Japan's biggest doujinshi event, Comic Market (Comiket, C108), kicked off on August 15-16 at Tokyo Big Sight, and it didn't take long for some serious drama to unfold on day one.
The "Pancake Octopus" circle was selling their art book, "Cosmic Princess Kaguya! Otsukaresama Hon" (Super Kaguya-hime! Otsukaresama Hon), at C108. Featuring 93 creators from "Cosmic Princess Kaguya," this book became an instant sensation, drawing massive queues and selling out almost completely by noon. But here's where things got ugly: scalpers immediately swooped in, listing the 3,000 yen art book on auction sites for nearly 10 times its original price, leaving fans absolutely disgusted and furious.
Priced at 3,000 yen at the venue, the cover art was handled by Heshima, the illustrator behind Yachiyo Tsukimi's character design. What's wild is that the official announcement on August 14th stated a free PDF version would be released after the event sales concluded. Yet, that didn't stop the insane queues from forming first thing in the morning – just check out the terrifying line in the video below!
By around noon, the book was completely sold out at the venue, leaving many dedicated fans empty-handed despite their long waits. But almost immediately, netizens spotted copies popping up on auction sites, with some scalpers listing them for eight times the original price just moments after the sell-out.
And just like that, as soon as the event wrapped, auction sites were flooded with listings ranging from 8 to 12 times the original price. Even with a strict one-copy-per-person limit at the venue, it did little to deter these opportunistic resellers, with many of their overpriced listings already snapped up.
One netizen even caught K-BOOK Akihabara listing copies that very day for a whopping 22,000 yen – a cool seven times the original price!
Naturally, countless fans voiced their frustration, lamenting that even a one-copy-per-person rule couldn't stop these scalping rings from infiltrating the event and turning the art book into such a hot mess. It just goes to show that even at a hallowed ground like Comiket, the scalper frenzy is real, leaving a trail of utterly dejected fans.
But here's the good news: the PDF version of "Super Kaguya-hime! Otsukaresama Hon" is currently available for free viewing via Kazuma Momohara's X post, and you can enjoy it online until July 31, 2027.