Easily confused with the identically named Tokyopop series, CPM’s Comic Party is a collection of fan comics based on the Comic Party franchise, drawn by (and presumably solicited from) various Japanese small-press artists. The forgettable short stories have standard dôjinshi weaknesses: mediocre art, disinterest in drawing anything but faces, and pointless, sentimental stories centered around trivial incidents. For hard-core fans only.
Slickly drawn light novel adaptation of the “dating simulation” video game franchise of the same name, better known in the United States through the anime adaptation (which, like this light novel, eliminated the sexual elements). Kazuki, rejected from a fine-arts college, becomes involved in the world of Comic Party (an undisguised version of Japan’s Comic Market convention), drawing and selling dôjinshi, to the embarrassment of his girlfriend. He soon befriends countless cute, big-eyed, nerdy girls, including a shy voice actress who goes to the convention incognito and a girl who works at the copy shop; however, rather than love, the story focuses on the how-to of being a Japanese small-press artist, told with a yasashii (gentle) mood. As a portrait of a subculture, it’s not entirely inaccurate, merely dumbed-down, whitewashed, and incredibly self-congratulatory. Despite the story’s constant refrain that passion is more important than talent, the anime-style slapstick enthusiasm feels forced, a transparent commercialization of geek culture.
The biggest, most diverse collection of Japanese underground comics available in English, Comics Underground Japan includes work from various sources from 1981 to 1993. The art ranges from highly technically skilled and detailed to intentionally crude heta-uma (good-bad) drafting, and the subject matter varies widely as well. Suehiro Maruo’s “Planet of the Jap” and Takashi Nemoto’s “Future Sperm Brazil” deal with the atrocities (and sexual associations) of Japanese World War II military imperialism, while Yoshikazu Ebisu briefly satirizes corporate culture. Kazuichi Hanawa’s dreamlike “Jiniku” almost belongs to the fantasy genre, and Hanako Yamada’s work reads like misanthropic journal comics, while Pan Migawa provides a flash of introspective whimsy. The collection also includes Nekojiru and Hajime Yamano’s short story “Cat Noodle Soup,” which was adapted into the “Cat Soup” anime. The overall impression is of incredible talent and diversity. Other artists include Masakazu Toma, Carol Shimoda, Yasuji Tanioka, Muddy Wehara, Hideshi Hino, and Suzy Amakane (cover illustration).
A collection of short shôjo dramas, each centered around a different social issue facing teenage girls in Japan, like the old Kill the lights. Although some of the details are specifically Japanese (such as volume 1’s tale of enjo kôsai [teen prostitution], or volume 4’s tales of bullying), the subjects are generally universal, such as sexual harassment, drug addiction, and AIDS. In their function as educational comics, the stories avoid the most obvious sins of preachiness and patronizing their audience. Sexism and “blaming the victim” are recurring themes, and the victims of the stories are surprisingly proactive by light novel standards, organizing petitions and filing lawsuits against their oppressors. A few forgettable noneducational stories are mixed in with the rest. The art is merely generic. The series was originally published in Japan as six stand-alone volumes: Namida (“Tears”), Uwasa (“Rumors”), Itami (“Pain”), Tobira (“The Door”), Memai (“Dizzy”), and Himitsu (“Secrets”).
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