During the days that followed March's earthquake and tsunami in Japan, game companies donated money and musicians donated songs. And illustrators? Why, they drew pictures.
Japan's most famous adult game and character illustrators put original drawings on online auction sites, hoping to attract sizable bids for quake relief donations.
Contributions include drawings by visual novel illustrator Aoi Nishimata that fetched the equivalent of over US$12,000 and a drawing by character designer Noizi Ito of Haruhi Suzumiya fame that also brought in over $12,000.
Illustrator Eiji Usatsuka's drawings brought in over $11,000, while character designer Na-Ga's Angel Beats drawing topped out at the equivalent of over $16,000.
Itaru Hinoue, who is best known for her illustrations for PC visual novels like Clannad, is no stranger to high prices for her illustrations. Her drawings typically command high prices, and her charity "Stand Up Japan!" illustration was no exception. The piece brought in ¥1,523,000 ($18,644), smashing previous online auction records held by her work.
More staggering is how high bidding got for a charity picture by illustrator Tsubasa Izumi, known for illustrating adult visual novels like Akaneiro ni Somaru Saka. Her illustration, along with a rare (signed) self-published comic, hit ¥2,811,000 or $34,412.
Otaku drawings aren't merely going for absurd amounts of money. All are part of the Stand Up Charity, a charity created to help with earthquake and tsunami relief.
CULTURE SMASH
Culture Smash is a daily dose of things topical, interesting and sometimes even awesome - game related and beyond.