Comiket 2009 Summer (Comic Market) 76
*First off, this is the reason why I am not at my desktop... Update: OMG a cosplayer actually gave me a cookie! :)
This is my first time at Comiket. There are a lot of things that are the same and a lot that are different from an American Anime Con:
-Comic Market is basically like a giant artist alley with East and West hall with artists selling Doujinshi (imagine SDCC or AX with just artists). However, the crowd is insane, 2 hours roving lines just to get in.
-There is a separate area for cosplay which I only found later due to the fact I followed the wrong line. There is a 2500 yen fee for non-cosplayer and 1500 for cosplayer (I think)
-Photos are done very differently. Photogs line up an take turn taking pics of cosplayers and the cosplayers are restricted to \"photo\" approved areas and are basically stuck in a corner most of the time. So it\'s very tough to get good full body shots of cosplayers with some environment. There are changing rooms and there is a small room with backdrops and another area where CosMode(?) has set up photobooths with giant softboxes. Now I see why the backgrounds in those CosMode convention coverage are the same lol.
-OMG Everyone and their mothers have reflectors. A cosplayer actually offered me the use of a reflector and their friend. (story for later)
-A \"No Photo\" area. I actually like this idea. These are walkways, eating areas and simply sitting space where Photographers are not allowed to take pics. This gives tired cosplayers a break as well as sanctuary.
-Photogs are generally polite and take turns and there is no \"paparazzi\" style shooting which is good and bad. It\'s good for the photog to compose but it\'s bad because the lines for photos of decent cosplayers can be quite long.
