Convention on Radar

Anime USA approacheth! Approacheseth? Is almost here!

I REALLY need a break from the home and the office. . . strange to say, but a 4-day convention vacation may keep me sane. The craziness at work and the frustration at home have been almost too much lately. Of course, I will have to endure the Chris/Joe for a whole weekend. . . well, gotta take the bad with the good. Hee hee.

Conventions have really changed for me, since I became a con-goer way back in 1994. At least I think it was '94. Anyway. For me, conventions used to be about the animation. It was new, it was rare, it was exciting to be with all these other people who were excited about the same thing I was. The anime shows they had at cons were either unavailable or mostly unknown to the general populace in America. The fans all had the same enthusiasm, the feeling of safety and acceptance that comes from finding LOTS of other people just as strange as you.

In one short decade, the American mainstream changed anime conventions into horrible nightmarish statements about the worst things American fandom has to offer. I could fill pages and pages with the things I don't like about modern anime conventions -- rude teenagers, watered-down viewing schedules, poor organization, obvious money grubbing -- but why focus on the negative? Instead, my focus has shifted away from the animation itself.

I used to go to cons to see animation, period. I sat my ass in a dark room for four hours, then rushed to the next room for another 4-hour show, and then rushed to the next one. . . lather, rinse, repeat. (Noir. . . Star Ocean. . . Noir. . . Star Ocean. . . ) But gone are the days when you could watch an entire series at a convention. I have fond memories of watching all of Maho Tsukaitai (Magic User's Club) at Katsucon one year. But nowadays, what's the largest number of episodes you can see of one series at a con. . . two? Four, if you're lucky? I understand the reasons why they can't do such extended showings anymore, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.

The one thing I do like about cons is that they have expanded to include a much wider swath of Japanese culture than just animation. Martial Arts demos, daiko drumming, food panels. . Nowadays, the first thing I look at when I go to a con is the workshop and panel schedule. And of course, I myself run a Mah Jongg panel, which only sucks a little bit, I'll work on that. And of course, the best part of conventions is that I get to spend an entire weekend with friends that I don't see often enough (hey there VA crew), and I can rekindle hatred of certain others (Die die die Chris/Joe). Hm. It's very likely that 90% of the conventions I've been to have been more for the company, and less for the con itself.

Hm. Guess I'll hop off the soap box. All this is old, old news to every con-goer I know. . . Sorry for wasting your time.

Anyway. . . whatever the reason, I'm looking forward to AUSA this year. It's gonna be different for lots of reasons -- we're in a hotel away from the con venue, the actual con venue is double-booked (d'oh), my Mah Jongg panel should be better than ever, we have tons of cool people in our hotel room. . . etc, etc. I'm going to try to use my camera more this time. . . that is, use it at all. And I hope to have tons of stories for the blog afterwards. Maybe even just a "con was OK", and that's it. We'll see.

Yawn. Guess I better pretend to work for a while. More next week.