Page 4
The good, bad and ugly of Anime conventions
By JACOB UNSON
Imagine, if you will, a place
where Anime, Manga, and
Video Games rule the day.
Where hundreds, if not thou-
sands of people dress up as
characters from many different
series, and it’s not Halloween.
A place where groups of
people can spontaneously per-
form group dances and no one
bats an eyelid, instead whip-
ping out cameras and taking
pictures and video. And at
night, these same places fill
with the sound of pulsating
techno beats and the glimmer
of flashing lights. Welcome to
an anime convention, thou-
sands of which have popped up
all over the world, many hun-
dreds of them in the United
States alone. They range in size
from cozy get-togethers at ho-
tels in small towns, to massive
weekend-long conferences in a
major metropolitan area. Many
a good time can be had at these
conventions, and they truly are
unforgettable experiences.
However, there are some pit-
falls to going to these conven-
tions, and what is supposed to
be a fun day or weekend can
turn into a disappointment, at
least, and a nightmare, at
worst.
The Good
An anime convention often
has a very fun atmosphere.
Step inside a convention center
during ‘con’ hours, and one
feels a sort of electricity in the
air. You can feel the excite-
ment pulsing from the hun-
dreds, if not thousands of at-
tendees that are there for the
day or weekend. Arguably, part
of this fun atmosphere is the
costumes. An anime conven-
tion is nothing without its cos-
tumed attendees, who show
love for their favorite series by
taking on the guise of various
characters, whether it be he-
roes and heroines like Naruto
Uzumaki (Naruto), Ichigo Ku-
rosaki (Bleach), Kagome Higu-
rashi (Inuyasha) and Yoko
Littner (Tengen Toppa Gurren
Lagann), or villains and villain-
esses such as Sephiroth (Final
Fantasy VII), Orochimaru
(Naruto), Naraku (Inuyasha),
ECHO l Thursday, June 4, 2009
and Adiane (Tengen Toppa
Gurren Lagann). Some cos-
tumes aren’t from any series,
and in fact can be original con-
cepts (Stormtrooper Samurai,
anyone?). Costumes tend to
vary in quality, and sure, some
might look like people didn’t
spend much time on it, or the
costume isn’t accurate, or
maybe the costume doesn’t suit
their body type. What matters
is that these people are having
a good time while in costume,
and if that’s what makes them
happy, so be it.
Another reason people go to
these conventions is because of
the special guests. Whether the
guest is a voice actor, an artist/
author, a musician, or game de-
signer, fans flock from all over
to meet them at these conven-
tions, get autographs, and ask
questions at the panel(s) the
guest(s) appear in. I myself had
the fortune to meet Japanese
voice actor Tomokazu Seki,
who is famous for voicing some
of the most energetic char-
acters in Anime, among them
Domon Kasshu of G Gundam
fame.
Aside from costumes and
guests, there’s lots of activities
to do, especially at a large
anime convention, and typi-
cally so little time to do every-
thing you want to do. Take
Otakon, for example, held an-
nually in Baltimore, MD.
There’s screenings of Anime
and Japanese films both new
and old, a gaming room, hun-
Theme Days
DAYS, continued
from Page 2
the theme days were created by
one of the seniors listed above.
Anthony Nattle came up with
beach day, a day where they all
wore beach attire, including
towels, sunglasses and safari
hats! John Wieland thought of
the really short shorts day, a
day that… well… I’m sure the
day’s name explains it all. Joe
Kovach came up with Lava day,
a day where these seniors wore
orange colored shirts. They
also needed to avoid the white
dreds of panels featuring dif-
ferent topics and subjects, a
vast dealer’s room packed to
the brim with all sorts of Japa-
nese goods, an Artist’s Alley
featuring both original art as
well as fan art, live concerts and
performances, the ever-popu-
See ANIME, Page 5
floor tiles and only step on the
colored ones, regardless of
what it took, whether it was by
using a backpack bridge, or
climbing on railings. A group
effort came up with the “Day
1” dress up day, a day where
formal “church” attire was
worn to school.
Each of the theme days gave
everyone a great laugh. Not
only were they creative, they
were funny. Good clean fun. I
think we will all miss the humor
these seniors had to offer
PAHS and I hope that some-
one from the junior class will
take over the theme day tradi-
tion next year.