Fanime 2009 Report
| 25 August 2009
I think for my next two reports, I'm going to take a different philosophy with them. Rather than a day by day report, which admittedly gets a little bit exhaustive...not to mention by this point my habits are known, I believe I shall simply talk in impressions of the convention overall.
Fanime is, and continues to be, a convention for the fans by the fans. As such it doesn't try to over-schedule itself, and tends to put on events that most other conventions have stopped doing, such as showing fansubs and making a big production out of hentai night. It retains an atmosphere of running a three day convention over four days, which is a nice leisurely stroll through the whole thing without busting my ass day in and day out trying to get everything in place to film events or whatnot.
This year, registration for Press was quite weird in that each member of a group had to register himself. I've done conventions alone as Press, and it sucks; running around to various places with all that camera gear by yourself is an exhausting level of effort for one person. It's best to go in pairs to share the workload, so not being able to register a group for Press is kinda strange. However, they didn't make a big deal of it either, so I'm not going to complain too terribly much about what became little more than a quirk. They also make the picking up of badges completely painless, and the Press staff is well connected and well informed...the informed part of that going both ways between the Press and other departments. This is where we learned a surprising bit of information in that the Momoi concert would allow video to be shot, but no tripods. The latter confused us, and the Press guy too, so he asked for further details from his contact over at Main events. Apparently, for that event, it was the union, employed by the Main Events Hall, who was going to handle the tripods and union rules prevented others from operating their own while union tripods were in operation. While thinking the union a bunch of complete and utter cock blockers, and that I needed to get my body harness camera mount, the Tiffen Steady Stick, repaired, this was all the information we needed and kept everything running smoothly. This is how things should be; people just wanting to have fun and ensure everyone has the information and reasonable freedoms to do so.
Also, the girl behind the professional registration's desk was one that was so cute I would have very much liked to reach over and hug the stuffing out of her. She seemed a little shy as well, which made her even more cute. If she's reading this, she's probably running like Hell right now, and thinking of taking out a restraining order on me. Though she needs not worry, since I'm easily distracted at these conventions, heh.
Concerning the distractions, can anyone tell me this: What the living fuck happened to all the unattached fangirls this year? No, seriously, what the fuck, guys? I'm pretty sure the amount of female cosplayers (or just girls in general) that didn't have a boy, either cosplaying with them or just hanging out beside them, was in the low double-digits. While I've been noticing more and more couples, even writing an article or two about them, what I saw this year was blowing all that out of the f'n water! Though admittedly, Mayhem pointed out a very likely possibility concerning this; that perhaps guys were getting tired of their girls going to conventions alone, finding someone else, then coming back and breaking up with them. This would explain the shear amount of guys in regular clothes just hanging around them looking massively bewildered at the entire situation...when they weren't semi-glaring at everyone.
On the subject of cosplayers in general, I found most to be top notch, and enjoyed taking their pictures as much as they enjoyed having their pictures taken. Let's face it folks, even for the casual generic cosplayer like me, we're cam whores. There's also no telling what you'll find. Take for example these two pics (1,2) of Pegasus Maiden who I've bugged for the past few years and is probably ready to stab me with sharp and pointy objects. The character here is Veris Skycastle from an original work...a work whose name I've forgotten, unfortunately; so if anyone knows what it is, I'll be sure to update this report when I get said info. You really don't see a lot of original work like this; I kinda wish we could see more. On the other hand, we sometimes get cosplayers like this young lady playing Chi from Chobits. Nothing wrong with what you see...in and of itself. However, I then get a rather snarky question from her FATHER of all people, "Think a fourteen year old should look like that?" To which I responded, "Why the Hell do you allow it if you have a problem with it?" Got no response on that one. Seriously folks, if you have a problem with your underage children dressing up or going to events like this...DON'T FUCKING LET THEM! For if you do, expect, at the very least, that they'll be photographed at said event in said costume.
There were several notable occurrences in the realms of cosplay this year that I will also regale you with. This young lady right here cosplaying Princess Tutu was tirelessly vital; obviously enjoying herself immensely. She stayed out there taking pictures for hours, and given the way she was getting on her toes for most of it, seems like she had some instruction in ballet. Then we have the Rozen Maiden gathering which starts here on this page and ends on this page. This one is amusing because the gathering only started with the maidens you see in the first few pics, but as I was leaving I run into several of the rest up stairs. I note they were missing the gathering, and they remarked that they couldn't find it...but could I show them? Well, yeah. So, I led them downstairs and to the fountains where the rest of them were and wound up taking more pics. Like last year I ran into a Transformers Lolita, in this case Rodimus Prime who happens to be hanging out with a Hotrod cosplayer (yes, that's me between them) and a Carly cosplayer...first one I've ever seen. Truly a fun time for a Transformers fanboy. It is also known that Halko Momoi was running around in costume getting her picture taken, but sadly I never ran into her; though I expect a Google search may pull up something useful in that regard.
I went to two panels this year. The first was the "There Will Be Brawl" panel. For those that aren't familiar with the series, as shown here on the Escapist Magazine website, it's a very dark story based on the Super Smash Brothers Brawl world. Mayhem had never seen the series, so before we went to the panel, I showed him the first ep. What cracked me up was the way he called out some of the events that went on before he saw them. Then again, it's not like they weren't telegraphed a thousand yards away, either. During the panel they talked about casting, which was mostly friends and amateur actors they knew. Funding was an issue they noted was causing some delays due to The Escapist taking a few months to pay them money since that online publication picked up the series. I asked a number of questions, like the shear amount of extras in episode three that were employed in that...where did they get them all? Hell, most were at the panel there, and were just friends they knew from school and such. The prosthetics, as good as they are, were mostly done by people who wanted to just get their work out and seen so they'd be picked up for other projects. Also, we may or may not find out what happened to Daisy (note, I just watched ep 7, and yes, it was gruesome)...which, given the foreshadowing on her, likely means that yes, we will, and it's going to be gruesome. For the second half, they showed episode five, which had premiered that very day on The Escapist. As stated the series is dark, but also an exploration of what would happen if those in the Smash Brothers world were...corrupted somehow. No one escaped from it, not even the likes of Bowser and Gannon who were already evil in the way of the stories they came from. After the presentation we had some time to take some pictures and note that truly the girl who played Samus Aryn was quite hot.
Second panel was more morbid curiosity than anything else. I don't even recall what it was called, and I'm not even sure that's important. Originally I thought it might be some sort of convention hook up panel, in which case, I expected it to be a massive sausage fest. Well, in that I was certainly not disappointed; the amount of men outnumbered the amount of women by a WIDE margin. No, this panel was mostly about how to approach and to pick up girls without looking like a loser on the level of having Yukinari Sasaki from "Girls Bravo" walking up to you and going, "You're fucked, dude." I think we managed to last five minutes in there listening to advice and conjectures before we bolted, walked outside, and killed someone random to bathe in their blood to feel normal again. What's scary is the knowledge that this sort of panel is truly necessary. What's scarier is that the panel had a very long line to get in. The shear level of social ineptitude this panel requires to be useful is beyond sanity. What's worse is the rapt attention we saw in the vast majority of this room; it was mind blowing. We're talking preschool level interaction being described here folks. It was also a very sobering look at the fact that though damn near every girl there had a guy of their own...or several...the guys still outnumbered said girls by a vast margin, and many of them haven't talked to a girl in any meaningful capacity ever; close family not counting. It's also sobering just how the girls in the fandom are now exceedingly aware of their sexual market value in an economy saturated with boys of all types in vastly superior numbers even now to the girls. Girls have their choice of men in the fandoms, and both sexes know it. Boys need to learn Game to cope, and have realized that, but for many it's beyond belief how far they really have to go before they can say "Hi!" without falling face first into a vat of the most epic of fails. One can only imagine trying to explain a 'neg' to such an individual...it'd be like a god trying to explain to an ant how atoms come into being.
The Main Events were everything they have always been here and even more considering what I was actually allowed to do at one in particular. When I had heard that Halko Momoi was going to be putting on a concert at Fanime I had already decided to attend. Not so much because I'm a fan of her music, though she's certainly fun and sings well, but mostly because of what happened to her at Anime Expo 2007. Hearing stories about how she wound up breaking down in tears over several things that happened rather irked me, and I wished to contribute to her having a good time over in the here and now, even if only as one more screaming fanboy in the isles in a sea of such people. Finding out that video and pictures would be allowed was like finding out video and pictures would be allowed at the Yuuki Kajiura concert at Anime Expo several years ago. I felt both amazed and elated; such a thing is so rare that its existence is suspect, or would be if the very nature of pictures and recordings weren't in and of themselves proof of existence. Regardless, it is a rare thing, and I can only hope that the video I shot would meet with her approval, even if it was basically two of us alternating holding the camera between songs.
The Masquerade didn't have near the amount of song and dance routines as did last year. However, it did have rather large amounts of very original content; almost all of it just as entertaining as what was shown last year. Probably the most original was a song and dance routine, but it was an original song, from what I understand. Thing is, Saito actually did this sort of thing in the first season of Zero no Tsukaima being that he was a big fan of petty revenge. It turned out to be one of the most in character and amusing skits that whole evening. Though for further irony, the Pokemon skit, also being a song and dance routine, was one that got the entire audience pumped...people were singing that with the recording and you could quite clearly hear it.
What to say about Hentai Night(s)? Hmm...first off, I'll get this out of the way. Mayhem and I actually stopped by the Yaoi room just to say we'd done it. Walked in and to be honest, I was expecting something on the order of Dark Love, only with just men. Expected, screaming, blood flowing from my eyes, and a trip to the psycho ward. Instead it was...well, kinda dull actually. Yeah, I said it: The Yaoi room was boring. In any event, the first night of Hentai Night premiered someone's attempt at 3DS Max porn animation. While interesting for its newness, that quickly wore off and the entire audience was left with a sense of lethargy that quickly overwhelmed me; forcing me to head back and sleep. Yes, it was that boring. Second night was more interesting in that it premiered something I'd never seen before or even heard about. It was AMV Hell 0...yes, THAT AMV Hell. AMV Hell 0 was put together by many of the same individuals that contributed to AMV Hell and used the same TV eyecatch to change channels; however, it was all done to H anime which ran the gamut between hilarious and horrifying. The next anime was Night Shift Nurses, which was...really strange all around. Yeah, strange is the right word for this. Third night was the premier of another chapter of Night Shift Nurses; this particular production being done by the same individuals who brought us Dark Love and Princess 69. And if that doesn't have you running screaming, you can be assured in that you have a bright future to look forward to when the Old Ones return to drive humanity bug-fuck insane and consume our souls. I've never seen a room clear out so fast as when this episode got going. I know I was feeling extremely queasy, and it wasn't because of the bad muffins I at the previous night. No, this thing was so disgusting, so insanely depraved, I can only recommend it for people's collection in the sense one would have the actual Necronomicon ex Mortum in it: bragging rights. Anything else I would actually question your sanity, and very possibly your humanity...it was that bad. I managed to survive watching that entire chapter listening to people trying to MST it in vain attempts to hold back the nightmare issuing forth from the screen. No folks, those were not cocoa puffs.
In any event, would it kill the runners of this event to show an H anime that was entertaining? Last year was entertaining, even despite and probably because of the incest theme going on. This year seemed to be a science experiment...survival of the fittest and all that. I managed to make it, but I have no idea what that says about me, or even if I did so intact, heh. If nothing else, I do get bragging rights to it, I suppose, though I'm not sure what I'd use them for.
There were various other odds and ends, such as the showing of the unfinished versions of Dead Fantasy 3, 4, and 5. The swap meet the first night. Also the dealer's hall, and their total lack of anything Transformerish, which reminded me a great deal of ACEN's lack of similar toys. It wasn't until Anime Expo when I could pick a few of them up, and even their offerings were sparse. There was the Maid Cafe, which I really wanted to attend, but for some reason never got around to doing so. The dance also comes to mind as there were two going on...the regular dance, and this 'Over 18' one. The regular dance had a line to get in, and the Over 18 one? Sausage fest...quickly got dull.
Overall, I can't really say anything bad about this convention. I was able to see and do things I've not done at a convention in a very long time. I was both honored and excited to take part in this year's events. There were some disappointments, but that was more to do with attendance in and of itself, and was in no way a fault of the convention. Fangirls are a hotly contested commodity, and after all this time, I think I'm finally up for putting myself back on the market to see if I can acquire one of those elusive creatures, though it looks like I may need to think twice about trying to pick one up at a convention. I just hope I've learned enough so that I'm smarter and truly ruthless about it this time around. All in all, outside of a slight case of food poisoning, I can say this was a restful and pleasant experience, one which I hope to repeat for many years to come.
