Nogizaka Haruka Goes To Comiket 74
Posted by Shin in Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu, tags: Events, Japanwww, Otaku
Well, not yet anyway. However, you can be sure that Yuuto will be getting the shock of his life once he finds out what that convention has in store for him. Then again, I myself haven’t much of a clue, other than it having lots of PROMOTIONS in doujin form, which is why that informative article by Zepy two months ago that debunks certain myths regarding this biannual otaku event was a real eye opener.
Myth: Doujin is mostly about porn
Reality: Only 30% of the circles or so in Comiket deal in adult material
What I Thought: Only 30% of the circles or so in Comiket deal in non-adult material. Perhaps some Touhou on the side.
Myth: Doujin circles sell low quality books and make a huge profit
Reality: It varies depending on when you’re printing and the number of pages, but it costs 40,000 yen to 50,000 yen (US$400 to US$500) to print 100 copies of a 32 page book with a full colour cover. And since each book is usually sold for 500 yen or thereabouts, there isn’t much profits to be made. And after you deduct the cost of participating in the event and the transportation costs, you’re looking at a huge loss of money instead. Mainly only a handful of the more popular circles + a few others can actually turn a profit.
What I Thought: I knew that. Kinda.
Myth: Copy books are made in small quantities to drive the price up
Reality: Copy books mainly have to be photocopied, folded and binded by hand. And there aren’t any discounts when trying to photocopy large amounts unlike offset books. It takes a lot of work to make them and they don’t have much in profits. Copy books are usually last minute stuff made after the printers’ deadlines so there isn’t much time to make them either, which is why there are so little of them.
What I ThoughtExperienced: Sell a few at Comiket, jack the price up at doujin stores later.
Myth: Popular circles get special treatment being put on the wall sides
Reality: It’s not exactly special treatment but rather special measures in order to keep the inside hall from getting overcrowded and blocking the flow of the crowd. If a popular circle is placed in the islands the queues will completely block the pathways and become a huge mess. Also, if the circle on the wall doesn’t actually have much of a queue, they get moved back into the islands in the next comiket.
What I Thought: Taka Tony gets his own private lounge and selling space.
Myth: Popular circles sell tens of thousands of books every comiket
Reality: The event lasts for 6 hours, and if one person sells 1 book every 30 seconds and 3 people go at the same pace without stopping, the limit is still approximately 3000 books. There is also a limit to the amount of books that a circle can bring into their space.
What I Thought: Popular circles sell tens of thousands of books every comiket.
Myth: These big circles seem to be handling wads of cash though?
Reality:They’re mostly 1000 yen (US$10) notes and small coins, best to look at them as one tenth of the amount that you see.
What I Thought: I knew that.
Myth: These books sell as long as they’re doing popular genres
Reality: When doing popular genres, it also means that a lot of talented people will be doing the same genre so if the book isn’t really eye catching it gets overlooked by people most of the time. On the other hand there are cases where doing those minor genres that are popular within certain groups of people can get a number of loyal fans and actually sell better than others.
What I Thought: As long it’s fappable, it will sell.
Myth: The comiket administration allows overnight queuing
Reality: Overnight queuing is not allowed. People shouldn’t do it. The overnight guys managing the overnight queuing guys have nothing to do with the comiket administration. There have actually been concerns that if these guys get out of hand, comiket itself might no longer be able to be held at Ariake.
What I Thought: Otakus set up colonies a week outside the Tokyo Big Sight prior to the event.
Myth: Can I go to the event in costume?
Reality: You’re not allowed to go to the event in costume, you have to register to be able to cosplay, and you’re only allowed to change in the changing room. There are a bunch of rules regarding cosplay in the catalogue.
What I Thought: Cosplayers don’t really bother since otakus will be too busy buying their porn.
Myth: Whatever, it’s still about making money right?
Reality: If it’s just about the money there won’t be 30,000 circles squeezing into that place to make money in such an inefficient way!
What I Thought: It’s really all about fulfilling one’s life long dream of publishing a doujin and selling it at Comiket.
Well shit, and I thought Genshiken covered all the facts about Comiket, but apparently there’s more to it. Either way, I’ll be cooped up at home from the 15th onwards this month waiting for this to pop up on filesharing networks:
Also, did I mention how awesome Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu is? It’s better than Lucky Star. There, I said it, even though this post almost touched nothing on the show itself.
Omg!
What a toilet! Whoever has that doujin wall paper toilet will most probably have no qualms with visiting the toilet too frequently.
Hynavian’s last blog post..Strike Witches Anime Vs Manga
“Reality: Overnight queuing is not allowed. People shouldn’t do it.”
Reality: They still do.
Actually, this is a bloody good myth debunker. Still waiting for T2 and cradle’s work to pop up on filesharing networks too, since I can only go to C75.
C.I.’s last blog post..Sighh…I hate myself for not being able to sympathise the fanservice-ness of ZnT.
@Hynavian
That’s my loo you see there.
@C.I
Indeed. Try telling the legions of otaku lusting for their pr0n that.
Hoho, I’ve got an enormous list of wants that can’t be fit in this post alone. 
Doujin artists are out of their minds.
I can no longer compare myself on the same level because I have a brain.
They fucking spends thousands of dollars on this shit, then they draw their own shit and spends even more money to print it which conclusively is basically explained as “paying people money to read your shit.”
I know a really good artist from canada who’s so obsessed with Reborn she has almost 500 doujins. Think of ALL that money that could have been better spent than on random doujin garbage. I mean i guess buying 1-2 is ok if you’re a big fan and all but 500? Geez. And her case is pretty “normal” I bet since people in Japan who have more access to doujins probably buy a lot more than she does.
Also Japanese are hard core about stupid pairings. Like if I were to draw a doujin with a pairing they didn’t like, they’d probably post snide comments on 2ch and flame me because I didn’t pair up their hard core OTP.
Glad I quit that hobby
Hinano’s last blog post..Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu - 04
All the pictures are so non sequitur to your article… Porn toilet for the lulz.
Yamcha’s last blog post..Haruka Nogizaka’s Secret episode 3
Is the second pic from 3DCG?
also lol at porn toilet I think I might know someone who has a toilet like that
Mini’s last blog post..It’s time for a review!:Skechbook~full colorS~
Well, now I know everything I didn’t need to about Comiket as it’s so very far away
What is that slugphone doing to NyanNyan?!
Omisyth’s last blog post..Mission-E First Impressions: At Long Last A Sub! And Skintight Battlesuits
I’m agreeing with Omisyth. So much learned, but I doubt I’ll ever go? Maybe in the distant future…
But I’ve realized other things from your post.
1. My dreams of riding in a gondola again have gone out the window 2. I need Photoshop CS3 Extended 
and 3. I love the fourth picture - although poor slugphone looks like he isn’t enjoying it.
Hoshi’s last blog post..[54] Misanthropic Sororiphilia, Non-Fictional Lacrimalation
I hope the toilet paper in that stall is the Angel Soft brand… not the government issue sandpaper. Somehow, I’m reminded of a Gintama episode…
FFVIIKnight’s last blog post..Shiki
OMG poor ranka!!! she is going to go blind!!!
is it strange taht i want to live in that toilet?…
You speak the truth Shin. Nogizaka Haruka is indeed better than LS.
hmm i didn’t quite realise that the Comiket in reality is so different from my dreams. Surely they should have been selling 80-90% porn? Also, your toilet needs more tissue to prevent the protein shake from soiling your walls.
Speaking of which, its time to get a new hard disk.
Setsuna-san’s last blog post..Macross Frontier 17
I was being highly engaged perusing your most thought provoking article until when I reached the picture of Klan sucking a popsicle, that asked, why am I having a nosebleed, after which all my thoughts got completely scrabbled.
And now all I’ve got left to post about was my nosebleed.
bakaneko’s last blog post..Next Gantz target sighted: Aya Hirano
Totally agree ^^ Fuko is SO NOT moe.
And what I really found nice on Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu is that it’s showing how people treats Japanese otakus, bullying and such. Lucky Star on the other hand, focuses more on comedy and moe-ness. I love them both btw.
kanzeon’s last blog post..Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu 03 - Discrimination against otaku people…
…
*shakes head slowly and sighs*
OMG, you mean Doujin Work was just a bunch of Comiket myths strung together to get viewers to waste a small portion of their life??? Well, I want that part of my life BACK
issa-sa’s last blog post..Random filler: Small-time otaku shopping
And WE NEED MOAR TONY TAKA OF MACROSS FRONTIER!!!
Heh, kinda guessed Doujin is like that. Mainly because Shin brought those Documentaries about this kind of things. Thanks so much, Shin. For teaching me that the grass ain’t greener on the other side :P
@Hinano
But your ending in Renai Blogger suggests otherwise.
@Yamcha
Well if you’re going to make a mess, might as well do it in the toilet, right?
@Panther
It’s Illusion’s BEST GAME EVARRR, Schoolmate.
@Mini
I aspire to have my loo made that way.
@Omisyth
…….battery charging?
@Hoshi
As always, I’ve included those images in case the article may not relate to the readers.
@FFVIIKnight
Tell me more…
@EvilDevil
Great minds think alike.
@Setsuna
Now that I think of it, it’s more like Hayate no Gotoku done right.
@bakaneko
If that alone can cause your nose to bleed, I can’t imagine when T2 actually releases that Klan doujin.
@kanzeon
You’re right, and to be honest, I love them both equally as much.
@Kaito
@issa-sa
Sorry, you’ve been living a lie.
@Aoshi
Mark your calenders for then.
@Zenai
Always a pleasure.
well, mugen & genjitsu no DIFFERENCE wwww
shikata ga aru mai nou… (ﾉゝ∀･)~キラ☆
Reality hurt a lot.Well,it is better to have rule on cosplaying or it would be filled with more cosplayer.
Better have a lot of paper ready 
Nosebleeded on that toilet!
Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu is pretty good,if you can stand the speed compare to original novel
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