Most Manga Academy Specializations so far are for instructional books. Technique is always good, but there are times an artists' problem isn't in their head but their heart. Sometimes an artist needs a reminder of why they continue to draw. In every artist's life they reach a point where they start to ask, "What is it all for? Why continue?" A non pro feels it when a judge has trashed their work, gotten bad reviews on the art website of their choice, or made fun of by some rather rude losers for the tenth time. Or it could be someone whose gone pro, listening to their editor ask for yet another redesign that sucks the soul out of the work, saying it lacks "sex appeal" or that it's hard to sell. No matter where you are on the scale of things it boils down to the same statement. "No one wants it, and if no one wants it then what good is it? Why draw?"

This book is that reminder.

"Comic Party" is not some serious treaties on artist enlightenment but a comedy about an artist who finds an unlikely road to validation. Kazuki Sendoh has just been rejected from an art college, but feels that school won't keep him from being the artist he wants to be. His friend Taishi, an overly devoted manga fan, calls him out one morning and asks "do you really want to be an artist?" With that cryptic line, Taishi drags Kazuki to a doujinshi convention, showing him thousands of artists who create work from the pure desires of their heart. At first Kazuki is a little put off by the crowd gathered there to buy (fanboy stereotypes abound, with characters that would be right at home with any anime crowd in the United States) but Kazuki's mind changes when he meets Yuu Inagawa. Yuu is a veteran doujinshika who is at the show to sell her work. Through Yuu and others he meets at the doujinshi market, he begins to wonder if the world he is looking for is right under his nose. However, this new world does not come without a price tag. Mizuki, Kazuki's girlfriend, is more than a little unhappy with Kazuki's newfound hobby. She constantly showers Kazuki with endless criticism, telling him that the road to doujinshi will read to his ruin, and that he'll become a "loser otaku" with no career. Taishi and Yuu continue to encourage Kazuki's efforts to publish doujinshi, and a tug of war ensues.

What makes this an inspiring read is that the struggle Kazuki goes through is that of every manga-ka starting out no matter where they reside in the world. Everyone has felt that sense of searching, that wish to have their work mean something, to be enjoyed by others, to be invigorated by the process and to show the love you have for the art with another like minded person. Everyone also has their own form of naysayer Mizuki, maybe not a girlfriend but maybe a best friend, a well meaning parent or teacher. Each artist, if they are lucky, has a Taishi and Yuu to balance out the score and keep the artist going. The book also doesn't shy away from the uglier side of doujinshi, with characters like the freeloading ungrateful otaku who give Yuu trouble, or the bratty uppity "doujinshi princess" Eimi who thinks books sold is the only way to count success. Everything is admittedly over the top and funny (it is a comedy, after all) but what makes it so wonderful is the real thoughts and feelings of the characters. Moments such as Taishi's line to Mizuki when she goes into her umpteenth tirade about the worthlessness of doujinshi; "Look, Mizuki... I don't mind you calling me a loser" he begins, and then shouts "but don't insult dedicated artists who are passionate about their creativity!" For a second, the force of Taishi's line regardless of how trite it may sound, and her reaction, communicate that the concept is something dear to Taishi's heart. That feeling that prompts Taishi's insanity, Yuu's drawing, and Kazuki's perseverance is something every artist feels, a force. Something that when they remember it, it can erase so much hurt and pain all at once.

When you start to ask "Why?", pull this book off the shelf and remember when you started, how it felt to draw. No matter how many years have passed by, no matter how much sludge you have trudged through, by halfway through the first volume you will remember why you started in the first place. And hopefully, by the end of the first volume, you will have the strength to go "just a little longer".

Interested in going to a Japanese Doujinshi Convention like Kazuki of Comic Party? Go to Comiket with Pop Japan Travel! Click here for more info!