It was then that I fell in love with vector art. But I had no idea how to use Adobe illustrator, so during this year I kept using photoshop but I also practiced vector art here and there in the background, in the hopes that I could get as good as Hime+You.

2012: This is the year where I finally discovered my style and ditched my tablet and photoshop. As I was finishing up my first year of graphic design, I had a much better grasp of adobe illustrator. So I continued to experiment with adobe illustrator over the summer, still trying to get a grasp for this new style I wanted. And then I saw Werepop’s work. And holy crap, her work hit me with the biggest brick of inspiration I ever had in my life, and it has honestly changed my life. lol. After being influenced by her, I was finally able to create the style I wanted. And I went nuts after that, making tons of art. My style was still a bit messy and stiff, but I finally found what I was looking for.

2013: This was a fun year. I found my style, so I was just fleshing out my style, improving my skills with adobe illustrator, checking out other vector artists and trying to get through another year of graphic design. I didn’t have as much time to draw as I liked, but I enjoyed myself.

2014: This was a pretty dead year for my art. I hardly did anything. I had a ton of work for my last semester of graphic design, and after graduation I had to find an internship, and after THAT I had to find a full time job and apartment. I was also going full steam with my Japanese studies. So after 8 hours of work, and Japanese study, I had a huge lack of motivation to draw art. But for some reason, I got hit with inspiration to get into pixel art. So I practiced pixel art on-and-off for the last half of the year. But other then that...Bleh.

2015: This year was a blast for my art. And it was great to be inspired again. My friend suggested I should try artist allying with her. I was wary at first, but I’m so glad she convinced me. With only 4 months to prepare for my first convention, I made all my products from scratch and it felt GREAT to draw so much again, and make deadlines for myself. I was making more art then I had in the last two years combined. And because I had an audience, I wanted to put in a lot more effort and thought into what I was making. And I ended up creating a lot of work that I’m genuinely proud of.

Hehe, props to you if you read through all my rambling. :3 But I wanted to take time to look back, and see where I’ve come.