Episode 26
The final name for the festival we were in charge of advertising had been decided: Seoul Subculture Festival.
Judging from the proposal, it seemed they had settled on a direction meant to set it apart from Japan, where anime festivals were heavily centered on derivative works.
“The idea is to run the festival as a hybrid so it can cover both games and anime, sell official merchandise inside it, and then generate additional revenue through advertising on top of that.”
“Right. But if we do it that way, we’ll basically need to draw in people who enjoy the whole thing casually, more than the hardcore anime fans.”
For that reason, after a few meetings and a string of phone calls, the direction of the advertising we would handle was decided as well.
“So we have to advertise to regular people based on cosplayers.”
“Exactly.”
We needed to create a space where the maniacs could come participate and cosplay for themselves, while also building a setup that would let light, curious ordinary people come along with a simple, Maybe I’ll just go take a look attitude.
“In the end, the important thing is that we invite famous cosplayers, right?”
“Right. That’s what gets ordinary people interested enough to think about stopping by.”
Since the success of the festival would depend on moving the light fan base that liked anime but didn’t usually go to festivals, that was the real battlefield.
“I should start by looking into the top cosplayers.”
“Don’t worry about that. I already looked them all up.”
“...Already?”
“Of course. Who do you think I am?”
Assistant Manager Park proudly showed me the follow list on his alt SNS account.
“...You follow a few hundred accounts.”
It was completely dedicated to subculture accounts, from cosplayers to accounts that posted release information for anime and comics.
“For a subculture otaku like me, that’s essential.”
He chuckled.
“Anyway, there are a few really big names here. If we invite them as the centerpiece, it should work.”
“Yeah, that makes sense.”
“First, there’s someone called Yu So-ra. We absolutely have to get her. Compared to other cosplayers, her influence is on a completely insane level...”
***
Yu So-ra.
A model-turned-cosplayer.
She was the only cosplayer in Korea to have crossed one million subscribers on YouTube, and her SNS following had blown past 3 million combined across Korea and Japan. She was a true heavyweight.
Her SNS feed was packed with photos of her dressed up as anime characters.
Outside, she always wore glamorous, sexy outfits and showed only that fierce, haughty side of herself, as if she’d merged with some character straight out of a comic.
“Aaaah, my bed really is the best.”
Rolling around.
At home, she was letting her guard down completely, wearing nothing but a tank top and dolphin shorts while luxuriating in freedom.
Even now, her inbox was full of messages.
[Inquiry About a Cosplay Invitation]
[Cosplay for a Comic Convention... ]
[Proposal for a Game Character Collaboration]
[Webtoon Cosplay Advertising Inquiry]
Offer after offer kept pouring in without pause, but...
“I’m taking a break for now.”
She closed the inbox without even reading them.
She had spent the last few years grinding hard, so she’d decided to take a break for a while.
Roll, roll, roll.
She tossed herself left and right across the bed, messaging her friends on her phone.
- Yu So-ra: You at work yet?
- Kang Hanna: Still on the subway. But I already want to get off work lol...
- Yu So-ra: You’ve gotta endure it when work is rough. T_T
(An emoticon of a scholar sitting alone at the emergency exit and sniffling)
“Eheheh, that one’s seriously cute.”
There had been something that caught Yu So-ra’s eye not long ago.
Scholar-ticon.
The moment she accidentally saw a friend using it, she fell for it at first sight.
Thanks to that, it had become her favorite emoticon, the one she used most often for the past two weeks.
- Yu So-ra: Off to make money again today, huh.
(An emoticon of a scholar pulling a cart piled high with gold coins)
While she was using one emoticon after another and leaving comments on YouTube, she got some welcome news from a friend.
- Kang Hanna: Hey, there’s an event for the scholar emoticon you like?
- Yu So-ra: What kind of event?
- Kang Hanna: They’re giving away a physical figure.
- Kang Hanna: Apparently the artist made it by hand too?
“No way...”
She shot to her feet.
- Yu So-ra: Holy crap!!! Send link!!
- Yu So-ra: Never mind. I’ll find it myself, hold on
She hurriedly started searching.
Before long, she found the notice posted on the official site.
[Scholar-ticon Figure Event!]
- Ten buyers will be selected by lottery to receive a figure made personally by the artist!
(Actual photo)
“...Huh?”
She doubted her own eyes.
“This is really a handmade figure?”
She couldn’t help being stunned.
That was because...
“Could a figure with this insane level of quality actually come out of Korea?”
As a working cosplayer, she was also a serious anime otaku in her own right.
Of course her home had cabinets packed with anime merchandise, and among them were more figures than she could count.
And since she made good money, she bought handmade figures and high-quality goods whenever she wanted.
But...
I’ve never seen quality like this.
Even among the occasional collaboration figures that came out as limited editions and cost millions of won...
Still, even those couldn’t match this.
Rather than a figure, it looked more like a work of art made by Japanese masters who poured their souls into each generation of craftsmanship.
“Money... can’t I just buy it with money?”
It was a handmade figure of her favorite emoticon, and the quality was insane on top of that.
If she could buy it, she’d pay anything.
[This figure will be given out only through the lottery!]
“Ah, why?!”
Unfortunately, direct purchase wasn’t possible.
But who was she?
I’m a successful otaku.
There was nothing in the world money couldn’t buy.
- Yu So-ra: Friend, I bought this emoticon because it was cute. Use it!
- Yu So-ra: You like this emoticon, right? I’ll gift it to you!
- Yu So-ra: Want this?
- Yu So-ra: I’m giving away emoticons at my own expense!
- Yu So-ra: A gift of emoticons for our channel subscribers ^^
Yu So-ra started buying gift tickets like crazy and scattering them everywhere she could.
By the time she was done buying them, the total was...
[Current Entry Tickets Owned: 2,315]
But that still isn’t enough.
She bit her lip hard.
She wanted that figure no matter what.
Should I send a DM to the artist in charge?
She immediately went to the SNS account for Side-Hustling Teddy Bear, but...
[This account has been deactivated.]
Unfortunately, it was locked.
“...”
Even so, Yu So-ra showed an unbreakable will.
“I think there was a blog too...”
After a moment’s thought, she went to the artist’s blog.
Maybe I should leave a comment?
***
- Comment notifications: 999+
“There’s a lot of interest today too.”
Lately, the comments had been exploding even more.
When I posted travel entries or reviews from visiting certain places, plenty of people showed interest already, but since last week I’d started uploading photos of the figure-making process from the workshop along with short writeups.
That was drawing far more attention than I’d expected.
And it’s not just the figures.
People were enthusiastic not only about making accessories for the characters, but also about the leather craft involved in making clothes for the figures to wear.
Once I finish the figure work, maybe next time I should deliberately take on a full leathercraft project.
Then, all at once...
Ding!
Ding! Ding!
Real-time comments started coming in, and notifications rang nonstop.
W-what is this...?
Thinking maybe I’d done something wrong, I checked.
“...Who exactly is Yu So-ra?”
When I entered the other party’s blog, it linked over to SNS.
“YouTube subscribers are 1.16 million and SNS followers are 3.2 million...?”
I had no idea what she did, but at that point she wasn’t just an influencer. She was practically a celebrity.
I didn’t really know, but it was obvious she was famous among the enthusiasts.
From a publicity standpoint, I’d almost like to make one separately and send it to her...
But if I did that, I’d be worried about the gossip that would follow.
Besides, even if I wanted to give her one separately, I’d have to contact her...
And then there would be a long back-and-forth, with all that thank-you-this-thank-you-that nonsense.
Just thinking about it made my head spin.
This sounds like a headache. I’ll just pretend I didn’t see it.
I closed the comments as if I hadn’t noticed.
Still, the reason even people this famous started paying attention to the emoticons is largely thanks to Choi Kang-san and Lim Yu-jin.
More than anyone else, I felt like I owed them something.
I’d already written a review on the blog and even a promotion post for the movie, but that was nowhere near enough to pay them back.
Should I make a figure of the two of them, each one exactly like the real person?
I shook my head.
No, that might just feel awkward.
Unlike a character, a figure of a real person gave off a different feeling.
Then maybe I should make them each a wallet?
I was already getting a lot of attention for leathercraft, so I’d been thinking it might be worth making one more item.
Right. If I make it myself and give it to them, that’ll have meaning.
I couldn’t say it would be better than a luxury brand, but the fact that it was one of a kind would matter.
Then I should start by selecting the highest-grade leather, and after that the design will be key...
***
Ten days later.
From beyond the partition, I heard Assistant Manager Park let out a long sigh.
“Why? Something wrong?”
“Ah, this is a pain in the neck.”
He kept pressing his forehead and spoke.
“You know that festival we’re running this time? I’m in charge of inviting the cosplayers.”
“Yeah. You said nine out of the ten teams you invited already accepted.”
“The last one’s the problem.”
“Who is it?”
“I told you before. There’s one cosplayer who’s the most popular in Korea.”
“Oh, right. I think I heard that. What was the name again?”
“Otaku Sora-chan.”
“...Huh?”
Was that her name?
It sounded familiar, but somehow not quite right.
“Oh, that’s the channel name. Anyway, it’s not an exaggeration to say this one person has more impact than all the other cosplayers combined. So if this ad campaign is going to work, we absolutely have to bring Otaku Sora-chan in.”
“Aren’t the conditions a little low? Why not talk to the agency and raise the fee?”
“If this were that kind of problem, I wouldn’t be this frustrated.”
“Then what?”
“I can’t get in touch with her.”
“...”
“What good is money if they won’t even respond? She hasn’t even read the email.”
“...Yeah, that’s really hopeless.”
“Exactly. I’m losing my mind.”
Assistant Manager Park could only keep letting out heavy sighs.
“She’s the core of this ad campaign... and I have no idea what to do.”
***
Meanwhile, at the same time.
“Daaaaaaaaamn!”
Yu So-ra leapt to her feet, unable to stay still any longer.
There was only one reason she was so happy.
“I actually won?!?”
That’s right.
She had won the lottery for the Scholar-ticon figure she entered, and it had already been delivered.
Honestly, she’d had a pretty good shot.
She’d bought 2,500 on the first day, but feeling that might not be enough, she’d also entered by buying an additional 5,000 through a subscriber event.
Thump-thump-thump!
She opened the figure with trembling excitement.
“Waaah!”
The moment she saw it, admiration burst out of her.
“Holy crap. The detail is from another world.”
It was a level of quality you couldn’t see even in Japan, which you’d think of as the homeland of anime, let alone in Korea.
“There’s no way this was machine-made.”
No, it had to be handmade.
A machine couldn’t produce quality like this.
“And the artist made this personally?”
Yu So-ra covered her mouth.
“He’s seriously got god-tier hands...”
It wasn’t just the figure that was amazing.
From the color of the scholar’s clothes to the material, the detail, and the overall finish, everything was overwhelming.
“This is way too good to be limited to just figures.”
Before she knew it, Yu So-ra swallowed hard and got greedy.
“I’d almost want to have him make the clothes I wear for cosplay too.”
After thinking it over, she decided to work up her courage.
“Should I make a polite request...?”