HamletMachine
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🕑 Added 2018-12-04 07:18:18 +0000 UTC I'm back home from Japan!Ah, I really missed chatting with everyone on here!
Last post I made was a little catch up about the COMITIA126/Kaigai Manga Fest (which went super well) and I was meaning to do another post while I was still in Tokyo, but I found the Patreon mobile app was struggling a bit under the weight of all the embedding photos?๐ฆ So I figured I'd take my time with a nice luxurious post when I got home!
(Below will be some IRL photos!)
First of all, I wanted to share some of the books I got from Kaigai Manga Fest! Both the festival and the COMITIA, as I understand it, are all original art- so there wasn't any fandom doujinshi there, but plenty of other treasures to find!
There were two artists there that I was really interested in picking books up from. The first was Kotteri:
This is their new artbook, which is huge, that features their OCs: a fancy socialite lady and a dapper soldier man who flirt a lot! (Haha, maybe you can tell why I like it!) I am not super sure what the story is, but I absolutely love their style and all the art they've been doing for this series. It's just so sensual and romantic? I also really like the vintage setting. They were super sweet in person!
The next two books were by Batsumura:
The book on the left is a collection of their original art and the book on the right is an anthology of men's formal wear illustrations. There's a lot of silky vest textures and fine details.. Also, I just love the bit of darkness in their style. (I like where there a little shadow of danger lurking sometimes, haha!) they were also really kind!
I was able to visit the Vanilla Gallery!
This is the gallery where Kaneoya Sachiko sometimes exhibits her work. As you can see by the poster, I just missed her exhibit, but I definitely want to be able to plan my trip next time when she is having an event. (There wasn't much of her work up because another artist was on display, but it was cool to see what the gallery space looked like!)
It would honestly be a dream to meet her.. I don't mean to dote too much, but I honestly think she is one of the most important creators of our time. She is absolutely incredible- I admire her and her work so much!
So, because I was unable to see her work at the gallery, I tried visiting this shop in Shinjuku called Village Vanguard. There was a section of the shop selling her merchandise!
I was unfamiliar with this shop (they have several locations in Tokyo.. even a cafe?) but they seem to rotate and feature different artists and their merchandise, kind of like a mini pop-up? That seems so ideal and brilliant? I saw a lot of different artists who had little nooks of their goods on display and I was just so intrigued.. It seemed pretty cool.
Next, I should get to the part that maybe my friends here are eager to see: I was able to visit the Animate and K-Books shops in Ikebukuro. (There's a little cluster of these shops in this area, so if you ever visit Tokyo and want to buy doujinshi (of course), this is your neighborhood.)
Their work is more sweet and introspective, plus sex! I found them on twitter a few years ago because they made this really beautiful book about this sweet vampire who gets taken in by a human and have been following them since. This is their newest book, so I had to pick it up!
I also got the latest book from Zaria:
(I forgot to take a photo of this one, but I took this image from a promo tweet here)
Zaria is amazing. Maybe some of you are already familiar with their work, but they draw amazing sex with a lot of horny passion and really good relationship dynamics, which is the best you can ask for, I think! Their newest book, Liquor and Cigarettes, is very accessible, but if you are looking for something with more dub con, I would highly rec Pet!
I found this doujinshi and I just had to buy it.. I had a scanlation of this for years and I always just loved it. It's really tragic and sexual and heavy.
(Also, a new Endhawks doujinshi that I got my grubby little mitts on!)
Probably one of the most unique adventures I had was visiting a bar called Guinea Pig:
This bar was amazing. I loved the interior, it was such a small, intimate, dark little cave. I felt like I was in a witch's den? Also, the bartender made my gin and tonic with gin that was in a glass skull?! I felt like I was being so personally catered to!
I told the bartender that I was an artist from NYC and he put my cards up in the bathroom, which looks like you are inside some guts? It was great.
I was also able to visit Mount Takao for a day trip, it was really beautiful and scenic! I was glad to get a little bit of historic sightseeing in on my trip.
This is all about an hour and a half train ride out from Tokyo! (Those chair lifts are originals from the 1964 Olympics!)
And Akihabara, of course:
Some shots from around Shibuya, where I was staying:
I hope you enjoyed this post! This was only my second time in Japan, but I look forward to the next time I can visit. It was such a great experience and I was so happy to be able to go and do a convention there!
Since this was such a big trip, I plan on taking it easy for a while on travel- I won't be doing any cons for the spring! I want to concentrate on Starfighter and Pain Killer (and other goodies).
Thank you all for your patience and your support, as always!๐โโ๏ธ๐
Comments
Rin Sparrow
ใใใใ๏ผ๏ผ I'm sorry it took so long for me to reply! I'm so glad you had a wonderful time!! Looks amazing! <3
Cris
Thank you for sharing your experience!โฅ
HamletMachine
Aww, I thought so, too!๐ญ๐ฆ๐๐ I felt so spoiled!
midoripickle
It's actually not hard to get by without English. Simple words and gestures work pretty well. I've been studying but I only know some basic sentences. Reading kanji.... Omg, no. But there is a lot of English signs and whatnot.
HamletMachine
Here it is: <a href="https://www.animate-onlineshop.jp/pn/%E3%80%90%E3%82%B3%E3%83%9F%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF%E3%80%91PET%E5%A5%91%E7%B4%84/pd/1317294/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.animate-onlineshop.jp/pn/%E3%80%90%E3%82%B3%E3%83%9F%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF%E3%80%91PET%E5%A5%91%E7%B4%84/pd/1317294/</a> ๐ค๐๐
HamletMachine
Ooh- I got it in Tokyo! At a shop called.. um, Listen Flavor, I think?!๐ค๐จ
HamletMachine
Aww, thank you so much!๐ญ๐๐๐
HamletMachine
Ooh--! It's so cool that you spotted this artist! (The doujinshi is great!๐ญ๐๐) Thank you so much, starr!
HamletMachine
Aww, sounds like a cozy experience! I did miss your presence when we were in the Brown Rice Cafe!๐ญ๐ฆ๐๐
HamletMachine
Aw, my pleaqsure! Thank you for reading my long post, haha! I hope you will get to visit there soon!๐ค๐๐๐
HamletMachine
Thank you so much as always, Amber!๐ค๐๐๐
HamletMachine
Aww, thank you so much!๐ญ๐ฆ๐๐
HamletMachine
Oooh, I've never heard of this before, thank you for the rec!๐ค๐๐๐
HamletMachine
Aww, it's my pleasure! OH- and I've been compiling a post with a bunch of recs, so I hope that will add some more options to your list! You are so sweet to trust my judgement.. ๐ญ๐ฆ๐
HamletMachine
Oh my gosh, you are so sweet.. ๐ญ๐ฆ๐๐ (Whenever someone tells me to rest, I'm always so touched, haha!) Thank you so much for the kind words!
HamletMachine
Right?! Oh my gosh, I snagged it right away! It was a bit more expensive, but it was worth it for the precious memories and amazing art! Hehe, I hope you will be able to go! (I hear a lot of people mail back the books they buy, too?)
HamletMachine
Oh my gosh.. I would LOVE to! I want Korea to be my next big trip!๐ค๐๐
HamletMachine
Ah, thank you so much! I had a great trip, but it's also super nice to be back!๐โโ๏ธ๐ Ah- what a lovely honeymoon choice! (Congratulations!๐๐๐ ) I hope you enjoy the artists!
HamletMachine
Ooh Nier, it's so cool that you know these shops!๐ค๐จ๐ I was able to poke my nose in the Village Vanguard in Shibuya as well but.. there was some kind of idol performance happening(?), so I didn't really get a chance to look around that location!๐๐จ Please let me know if you ever have any recs you'd think I'd like!
HamletMachine
Aww, do they not sell doujinshi at the SF store any more?๐ญ๐ฆ Kinokuniya has really been distancing themselves from that.. Also, ooh, I don't know this manga! I should look it up!
Oz_Draws
I want to go to Japan, but I feel like I would not have a good experience without knowing some Japanese.
Oz_Draws
Do you speak Japanese?
Rachel Gitlevich
AUGH you make me want to go back! AH i'm a fool I should have told you to go to MUSCLE BAR (its exactly what it sounds like. Shirtless jacked dudes feeding you mouth to mouth pocky and flexing at you as you get DRUNK)
I NEED TO KNOW WHERE YOU GOT THAT RING??? :O
Quinchilla
Looks like a great trip!! *^* (now go relax!) you made me all nostalgic for Japan <3
M. Findley
Do you have a link to the Pet! ?
midoripickle
ใๅธฐใ!!! Such awesome pictures. Makes me miss Japan so much. But it looks like you had a great time!
Ah kusosweets for that Endhawkes DJ... (I know their style anywhere ;) they also did A LOT of Daiya (baseball boys) for my otp and Iโm in โค๏ธ with their style. So glad the trip was so amazing Hamlet!
Sapfo
Enjoying your vacation photos and sipping tea. It looks like you had a wonderful trip, make me miss this amazing place โบ๏ธโ๏ธ๐
Sharon Stogner
Wow, thanks for a peek into your vacation. I've never been to Japan but it is on my list!
Amber Lockridge
Wow! The trip sounds amazing. Thank you for sharing all these lovely little details for us the experience vicariously! I'm excited for the artist recommendation and looking forward to checking them out. Welcome home!
vixxsin_
Oooooooh! Bless you for the recs! Always struggle to find and get into any new manga, particularly Yaoi/BL, but I trust your judgement completely โฅ๏ธ๐
atelierMUSE
It looks like you had a truly wonderful trip! I'm so happy for you ๐ The scenery looks so breathtaking...! And what amazing art you picked up! I hope you're now able to take a little time to enjoy all your new books and REST~ ๐
Omg can't believe you found a copy of Giglio ๐ญ it's so sad but the artwork is beautiful! I'm trying to save up for a trip to Japan ๐ better take a big empty suitcase with me
Come to Korea next! :D
Royal
YAY You're back! ๐ค๐ I'm glad you had such a great time! I've always wanted to go to Shibuya, I'm going to try to convince my fiancรฉ that we should go there for our honeymoon. ๐คญ Actually, none of the artists you have mentioned are familiar to me, I will go have a look, Thank you! ๐คฉ๐
Whoa, so glad you had so much fun n Tokyo! An you found so many goodies! Village Vanguard is great, I've been to the one in Fukuoka. They have various new and 'retro' stuff along with artists and a sort of joke shop lot of toys. I brought some kaiju toys from them in the past. I don't think they're a pop up shop but they might have some pop up ones. You must have a lot of sef control, every time I'm in Akiba I'm always in the arcades spending an hour or two.
noe
that looks so fun!! i'm glad you had a great time :D!! i've been vacationing as well, in san francisco doing bookstore hopping (where i live has a total of one v_v) and it's super fun!! kinokuniya no longer sells doujins though 8(((( but i picked up a copy of jackass by scarlet beriko, best purchase ever -w-
HamletMachine
I'm so happy you liked it, Maya! I don't usually write this much, so.. I'm relieved it was at least a little enjoyable!๐ณ๐จ๐๐
HamletMachine
Aww, taz! That's so great to hear!๐ค๐๐
HamletMachine
Ooh, I'm so happy you liked them!๐ณ๐จ๐๐ Thank you so much!
HamletMachine
Ooh, thank you so much! Ah, right?! I was so happy to return! ๐ค๐๐
omg so much fun! I haven't been to japan in a bit and am so happy you had such a great time! Thank you so much for the variety of pics and the detailed write-up
Thank you for sharing with us!! โค๏ธ๐โค๏ธ๐ I love seeing original work and everything in Japan just looks so wicked ๐ญ
Samantha Moreno
I'm glad you had a good time! That bar and store look awesome! I'll have to check them out next time I'm there, and I'm definitely looking up all those book/artist recommendations ๐ฅฐ
HamletMachine
Aww, Brookie! I'm so happy to hear that!๐ณ๐ (I have also been working on a "recommendations post" that another member requested! There is some crossover from this post, but I hope you will like those as well!) And oof, of my gosh, I am at a child's level! ๐๐ฆ But thankfully, the trains are really easy to navigate and people are very understanding with tourists! Are you planning a trip soon?
Vavabeeb
๐ So happy youโre back and had an amazing time! Japan is such a wonderful country, I miss it so much ๐ญ and dang that bar looks so good >:3
HamletMachine
Thank you so much, Neon!๐ญ๐๐๐ I loved the trip, but it's always nice to come back home!
Brookie
What an exciting post! Iโm going to check out the artists and books you mentioned. Thank you. Are you able to converse in Japanese or read it well?
NeonStarrzzify
Glad you were able to buy lots of stuff :D And glad your trip was fun. Welcome back!
HamletMachine
Aww, you are so sweet! Ah, that's so cool?! I hope you will have a great stay and fun with your studies!๐ค๐๐
Camry
ใๅธฐใใชใใ๏ผYour pictures got me all excited. I'll be going to Japan to study the language, actually.
