One of them disclaimer thingies: The following is a collection of thoughts and musings that I have written down, more or less for something to do. If I insult anyone, or have judged anyone unfairly, then please bear it in mind that I mean no-one any distress, and refer to the front page for my beliefs on someone who takes offense where it's not meant. Similarly, if anyone is overly flattered by anything stated here, well, I didn't mean it but I'm glad you liked it.
Kisekae, for me, is one of those fad craze things, like Tamagotchis and the like, but with one very sizeable difference - because it is already widely spread within the Internet community, and because there is a kind of 'tradition' to make it freely available to anyone who might want it, it is relatively free from commercialism and thus free from corruption. Any fad will attract copycats, such as (using the above analogy) Tamagotchi clones. However, these are only really viable if the consumer must pay for them which, in the case of KiSS, the consumer doesn't. The nearest equivalent to this is the astounding profusion of sets based on popular Anime characters, one of the most prevalent being (for some warped reason) Sailor Moon. While I have nothing particularly against the Sailor Moon series (I have only seen two episodes of it on television, and I don't own a video player), I take issue with the unnerving habit many promising artists have of limiting themselves to taking a preconceived popular Anime character and putting different clothes on them. I mean, fan habits notwithstanding, why do these people limit themselves to any one thing? "I think I'll do a disco theme KiSS set," someone says. "Damn," they add on some reflection, "I can't think of an original character to do." This I can respect, by the way - inspiration doesn't always strike easily. Casting a glance around their room, their eyes light upon one of the fifteen full-size color posters of Sailor Moon pasted to their walls, and an idea comes to them. "I know," they say, "I'll take a picture of Sailor Moon, scan it in, and make up my own clothes for it! No-one's done a disco Sailor Moon set before!" Admittedly I've never seen one, but this may have to do with the fact that I've never gone looking, and I'd be willing bet you lots of money that there exist at least three.
I can, however, understand the urge to make a tribute to something one appreciates. I myself have been working on a few things that are far from original in concept for a few weeks now. The part I don't understand is why these artists make ONLY fan-related stuff. It shows a severe limitation in imagination.
A relatively short while ago, an energetic young artist decided that the KiSS community lacked a certain something. Using her spare time to put her nose to the electronic grindstone, she came up with an adult-orientated KiSS set. This in itself was far from original - adult oriented material has been existant in the KiSS world for as long as child-oriented material. However, this character was a completely original character with a personality all of her own. Drawn in a variated Manga style, she had green hair and a wardrobe full of 'interesting' items.
The artist was a young woman named Glyndon. The KiSS set was called 'Erinkiss.lzh'.
This set of a veritable floodgate of original 'Gothic' characters, and several new artists came to the light as well as some older ones regaining a bit of the limelight, including EmbyQuinn (among others). With the introduction of 'Gothboy' sets, the male genetalia no longer held a shaky position within KiSS. The ever-popular sado-masochism/bondage themes came out in full force, riding on a Harley and packing a pair of Uzis. Almost overnight, the world of KiSS was changed, possibly forever.
Glyndon, however, was not one to rest on her laurels. Despite being the figurehead of a KiSSworld revolution, she merely shrugged and got on with it. She now has several other KiSS sets available at her website, some of which are exclusive to that site. With the invention of FKiSS (which allowed animation and sound) and FKiSS2 (which expanded on the concept and even allowed limited interaction between the cels) came newer and flashier KiSS sets which did more and proved more.
Similarly, EmbyQuinn, or Spider, has produced a startlingly large range of KiSS sets, possibly the largest I have seen from the one artist, and while each resembles the others in some way or other, they are still incredibly unique.
FKiSS has opened a huge realm onto the world of KiSS, and FKiSS2 has simply broadened this. Now a KiSS set has to be truly special to compare to a decent FKiSS or FKiSS2 set. Original characters have been given a new lease of life because although they don't hve the exposure of popular cult movies (this goes for Anime especially, as this art form grows in ever-increasing strength around the world), they are nonetheless given a life and, in some cases, a fairly comprehensive background of their own. People can relate to them on an almost personal level, like the way everyone does with movie characters, and so their 'reality' grows ever stronger.
And yet the popular characters of Anime and even, to a lesser extent, Disney, came back wearing stranger and less common clothing, as if to put up a fight. Kisekae is still very much a medium for fans of Anime and Manga, which seem to be the 'traditional' style for KiSS sets, and due to the proliferation of the fans of such characters as Sailor Moon, the Evangelion set, Ranma 1/2, etc. it is very much likely to stay that way.