Looting Seoul

And so at last we have a report from Korea’s burgeoning doujin scene, courtesy of our intrepid hermit TC, who is there for undisclosed reasons. Contrary to expectations, Korea’s animanga scene is alive and kicking despite the apparent lack of anime or manga shops floating around the country. As a testament to the scene, they even have a MONTHLY doujin event just to showcase the latest and greatest Korean doujinshis. Theres also the subject of Korean Cosplay, of course, but that isnt our speciality.  Read more to find out! Also, crappy photos are crappy.

SETEC, one of many convention centres in Seoul

Comic World Seoul/Pusan is a monthly event for Doujin artists, and is also held concurrently in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Widely regarded to be the Comiket of Korea, the event is smaller by comparison, but more than makes up for it by sheer frequency, in order to accommodate the huge number of doujin groups in Korea ( booth bookings were finished in 3 minutes, as there is an overwhelming number of aspiring participants) . The event in general is very well run, and is efficiently organized, managed and policed by a very dedicated support crew. Entry isnt free, of course (4000 won, around $5 SGD), but its more than worth it, in TC’s humble opinion. After all, it comes with a nifty ticket and a rather nice guidebook in order to navigate the show.

It IS cute, you know.

This particular event saw two entire halls filled back to back with the best and greatest doujin artists Korea has to offer, with top names such as Nardack (of PIXIV fame) gracing the event. Unlike typical doujin conventions, however, which are mainly focused on fanworks, Comic world Seoul has a very strong showing of original works, something which is deeply impressing as it highlights the support for local creations together with the passion for popular series like K-on!! and Touhou.  Interestingly, BL series Hetalia is missing from the mix, perhaps as a result of the controversy that arose from the series’ portrayal of Korea. Anyways, pictures!

And this is not the peak hour, supposedly. People queue up just like comiket to get the good stuff early.

Did I mention original works are really strong?

As expected from the gaming capital of the world, there is alot of love for games of all sorts (Persona, in this case)

Touhou is no exception either, and boasts an unusually impressive array of arts, ranging from soundtracks to fanbooks to novels

Art quality aside, there is a diverse assortment of doujin goods, with not only standard artbooks, copy books and prints, but also soundtracks, games (!) and even cloth accessories and various knick knacks, all of which are made locally or in China. The print quality is very impressive, and many important lessons can be gleaned from this experience, chiefly in the areas of booth display and marketing techniques.  CDS, as well as Singapore’s local doujin scene has a long way to go with regards to this…

The loot is epic level

All in all, the experience was a very enlightening one, and it shows that if one has the passion, achieving great heights in the doujin world can be done with great commitment. I do hope that one day, local amateur-level events such as ACME and EOY will be able to reach this level of both participation and local support.

Dont ask. Just…dont ask.

Also, thanks to some sneaky zerg rushing (kekeke), CDS was able to secure a booth at the next Comic World Seoul, on the 26th of September 2010, and will be having a little booth there selling none other than TC’s works, which will be a baptism of fire of sorts, given the overall super high standard of Korean animanga art… so, if any readers happen to be in Korea at the time, do drop by booth G32b and say hi, no matter how improbable it might be!