The following passage is from my notes taken during Animazement 2008. The notes have been cleaned up from their original form to give them more of a clear narrative. Other than that these are almost word for word of my experiences from the convention themselves. All notes were written either before, after or during a panel. I only hope that my writing can properly portray my exuberance at this con.
I left Fayetteville around eight-thirty a.m. and got to the hotel around ten. One of the first things I see is the long ass line for registration. So as I contemplate whether to wait in this line or go drop my stuff off at my very gracious friends house an angel from the heavens, well the registration table, tell me this is the line for pre-reg and that the line for new registration is actually shorter. So I and a handful of people rush to the front of a line that runs across the hotel. I quickly fill out the paperwork for registration and claim my badge. A feeling of warmth comes over me as my first ten minutes at the con are already getting off to a good start.
As I enter the hotel the first thing that comes to mind is the lack of smell permeating from the hotel. Or should I say the dreaded fan-boy funk, a smell I know all too well from coming in on Saturdays and Sundays. The lack of the smell I have gotten so used to fills me. It's not that I don't like being in a barely full hotel able to breathe through my nose it's just that the sensation feels almost so foreign to me. It's almost like I'm lost without the smell. It's like I know not what to do or what to think. Around that time I start to roam the hotel lobby as it's my first time there.
Around the time I come out of my daze and actually start walking into the convention proper, who do I meet Chad "Macross-Junkie" Matich one of the head core members, if not the head, of E.C.A.S. sitting at the entrance checking people for badges. After a bit of small talk and since the convention hasn't officially even started yet I find myself sitting in the chair next to him checking badges and just generally making small talk. During the time we talk about the usual things such as anime, what's happening at the con, cute girls in cosplay and how you can look but not touch. So after a while of shooting the shit and checking con badges I start flipping through the con book. It's during this time that I finally decide on my first panel to attend for the day.
First panel and I'm about thirteen minutes early. Japanese Anime 2007 with Prof. Yasuo Yamaguchi, a producer and director who's worked on a plethora of titles over his career. One of the titles he's worked on that catches my ear is Getter Robo. I sit in an air-conditioned tent outside the hotel waiting in anticipation. For some reason the only thought that crosses my mind at this moment is that if I was a girl I would be wet right about now.
The panel wasn't exactly what I expected. I thought it would be a one on one instead it turned out to be a state on the anime industry. Nothing I hadn't heard before but still interesting nonetheless. Some interesting things he mentioned that caught my attention
- A major reason for the decline of anime sales in Japan is Japan's low birthrate.
- He believes that anime DVDs in Japan are too high and should be brought down to global standards. (Finally a man who knows what, "anime fan want".
- Cute Fluffy Tank. I wasn't able to write down the Japanese name of this series but he described it as a low budget flash animation that originally was shown online then packaged into a DVD set that sold for an estimated ten dollars US and had sold around nearly I believe around 100,000 copies and up. He used this as an example to show that well the anime industry has it wrong. Not only is the DVD pricing to high but a major lack of creative shows and overflowing the market is killing the anime industry.
After that I then headed out to catch the tail end of the Sentaifest panel which was essentially a person showing sentai TV shows and movies. Now considering that I only caught the tail end of the panel I can't say if they even had discussed anything about sentai but from what I had walked into I was very disappointed. Showing clips to illustrate what sentai is would be okay but to just show off a movie strikes me as downright lazy. Even if it was Gaoranger vs. Super Sentai doesn't make it any more of an excuse.
Probably because every Animazement previous to this year I had never been able to make it on a Friday is most likely why I'm in such a good mood. Only thing to add to that is the fact that I finally attended opening ceremonies, although starting at 5:30 I would hardly call it opening (oh my, that was so witty). Highlights of opening ceremonies in my honest opinion having Akira Kamiya in his best Kenshiro voice tell the audience that "I have just pressed the Animazement pressure point in your body." Then after a rousing applause from the audience, spoke into the mic, "That we already are having fun." Only two words can truthfully describe that moment, frog king awesome. Of special note was the announcement of the evening that Animazement would no longer be held at the Sheraton Imperial hotel anymore. Instead starting next year the convention will actually be held in the Raleigh Convention Center. A bigger forum
The next panel I attend is of course the Participation Webcomic Fan Panel because I like webcomics. The panels theme is draw your own 4-Koma strip and then have it judged. The grand prize cake and for once the cake is not a lie. It was a panel of 4 Chan memes, Portal quotes and weird drawings by our panel of judges. All in all it was a fun panel to cool off and just have fun at. It also gave me a chance to try out my artistic skill again in a workshop. Needless to say maybe it's a good thing I stopped trying to pursue art as a career.
My favorite panel of the day easily was Anime Hell. Hell starts at 8:30 and doesn't end until 11:00 but the effects last well until the next day. What makes this panel so fun is that it's not just originally anime clips but instead a menagerie of European music videos, 70's disco movies starring Patrick Swayze, Super Pres, experimental Tezuka films, and scandalous babysitters? There is almost no video shown in this panel that won't be stuck in your head for days on end. A full list of the material can be found at this link right here.
Final panel on this wonderful Friday is the MST3K Fan Panel. What is the purpose of this panel but to show old MST3K movies. Now while I am a fan of MST3K myself I was kinda disappointed. I'm not afraid to admit that I was hoping that they would show an anime movie or ova and then actually do the commentary themselves. Instead they just showed to old MST3K movies instead. The movies were Gamera vs. Guiron and the Prince of Space! Now given the size of the room I'm not surprised that they couldn't do a full blown "original episode" but there was that part of me that wanted more. I left a bit more than halfway through the movie. I was tired I'd been up since 5 in the morning and I needed rest.
So as I travel to my friend's apartment to prepare for the next day of Animazement I can only hope tomorrow brings me as much fun as today did.
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