Otaku’s Heaven – Comic Market 99 Reschedules To Only 3 Days Due To Covid-19

If you are looking to buy a mint edition copy of your favorite manga or looking for a market dedicated solely for manga lovers then Comic Market (Comiket) is just the right place for you!

As a paradise for doujin lovers, the Comic Market is more than just a book fair. It is a fan convention where cosplayers, like-minded people and fans can talk about their favorite fandom.

Comiket was a nonprofit event started by Comic Market Preparatory Committee on 21st December 1975. The 98th Comiket that was supposed to be held in May 2020 was cancelled due to the ongoing Coronavirus outbreak.

The 99th Comiket was scheduled to be held from May 2-5 in 2021.

The 99th Comiket is now rescheduled to hold the event for only 3 days i.e, from May 2-4. The new change in schedule is after taking into consideration the ongoing Covid-19 guidelines.

Comiket’s official website explains that the change in schedule was also due to the sudden venue change from Aomi Exhibition Halls to Tokyo Big Sight’s West and South Exhibition Halls. The venue was compromised to maintain Covid-19 guidelines.

Comiket Committee members also explained about the number of participants situation. They said there may be a special event held to decide the participants using a lottery to prevent overcrowding.

Even though past Comiket events had a crowd of over 200,000 people attending, this new lottery system might only allow tens of thousands of people per day.

The Committee members were trying to push the Winter Comic Market 99 to Golden Week of the year 2021 (i.e. April and May) but experienced some major venue issues in the Tokyo Big Sight’s East Exhibition hall.

The halls will be booked for the 2021 Olympics till Fall, and Covid-19 had also pressured the committee members to think of alternative convention ideas.

“Air Comiket” was a concept introduced during the 98th Comiket where fans could not attend the venue due to the heavy Covid-19 lockdown situation. The Comic Market Committee is thinking of implementing this concept in future events.

We hope that comic fans will be able to enjoy the event and buy some of their favorite doujinshi manga despite the strict Covid-19 guidelines.