Convention Appearances 2018

Conventions and other events, fandom, stores, manga-ka, animators, and other people, etc
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Akage
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Re: Convention Appearances 2018

Post by Akage »

labsenpai wrote: Mon May 21, 2018 12:49 pm I don't think any of the guests cancelled..
Four of the five Japanese DJs were deported. The con had to cancel the Friday rave because of this. Not like that mattered to me because I enjoy sleeping more.
Since I was there mostly to meet GoHs, this was the only time I was interacting with staff or other autograph seekers (no Akage spotted?).
I spent most of my time in the autograph lines or lining up for tickets to get into the autograph lines. I was on the lookout for your backpack but I never saw anyone with that patch. I’m surprised you didn’t spot me. I was pretty much the only redhead woman in those lines.
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labsenpai
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Re: Convention Appearances 2018

Post by labsenpai »

Before your post, I had no idea who to look for. Its hard to scan for people in a moving line, and my identifying backpack was often off my shoulder for constant rummaging. A couple ACEN vets recognized my Sonoda tee shirt from the 1998 event, and one forum lurker eventually figured out who I was after we talked about old shows. The rest of the time I seemed to be adjacent to overwrought teenage girls and this dude who was one degree from being Kikuko Inoue's personal stalker. :|
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Akage
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Re: Convention Appearances 2018

Post by Akage »

labsenpai wrote: Wed May 23, 2018 4:48 pm.. this dude who was one degree from being Kikuko Inoue's personal stalker. :|
I met him in line. Older, Asian man, right? He cut in front of me in the second Sonoda autograph line under the guise of wanting a sketch for his friend or some garbage. All he did was pretty much talk about Inoue the entire time, including showing everyone the photo he took of her and telling us how having had her autograph her photography book during her panel ensured that her panel ended on a high note. He was creepy, but I've met far creepier.
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DKop
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Re: Convention Appearances 2018

Post by DKop »

Since we got back from Animazement, do you wish to regale us in the people you meet in the lines that were also creeps as well?
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labsenpai
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Re: Convention Appearances 2018

Post by labsenpai »

Yes, let us hear about the next not quite Otakon! I would've wanted to see Director Daichi, but my stamina & funds kept me at home.
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Akage
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Re: Convention Appearances 2018

Post by Akage »

This was a filthy casual convention for my friends and I this year. A couple of us had met Nagahama several times and had gotten sketches from him, so there was no drive to line up for him again. We concentrated more on the Anime Supporter's Group. We managed to get some nice stuff from Kariya though. Charity auction prices were super low again this year because the guests were repeats. We were all amused when the auctioneer, who had done the job for at least the past five years, told the crowd that the sketches were going to go high. Just as with last year, they didn't. I think the highest sold for $225. None of us were particularly interested in what was available.

We met one creepy guy who was drawn to my friend dressed as Rangiku. It made me really happy that I decided to not cosplay as Rangiku as well, though I joked with my friend that we should both dress up as Rangiku in tandem next year and just take yuri shots with each other for shiggles. We hung out with DKop. Some of DKop's dining choices were um, interesting, to say the least. One night we had the stereotypical trailer trash couple sit behind us at this burger joint diner, with some old timey timers on the other side. The old timers were talking about how their granddaughter or whatever was going to some 'Japahnese Animay' convention and how she was a fan of that 'thing called mainga'. The redneck father's line of "Why can't I have good shoes?" pretty much summed up the entire day for me. Of course, we were all using the LINE app, commenting on this on our smartphones because, you know, people my age don't talk to each other in person anymore. I think we kinda shocked DKop. Our poor little newbie seemed overwhelmed.

Ran into a cel dealer that had a good chunk of all the Hotaru/Mistress 9 cels that my friend had in her collection. It was kinda heartbreaking to see stuff I had given to her as gifts or gotten up at some stupid hour to help her win off of a Japanese auction site up for sale. Said friend also spilled apple juice twice on her collection and failed to clean up the first spill so her cels and celbook smelled quite fermented when we helped her clean the first time. My friends and I had helped her clean it up from her cels the second time when she came to Animazement in 2016. The dealer mentioned that he noticed that some of them had a weird residue on them, and we informed him of what had happened. I don't think he was too happy as he knew nothing of the story or what the source of the damage was. He was eager to get rid of them.

I wish I really had more to report but like I said, this was little effort con for us this year. We spent most of our time going to restaurants and movies, with a side trip to Publix because I wanted the gang to try kombucha. I didn't find my Cracker Barrel gravy, so that was disappointing for me.
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DKop
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Re: Convention Appearances 2018

Post by DKop »

Akage wrote: Fri Jun 01, 2018 3:34 pm
We met one creepy guy who was drawn to my friend dressed as Rangiku. It made me really happy that I decided to not cosplay as Rangiku as well, though I joked with my friend that we should both dress up as Rangiku in tandem next year and just take yuri shots with each other for shiggles. We hung out with DKop. Some of DKop's dining choices were um, interesting, to say the least. One night we had the stereotypical trailer trash couple sit behind us at this burger joint diner, with some old timey timers on the other side. The old timers were talking about how their granddaughter or whatever was going to some 'Japahnese Animay' convention and how she was a fan of that 'thing called mainga'. The redneck father's line of "Why can't I have good shoes?" pretty much summed up the entire day for me. Of course, we were all using the LINE app, commenting on this on our smartphones because, you know, people my age don't talk to each other in person anymore. I think we kinda shocked DKop. Our poor little newbie seemed overwhelmed.


I wish I really had more to report but like I said, this was little effort con for us this year. We spent most of our time going to restaurants and movies, with a side trip to Publix because I wanted the gang to try kombucha. I didn't find my Cracker Barrel gravy, so that was disappointing for me.
Hey, I thought Tara was a fantastic Rangiku, as I got to enjoy her costume across the breakfast cafe place ran by that cool Indian family that ran subtitled YuYu Hakusho in their joint, I sure as hell wasn't complaining ;)

And these "interesting" places are old food joint hangouts I went too when I lived in the Raleigh area years ago that I'm glad I got to revisit, as in for anyone on the Raleigh area, check out Gypsy Shiny Diner, fantastic eggs benedict! I think what sold that experience is when your friend Preston decided to hit up the juke box for "The Battle of New Orleans" with my stating "Yep, thats our queue to leave!" as we made our triumphant leave from that joint. I'm going back next year for sure for more Eggs Benny!

I might have been overwhelmed, but I was not broken, and I was in your group pretty deep, I was in it for the long haul and came out stronger and more jaded than ever :lol: . That LINE app with anime avatars, all I can say is that using Golgo 13 as a way to emote how I feel about things takes communication to a WHOLE new level! Deadpool 2 and Solo were great to see with you guys, so I appreciate that!
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labsenpai
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Re: Convention Appearances 2018

Post by labsenpai »

Well, I suppose all that counts as both a tangential con report and forum meet-up. My lack of cell phone modality and BLEACH character recognition would've been inexpedient. I picked getting local pizza over the Deadpool premier in Chicago; try Ritchie's Lounge on Lawrence Ave. Kombucha a punishment for the cel spoiling juice drinker? :)
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Guyver I
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Re: Convention Appearances 2018

Post by Guyver I »

Reading these posts about some recent conventions and such, really drives home something I've been thinking recently, and probably something that 's been discussed here, before. Namely that, I think anime conventions have largely retained their "fan" origins and, more importantly, atmosphere. Sure, you have behemoths like Otakon having an east coat and a Vegas iteration, but still, by and large, most anime conventions I've attended in recent years aren't all that different from when I first started going. Talking about creeps in line, or waiting to get a cel signed by a GOH, or hearing locals talk about "that annie-may stuff," - it's all things anyone who just stepped out of a 1998 convention would recognize.

Being on panels at SDCC and other venues, combined with the money woes faced by Wizard World and the outright cancellation of events a week before their opening ceremonies (Universal Fan Con - an interesting story, if you aren't familiar with it) has shown me just how commercialized "cons" have become. It's become a bloated mess, where "fan" doesn't really mean that anymore, and a "con" is anything but that. Anime conventions, and some small, literary-centric conventions I think are the only spots to really find that fan atmosphere, even dwindled as it may be, and even in places like SDCC you can find that, primarily in the artist alley and in particular panels outside the big mega Netflix/Marvel/DC/Star Wars panels, but still few and far between. There's such a thing as a "mainstream" or "social" con, I suppose you could say, and then there's the actual, fan conventions that have been able to retain that atmosphere, and I think it's great that anime conventions have been able to remain a part of the latter (despite a brief flirtation with the former in the early 2000s, I'd say).
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davemerrill
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Re: Convention Appearances 2018

Post by davemerrill »

I want to echo Guyver I's sentiments as to the continuing "fan" nature of the anime cons, thank goodness the Hollywood money went towards the comic-cons and away from the Japanese cartoons. You can see wanna-be "comic cons" starting up all over the map, all angling for those mythical Hefty bags full of autograph cash the guests walk away with. Most of the anime shows that decided to start chasing the large nerd culture dollar have rebranded themselves as gaming conventions or generic pop culture conventions, leaving the Japanese animation field to the Japanese anime fans.
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