Manga Ichiba: Con Report
How was North America's first doujinshi event?
Manga Ichiba (Manichi), the first doujinshi event in North America, was unlike any other con event. Thanks to Manga Ichiba, I…
Found other people who make their own manga
Printed and sold my OC manga (that manga being Polymonfur ~How to be Polyamorous in a World of Monsters and Furries~ : If You Touch the Crystal, Your Boobs Will Grow and Remedial Magical Girl)
Connected with people enthusiastic about manga
Any one of these would be a big goddamn deal. Having all three rolled in a weekend made it a pivotal moment that, a month later, has already reshaped how I approach art. I know I’m not the only one affected by this, because I met other mangaka thrilled to meet other mangaka. My hope is Manichi will have this beautiful cascading positive effects on the American manga “scene.”
All creative fields— even if you’re molded to take the “conventional” route in your field— are going to have a heavy degree of unpredictability. But making manga outside of Japan means you’re inherently on a higher difficulty setting, since you’re attacking this art form as an outsider. And I can’t speak from experience about more general artists alleys— but word on the street is books move slower at the (american) artists alley, “scope creep” has no signs of stopping, and good luck selling anything outside of Flavor of the Month anime merch. Artists Alleys suck if the only thing on your mind is making a manga.
Yes: there’s comic and zine events. But consider the audience. I buy a lot of manga. I’m not calling off work to go to an indie comic event. If a comic book store doesn’t have a manga section, I leave. There’s audience overlap and these two worlds have always influenced each other (I know you’ve seen that Scrooge McDuck fanart by Tezuka), but they’re still two separate beasts. I’d have trouble moving a stack of magical girl yuri manga at a comic-focused event. Same as if I went to a local crafts fair and I was tabling next to someone selling crochet narwals. The audience wouldn’t be zero, but I know it’d be a luck of the draw for how many other otaku felt like calling off work.
We’re not derailing this article for a “what classifies as manga” debate, but look— Manga Ichiba exists as a part of Fanimecon, a convention for anime. And Manga Ichiba deliberately copied the model used for doujinshi events in Japan. This hasn’t happened anywhere in North America, which is exactly why this is a big deal. And my hope is more events will look at its success and copy it. The key factors being:
Low table cost ($20 fee for the table)
Book-first artists tables. Limited merch. I forgot the exact ratio of books:merch, but that doesn’t matter. Point is whatever books you’re selling need to be the main attraction. If books aren’t the main selling point of your table you’ll be asked to put away some of your knick-nacks.
Open to newcomers and all skill levels.
Totally okay with NSFW, strict No Kinkshaming policy
Now that Manichi exists, artists can have “I want to make a manga and sell it at Manichi” as a tangible goal. Giving your comic a concrete purpose is hugely motivating while drawing. Too often with content creation you’re blindly throwing your shit in the void, and praying that the void might leave you a thumbs-up emoji.
We’re a few years away from seeing what bigger effects this will have on American manga-making (that is, will other events copy it, or how many other participating artists will feel profoundly moved by the Power of Art). And despite this being a pivotal moment for me, I’m still “me.” Manga Ichiba showed me what’s possible. It’s going to keep me motivated. But.
There’s never a singular event where you’re “cured” and now your emotional hangups are a thing of the past.
Progress is boring and there’s lots of little steps. Even if we can point to Manga Ichiba as an inflection point, there’s still a lot before and after happening for meaningful change to stick.
I’m blessed by the luxury of hindsight, so I can now gush about how this event was a huge success and how I had buckets of fun. But I was anxious leading up to Manga Ichiba. Before it was my time to vend, I sat in the hotel lobby, feeling deeply unsure about everything.
Then I set up my table and had a great time.
Not to gloss over that great time— but after that con, I went home. And I feel better about my art and the direction I’m going. I’m lurking more in the Manga Ichiba discord server, replying to people on Twitter more, making more of an effort to connect. If I go back again in the future— I don’t want to just sit there in the hours leading up to table time. That’s the personal progress I’m hoping for. And in a few years we’ll see if this leads to unbreakable bonds as doujinshi events flourish across America. Either way, I’m grateful that Manichi happened.
Key memories from the con table:
Yes it was busy!!! I wish I could’ve yapped more with everyone, but traffic was continuous all night (which is awesome because yeah, I didn’t expect to move that many books). Can’t overstate how cool everyone was… I hope this post will reach all the cool people who stopped by the table
Trading with Dana (Danasauur) who also made a hucow book!!! Cows are IN!!!
I also have a lot to say about the Pokemon doujinshi… And cute sadboi doujinshi… but lets save the Giant Doujinshi Review for later
Thank you to everyone who saw my circle cut online and decided to seek me out!! I thought the circle cut wouldn’t have that much reach, thank you for proving me wrong
There were people asked me to sign their book??? You’ve deeply flattered me, thank you.
I was surprised with this adorable fanart from Lemoncreme! You’re so unbelievably kind! The dopey stare of my fursona was expertly captured. This is a cherished item… thank you
Best reasons people bought a book:
Everyone who bought one book, and after doing a lap they came back to buy the other. Thank you!
Someone happy to buy Polymonfur because they’re polyamorous! They told me they have a boyfriend and girlfriend! Holy moly they were so sweet! (I know this book is low on poly elements… I promise future books are more explicitly poly… either way I hope you liked it!)
A few people who bought copies of my books because their friends bought it… You’re all so kind! And your friends are very cool and I want to thank them
Everyone who bought “Remedial Magical Girl” because they categorically love all magical girls. Yes! I get you!!!!!
Everyone who bought Polymonfur because they needed bigger boobs in manga— that is, they explicitly told me how much they were craving the oversized oppai. That’s pretty explicitly a goal with this series… I’m so happy other oppai lovers could understand my Vision…!
Funniest reasons people didn’t buy:
Everyone who flipped through Remedial Magical Girl and put it back because it was “too sad.” And we could have a chuckle like, yeah, you’re right, it was sad! (This happened a few times, and it was funny every time it happened)
Everyone confused about why RMG was even being sold during the adults-only time slot. It’s totally SFW… it’s not a l*li book… It’s my SFW book… sorry about the confusion
One particularly memorable passerby flipped thru RMG and went “man, I thought this would end with them scissoring” which, lol
Someone who asked, in regards to Polymonfur, the ol’ “but how does she walk with boobs that big” question. They were willing to hear me out: I explained that the whole book is about Princess Ushida’s quest for the levitation crystal so she gain more mobility now that her boobs that are that big. Being armed with an in-universe explanation for The Oppai wasn’t expected and lead to a great back and forth… thanks for having a great sense of humor about impossibly huge boobs
Everyone was surprisingly chill if something wasn’t to their taste. Either politely saying it’s not for them or they just kept walking, zero kink shaming all night (And if anyone was rolling their eyes or looked grossed out, my super autism faceblindness protected me)
Random sales data:
37 copies of Polymonfur sold
24 copies of Remedial Magical Girl sold
Remaining copies were traded in the artists alley. It was a lot of fun chatting with different artists and learning what they’re “about.” (And just like my own time tabling, really wish it wasn’t so busy so we could do more yappin!!!)
I still have leftover doujinshi… Those’ll be handed out whenever I meet up with internet friends irl
My entire setup was bought at Daiso, no elaborate display… but its all good since most people only had a few books on the table, thats the point!
This was my first time tabling, so I was approaching it more as “y’know what makes me nuts as an artist alley customer?”
I left out 3 ‘sample’ copies of both titles for people to read… so everyone interested who passed by was able to help themselves and take a look. No one felt rushed or pressured to move it along, despite the heavy traffic. There were a few moments where all 6 books were occupied, but all and all I’m happy with having that many out.
Each sample book had a “Look Inside” sticky note that got some passerby’s to give it a shot— I feel I should’ve made it bigger, something to keep in mind for next time
Sample books had the price clearly labeled. I also had a giant “$10 per book” sign in the middle of the table. The sign was hand drawn, which I’m sure someone more professional would ding me for, but look, no one was confused about the price.
Feeling overwhelmed or confused by different price points is my biggest gripe as a customer (if I see more than two prices on your table, I will hurt myself in confusion) so I’m happy I could communicate this effectively
My table was visually split with half holographic/pink for Polymonfur and half black for Remedial Magical Girl. There were a few (literally, two) people initially confused if this is all one artist or if this was multiple groups. But it’s all good! The running joke that my table, selling two wildly opposite books, can be summed up as “OPPAI vs. ZETSUBOU” was a lot of fun. (Plus, having my table visually look more Tapir-like is a win)
Next time?
Hopefully a little less squirrelly leading up to the event (whether tabling at Manga Ichiba or somewhere else) since it won’t be my First Rodeo
I want to talk to more people! More hangouts! (I’m lucky enough to have hung out with Eventually before Manichi and had a blast— would love to coordinate more! If I’m going to a con in your area please don’t be shy about reaching out)
I Need to make it easier to connect with anyone I’m meeting at the table— so setting up my website and socials and all that, so if anyone who asks for my socials doesnt just get a Big Shrug
Thank you to the Fanimecon staff for throwing such an unforgettable event
More Manga Ichiba yapping can be found in this podcast. I share funny stories about before and after the con… there’s a lot I didn’t cover here since I wanted to just talk about Manga Ichiba itself.
Here’s to more cons, more doujinshi events, more indie manga