But really, just because someone's doing Kancolle doesn't mean they'll forget about Touhou completely.
I can't imagine Gensoukoumuten doing Kancolle (although if he did, it'd be truly epic) but I can envision Karaagetarou doing it, and that would be epically adorable.
Bkub now does Kancolle too... Is there anyone left that haven't join the bandwagon ?
There's also Hammer_(sunset_beach) and Ao_Usagi although it's been moths since he drew anything at all and even then it was just a banana.
Edit: I have nothing against KanColle either. I like it when artists do different things every now and then. Touhou fans complaining about bandwagons is to me hugely hypocritical as Touhou itself is basically the eternal doujin bandwagon.
Setz drew something Kantai Collection related (I dont know KC myself so I dont know what character) but it was just a request. I imagine he would mostly stick to Touhou providing he even does like KC but with maybe a little other stuff he likes thrown in as usual (like Dark Souls)
In 4 years we check if Kancolle is still so popular. Remember how Haruhi and Marimite were huge at the height of their fads?
Haruhi has dropped in popularity, but it is still at least around, and there are people who still release things related to it. Tokiomi Tsubasa has been regularly releasing strips I'm rather fond of...
That said, Girls und Panzer was a big flash in the pan, I hardly see much of that anymore, and I basically only had awareness of it as it flooded Danbooru for a while. (Not a WoT player, here, nor do I play KanColle, but I do like military history, so it's kind of fine by me so long as we get to talk history.)
I'm honestly just wondering why there aren't more crossovers. Akagi meets Yuyuko, Aoba meets Aya, etc. Hell, you could probably even have the Oorai girls load up onto Kaga for a field trip.
But really, just because someone's doing Kancolle doesn't mean they'll forget about Touhou completely.
I actually stopped keeping up with Rebecca's art because of the near-exclusive flow of Kancolle art. It's too bad; she's pretty cool, but I just can't really cope with samey works for so long.
That said, Girls und Panzer was a big flash in the pan, I hardly see much of that anymore, and I basically only had awareness of it as it flooded Danbooru for a while. (Not a WoT player, here, nor do I play KanColle, but I do like military history, so it's kind of fine by me so long as we get to talk history.)
Commercial works, like Kancolle, will rise to fandom's top of mind very quickly, peaking when the anime airs, but for what I've seen, the fan works tends to drop afterwards. Kancolle already announced its anime.
With Touhou, ZUN managed to create something like a yearly cycle. Each year there's a game release (usually) that moves the story a bit forward, and then there's Reitaisai and the popularity contest. Other than these big events, official print works plus unofficial "days" (Rumia day every month, Cirno day every year) work to keep the fandom in touch.
Commercial works, like Kancolle, will rise to fandom's top of mind very quickly, peaking when the anime airs, but for what I've seen, the fan works tends to drop afterwards. Kancolle already announced its anime.
With Touhou, ZUN managed to create something like a yearly cycle. Each year there's a game release (usually) that moves the story a bit forward, and then there's Reitaisai and the popularity contest. Other than these big events, official print works plus unofficial "days" (Rumia day every month, Cirno day every year) work to keep the fandom in touch.
There's a bit of self-reciprocation at play, as well. If everyone and their dog is doing Touhou works or crossovers, you might get sucked in just by seeing what all the fuss is about and wanting to read all the good doujin artists.
Basically, Reitaisai and such are only powerful motivators to keep people in Touhou because people are already motivated to do Touhou.
The same can go for KanColle, as well. I only started learning its characters about a month ago because of seeing so much art flooding in, but now that I know it, I'm looking forward to new things coming out for it. Once the amount of works you can have access to reaches a certain level, the memorization cost of entry becomes more and more a bargain.
In 4 years we check if Kancolle is still so popular. Remember how Haruhi and Marimite were huge at the height of their fads?
That's because there isn't new content, not because people lost interest in Haruhi. Haruhi's last light novel was the best selling LN in japan's history If Kyoani announces a new season or movie, Haruhi's popularity would be extremely high again.
I've easily ignored Haruhi and have never heard of Marimite. Do I win a prize?
I've never understood the sense of betrayal people have when an artist switches copyrights. I wonder if classical painters lost their followings if, for instance, they painted tree-filled landscapes for years but switched to portraiture.
Touhou has cute things. KanCalle has cute things. Bkub draws cute things. Works for me.
I've easily ignored Haruhi and have never heard of Marimite. Do I win a prize?
MariMite seems to be targetted to much smaller niche though, so retracting after the anime is over doesn't give much surprise. I'm sure it still has a special position among shoujo yuri fans, but they're just not as productive.
People whining and complaining about how an artist has jumped onto a fad is pointless. It's part of being a popular artist. There's nothing wrong with wanting to go with the flow or enjoying the new wave. I rather want to see how the more popular artist would tackle it. So just, you know, have fun while you can. Nothing wrong with that.
I personally hated KanColle the first time it popped up. There was nothing but Shimakaze pictures as far as the eyes can see and it drove me nuts. But after being exposed to it everywhere and finding out that she's voiced by Sakura Ayane it eventually made me want to join in the fun. The shame is that the same time I started to like Shimakaze and Kancolle was the same time when the wave of Shimakaze pics stopped. God I have such bad timing... At least it was fun when it lasted.
Apparently it took bkub over a year; doesn't seem very sudden. Though I don't see what difference that makes either; "oh hey, I like this thing, but I better wait a while before showing interest in it."
Apparently it took bkub over a year; doesn't seem very sudden. Though I don't see what difference that makes either; "oh hey, I like this thing, but I better wait a while before showing interest in it."
Maybe like the other artist he wants to be able to sell more. Nothing wrong with people jumping on something to make money. Or maybe, like alot of people, it took him a while before he actually decided "Yeah, I like KanColle. That Yukikaze has some charm to it." like he did with Madoka, Aikatsu, etc.
Or maybe he saw something he liked about it and converted. I lost track of how many times I picked up something thanks to him, like Tiger&Bunny
I don't mind popular Touhou artists liking Kancolle, but did they all have to switch so suddenly?
Something about all this just strikes me as a little off.
Its not really that unusal. Touhou is an older franchise by now, and has a dedicated following. This allows for members of that community to transition to other communities, especially since both artist and reader are likely to be aware of both.
Kancolle also has the advantage of having the good points of touhou (lodes of characters, malleable personalities with a strong core, and varied character designs) along with appealing to navy otaku/military fetishists.
Its worth noting too that kancolle isn't just the game, its backed up by kadokawa and has merchandising, light novels, manga, drama cds. It helps that kancolle also grabbed a larger than expected foreign population (in places like China especially).
Also its not zero-sum, artists can do both touhou and kancolle art and most continue to do so.
Yes, sir!CoffeeYukikaze, buy me some coffee with this.