Anime & Manga – an interview with DoKomi co-founder Andreas Degen

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“Düsseldorf is the number one city in Germany and Europe for all things Japanese, especially in our scene”

DoKomi, Germany’s largest anime and manga convention, takes place in Düsseldorf every year. It’s not just on Japan Day that thousands of cosplayers gather on the banks of the Rhine. On ordinary weekends, too, it’s impossible to imagine Düsseldorf’s streets without them and their elaborate costumes. In addition to the Japan Day, there has been another event in the calendar for 16 years that is a must for Japanophiles – DoKomi. The name is an abbreviation for Doitsu Komikku Maketto. It means something like German comic market. Fans of Japanese pop culture easily recognise this as a reference to Comiket, the largest anime/manga convention in Japan. DoKomi was co-founded by Andreas Degen and Benjamin Schulte, who also organise the convention. A textbook example of how to turn a hobby into a career.

DoKomi 2023, cosplayers posing in a kind of stage set.

The first DoKomi took place at a Düsseldorf school in 2009. Last year, over 150,000 visitors came to the Congress Center Düsseldorf and the Düsseldorf trade fair. How did you get so big?
The culture surrounding anime and manga has been booming for 15 years and has experienced a real popularity boost recently. DoKomi has been created by people on the ground, and we’ve grown with the scene. From anime/manga and cosplay, Japanese music and fashion through to Japanese pop culture in general – we’ve added something new every year. I think this has allowed it to take on a life of its own. We’re expecting around 180,000 visitors over three days this year.

But you still see yourselves as a convention?
Yes, and that’s why DoKomi is so well-loved, because it’s not purely commercial. We want to offer all fan groups a platform. By way of our huge artists’ alley with over 750 fan artist stands, for example. Or through the second-largest area, the fashion area, where fan shop concepts are also on offer. You can find all kinds of fan bases at the DoKomi. Itasha people are one of them – itasha are cars wrapped with anime motifs. We’re also closely intertwined with the digital sphere. That really is a source of growth.

Manga designer working at her stand, surrounded by many drawings.

You also offer space to commercial exhibitors at DoKomi. They offer more than can be imagined, from manga, anime and cosplay accessories through to fashion, games nad music. There is also a multitude of merchandise to be had and even trips to Japan.
The fan area has quite a professional line-up, ranging from anime/manga publishers to dealers who import from Japan and artists who have built up their own business. Exhibitors now come from all over Europe, as well as from Canada, the US, South America and, of course, Asia.

How did the idea for DoKomi come about? Are you cosplayers yourselves?
Absolutely. We grew up in the cosplay scene and socialised with like-minded people. One day, Benni and I were hanging out with friends when someone said: “Why don’t we have a convention?” In the mid-noughties, 50 to 150 cosplayers met at Düsseldorf train station every weekend – and then didn’t really know where to go. If the weather was good, the Nordpark was an option, but if it was bad, it was difficult. Any kind of restaurant visits to Little Tokyo were not in our budget at the time. So we thought it would be nice if, once a year, cosplay fans had a place to themselves with a roof over their heads where they could go. Originally we had around 500 people in mind, a small and tight-knit community. But 1,800 people came to the very first DoKomi and the numbers shot up pretty quickly after that.

Andreas Degen being interviewed. He is wearing a russet coloured T-shirt and a dark newsboy cap.

You’re from Bonn, Benjamin is from Cologne – and you traveled to Düsseldorf especially for the cosplay meet-ups when you were young?
Düsseldorf is the number one city in Germany and Europe for all things Japanese, especially in our scene. Immermannstrasse is a real magnet. So Düsseldorf was naturally where we wanted to be. Locating the convention here was the best decision we could have made.


How does it feel when a subculture becomes so popular, and what does that say about the zeitgeist?
It’s a bit strange when you know how things got started, but also great. Because as an anime/manga fan it’s much easier to find like-minded people now of course. We live in the digital age and can find our tribe online. Thanks to the reach of the internet, our world has come out of its niche existence. Just look at how many thousand millions of anime memes there are! The acceptance and appreciation of cosplay is completely different these days. DoKomi wants to help the scene flourish so that its fans can come together in person and it can continue to grow while remaining an open, tolerant and kind place.

A Sailor Moon cosplayer at an exhibition stand.

Your program booklet is almost 200 pages long. What were your personal DoKomi highlights this year?
Definitely the content creator area, which was given its own exhibition hall for the first time. I’m very active in the VTuber scene myself these days. It’s something that combines streaming and content creation with anime/manga like never before. (Editor’s note: VTubers, short for Virtual YouTubers, are content creators represented by avatars. These are often designed in a manga/anime style. Otherwise, I also love the artists’ alley, it’s full of things you simply can’t get anywhere else. It’s not standard merchandise, every style of drawing is different and an incredible amount of creativity goes on there.

Bring & Buy is an indispensable aspect of the convention – I cna imagine that plenty of treasures can be unearthed there. You’ve got other interactive formats too: workshops, competitions, a gaming festival. There’s also an area reserved for anime enthusiass, or otakus, who are over 18 – the Seijin Area.
That’s right. The age limit ensures that we can protect minors, because anime/manga naturally also includes adult themes. Part of the appeal is that taboos are dealt with differently in this media than in Hollywood. Another motivation for DoKomi is simply that even people who have been part of the community for 15, 20 years or longer should be able to connect and meet up.

Person in blue overalls wearing an old computer monitor on their head like a helmet.

So not everything is cute, or should I say kawaii, for you?
A recurring theme that runs through all areas of Japanese pop culture is indeed the aesthetic. Kawaii, i.e. cuteness, is very dominant, but there are other trends that are more cool or quirky, extravagant or simply very elegant.

What happens on your seven stages?
On the largest, the Black Stage with 4,000 seats, there are concerts, but also interactive events such as the cosplay contests and the big character auction (editor’s note: where you can have yourself or the cosplay character you’re portraying auctioned off for two hours for a good cause). Then there is the hybrid Live Stage with 1,000 seats, which is streamed live. This is where the big contests take place, for example – a lot of what we do is very interactive. The smaller stages are themed, so we have a dance stage, a fashion stage and an event area called Hana no Machi, which offers a mix of more traditional Japanese and pop culture.

String concert

Which music acts and other high-profile guests did you invite this time?
Among the music acts we had was the Japanese duo Myth & Roid, they have sung at a lot of anime openings. And Shiyui, a singer from Japan who also comes from the anime and utaite scene (editor’s note: utaite describes a person who covers songs that have been published on platforms such as YouTube). Anime Allstars also appeared for the first time. They record the German songs for many classic animes such as Sailor Moon, Pokémon and Dragon Ball Z. We also support content creators and voice actors at DoKomi.

There are also parties at DoKomi, such as the Cosplay Ball and the J-Rave with afocus on Japanese electronic music. Doyou fly the DJs in specially?
Yes, we do. We collaborate with Mogra, a club in the middle of Tokyo’s Akihabara district, among others. Two Mogra DJs organise the J-Rave, so DoKomi connects the German otaku DJ scene with the Japanese one. Real Japanese club culture has yet to establish itself in Düsseldorf. Together with D.Live and Club MTV we organised a Japanese club event called Akiba during MTV Music Week last year – who knows what else is on the cards. The other DoKomi evening event, the Cosplay Ball, has been one of the most popular events in the programme since its debut in 2011 and usually sells out within a couple of hours.

DoKomi 2023, two cosplayers in a dark room lit by rainbow-coloured neon tube lights.

You’ve also got a food area. Do you collaborate with Little Tokyo?
Yes, absolutely. For example, Café Cerisier supplies our Maid Café with cute little cakes and patisserie products. Takumi has several stands. And Tee-Deli – who run the Sphere Bay bubble tea shop on Immermannstrasse – have had several bubble tea stands at the convention for many years.

When do you go when you want to hang out in Little Tokyo?
It varies. You’re really spoilt for choice In Little Tokyo. Where I probably end up the most is Maruyasu. Their food is super tasty and they’re open in the afternoon, which is when I’m often hungry and also have time. I also like to swing by the Takagi book shop to stock up on manga and anime. You can find lots of authentic snacks and drinks in the Japanese supermarkets too, such as Melonpan from Bakery My Heart.

And other than Little Tokyo, what do you like about Düsseldorf?
I like walking along the Rhine. When the sun shines on the river in good weather and it really sparkles, it’s truly magical. I love Düsseldorf’s green spaces.

Information

DoKomi 2024 (28–30 June 2024) at the Düsseldorf trade fair and Congress Center Düsseldorf Süd. For more information, visit  dokomi.de.

Interview: Eva Westhoff
Photos: Visit Düsseldorf, DoKomi 07/2023

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