Line #73 Webcomic/HangInThereKogasasan


1	[[quoteright:268:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kogasa_hanginthere_9676.png]]
2
3	->''"Ohhh? I may exaggerate, but I don't draw anything false, do I?"''
4	-->-- '''Kogasa''', when Yamame complained one of his earlier strips tarnished her reputation
5	%%From http://safebooru.donmai.us/post/show/1069957, Moonspeaker translation.
6
7	''Hang in There, Kogasa-San'' is a ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' Fan Webcomic story by Mizuki Hitoshi which tells comedically exaggerated stories from his own life and experiences traveling, attending conventions and {{Dojinshi}} festivals, and married life in general. The series' main conceit is that Hitoshi uses characters from ''Touhou'' (and rarely other anime and manga) as stand-ins for the people in his life, with [[Characters/TouhouSeirensenUndefinedFantasticObject Kogasa Tatara]] as Mizuki himself and [[Characters/TouhouFuujinrokuMountainOfFaith Sanae Kochiya]] as his wife.
8
9	It is published (mostly) daily on Website/{{Pixiv}}, and an English-translated and regularly updated version can be found [[https://safebooru.donmai.us/pools/2420?page=1 here]].
10
11	----
12	!!Tropes:
13
14	* AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents: Suwako and Kanako for Sanae. Kogasa's parents are even weirder from a human perspective, but they don't anger her as much.
15	* ArtShift: While the comic is usually drawn in a simple, cartoony style, Hitoshi will occasionally show [[https://safebooru.org/index.php?page=post&s=view&id=718457 his]] [[https://safebooru.org/index.php?page=post&s=view&id=1155831 real]] [[https://safebooru.org/index.php?page=post&s=view&id=1267887 talents]].
16	* AuthorAvatar: Kogasa for the author, Sanae for his wife, and Touhou characters for important recurring people like friends, family, and fellow Touhou doujin makers. Minor characters vary between also being Touhou characters, characters from other anime/manga/games, or just faceless figures.
17	** Doujin artists will be depicted as the characters they're most fond of/associated with. If the author uses a specific avatar themselves, they'll appear that way in this comic too (like Warugaki as Remilia or [[Webcomic/TagDream Orange Jelly/Dei Shirou]] as a muscular guy with a flan pudding for a head). Hitoshi will also try to mimic an artist's particular style with their avatar, which is part of the reason people were able to ID Koakuma as Kuresento.
18	*** A special mention goes to [=Yuzuna99=]: since she's also associated with Kogasa, her avatar is an even cutesier version of the character (imitating her artstyle) with lighter coloration than Hitoshi's version.
19	** Sanae's parents are also portrayed as Kanako and Suwako (obviously), while Kogasa's family...are not exactly Touhou characters.
20	* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: A lot of the humor comes from Sanae getting annoyed at Kogasa, but there are also many strips that show just how much the two care for each other.
21	* BigEater: Kogasa.
22	** A later arc gave justification for this: The author is from rural [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kochi_prefecture Kochi Prefecture]], where "country folks' hospitality is the amount of their food" and "sincerity is measured in Calories."
23	** Yuyuko, much to Kogasa's despair, for two reasons: Her tastes are expensive, and recently she insists on the author eating as much as her, usually when he's on a diet.
24	** A friend of his, depicted as Mokou in comic, has an even bigger appetite than Kogasa, easily eating a jumbo-sized bowl of ramen where Kogasa could not.
25	* BrattyHalfPint: Remilia and arguably Flandre.
26	* BrickJoke: Sanae's Youmu cosplay.
27	** In the fifth karaoke marathon arc, the manager of the facility is represented as the male version of Ritsuka Fujimaru from ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder''. Fans initially believed this was just a nod to the game's massive popularity, but a few strips later when Kogasa goes to speak with the manager, he instead finds the ''female'' version of Ritsuka, with the RealLife explanation that the managers had transferred to different stores in the meantime.
28	** Kogasa mentions during the marriage arc that she wanted to propose to Sanae at Kurobe Dam. After they've gone and left Kurobe Dam in a later arc, Sanae asks where she intended to propose there. Cue OverlyNervousFlopSweat.
29	* ButtMonkey: Kogasa, most of the time.
30	* TheCameo: [[http://safebooru.donmai.us/post/show/886408 Look at what Kogasa]] [[VideoGame/{{Minecraft}} is playing.]]
31	** [[spoiler:ActionBomb: Look at the screen in the last panel of the above. Kogasa's about to be exploded by a Creeper in-game.]]
32	** [[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica Kyubey]] is also a recurring cameo throughout the series. Usually shows up as a less-than-trustworthy FanConvention organizer whom Kogasa ends up trusting anyway, with terrible consequences.
33	* CantHoldHisLiquor: Kogasa, who got drunk once from a ''single'' sip of beer.
34	* ClingyJealousGirl: A few strips [[PlayedForLaughs play this for laughs]], such as Kogasa getting upset about Sanae posing for tourist photos with Nazrin (which makes them look like a couple) or Sanae getting outraged when Kogasa tells the story of a business meeting she had with a woman (that took place literally years before Kogasa and Sanae met).
35	* CloudCuckooLander: Changes between Kogasa and Sanae.
36	** The less we say about Kogasa's parents, the better.
37	* CosplayOtakuGirl: Sanae, which provides much of the series' {{fanservice}}
38	* CovertPervert: Sanae isn't very covert about it, generally drawing attention to [[VisualInnuendo phallic objects]] or [[HehHehYouSaidX things that sound inappropriate]].
39	** Sanae's mother, Suwako, also shows signs of this, like getting angry when learning Kogasa's first meeting with Sanae didn't immediately lead to "passionate love" and being curious about Kogasa and Sanae's sex life.
40	* CreatorCameo: ZUN himself appears in a couple of story arcs; rather than having a stand-in character he's just depicted as a simplistic version of his real-life appearance who mostly "speaks" by chuckling. In his first appearance, Kogasa thanks him for everything he's done and offers a copy of this comic.
41	* CrackIsCheaper: Being both an {{Otaku}} ''and'' a BigEater does a number on Kogasa's budget. {{Lampshaded}} InUniverse.
42	* {{Crossover}}: Between ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' and several other franchises when the characters would [[RuleOfFunny better suit the situation]]. The author has incredibly diverse tastes.
43	* CueTheRain: Kogasa always seems to be ruining the day by making it rain somehow. It's also discussed in the Anime Boston arc, where a lack of rain at that event is questioned by a fan.
44	** It still rained though, didn't it?
45	* CulturalCrossReference: [[https://safebooru.donmai.us/posts/1952092 One comic]] titled "Film/{{Commando}}" references the "dead tired" BondOneLiner from the Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger movie.
46	* DietEpisode: The [[https://safebooru.donmai.us/posts/5581263 first comic]] after the artist's return in 2022 has Kogasa announce her intent to start dieting. Sanae naturally assumes she either came down with a fever or ate something weird.
47	* DistractedByTheSexy: Happens more than once to Kogasa, often thanks to Sanae.
48	* DrivesLikeCrazy: Ran is shown to be a demon behind the wheel, though ironically, (s)he was the only one exhausted after that driving trip.
49	* FanConvention: Occurs frequently, as part of Kogasa and her friends' job involves selling {{doujinshi}} at those.
50	* FanDisservice: Whenever Kogasa does something incredibly adorable, at least one commenter (and sometimes the author) will remind everyone else that she represents a 40-some-year-old man.
51	* FoodPorn: Rather frequent, given that Kogasa and Sanae are both cardinal foodies.
52	* TheGadfly: Many characters in the comic get at least one, mostly at the expense of Kogasa. Sanae is the most prominent, though, especially with her CovertPervert tendencies, which leave Kogasa flustered. However, Kogasa is occasionally able to do this to Sanae as well.
53	* GenderFlip: The writer is male (as are a few of the other characters). His AuthorAvatar is female in {{canon}} and is drawn as a female (with female underwear, etc.), and yet considered male in-story.
54	* HGame: Kogasa played one of these, with obvious consequences.
55	* HappilyMarried: Kogasa and Sanae.
56	* TheIdiotFromOsaka: Yamame is usually portrayed in-comic as Kogasa's friend and fellow artist from Osaka. She speaks in a Kansai accent (portrayed as a Southern accent in the translations) and is [[http://safebooru.donmai.us/posts/1072815 shown to be not that good at math]].
57	* IWantGrandkids: Mother Suwako isn't even subtle about it, doing things like stuffing the couple with foods that supposedly get people "in the mood" and expressing disappointment when she finds out that they didn't get busy that night.
58	* KaraokeBox: Kogasa loves karaoke, and often organizes karaoke events.
59	* LifeEmbellished: The premise of the comic.
60	* MadeOfIron: Kogasa.
61	** IronButtMonkey
62	* {{Meido}}: In one instance, Kogasa has to dress up as this as punishment.
63	* MoodWhiplash: Some of the humor comes from either Kogasa, Sanae, or a third party saying or doing something that ruins an otherwise heartwarming moment. For a more serious example, Kogasa had to leave Comiket 81 early [[http://safebooru.donmai.us/posts/1089891 because someone she knew had died]].
64	* MrViceGuy: Kogasa is obsessed with food and karaoke, but is still a good person.
65	* NewJobAsThePlotDemands: Some of the one-shot characters do this. It's unavoidable, due to the author using some of the game's rather distinctive cast members as extras. Averted as of late, as the author reduces non-important characters to featureless blobs, reserving actual Touhou characters for closer friends and acquaintances.
66	* NoSenseOfDirection: Yamame. She takes great pleasure in rubbing it in every time Kogasa gets lost.
67	* NotWhatItLooksLike: During the Anime Boston arc, Kogasa walks into one of his handlers' hotel rooms and sees Seiga tying Yoshika up ''shibari''-style; awkwardness ensues until Kogasa just plays it off as nothing. The people involved explained in the Danbooru comments that they were doing an art livestream and Yoshika volunteered to be the model; in the commentary Mizuki said that he figured it was on the level since Yoshika was still fully clothed.
68	* OtakuSurrogate: The comic turns the ''Touhou'' characters into otaku, since they are stand-ins for doujin artists. The comic itself reveals most of Kogasa's interests (besides ''Touhou'', he likes ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' and ''Literature/NyarukoCrawlingWithLove''), Sanae loves ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}''[[note]]sometimes to Kogasa's horror, usually when she tries to force him to watch it[[/note]] and ''Anime/KemonoFriends'' and is part of a ''VideoGame/KanColle'' doujin circle with Nazrin, Ran loves Franchise/HelloKitty, etc.
69	* PottyEmergency:
70	** During one trip, Remilia demands that Kogasa stop at a service station, threatening to fill her car with "brown charisma" if she doesn't.
71	** On a later trip, while Kogasa and Sanae are stuck in traffic, Kogasa needs to go but unfortunately doesn't make it.
72	** Kogasa makes it in time in a strip from July 2014, but only because a random person is willing to let her use his home's toilet.
73	* RunningGag: Quite a few.
74	** Kogasa's obsession with food, which clashes with Sanae's attempts to mind their health; a recurring aspect of this is Sanae punishing any major binges by only cooking sashimi konjac for an extended period of time.
75	** If Kogasa isn't eating, he's doing karaoke; as of this writing, he's hosted five different 18-hour-plus karaoke marathons (one each year), allowing fans (represented as [[{{Kappa}} Majin Gappa]] from ''Anime/DiGiCharat'') to drop in and participate. A couple of the "Kappa" have even become semi-regulars, occasionally helping Kogasa at conventions.
76	** "The System", a seeming conspiracy operated by Yuyuko and her friends to make Kogasa (and less often Sanae) eat lots of expensive food and avoid exercise, which of course clashes with Sanae's health-consciousness (see above).
77	** Yamame gets lost, forgets something vital, and/or arrives late; when other characters do this, the Pixiv comments will label it the "Yamame virus".
78	** Sanae is unable to come along on a trip for one reason or another (usually workload).
79	** Wherever Kogasa goes, you can expect it to rain (or snow if it's cold enough) the entire time she's there; whenever this comes up in the comic, Pixiv readers will tag it with "Ability to generate rain in America for a week", referring to Kogasa's trip to California, which was marked by an unseasonable downpour.
80	** The servant is the one in charge of the relationship, in a reversal of the games' situations. Youmu often keeps Yuyuko on a tight leash, and Ran is strict about Yukari's carefree attitude.
81	** "Xatu face", an expression of anger and/or annoyance characters make, most commonly seen when they want to go to a particular store and find out it's closed. The name comes from the fact that the characters get a large eye reminiscent of the [[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver Pokémon]] [[https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Xatu_(Pok%C3%A9mon) Xatu]]
82	** Early 2020 saw the addition of a new gag: Whenever Kogasa indulges in her hobby of tinkering with electronics, readers will add in the Pixiv tag "[[AlternateCharacterReading A person for whom it's written 'manga artist' but pronounced 'jack of all trades']]".
83	* SequentialArtist: A certain amount of the strips are basically about the pain of being a doujinshi artist; there are poorly conducted cons that make substantial losses (q.v. the ''Madoka Magika'' convention mentioned under ShoutOut below)[[labelnote:elaboration]]The franchise's unprecedented popularity forced the convention to extend from a one-day, single-room convention to being held in two convention rooms several blocks apart, and the con was divided into three sessions such that every participant was only allowed to have 90 minutes of time.[[/labelnote]], and there've been cases where he had to attend cons that he didn't want any part of[[labelnote:elaboration]]For example, he entered a con for the urophiliac {{fetish}} only so he could attend two other cons nearby that were already full.[[/labelnote]].
84	* ShoutOut:
85	** An arc about a disastrous ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' convention set during the show's nascent fandom ends up turning into a WholePlotReference to the series.
86	** When Kogasa meets Sanae's dad, Kanako, who asks if she and Sanae have considered marriage, Kogasa's initial (half-joking) indecision incites Kanako to charge a [[Anime/AfterWarGundamX Satellite Cannon]].
87	** At a hotel, when Kogasa mentions to Sanae that the food is delivered by a steam train model, Sanae imagines the train from ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartIII''.
88	** There have been a few nods to ''Literature/NyarukoCrawlingWithLove''; Kogasa's claims that he needs to replenish his "Karaokenium" by singing is based off a similar gag where Mahiro's mother says that she needs "Sononium" generated by [[CuddleBug cuddling her son]]. Additionally, in the first karaoke marathon arc Nyarko herself was used as the avatar for the store's manager.
89	** One strip has Kogasa and Ran visit a ''Anime/YuriOnIce'' fan event at Karatsu Castle (Karatsu is [[RealPlaceBackground the inspiration]] for Hasetsu, Yuri Katsuki's hometown). Ran and Chen are apparently big fans of the series; Mizuki mentions that the person who Ran represents was "grinning ear to ear" when picking out merchandise, and in the strip Chen tells Ran to buy her ''three of everything''.
90	* ShowWithinAShow: Sort of. In one story arc, the characters watch episodes of ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica''. Ran starts to mention a {{Spoiler}} and gets [[ThinkingUpPortals gapped]] mid-sentence.
91	* SliceOfLife
92	* StrangeMindsThinkAlike: [[http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=post&s=view&id=2174397 When the group visits JAL]] and sees a giant airplane hangar, Kogasa and Nazrin imagine the "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHsGhrHGcB0 Theme of MAT]]" from ''[[Franchise/UltraSeries Ultraman]]''; Sanae notices and immediately says "You two are singing the 'Wandaba' song in your heads, aren't you?"
93	* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: This is considering that the manga is a journalesque affair; the majority of plots are based off of Mizuki Hitoshi's experiences traveling abroad. He sometimes adds commentary to his stories to tell what really happened or to remind the reader that some of the things are embellished.
94	** Also happened extensively with the Anime Boston arc, since most of the people behind Mizuki's trip are Danboorians and would elaborate on the events of the trip.
95	* ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend: In one strip, Kogasa tells Sanae about an incident where she was the victim of a hit-and-run; Sanae's immediate response is to call up Mother Suwako and ask her to lay a curse on the truck driver (despite Kogasa's protests that it was many years ago).
96	* WeightWoe: Sanae has this. It affects Kogasa as well, as Sanae actively weight-watches her mate.
97	* YaoiFangirl: Sanae engages in this sometimes, such as when she added homoerotic narration while watching two polar bears at the zoo.
98	* {{Yonkoma}}

Context Webcomic / HangInThereKogasasan