こみっくバーティー (Comic Party)
Soon to graduate high school, Sendou Kazuki is dragged into the world of "dojinshi" along with his childhood friend Takaze Mizuki by the scheming Kuhonbutsu Taishi. Soon Kazuki begin to draw his own dojinshi, but Mizuki fiercely opposes the idea. Along the long road to become the king of "dojinshi" (and satisfying Taishi's ambition of world domination), Kazuki will meet different people who can help him to become an "otaku" himself, unless Mizuki can have it her way...
Comic Party was first released as a hentai PC game in 1999. it became popular enough to see a "clean-up" version for Sega Dreamcast and this version was "ported" back to the PC (known as Comic Party DCE) in 2003. A TV series was produced in 2001, and a 4-part OVA sequel, Comic Party Revolution was released in 2003, leading to a full-blown TV sequel based on the OVA in 2005. Also, numerous official "dojinshi" versions based on Comic Party was released in Japan and currently 2 versions are licensed in North America. A PSP version (ported from the Dreamcast / PC "DCE" version) was also released in 2005.
Links:
Comic Party Official Page
(Maintained by The Right Stuf International, the license holder in North America)
Comic Party @ Aquaplus
Comic Party DCE
PC / Sega Dreamcast
Released by Aquaplus in 2001, it follows the adventure of Sendou Kazuki, our main character, in his quest to become the king of "Dojinshi" in a year, while capturing the heart of one of nine girls. (I beleve there is also an alternate ending in which you can befriend of all 9 of them so that you can get the "hidden" scenes in review mode)
As of April 2005, I have only played through it 2 times, with some help from strategies posted by others online. (If you don't then you better be ready to spend a lot of time figuring out what you did wrong later...) It is a fun game, and I am so lucky that I can get one!
Dino's Rating: 10
Will Girls Like It: Not a Chance!
Comic Party (2001)
12 episodes TV series
The first series released based on the game. It is absolutely hilarious! All the CV from the game are back for the TV series, which makes it even better! The only bad thing is that it only has 12 episodes! I want more!
Dino's Rating: 10
Will Girls Like It: Possible
Comic Party Revolution (2004 - 2005)
4 OVA / 13 episodes TV series
Originally only 2 episodes are planned for the OVA released starting in 2004, then because of popular demand, 2 more episodes are released afterwards. Soon they decided that they will make it into a TV series, and here is the tricky part: the 4 OVA episodes will become the first 4 episodes for the TV series, which requires some "chopping" in order to fit the TV running time. Also, the proudction personnel in charge is different between the OVA and the TV series. However, no change to the character designs, so no worries there.
If you believe this series is a "sequel" to the first TV series, you are wrong. Instead, this series follows more closely to the Dreamcast / PC (DCE) game version. First, there is the new character from the game, Mikage Subaru (not in the first series). Second, there is the "new version" of Tachikawa Ikumi (still a kid in first series), along with her "brother". Third, Sakurai Asahi is now formally written to the series too. Moreover, there are numerous cameo from characters in the game not featured in the first series, like the "courier" and "editor-in-chief". Furthermore, all characters know each other (most of them anyway...), so it is not even close to be a sequel.
While there are the usual parodies, this time they go the distance and feature even more from other anime! It just cracks me up. Look for lots of scenes featuring Mizuki transforming into "Card Master Peach".
Note: only available in fansubs.
Dino's Rating: 10
Will Girls Like It: Possible
Comic Party
5 volume manga series
Based on the game, the manga features a compacted storyline with all the girls. With plenty of nice parodies, actions, romance and of course, dojinshi! A very fun read, if you like the drawing style...
Note: There is another release done by a collection of artists as a side-stories release. I have not read those yet, but I doubt I will...
Dino's Rating: 7
Will Girls Like It: Maybe