Comiket Terminology Part 3

December 31, 2008 at 3:42 am (cosplay(コスプレ), doujin(同人), otaku word)

 So it was over. Did you have fun? I did.^^ I didn’t mean to cosplay seriously, so did Kakei Jubei. Also I met up with two young guys who I got to know on mixi, and had an off-kai. Comiket is not only to buy a doujinshi, but to meet people.

 There are some more words left, so I shall quickly introduce.

a. 海賊版同人誌[kaizokuban doujinshi]: Yes, pirates doujinshi. To copy a doujinshi with no permission and sell. Lately, the problem should be numerous downloading sites rather than such a book. We don’t seem to find such a book at the bookstore anymore, but on the net we do. I don’t follow a doujinshi, so that I am not quite sure about this. Are those sites free?

b. 無修正同人誌[mushusei doujinshi]: Uncensored. Umm, they are illustrations, so it is not a big deal. Anyway, because of the law such a book is prohibited. I have seen a real one before, but it is ridiculous because they were not good at describing sexual organs at all. Is this a vagina? Just a hole! Has the author seen a real one? What’s the point in censoring such a pathetic hole?

c. 買い専[kaisen]: Those who only purchase a doujishi. It implys you don’t make a doujinshi, but just buy. 私は買い専です。[I am a kaisen.]

d. カラコロ[karakoro]: It is a trolley as a shopping cart. You will see a lot of female otakus carrying this at the event. A doujinshi is thin, but if you buy a lot, it would be heavy. I see male otakus holding big bags, but female otakus are using this. Cosplayers use this as well. カラコロ[karakoro] stems from the sound of dragging it.

e.  企業ブース[kigyou booth]: A booth from a certain copyrighted company. Of course it is not a fan-made, so there is a very long long queue in front of it.

f. 健全[kenzen]: A dounjishi for all age. Not porn. 健全 means sound.

g. 限定本[genteibon]: A limited edition. Otakus are really hooked by a word, 限定[gentei]. So when such a popular circle issues a limited edition, it would cause some troubles. This is the main reason why fans wait overnight.

h. 売り子[uriko]: A vendor. There has to be two per circle, otherwise you can’t go to the washroom.

i. 島[shima]: There are several long square counters side by side inside the hall. Each counter shall be called 島[shima], and basically a 島 puts the same genre circles altogether. Inside a 島, each circle is selling doujinshis.

j. 島買い[shimagai]: To buy almost all the dounjishis on the certain 島 regardless of the circle. Only those who are rich can do this.

k. 書店委託[shoten itaku]: If you don’t want to line up for a doujinshi, or fail to get, just go to the bookstores which handle doujinshis such as とらのあな[toranoana], まんだらけ[mandarake], or メッセンサオー[messensaoh]. You can buy doujinshis if the circle commits its dounjishis to the bookstore. But remember, those doujinshis are more expensive than it should have been because of the commission fee.

i. 妖怪[youkai]: Anyone whom you don’t want to get close…or don’t want to see…Such a painful person, it means. I spotted a pair of C.C and Lelouch cosplayers when I was at the cosplay forum. But both of them were like sumo-wrestlers[相撲取り]. I heard some people saying 妖怪[youkai] behind me…妖怪 means a monster. Besides, I must say there were more crossdressers than I thought. And most of them were done by sweaty ojisans.

l. 撮られたガール[torareta girl]: Such a skimpy female cosplayer. They want to get taken a photo, so that is why they are willing to cosplay such a sexy character like Yoko in Gurren Lagan. Actually next to me, there was a nice Yoko. She was surrounded by a lot of photographers. But how could she be fine on such a freezing day?

 That’s all I can think of now. If you get a chance, come to next summer comiket!

 And this is going to be the last post this year. I just look back, oh no I had fun so much. I saw some of you in real life, had a private photoshooting, and even cosplayed together. Thank you very much, I was quite happy.

 Have a happy new year, and I will keep going next year.