Yesterday was another amazing day full of surprises. I was still recovering from a slight cold but managed to wake up in time for Comitia. I met up with Y-san at a McD's before entering the convention and walked around together for a bit before splitting up to make a more thorough round of things. As opposed to Comiket, Comitia is nothing but original work and, to me, the overall quality of the books and works were delightedly higher. The show itself isn't as big. I'd say about a quarter of what Comiket was and a lot more relaxed and layed back. There was an opening surge of people but other than that, I didn't see the mad crowds like last time. Oh, btw, the following pictures were taken with my cell phone since I'd forgotten my camera. Sorry for the size.

Like before, the pros were lined up against the outer walls and the various circles and newbies were in the central area. They had half an outer wall dedicated to portfolio reviews by a wide range of magazines with a couple of editors repping for each one. The magazines that were present were Weekly Shonen Magazine, Monthly Shonen Sirius, Beth, Monthly Sunday GX, Comic Blade, Monthly Dragon Age, Comic Flapper and Comic Ryu. I had brought a few samples to show and made a note to get a review once I'd checked out the show which, in hindsight, was a big mistake but more on this later. For now, here's what the portfolio section looked like:

I weaved through all the aisles, made a note of what caught my eye and circled back for those once I'd seen everything. I bought a few books. One by Ugetsu Hakua was freakin' amazing. I'd seen his art on posters or something so it was nice seen someone I recognized. I got the impression that this con was really creator driven rather than fan driven. The presence of the editors is proof enough but I felt a general air of comeradery rather than rabid fandom. It's hard to explain but it was nice. Anyway, I eventually met up with Ryusuke and Go-san and chatted for a bit to catch up. After a smoke break, I decided to attempt a portfolio review but was unaware that I had to fill-out some paper work with a number on it in order to get a review. A seperate one for every magazine. So, by the time I got there the numbers were up to 31 and a quick glance at who was getting interviewed revealed they were still in the single digits. By this time it was past noon and the con was scheduled to end at 3:30. I sat for a bit in front of the Shonen Magazine booth and timed how long each interview was lasting and it was easily pushing 20-25 minutes a piece. Damn...

By this point, I'd given up hope, cursed my idiocy and went back to find my buds. I kept the application form though. I found Go-san and told him the situation. Long story short, I was convinced to go back and found out that it wasn't about what number you had but who was actually sitting and waiting. Once a spot opened it was about who had the lowest number. Geeeezus... Anyway, I managed 2 reviews. The first editor mentioned my art was good enough but I needed to show more samples in Japanese so they could get a feel for my dialogue. Everything I had was in English so I understood I was at a disadvantage for that. It was at least reassuring to hear that my drawing hand was up to par. The second review was probably the best art review I have ever had. He commented that some aspects of my drawing were out-of-date. Like, how I drew my mouths were kinda old and to work on that. I was also told to condense my heads so that there was less space between the eyes and nose and I needed bigger foreheads. My tone work was old too. I was asked about my influences and was given a few sources to look at in the future. It's so nice to hear these things. Then the conversation switched to what I was aiming to do. I told him about my intensions and that I'd recently moved and whatnot. Similar to what E-san said, I was told to commit to a specific audience and then to find a good editor through applying directly or conventions or what have you. He stressed that this was very important. Everything else started once I had these 2 things. I was suggested a genre that his magazine was currently looking for and that the elements he saw in my work would fit accordingly and to not bother with the seasonal contests since it would end up taking more time in the end. Is this not fucking rad? We exchanged contact info and I left with the promise that I would show him breakdowns for a short within the month.

So, yeah. Suffice to say, it was a good day in the end. A very good day.

TAK