Forum - View topicChicks on Anime [2008-09-30]
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CuteyHoney
 Posts: 53 Location: OC,CA |
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This really brought up some interesting points.
The first thing that I want to adress is the difference in conventions. I know what an anime convention is because it is all about anime and japanese. Now, I have never gone to a comic book or sci fi convention, because I didn't feel that my anime cosplays would be welcomed there. I have recently heard that people at Comic Con wear anime cosplays as well as comic book ones. I felt that I made a mistake, especially since I had missed the casts of Battlestar Galactica and Eureka. At this point, I am under the impression that sci fi, comic book and anime conventions are different, but that they have a little bit of each one in them. I have also noticed that some Dealer's who failed to attend Anime Expo, attended Comic Con, such as Tokyopop. The next thing I want to talk about is the ages of attendees. Noe, first of all, unfortunately, many of the "old farts" at anime conventions are "fan boys". They just want to take pictures of the female cosplayers. I am not saying that there is anything wrong with that, but they could go somewhere else for that. It's one thing to appreciate the work the cosplayer went through to make their costume, than to try to get a photo underneath her dress. I am lucky, I have a boyfriend to protect me on the escalator. However, that isn't all of them. There are some older people who will go for fun. My father is one of them, he goes for the deals. The last thing I want talk about is the usage of the video rooms. I have to admit, that I do normally go for the premeires, because those are normally things that I haven't seen yet, and I am waiting for them to be released. When I check the convention schedule, most of the animes listed are things that I've seen, own or are not interested. However, another reason that I don't go, is because there are normally so many other things that I want to do, it's already hard for me to find shopping time. I always go to the panels(Tokyopop, Viz, ADV, Funimation, CMX, etc.), I also enjoy cosplay workshops (wigs, props), concerts, autograph sessions, and dancing. My average con day is waking up early, then getting in line for the Exhibit Hall. I usually only stay for about 1-3 hours, because I'll have panels and workshops to go to after. Maybe I'll get the chance to eat, go back to my hotel and change from cosplay to dance clothes for the night. I really enjoyed reading this article. |
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Ashrie
 Posts: 1 Location: Aussie Land |
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Loved this article. Gave me some insight into he american convention scene, which is always good.
I wonder if the behaviour at anime conventions changes according to whatever country they are in? I ask this because, living in Australia, I haven't experienced the sheer grand scale of a 10,000 people crowd at an anime convention. I have been going to Sydney conventions since 2002, both Supanova (which is a mix of sci-fi, comics, and anime) and Animania. I haven't personally encountered the behaviour described here - no ass paddling, backbreaking glomps, rude and obnoxious shouting. Don't know what other Aussie attendees experience, but my experiences have been really good. Hence why i've been attending for 6 years already... 
I always felt that the fan's behaviour here is generally quiet (of course, you get the result of them being too quiet, especially at times when they should be clapping and such), and that conventions are mainly there for people to socialize with their group of friends. Most of the time, you can have a conversation with someone over their favourite series. I've found that here, teenagers are friendly and most respect the rules of the convention. Of course, you do get your one obnoxious jerk who will rant or mouth off about how there aren't enough vendors, etc, but like I said, I personally find it's quite rare. I do think this is due to the scaled down number of attendees. Australia has a much smaller anime community compared to the US, and that definitely helps in keeping the amount of obnoxious fans down, and that feeling of community. I would still love to attend an American convention, just to be a part of the huge crowds. Also, attending a Japanese con is on my 'bucket list' too...  I would imagine that Japanese conventions are completely different to a Western one, due to different cultural norms and such...
PS: First post, long time reader! Yay  So, uh... Hi 
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ANN_Bamboo
ANN Contributor
 Posts: 3904 Location: CO |
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Luckily, Natalie is very approachable. It was my first time meeting her, but she was a pleasure to talk to. She's incredibly smart, and very, very friendly. I think what newer fans don't realize sometimes is that a lot of the "old guard" are just as eager to talk to newer fans, and to share their interests and hobbies. Maybe that contributes to the "age" gap?
I think you should check out some of the smaller conventions. And by smaller, I mean "less than 2,000." Maybe even smaller than that. Big conventions are fun, but small conventions are cozy. You won't get big name guests, but I think there's something else to be gained in the experience. |
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KeiOne
 Posts: 1 |
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I've also thoroughly enjoyed this column. Being a guy, it's easy sometimes to overlook certain aspects of the anime fandom when considering things, so I just wanted to thank you for the column.
Onto the topic however, I'm a mid-generation fan in my opinion. Old enough to have caught the tail end of the VHS generation, but young enough to have participated in the internet revolution of anime. My con experience is around 5-6 years mainly consisting of A-kon and the old Ushicon. In general there has been a noticeable trend in the fanbase. On the vandalism, and general mayhem caused at conventions, I have to agree that usually teenagers without supervision are to be blamed, but that's not to blame all of them. Consider your high school, then consider the numbers of teen at a larger con and well... you get the picture. As for the general change in mood, I would say cons have become bigger, which is a great thing. More numbers means more buisness, means more vendors, means more of.... well everything. The issue that comes to bear is how to handle the crowds and especially how to try to keep it safe and sound. Another major change is of course the change in where people are getting their anime. Although the internet brings a lot of anime to anyone's table, most of the younger generation hasn't been exposed to some of the classic longer running shows. A friend of mine cosplayed as Doraemon, and barely anyone recognized them. It's sad to say but our current generation of anime con-goers generally follow the latest "hip" animes (Death Note, Full Metal Alchemist, etc.). It's not to say these animes are bad, but I think those watching anime should be more diversified..... The other thing to keep in mind is the shift in generational humor. The advent of YouTube and other instant media-sharing forums has led to what I would call a "sugar-rush" society which finds random non sequitur humor extremely funny and sometimes that can lead to a clash of ideals. Just general points to think about I suppose. |
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Kiyoko
 Posts: 131 Location: Pennsylvania |
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Another trend I've noticed over the last 3 years, is that at both anime & comic/sci-fi cons is that people will cosplay as anything, as a con is an excuse to put on a costume, even if it's totally unrelated to the convention. My last 2 cons (AnimeNEXT & Anime Weekend Atlanta), I've seen Santa Clause, Obama, McCain, Hillary Clinton, Elton John, Jedi's, Storm troopers, Superman, the always popular Jesus, and of course a whole handful of Youtube & 4Chan reference costumes that I probably didn't understand. The number of them seems to be growing with each con I go to. |
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Rednal
Posts: 134 |
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I'm kind of surprised that some people have the nerve to harass other convention-goers. ^^; At the one I go to, at least, generally at least half of the attenders have some form of prop (i.e. weapon) on them, which you'd think would strongly discourage people. For dressing up, I wear my Iaido outfit, which is, near as I can tell, Japanese semi-formal wear.
 Maybe even formal. Only had my picture taken once.
Though I must admit, I do like to see costumes for lesser-known characters, rather than the thousands of Bleach/Naruto ones. Raichou from Kyouran Kazoku Nikki, maybe, a spoiler[psycho-neon-butterfly/magical/terrorist-bomber-girl] sort of character. ...Did I have a different subject every sentence this post? |
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Cait
 Posts: 503 |
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I'm not saying the perception of "older" fans (by which I mean fans that have been fans longer) might be innaccurate in indivudual instances, because I am sure Ms. Baan is a very nice person who is also very friendly. The problem, I think, is the internet and the nature of the anime fandom at large which has become a lot like "high school," and possibly because a lot of newer anime fans are in fact in high school, though on a smaller, more geek-influenced scale. What I mean is that high school culture is very fragmented, with different groups of people clinging together in their small clicques, finding those they are comfortable with and then closing access to the group, shunning anyone new who might be interested in joining in. This happens because of emotional insecurities, which are magnified within a community that generally consists of people who were already shunned by their peer group at large. On the internet this problem becomes unique because the nature of potential anonymity makes it easy to be even harsher to people, or to be inadvertantly exclusive to those that are not already friends. In my short few years of fandom experience online I've found it to be incredibly difficult to break into a fandom, particularly into fan fiction and especially in well-established fandoms. It's hard to get responses or reviews to written works. You either seemingly have to be truly exceptional or you have to have gotten in when the fandom was new and just long-established with it. I know part of that is that people are afraid to review fan fiction because they don't want to pick a fight if it is bad, and it seems a lot of writers are equally as insecure with their writing as they are with their friends, but for someone who wants to get the impressions of others, compliment or constructive criticism, it can be very frustrating to be all but ignored completely within a fandom. I suppose there's an age gap, or at least a maturity gap in that as well. when someone tries to give constructive criticism to a work and an insecure writer becomes violently defensive about it and then it turns into an unfortunate flame war. That could make anyone wary of reviewing works by that or any other writer in the future. It still doesn't change the fact that there is a divide within fandom between the vets and the newbs, and I don't really know what could be done about it.
CTcon isn't very big (not under 2,000 attendees, though) and when I was planning my first appearance there people actually told me it was a good con to go to as a first con because it was so small (and I'm sure they were comparing it to huge cons like Otakon and AX). Unfortunately I am only able to attend it because I live in Hartford. The nature of my job doesn't really allow for travelling too far because I have to consider if I suddenly have to work that weekend (which does happen, and actually did happen this year with CTcon). Maybe if I made more money I wouldn't be worried about putting down or making plans for a convention that I might have to cancel at the last minute (the thing with CTcon this year came up the week before the con). And then of course there is the cost of travel and hotel if I do decide to attend and am able to. For a bigger con I might be able to justify the expense, but to go to a smaller one is harder. |
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MomoConLiason
Posts: 111 |
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I've been going to conventions since 1996 and am currently 2nd in command of MomoCon. Like many of ya'll, I can confirm that their is a correlation between rowdy crazy behavior and growing attendance size. These issues were virtually non-existant for our first two year (700, and 1,600 attendees); things rapidly changed the next two years forcing us to ramp up our security staff.
My friends that have been con going as long as I have realized that one of the biggest differences between the younger and older fans that plays into the craziness is staying overnight. People in our age group used to not be able to get a room and stay overnight unsupervised. Nowadays it seems that a lot of the troublemakers are able to get a parent or older relative to book the room, sign them in, and leave them. A lot of us vets weren't able to do that until we hit college and got our own credit cards. Just my two cents. |
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SalarymanJoe
 Posts: 468 Location: Atlanta, GA, USA |
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I've been going to exclusively anime conventions for ten years (Anime Weekend Atlanta, never had the finances, vacation, or time to make it to another one, which I hope to change) and I've noticed the behavior there spiral downward in probably the last five years and primarily amongst the younger crowd. My first anime convention, I went with my dad, sister and a friend of mine at fifteen. I'd been attending conventions since I was eleven and they were all regional comic books shows (one year my family did Heroes mentioned in the article, which was much, much bigger). One would argue with that parental supervision, I would have been on my best behavior; but starting at sixteen, I did AWA all weekend and all without that parental supervision. My behavior changed little despite the group mentality, the party atmosphere or any other social factor that people these days will use to absolutely let loose at a convention. Apparently I, and it seems you as well, are exceptions to the new rules.
AWA has had problems in the past couple years with probably the most annoying activity ever. The hotel we've been at for the last five years is a very nice hotel on the very north edge of Atlanta, with an open atrium lobby (you can exit your hotel room and look down into it) and one year, people decided to play "Marco Polo". Someone in the lobby would yell "Marco" and someone from a few floors up would respond "Polo". And they continued doing it until the very early morning. Now trying to play it gets you a variety of offenses, up to having your badge pulled. What galled me the most about the entire thing was, it seems every year since, people will still piss, bitch and moan about how the con and the hotel are being buzzkills and irrational but I'm sure words like 'totalitarian' and 'fascist' might be tossed out, too.
I'm probably going to make a few (more) enemies here, but I really wish anime conventions would try to make a culture change more like this. Not necessarily the "more literary" tone because not all anime are high art but a little more control over the whole costuming aspect. Hell, I'd even give a little to compromise and just like to see less non-anime related costumes at anime conventions. Everyone will complain about the attention whoring that goes on with pseudorandom glomping, signs with "free hugs/will yaoi|yuri for XYZ" or screaming contests but there's only a few of us who will stand up for obnoxious cosplay. To me, the people who have large costumes and/or accessories or do anything to stop traffic, like photos in hallways or main thoroughfares, are the ultimate attention whores. I'm sure you worked hard on your costume, but can you please be the least bit considerate and take it either outside or at least away from the flow of traffic?
I don't think that's a part of the problem. After the first couple years I began attending anime conventions, that was when Toonami was kicking off and we started hitting the Millenium Boom that saw the explosion of the anime industry. A lot of people who were mid-teens then had really only Ronin Warrirors, Dragonball Z and Sailor Moon in addition to the titles that "every Blockbuster had". I found plenty of things new and exciting every year in the video rooms. I think my fondest memory was finding gritty Kodomo no Omocha subs in a video room at an anime convention. If anything, people who only have access to the mainstream stuff, conventions are a godsend because of the diversity and variety. What con programmers need to keep in mind is the explosion of fansubs via the Internet, as mentioned in the article, that video programming can't just be the "biggest new titles in Japan" (fansubs that are weeks old and passe to the Internet Generation) but a wide variety that will capture most everyone's attention when they're not at Event A that they've been waiting for.
I don't (didn't become a fan until '94 and haven't been out that far west) but I've read the Wiki on it; wasn't that the one with the likes of Leiji Matsumoto, Okada Toshio, and Ishiguro Noboru? Yeah, good luck finding a guest list like that now a days, convention behavioral problems aside. All in all, I think this was a great article and great interview. I think it's always nice to compare and contrast different types of conventions as well as anime conventions past and present. Surely, the specific conventions being discussed will vary by individual experience but there are a few universal generalities one might be able to draw. |
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Mohawk52
 Posts: 8202 Location: England, UK |
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FMPhoenixHawk
 Posts: 66 Location: Formerly MI, now IN. |
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I loved that scene. Hehehe... I didn't know Robin was from Michigan. Neat how small the world is. I haven't seen as many of the weirdos at cons. Maybe because I haven't really gone to many fully anime conventions. Most of the stuff I've run into is at GenCon. I guess that a large gaming convention doesn't draw the wackos that other places do. |
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MomoConLiason
Posts: 111 |
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Oh that's not restricted to AWA. I've had people openly complain on at least one forum of how "strict" we were telling L's and other barefoot types to put on shoes and keeping them out from playing in fountain (algae, broken glass, favorted bath/toilet of dogs, and the occasional rusty nail found within). Or someone bitching about a security staffer yelling at them to stop fishing a box of pocky over a balcony railing. |
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Calli
Posts: 38 |
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On the flip side of con attendees behaving badly...how many conventions have been crashed by wedding parties? It happened at Sogen Con 2007. Security had to be called, and the con staff were very displeased. At least this year the con got the convention center more or less to itself.
The one thing I wish had been addressed more was the creep factor. Most of the people you'll run into are decent, at worst obnoxious, but there's always a few bad apples and it can be unsettling -- even downright terrifying -- when you first run into them. Especially when the kind you run into is the sort that you aren't sure if they're incredibly poorly socialized, or should be incarcerated. |
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Rednal
Posts: 134 |
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There's also the eating/drinking factor... or lack thereof. The first time I went to my local convention, I made something of a mistake; I didn't drink regularly. For a few minutes, I was slightly delirious, until I managed to get my mind in gear and gulp down something I bought at one of the convention's food places. That helped. So I know from personal experience what the lack of energy can do to you at a place like that, and I probably did look a bit creepy then. There are some people who are just plain weird, yes (that's half the fun, even!), but I don't think very many are truly problematic. I've never had issues, anyway... but I do acknowledge that others have.
On the other hand, there are some good things at conventions as well. Such as the Best Costume Ever. Conventions are a lot of fun, you just have to understand some basic safety stuff. And, of course, carry around a big prop.
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Petrea Mitchell
Posts: 438 Location: Near Portland, OR |
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The community feeling can vary a lot from con to con. If you're near ConnectiCon, you might also check out Arisia, which is very broadly based-- books, media, music, you name it-- and which I've heard is very friendly (in a non-creepy kind of way). |
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