Forum - View topicNEWS: FanimeCon Announces Dedicated Dōjinshi Event for 2026
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FishLion
 Crazy Fangirl Posts: 861 |
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Wow, this seems like kind of a big deal.
I checked the website to see if they meant doujin artists from Japan selling translated work, but it is actually about OEL comics by self-published artists. It seems like it could be really cool, as I have always hated we don't have anything like a comiket here. I know we have had indie comics for a long time, but it was always my impression that those focused on original works and not fan works, so having an event about self-published works that brings fans together sounds pretty unique for sure. |
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Tamer Sakura
Posts: 55 |
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What's the point then? Just sounds like your typical artist ally if it's just going to be filled with western artists and not actual Japanese doujins. |
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MischievousMelody
 Posts: 518 |
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Well, the website says that it’s specifically focused on self-published OEL manga (and maybe some games), so if I’m not mistaken, it’s more limited in what can be sold compared to a typical Artist’s Alley. Anyway, I would draw something for this if I was skilled enough to! Oh, well. |
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FishLion
Crazy Fangirl Posts: 861 |
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I imagine this is a twofold decision. The first reason is the one that they state on the website, that they are trying to encourage people to share self published comics that allow people to share their passion.
So they are very clearly trying to provide a Comiket type environment for comic artists in the US and not just make an artist alley where any merch goes. Besides a few slots for games, everyone here will be selling comics of some kind according to the website. The second reason is it's probably not too feasible to have a comiket style event with Japanese artists in the west due to cost reasons. Most doujin artists don't see major profits from what I understand, so the cost of shipping a bunch of books to the US then flying there yourself to set up a table and hope people buy your books with much higher cost due to overhead is probably not very attractive to most. Plus that's if you have English language editions made or trust you can sell Japanese language copies to your fan base, if you don't have either of those things read that's another headache to overcome. What it all adds up to is that it will be nearly impossible to recreate the indie spirit of Comiket in the states with Japanese artists because the additional challenges of international travel and self publication immediately raises the barrier of entry to the point only the most established artists could afford to go at all. You can't have an event with the open energy that comes from low cost of entry if every artist immediately has a massive cost to participate. At that point it would probably just be a doujinishi buy and sell market and not really and indie comic market the way this is trying to be. |
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Ming Yi
Posts: 264 |
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I'm interested in this, but there is some skepticism too on how it will work out because the doujinshi culture at its core is so different from the zine culture in the West.
Doujinshi usually costs about 500~700 yen each for a 16~32 page B5 book. Most artists don't participate in it to make money, but more to share their art. it also helps that book printing is relatively cheap in Japan with lots of nice options. There are small doujinshi events in Japan all the time just for people to meet up and engage in fandom. In the West, you have people selling zines for $80 that are in full color. There's not the same kind of passion as most people go to artist alley to make money. |
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Joe Mello
 Posts: 2572 Location: Online Terminal |
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It should end up being a subset of what is found in AA's, yes, though I don't see why this couldn't be expanded out into self-published games (physical or digital) or music, which isn't necessarily typical AA fare. Aside from *gestures wildly at everything* the reason I'm skeptical (though I want to believe) is the legal dubiousness of your stereotypical doujin. Not that there's anything wrong with origifiction, but that's not what most minds will probably associate with this event. |
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Mune
Posts: 421 |
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There are some real big hurdles that were always a concern for this type of event.
1. Comiket in Japan allowed even fan created content for copyrighted material to be sold, not just original works. Japan has been more lax to copyright laws toward fan created content. 2. The means to profit, as these types of events cost a good amount of money to get a spot or booth. At Comiket in Japan, that cost is typically around 8,000 yen (~$52). At most cons in the U.S., that cost goes from a few hundred dollars to over a thousand. So, there is a drive to make that money back. 3. Concern about creating and distributing some questionable content of or to minors. Manga and anime are known to have characters in middle and high school. U.S. laws and state laws may play a factor in the content being allowed. There may even be an extra vetting process needed to review over what is allowed, putting a further strain on creators' time and stress levels. Plus, artists don't want to be censored, especially against their will. All of this surmounts to why there has been a lot of hesitation in doing this type of event. |
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That Little Rapscallion
Posts: 151 |
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Comiket also allows AI which I imagine some vocal people in western conventions would hate. I sometimes hear how AI artists get harassed and ejected from conventions. The whole point of Comiket is to be as anti-exclusionary and embrace creativity as much as possible and there just seems to be a lot of hang ups over here to really recreate it. |
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FishLion
Crazy Fangirl Posts: 861 |
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Comiket existed for a long time before AI existed so I really doubt that is an essential ingredient to the event. Plus I would argue allowing the use of AI excludes handmade artists from using the space and this type of event is more about what people male then what they prompt a computer to make. Honestly I would rather this event be different than Comiket in that specific way, I guarantee people offended by excluding a high speed theft machine aren't the type of merchant I want to buy from anyway. |
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Tamer Sakura
Posts: 55 |
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If we're already putting in caveat then it's over before it even begun. As soon as we start restricting things then we've lost the whole point of artistic expression and "indie spirit" of Comiket as one puts it. And you know it won't stop with AI either. People will say the same thing with other content they don't like to justify excluding it. And a Comiket but with only *Approved* content sounds bland as hell.
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FishLion
Crazy Fangirl Posts: 861 |
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As a potential customer a Comiket style event flooded with AI would be a negative experience that does not encourage me to return. I can literally just generate it myself, why would I ever pay money for that? I cannot for the life of me understand why people flooding an indie event with a thousand comics they prompted to flood out real artists sounds less bland than having standards. In fact AI is literally more bland than regular art because it's the mathematical average of a decision tree, it literally can't spit out an image that isn't the average of other data points. Also restricting AI use has nothing to do with the content of the comics because anything that's possible with AI is possible without (in fact AI is impossible without preexisting content), it is just restricting the sale of goods manufactured with stolen parts, so your claim is kind of ridiculous anyway. |
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ATastySub
Past ANN Contributor
 Posts: 846 |
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Comiket allowing AI has been an issue for comiket goers who have been upset that booth space for actual artists has been taken up by ai slop. Comiket refusing to do any vetting is not a positive, and is not indicative at all of people wanting AI art there. AI artists also aren't some discriminated class, first off because they're not actually artists, but secondly being kicked out of conventions for lying about their art not being AI, and in some cases stealing art from actual artists at the same convention, is par for the course for the lazy thieves that think it's a good way to make a quick buck. |
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