Sequel

OVA, 2003-2004, 4 eps,4.29(592),6.70(596)

TV Series, 2005, 13 eps,4.41(601),6.63(608)

Amateurs getting exposed and drawn into the world of dōjinshi, hilarity ensues.

Both explore the otaku culture. Comic Party explores the exploitation of the increasing popularity of doujin books, similarily NHK ni Youkoso! explores the rising consumerism in eroge visual novels.

byadventurer on2008-01-28 17:23

Animation[/b]
The drawing and animation is fine for its age; it doesn't stand out but it does the job, and the backgrounds are well-done. The characters are drawn well, those that need to be cute look the part and the main male characters have a characteristic style. Extra points for the way the doujinshi are presented ; it makes the viewer feel like the anime characters are real ones and are actually holding a real doujinshi in their hands. My only gripe is that many of the characters' faces look too much alike.


Sound[/b]
Nice background effects and music that fits, nothing more to be asked. Kazuki and the girls all have nice-suited voices, and Taishi's voice is perfect for him, not easy to do when the character he's playing is so crazy! The sound effects behind his usual speeches are also marvelous. The opening and ending are catchy and memorable, and they fit the series nicely.


Story[/b]
The story follows a teenager who starts drawing doujinshi (amateur manga) and attends conventions where people buy them. It sounds simple and inventive enough, but the show fails to back this idea up with good storytelling. A good example of how badly they put their messages across is in an episode where they want to show a character is depressed ; we are treated to a beach episode with that person and a friend of the opposite sex, where the former only speaks in "hmm" and "uhm" while the latter does all the talking... for the entire twenty-minutes episode!

The only redeeming value of the series would come if it tried to show you how difficult it is to create a doujinshi and how frustrating it can be. Unfortunately the show falls short there as well, as the story focuses more on the dysfunctional main character than on the actual doujinshi making. It's hard to have a good story about a real profession when the main character is so unrealistic.

Apart from that, the inherent flaw of the series is its extreme amount of forced scenes. Whenever the writers want to add something to the story, they unceremoniously defy all background, circusmtances and logic to make the scene fit for the addition. For example (No Spoilers, don't worry) the girl who loves the protagonist goes to a party leaving him to draw and thinks about how he should be with him. Then her (female) friends show up with two cool guys who asked them out for karaoke. Then the guys sit beside that girl saying "what's your name pretty girl?". Here is what they say after she replies "Oh, speaking of karaoke, there was this guy there who sang anime songs (girls act disgusted) , man what an idiot (girls agree) what's he thinking, manga are for kids" and they proceed to badmouth people like that to which the heroine reacts angrily and leaves. No I am not kidding with you, this actually happens. Another example is when a girl who has a printing shop brings a printer to the boy's house but suddenly it runs out of tone. So the 6 persons present do the obvious and go looking for convenience stores... each holding 1/6th of the book so that they can print it in six different stores and then bring it home. Putting aside the silliness of that idea and the fact that it'll take infinitely more time that way, you're in a damn convenience store that has a printer, just buy a tone, return and continue printing!!! Or the girl who runs her OWN PRINTING SHOP goes there and brings one!!! But that wouldn't make an interesting story, would it?


Characters[/b]
This is where the show fails miserably, with one single exception. The main character, Kazuki, starts out with potential but it doesn't take many episodes until he shows his moronic side which eventually takes over completely. More to the point, his reactions to many circumstances are so unrealistic and extreme that it takes any hint of realism away from him. The main girl, Mizuki, on the outside is exactly the typical childhood friend who wakes him up every morning and is secretly in love with him but never says anything... but she is not a stereotype because these girls usually have one-dimension characters, while Mizuki doesn't have any character at all, spending the entire anime depressed for not understanding Kazuki. There is also the clumsy sophomore who always does and say the same things (honestly, you can swap her lines from one episode and put them in another and they'll make perfect sense!) , the two "rival girls" who always fight against each other with the difference that only one actually says something clever while the other only calls her names, the extremely shy girl who hardly says anything etc etc. In short, every character tries desperately to fall into a typical anime stereotype but fail even at that task!

The only exception and thank GOD for it is Kazuki's friend, Taishi. Although he, too, is very one-dimensional almost never changing his tone, his antiques bring life to an otherwise dull cast of characters. The viewer is destined to set a smile whenever he starts one of his crazy speeches, and as far as characters go he is pretty unique. He is also the only reason I didn't give the Character score a perfect 1.


Value[/b]
Fortunately Comic Party does show a bit about the world of doujinshi, about how the participants write them for theirs and their fans' enjoyment and not for outright profit, and about the relevant doujinshi conventions plus the atmosphere there, but since the focus is more on the dysfunctional and unrealistic main character than on any of that, the value is pretty much lost in-between.


Enjoyment[/b]
There is little enjoyment to be found in this series. Of course there is always Taishi who is an endless source of amusement and you might enjoy it if you are into making doujinshi or admire the persons who do so, but otherwise just skip this anime and go watch Genshiken.

bymaceart on2004-12-21 03:45

Comic Party...ever since To Heart, I've avoided Aquaplus's anime like a plague. But when I read reviews on how that company "redeemed" itself with this anime, I decided to give it a chance. A great anime, comedic and with touches of drama. You don't have to enjoy the doujin world to like this anime.

Animation: Good enough. Running animation is there, characters blink, rare use of repeated cells. I like the neutral character designs and that each character had a unique look and feel to them. Detail is amazing for the convention locations and the way doujinshi is drawn. Great job KSS.

Sound: The OP song is a catchy jpop called Kimi no Mama de and its tune is way overused throughout the series. Anyways, the music serves it's purpose throughout this anime, although one little quirk I didn't get was why did the cell phones have weird beeps when someone hangs up or pick up the phone? Taishi is the best. Whenever he comes out some outrageous orchestral piece starts playing. The ED song is also not bad.

Story: Coming from a bishoujo game, I didn't expect much (and especially coming from the makers of To Heart!). Anyways, Comic Party contains a decent story about the main guy Kazuki making his way through the trials of the doujin world. It also ties a bit in on cosplaying, but not a lot. The story wasn't very strong, as it was the characters which made this anime shine.

Character: The strongest part of this anime. Each character was fleshed out enough to be memorable. There's the childhood friend Mizuki, the moe-moe first year Chisa, the obligatory gay buddy Taishi, the cosplayer, the "lincho" type character, Aya, the aspiring new doujin artist (and my fav character!) and two rivalling doujin artists. Yuu and Emi cracked me up the most with their rivalry antics. In the beginning, Kazuki was a smooth pimp. Then towards the middle, he became an ass. Then when he had a "revelation", he became a pimp again. Alas, the anime's bishoujo game roots show too much in this series. I counted at least 6 girls Kazuki could have ended up with. O well, each character were developed enough to show their individual uniqueness.

Value: I place Comic Party at a pretty good value. Bishoujos: Check. Plot: Sorta check. Drama/Comedy: Check. If you were dissappointed by To Heart, then try Comic Party.

Enjoyment: I thoroughly enjoyed Comic Party. It was funny, sad, and very entertaining.

Comic Party, I think is the best bishoujo game to anime conversion of the year 2001.

byPetriW on2003-05-31 01:17

This is a story about dojinshi, cosplay and the conventions for the people who love that kind of stuff. Personally I've never seen the joy in cosplay and while good quality dojinshi can be fun I've never really gone into either. I don't know how well it reflects reality but the story actually felt pretty solid.

Animation quality is good, sound is matching, voice acting is done great and you won't think about it much and mostly see the story.

The story does actually have a clean start, middle and end with the various mishaps along the way. There's the joy of good oddball friends but the main character Kazuki Sendo can sometimes be mindboggingly moronic in his behavior which puts a pretty serious dent in the overall picture for me, I want somewhat realistic people and while there are people with apathy problems Kazuki shouldn't really be one, ok if it's a little but it was overdone.

It's a decent anime with a several good points and some bad, no rewatch value but its fun while it lasts.