Creativity can take many forms. At the famous Comiket (Comic Market) in Japan, it’s not only “parody” comics with pornographic content that can find their space, but also contents from bicycles, cars, or public transportation enthusiasts. At Comiket too you can find, for example, Japanese railfans who produce and sell fanbook of JR 205 series train.
Similar contents have also begun to appear in Indonesian. During Comifuro Indonesia 8, which took place on Saturday (21/1) at the Integrity Convention Center Jakarta, a group named Raincity Artholic from Bogor (one of West Java’s major cities) presented a product titled Bogor Angkot Collection. This fanbook features the city of Bogor’s public transport minivans (popularly known as “angkutan kota” or “angkot” for short) personified into anime-styled characters.
One of the group’s member, Sinta, recounted that Bogor Angkot Collection was first launched at Konbanwa Festival in Bandung (the capital of West Java province) at the tail end of 2016, with the support of Bogor city’s administration. This was their second artbook project and has been intended to be a part of the city’s tourism promotion campaign.
“We chose angkot because we want to promote the image of Bogor city. And we decided to follow the trend of personifying vehicles,” Sinta explained.
Sinta, who served customers at the stand along with Muni, revealed that their work has been received positively. The interesting part is that the responses came not from anime fans, but from ordinary people who relate with the subject matter of the illustrations. Sinta recalled that people who look at the illustrations usually remarked on the angkot that passed through their areas of residence.
On the subject of public transportation system in Bogor city itself, Sinta hopes for more intensive dissemination of information regarding the one-way-road system around the historic Bogor Palace area, as it has considerably changed the routes of many angkot. She also feels that the city administration needs to further promote public transportations to reduce traffic jams in the city.
Teh Indonesian Anime Times | Original Reporting by Kevin W | Translation by Halimun Muhammad
