AnimeVision

2 - Put Your Heart Into It
Comic Bravo approaches - and with remarkable foresight (or arrogance - you decide), Tashi has applied for a stand at the convention quite a while before he even mentioned doujinshi to Kazuki. Still unable to say 'no' to his overbearing friend, Kazuk finds himself with a very short deadline to create his first comic. He has some help from Yuu, but Mizuki's less than impressed with his newfound interest - especially after catching him cosplaying as Multi (y'know, female andromaid from To Heart?). Scary sight...

3 - Buyers, Sellers, Exhibition & Spot Sale
It's time for Kazuki's first convention - Taishi's taken care of all the arrangements to make sure that 'Brother 2' has his spot in the hall, but disappears as soon as the event starts, leaving poor Kazuki to fend for himself. Never having done this before, it's a completely new experience for him - can he handle himself when things don't go as well as he hoped? Meanwhile, Mizuki's out indulging in some retail therapy, trying to get over her annoyance at Kazuki's recent behaviour...

Mini-Special 1 - Bath Steam Sentimentality: The Case of the Missing Doujinshi Tour Group
A doujinshi convention at a hot springs - now there's a good idea. :) The gang head to 'Comic Kurhaus', and naturally the first thing on the agenda is to hit the baths. Taishi insists on doing some 'research' on the neighbouring girls bath. While climbing the partition wall, he finds a small stone statue of Multi, with a 'do not touch' sign attached - and naturally can't resist...

Reason I hadn't been planning on buying Comic Party was that, while I enjoyed it okay when it was on the fansub curcuit, it wasn't really that standout a show, so it had been pushed to the 'buy eventually' list. Then TRSI announced a very sweet LE box for it, and the rest is history...

The surprise was that, now that I have the disc, it seems that bit more enjoyable than it did first time around - most likely because I've been into anime & Japanese culture that little bit longer so I can catch a lot more of the references that are made in the show. Comic Party is very heavy on the parody, and it really does help to have an almost otaku-level of knowledge about anime & manga. That said, even if you don't TRSI have included extensive liner notes to help point out some of the less obvious references - keep the booklet at hand while you're watching!

This is one of those releases that could have gone either way. The inclusion of the liner notes means that a much wider audience will be able to 'get' it than would otherwise would have, so full marks for TRSI there. The show itself stands up really well to rewatching, and has a good share of laugh-out-loud moments, too. Now if I could only get rid of Taishi - all those 'My Brother!' comments start to grate after a while. Otherwise, though, recommended - even without the lure of the artbox...