“REPORT: Comiket 100 – Weathering Japan’s Biggest Anime Event During a Typhoon”

Tokyo Big Sight at 8 AM

 

Note: All photos taken by Daryl Harding

 

Comic Market, best known as Comiket, has finally reached its 100th event, and we were there to chronicle it!

 

After 47 years, the little doujinshi event attended by 700 people in 1975 is a staple of the Japanese otaku landscape, with around 170,000 people attending this year’s Summer Comic Market event.

 

It seems that despite the last two and half years, Comiket is back to its (mostly) natural state, with the last event held last December. Nothing could stop the event from being held, even with a limited amount of people, with COVID still a thing after all and 740,000 people attending in 2019 in one space still not ideal.

 

Comiket’s Surprisingly Luxurious Entry

 

“Please be wary of the ‘Three Cs (crowded places, close contact settings, and closed spaces)’” and “Mask required.”

 

Mother nature couldn’t be more against the thought of Comiket continuing for its 100th event. Ahead of the world’s biggest anime and manga fan event last weekend, a typhoon was scheduled to hit Tokyo at 9 AM on day one of the event — I was scheduled to line up at 8:30 AM. While many events decided it was probably best to not go on, Comiket persevered and so did I.

 

Luckily, getting to the event and exchanging my ticket for a wristband was simple and uneventful. After the confusion that was Comiket 99, the relative ease for Comiket 100 was like a breath of fresh air. After a quick check of a ticket, mask and temperature, I was guided into a hall to sit for a few hours and wait to be one of the first people into Comiket – again, paying a premium price to do so. 

 

Kokusai-Tenjijo Station decked out in anime advertising ahead of day one with BLUELOCK advertising.

 

One of the worst aspects of NatsuComi (Summer Comiket) is having to wait outside in the heat. With the impending typhoon inching closer and closer, I wasn’t excited to deal with the heat and rain at the same time. Those who got the early tickets were instead guided to an unused hall to sit in, complete with air conditioning! Who would have thought waiting in line at Comiket would one day come with aircon?! Though this luxury only let the early bird ticket holders stay dry, those who had normal tickets weren’t so lucky.

 

 

コミケの待機列が大惨事…誰か助けて #c100 pic.twitter.com/EgW1XK5ett

— 初音たねぽ (@hachune_miku) August 13, 2022

 

 

Typhoon and Comiket

 

A very wet Tokyo Big Sight during the afternoon

 

That’s not to say the typhoon didn’t affect day one of Comiket, the only day I won through the lottery system to gain entry. Those waiting outside obviously got soaked and any lines that stretched out of the halls for booths — including for the likes of Hololive, Type-Moon and even Enako — forced people to stand in torrential rain and wind. Even going from hall to hall meant fighting off the weather. But hey, at least it wasn’t too hot like previous NatsuComi!

 

RELATED: Comiket 96 – How Tokyo 2020 Affects the World's Largest Anime Convention

 

The biggest loser in the storm was the cosplay, which was set to make a huge comeback this event after a very light return at Comiket 99. But alas, having the only cosplay areas outside meant that there was no viable environment on day one of Comiket 100, save for the two brave souls who were cosplaying Aqua and Darkness from KONOSUBA -God's blessing on this wonderful world! with some heavy drinks in their hands (making the best out of a bad situation). And of course, an Anya from SPY x FAMILY.

 

 

Comiket should count its lucky stars: the typhoon slowed down dramatically the night before and, instead of making landfall in Tokyo, veered into central Japan. This caused the typhoon to drop a ton of rain in the morning and let most of the afternoon stay relatively okay, if not a bit windier than usual for Odaiba.

 

Inside Comiket 100

 

 

For better or worse, Comiket 100 felt like a true Comiket. The hordes of people, booths and more were slightly anxiety-inducing and overwhelming. It’s a return to form for the event, with booths squeezed together and tons crammed into the giant Tokyo Big Sight halls. 

 

The east and two west halls were full of the doujinshi the event is known for. Unlike Comiket 99, I was allowed to venture through all the halls and grab whatever I liked, not being trapped in just one section, as well as enjoy fandoms that have popped up over the pandemic. 

 

While the east halls were filled with what I would call “classic Comiket content,” doujinshi and collections from both amateur and professional anime and manga creators such as the lovely and legendary animator Yutaka Nakamura who endured me trying to say hi but was too starstruck, as well as Sonny Boy animation director Daiki Harashina. Meanwhile, the two west halls were where the newer scenes had come to plant their flags. 

 

 

West Hall 1 was mainly just photo books from hobby photographers, VTuber doujinshi and actual VTubers who set up tables with their avatar on a small phone screen and saying hi to people that past them by. It was kind of cute.

 

West Hall 2 on the other hand was where all the cosplayers were selling their cosplay ROMs (discs that contain jpgs). Being summer, the cosplays they wore at their booths were sometimes less cosplay and more just colored micro bikinis, wigs optional. It was also surreal to see huge cosplay giants like Enako and Moe Iori just sitting in booths like everyone else, with those aforementioned massive lines that stretched out to the rain.

 

 

The business hall was also back, though seemingly smaller than the previous Comiket. This was due to either the fact they were all crammed together (rather than being spaced out like at Comiket 99) or more people meant the space seemed smaller. Both aspects did make the whole place seem livelier than last time!

 

RELATED: REPORT: Comiket 99 — What It’s Like Inside The World’s Biggest Anime Event During COVID-19

 

Outside of a few new company booths, including a Nitro Plus shooting gallery in the theme of a Japanese matsuri and a hololive booth featuring all the current VTuber talent, a lot of the booths feel like the ones I saw at Comiket 99.

 

 

Comiket has already confirmed Comic Market will return this winter for its 101st show on December 30 and 31, though details on tickets, attendance caps (if any), and more will be announced at some point in the future.

 

 

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Daryl Harding is a Senior Japan Correspondent for Crunchyroll News. He also runs a YouTube channel about Japan stuff called TheDoctorDazza, tweets at @DoctorDazza, and posts photos of his travels on Instagram. 

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