I wasn't going to go to this one. I was feeling the lingering effects of a nasty cold from the previous weekend, and was only just recovering my voice from mostly losing it on Friday and Saturday (which didn't make teaching easy, had to use a karaoke machine to be heard. Still, quitting this shitty job soon). But I woke up at 8:30-after the intention to have a long sleep, felt mostly OK, and am not unemployed and broke just yet, so off I went!
The previous "normal" Comic City I went to (as opposed to Haru Comic City*, which I thought to be a "smaller" event, but now I don't know) was HUGE, taking up all six of the halls at Intex. But this time there was another event on at the same time, so Comic City only had three halls, including hall 3, which seems to be the smallest.
The last time, I wasted loads of time finding a toilet, then looking for a sold-out event guide, then wandering only one hall. Then, despite the event going on until 3:00, everybody packed up by 1:30. This time I was more prepared... when I got there. The lack of morning preparedness (and need to do the laundry) meant I got to the venue at 12:45, and was already passing people wheeling cases. Most tables were still occupied, though, so I began a brief wander (and got one book), before deciding to get the catalogue and checking out what was where.
Comic City is actually broken up into a bunch of smaller "cons", which are themed after doujinshi dedicated to a specific series (and mostly with their own numbering to show the amount of times they've been held, just to be extra confusing), usually featuring the male characters of those series pounding each other up the butt. There are also some small, more generic areas called "Game" or "Cartoon". No "Original", though!
These "cons" have names themed after the series they are dedicated to, so, other than one about the "Grand Line" being for One Piece, and one with an "@" in it's name being for Idolm@ster, I had no idea. After hitting up the game section for any Final Fantasy books (found nowt) I just randomly wandered.
By the time I was halfway across hall 3, one o' clock passed, and the great clear-out began! I grabbed up a few other books from different series I'd never heard of (but thought they looked hot). One book even has straight scenes! I was down to my last thousand of the strictly-set budget (only going crazy at Comitia, from now on), so returned to hall 4 and grabbed one more book. I saw a cutie guy with a book that had a sexy woman on the cover (and, somewhat absurdly, censor-tape), but wandered a bit more, and when I came back, he was gone! I dropped my last ¥500 on something else, and left the now-almost-empty con (which still had just over an hour left to run!).
1:00PM at Comic City doesn't determine who is right, it just determines who is left...
I walked back to the station in the blazing sun, among many cute young women showing a lot of leg and/or with boyish hair (and one very well-done trap). Also I found another ¥500 in my pocket, oops. Passing the Immigration Beureau (Please let me have the new visa in hand soon, I can't take this piece-of-shit job much longer) and went home on a somewhat-packed train.
At home I checked out and, er, "tried out" my prizes, had a nap, watched some Hitch-Hiker's guide clips and then it was time to stuff my cold-fasted body with fat, salt and MSG at good 'ole Shake Shack!
And after that, off to good 'ole Anna, where I was greeted with the somewhat devastating news that the Misono building is going to be closed! That's on a par with the closing of Man on the Moon (or Motoko), that is. Ripping the very heart out of Osaka. So I went over there to drink at Caoff Discovery. Oh, and snap some pictures for future generations...
* - Oh, actually there's Comic City Park and Comic City Vega, two seperately-numbered events, happening in Tokyo. The next one in Osaka is Good Comic City 30, seperate from Haru Comic City 33 and Comic City 126. So actually their numbering scheme is "fucking insane", and I throw my hands up.