"Joint fetish exchange magazine" for several

Hot off the press: Comiket is becoming another major publishing outlet. I can’t say I’m super excited, but the eventual addition of third spaces to the mainstream is the rule rather than the exception, so I guess that’s how things are going.

While I have, for the most part, voluntarily chosen not to collect H-dōjinshi (not because I have anything against prurient interests, they just don’t hold my attention), I am certainly not in the business of shaming the innocent. I mean, if you enjoy innocent (and consensual) poking and fantasy, who am I to judge? Sometimes outlandish things happen.

One of those extravagant artifacts isjoint fetish exchange magazine, roughly translatable as Anthology of fetish exchange… which is pretty much everything you need to know about the subject of this 72-page, A4, black and white collaborative publication by… actually, some pretty important characters in the official manga world. I guess Weekly Shonen Jump It wouldn’t be the best route for an anthology where authors basically bring each other’s fetishes to life in manga form. We have some interesting names here: Masaki Ando, ​​the author of the 4-koma Yagatome-chan; Keitaro Yotsuya, of Memumemu-chan… Fame, I guess? Yukiko Nozawa, who actually feels at home with ecchi…

This 2017 anthology is certainly a curious toy for those who like to see ‘the pros’ relax a bit and, umm, describe their fetish in detail for others to put into manga form. Of course, said fetishes are pretty tame things, the sort of thing like peeping at pants, see-through clothing, maid outfits… interesting stuff, but don’t expect anything wild. The same goes in the ecchi department: aside from a couple of risqué sheers and a few sweaty faces, things stay pretty tame.

As expected, visually a wide range of styles are on display. Each artist is given only four to eight pages, and most of the people involved work in the comedy/slice-of-life genre, so don’t expect meticulously rendered backgrounds or extensive two-page spreads: Still, all the creators involved are either professionals or long-time independent creators, so the quality remains fairly high throughout. To be honest though, the best part comes before each chapter, where each Secret Santa participant gets to defend their personal fetishes. Interesting things.