Canned Dogs reports on something interesting that went down at Comiket. A while ago a group of anime fans arranged a demonstration called the Akihabara Liberation Demo, in which otaku were proclaiming their pride in their hobbies. But apparently the group has some ties to an extremely left-wing group, causing some fans to criticize the demonstration online.

This eventually led to some less-than-peaceful discussions, including what is effectively a death threat to a Comiket staffer. As a result, the security at the convention was stepped up a bit. It looks like nothing major happened, but one (underage) photographer WAS stopped, and apparently he had been hired (unknowingly) by someone related to the group.

Interesting! For some reason this makes me imagine a group of otaku at Tokyo Big Sight performing West Side Story-style dance fights.

First off, I guest-starred on Japanator’s podcast again this week, mostly talking about San Diego Comic-Con announcements, cowbells, and other goofiness. You can check it out here. I really need to learn to speak a little slower.

I actually spent most of the day cleaning (!), but there was a bit of news here and there:

Probably a fair few of you already know that NatsuComi, a.k.a. the Summer Comic Market, starts in a few hours in Japan. (No doubt some otaku have already been in line for ages…)

According to MantanWeb, extra attention is being paid to a particular group this year: fushoshi, the yaoi fans. Given that boys love makes up a pretty significant chunk of doujinshi to begin with, it’s hard for me to fathom what even more attention would be like, but there you have it. Still, the fujoshi focus these days is undeniable. Consider: not one but two live-action films based on BL series are announced within a couple weeks of each other? Yyyeah.

The event promises to have about 500,000 attendees this year (and you thought San Diego Comic Con was big?), running from the 17th through the 19th at the Tokyo Big Sight, with people buying doujinshi, pimping new anime, cosplaying, etc.

Here’s hoping for some fun coverage to pop up. And for me to be able to attend soon. ♥