Anime festivals deploy odor-fighting squads

At Comic Market in Tokyo, the problem of sweat odor has literally been taken to a whole new level. The festival has a special Odor Defense Squad — an «odor-fighting squad», while visitors are invited to pass through deodorizing gates. And this is no joke: similar hygiene problems have already forced gaming event organizers to cancel tournaments.

Comic Market 108 (Comiket), Japan’s largest event for fans of manga, anime, cosplay and self-published works, is taking place in Tokyo on August 15 and 16. The festival is held at the Tokyo Big Sight exhibition center, which draws huge crowds of visitors on these days.

But along with the usual conversations about manga, figurines and cosplay, the summer Comiket has another annual topic — odor.

The reason is fairly mundane. August in Tokyo means heat and high humidity, while Comic Market brings thousands of people together in a single exhibition complex. Visitors spend a lot of time in queues and crowded halls, so the combination of heat, sweat and large numbers of people becomes a serious problem.

And the Japanese have found a highly unusual way to tackle it.

Meet the Odor Defense Squad

At C108, a special Odor Gate — «deodorizing gates» organized by WAKAYAMA — is operating once again. The project first appeared at Summer Comic Market 104 in 2024 and is now being held for the third consecutive year.

This year, a genuine Odor Defense Squad has been formed around it — a team of six cosplayers. They help visitors use the deodorizing product, take photos with them and turn the fight against odor into a distinctive part of the festival program. Visitors are also offered small gifts and the chance to receive souvenirs from a gacha machine.

The main product is an antibacterial deodorizing spray developed by the company, designed to quickly eliminate odors associated with sweat and bacteria.

In other words, the organizers are effectively telling visitors: «If you didn’t have time to take a shower, at least come through the deodorizing gates.»

Why the problem has become so serious

For Comic Market, the issue of odor has long been something of an annual meme.

However, behind the jokes lies a very real problem. In summer, people spend hours in the heat, stand in queues and then find themselves packed tightly into the exhibition halls. Even someone who showered and used deodorant in the morning may face a completely different situation after several hours of heat and walking.

That is why Japanese social media users remind prospective Comiket visitors of virtually the same things every year: take a shower, wear clean clothes and bring something to deal with sweat.

This year, the discussion flared up again after the Odor Defense Squad appeared. On social media, people joke that the deodorizing gates should be placed right at the entrance so that every visitor passes through them.

But once, hygiene really did force an event to shut down

And this is where the story stops being merely a funny Japanese meme.

In July 2026, Chronos Games & Gifts — a board game and collectibles store in Beaverton, Oregon — announced the temporary suspension of local Yu-Gi-Oh! tournaments.

The reason was numerous complaints about participants’ poor hygiene, as well as problems with restroom use. According to the store, the situation had reached the point where negative reviews related to unpleasant odors began appearing. As a result, the organizers decided to cancel local Yu-Gi-Oh! events for one week.

The store separately reminded players of Konami’s requirements and asked them to follow basic personal hygiene rules.

So the phrase «the tournament was canceled because the players stank» sounds like an internet joke, but behind it lies a very real story: the events actually had to be put on hold for a week because of hygiene complaints.

And this is an important clarification: Comic Market was not shut down because of odor, as some retellings on social media claim. In Comiket’s case, organizers are trying to address the problem proactively — through a deodorizing station.

From memes to infrastructure

What is revealing in this story is not even the existence of an «odor-fighting squad» itself, but the fact that the problem is gradually becoming part of the infrastructure of large-scale fan events.

In the past, the advice to «take a shower before the convention» was viewed mainly as a meme associated with stereotypes about geeks and anime fans.

Now special rules, warnings and even deodorizing stations are appearing.

And the solution is quintessentially Japanese: rather than publicly shaming anyone or searching for the «smelliest visitor», organizers have created a separate, eye-catching area with cosplayers, photo opportunities and a special spray.

But the main advice from organizers and visitors remains much simpler:

it is still best to take a shower before Comic Market.

Because even the most powerful Odor Gate cannot replace basic personal hygiene.