COLORS by Tsuki (つき) + Touhou Opinions5 min read
Reading Time: 3 minutesCOLORS is a short, Touhou doujinshi released during Comiket 76 by the relatively unknown artist Tsuki (つき). In fact, this artist is probably even more unknown due to a recent name change. Though the circle remains the same, Chikatama (ちかたま), the artist’s pen name changed from Chika (ちか) to Tsuki (つき) between Comiket 76 and 77 and this doujinshi was published under the former name. Since this is a bit on the short side with just 16 pages, I also want to talk about the Touhou and Vocaloid genres in general.
Even with all the changes though, the art style stays the same and recognizable. I gave Tsuki’s doujinshi a try because the cover art reminded me of Shimeko’s watery style, which isn’t often seen.
I know a lot of people feel Touhou jaded, but I think many are forgetting the very basic fact of what doujinshi are: self-published works. As an artist investing your own money to print a publication that gets your work and your art style out there, you need to pay attention to what people are looking for. They also need to know what shops like Toranoana, Melonbooks, and so on would be more willing to pick up in case they can’t sell out at the event. Without exaggerated mark-up, most of these artists are just hoping to break even while gaining exposure. So they aim for a genre with a lot of fandom; and let’s be honest, hentai doujinshi (NSFW link) still trump illustration collections. But, hentai doujinshi aside, Touhou and Vocaloid have far reaching fandoms and a successful artist on the genre can extend that reach even further through CD cover art opportunities, game designs, and even figures.
The other aspect of choosing to do illustrations for Touhou or Vocaloid, is that while they do both have a large fandom, that means it’s even more competitive for an artist to get noticed in a sea of artists. In this case, competition breeds excellence, with the most notable Touhou and Vocaloid artists becoming sought after for commercial work.
Other genres have been used as a stepping stone to popularity, and most recently before the Touhou craze, Rozen Maiden had a huge number of illustration doujins by a variety of artists. And before that, it wasn’t as financially feasible for unknown artists to release full-color illustration doujins. It’s a shame to avoid Touhou and Vocaloid illustration doujins because in the end you’re avoiding discovering new and amazing artists who may not yet have had the chance to publish something else.
I continue to enjoy discovering new artists through Touhou and Vocaloid collections, and Tsuki is no exception. Though I’d love to see even more from this artist—the line arts alone show such stylish character designs—I do hope it will be for Tsuki’s original works, though some Code Geass fan art is fine too ^^
