Day seven of John’s 2025 Tokyo trip delivered the kind of anime-and-fandom itinerary that can only happen in Tokyo: a train ride past the life-sized Unicorn Gundam, a sprawling doujinshi event at Tokyo Big Sight, a surprise Pretty Cure lottery win, Detroit-style pizza, and a late-night tour of a Don Quijote packed with bizarre souvenirs.
The day began on the Keisei and Yurikamome lines, with the journey through Shiodome and Odaiba offering an immediate reminder of how densely Tokyo’s pop-culture landmarks can overlap. Across the area, crowds had gathered for BMSG FES’25, the BMSG music festival held at a special Odaiba venue in September 2025. The event featured artists including SKY-HI, BE:FIRST, MAZZEL, Novel Core, Aile The Shota, REIKO, HANA, and STARGLOW.
But the main destination was Tokyo Big Sight, where John, Phil, and their friend Jon set out to find Comic SDF 17. After a brief navigation mix-up involving the convention center’s enormous layout, an English-speaking guide confirmed that they had reached the right event.
A small convention with a very specific fandom mix
Admission cost 1,500 yen, with the printed catalog adding another 1,000 yen. Inside, the supposedly small convention occupied nine rows of back-to-back tables, with more than 250 exhibitors and a strong focus on military-themed or military-adjacent bishoujo fandom.
Artists were organized by parody and series, creating distinct clusters for Kemono Friends, Girls und Panzer, Kantai Collection, and Blue Archive. Along one wall, attendees could browse displays of fan-made figures and articulated action figures. Nearby, exhibitors showcased custom and limited-edition figures, while the remaining tables were filled with self-published doujinshi.
The convention also offered a revealing look at how Japanese doujin events can differ from American conventions. All-ages and adult-oriented books were sold within the same overall space, with erotic works identified by their covers rather than separated into a distinct exhibition area. John noted that the crowd appeared to consist almost entirely of young adults and older attendees, with no children visible during the visit.
Cosplayers were present in moderate numbers, most of them women. The artists were estimated to be about 80 percent male and 20 percent female, although John’s purchases included erotic manga from several women creators.
Signed doujinshi and a long-awaited Dirty Pair find
The convention haul was substantial: 23 doujinshi signed by their creators, another book signed by the artist Fullauto Firing with a small sketch, and additional books purchased from artists who were either unavailable or declined to autograph their work.
The standout discovery was a Dirty Pair 40th anniversary color illustrated shikishi, purchased for 1,500 yen. John also bought two color mini-shikishi, priced at 1,000 yen and 4,000 yen respectively. For a collector, the personal connection of buying directly from creators—and leaving with their signatures—was as important as the books themselves.
Another memorable encounter involved Blue Mage, also known as Aoi Manabu. John had already purchased a new copy of the artist’s Soineya to Dagashiya from Mandarake earlier in the trip. Finding the creator at Comic SDF allowed him to buy a second copy and have it signed in person.
Pretty Cure, pizza, and the strange side of Don Quijote
After leaving Big Sight, the group stopped at the Lawson convenience store in the convention center lobby. A poster advertising the Ichiban Kuji Pretty Cure — Forever Hearts! lottery caught John’s attention. Lawson’s official announcement listed the ticket price at 770 yen and described the campaign as covering Pretty Cure works from Futari wa Pretty Cure through HeartCatch PreCure!
There was a brief cashier mix-up when an Ojamajo Doremi lottery box was scanned instead, but the payment was corrected. John ultimately drew an “H” prize: a randomly selected Pretty Cure keychain. Rather than open the blind box, he decided to preserve the experience—and the mystery—as a souvenir.
The afternoon continued at DevilCraft in Hamamatsucho, where the group shared waffle fries topped with meat chili and a large Detroit-style supreme pizza without green peppers. Conversation ranged from Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Salò and the Mission: Impossible films to Saint Seiya, Jūshinki Gulkeeva, Magical Taruruto-kun, Studio A.P.P.P., and Kacho Ōji.
Before heading home, Phil photographed the Manneken Pis replica at Hamamatsucho Station, which had been dressed in a Halloween-themed jester outfit. A failed late-night attempt to visit Daiso was followed by dinner at Yoshinoya and a final shopping expedition through a neighborhood Don Quijote.
That store proved far more eclectic than a standard grocery shop. Alongside food, it stocked small appliances, motorcycle helmets, clothing, luggage, watches, liquor, children’s toys, novelty gifts, and adult products—including a particularly strange item marketed as concentrated horse-penis extract. The day ended with the kind of retail oddity that makes Don Quijote a destination in its own right.
With only one full day left in Tokyo, the trip was already covering nearly every corner of fan culture: major music events, handmade collectibles, signed doujinshi, lottery prizes, classic anime, and the wonderfully unpredictable shopping culture surrounding them. The final day would have a lot to live up to.
Sources
bmsgfes.tokyo
lawson.co.jp
sdf-event.jp
