Katsucon 11
Feb. 22nd, 2005 12:17 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rushthatspeaksBrief note: I know those of you who have sold lots of stuff are used to and probably frustrated by this but OMG I have proofs to correct YAY.
...I probably should not be quite as bouncy about that as I am.
Anyhow, much of the household went to Katsucon over the weekend. It was the second time I'd been to Katsucon, and I have to say that I liked Katsucon 10 much better in most ways-- the con switched hotels this year from a sane although overcrowded one to bits of two with Confusing Layouts of Doom, and I was almost continually lost and disoriented. The good parts mostly involved people, the many people I got to see who sadly do not live anywhere nearby, and I enjoyed every moment I spent with them, but as far as the actual con went, well, there was some cool stuff, but oy. Everything but everything started at least an hour late, which is not okay by me, and there was a general sense that things were not being run professionally.
Anime conventions fascinate me anyhow, however, since no matter how badly they're run they offer a very different experience than any other kind of group gathering I've been to, and the people-watching is always a high point. It's also interesting to compare and contrast anime-con-going with sf/fantasy-con-going.
For one thing, anime cons are, in a major, major way, about the costumes. I've seen costumes at sf cons, but usually around the masquerade, or in small numbers doing specific things, whereas at every anime convention I've been to, fifty to seventy percent of those attending were in some kind of recognizable costume. By recognizable costume, here, I mean a costume where I expect that, even if I am not personally familiar with the character involved, I can go up to the wearer and ask who they're going as and receive a character name and the title of an anime or video game (or in some cases a Japanese rock band). Many of these are not involved with the masquerade or with any kind of costume contest in any way, although you expect the best ones to turn up in those. This makes the entire con into a sort of walking voluntary trivia quiz: seeing an amazing costume which triggers no recognition in your head means that you may want to talk to the cosplayer and find out more about the series, and there's also the whole spot-your-favorites game. The costumes I've seen at sf cons tend to be from movies or television franchises, which doesn't surprise me, since there's a visual image associated with film that makes creating a recognizable costume much easier than it is with a novel; consequently, it makes sense that there are more cosplayers at anime cons, but the sheer number of them and the elaborate detail blew me away the first few times I encountered it. Interestingly enough, one also gets non-anime cosplays at anime cons; the Ghostbusters (a great group with light-up backpacks and arc light beam units) have been at every Otakon I've been to as well as this Katsucon, and a man wandered by me on Saturday who was very obviously dressed as Jesus. (No, I do not know why.)
The non-specific costuming is interesting, too. The default clothes I noticed at sf cons seem to be T-shirts with slogans and jeans, or Renfaire garb, with occasional leather, and really nifty jewelry, which is about how I dress when I'm at home. I find it relaxing. Anime cons have a lot of catgirls and catboys, quite often with tail as well as ears, and a lot of punkwear and fetishwear and gothica and hip-hop garb. Extreme hair. Impressive bodyart-- the highest concentration of facial piercings I see in any given year is at Otakon. Girls in extremely short skirts-- thigh-high stockings and garters seem to be in right now, with or without a school uniform. A sort of urban ninja look is very common, and not just because of the impressive popularity of Naruto. So I tend to find the general atmosphere of an anime con much more high-tension, because this is only how I dress when I'm high-maintenance and going out somewhere or making a statement (or, like today, when there's a laundry shortage which has caused the wearing of a fishnet shirt). That kind of look takes work, when you're on the femme end of it. High heels and stockings and garters and minidresses take continuous awareness of one's body and situation and movements at all times, and the guy stuff isn't much easier. I don't know if the difference between the styles of the types of con has anything to do with demographics-- anime cons seem to attract people between high school and mid-thirties, whereas sf cons seem to have a wider age spread-- but it's a really marked difference.
More on this later. I have some things to say about the differences between panel types, as well as the events I went to at Katsucon, and the differences between dealers' rooms, but I'm really still pretty exhausted, so it'll have to wait.
...I probably should not be quite as bouncy about that as I am.
Anyhow, much of the household went to Katsucon over the weekend. It was the second time I'd been to Katsucon, and I have to say that I liked Katsucon 10 much better in most ways-- the con switched hotels this year from a sane although overcrowded one to bits of two with Confusing Layouts of Doom, and I was almost continually lost and disoriented. The good parts mostly involved people, the many people I got to see who sadly do not live anywhere nearby, and I enjoyed every moment I spent with them, but as far as the actual con went, well, there was some cool stuff, but oy. Everything but everything started at least an hour late, which is not okay by me, and there was a general sense that things were not being run professionally.
Anime conventions fascinate me anyhow, however, since no matter how badly they're run they offer a very different experience than any other kind of group gathering I've been to, and the people-watching is always a high point. It's also interesting to compare and contrast anime-con-going with sf/fantasy-con-going.
For one thing, anime cons are, in a major, major way, about the costumes. I've seen costumes at sf cons, but usually around the masquerade, or in small numbers doing specific things, whereas at every anime convention I've been to, fifty to seventy percent of those attending were in some kind of recognizable costume. By recognizable costume, here, I mean a costume where I expect that, even if I am not personally familiar with the character involved, I can go up to the wearer and ask who they're going as and receive a character name and the title of an anime or video game (or in some cases a Japanese rock band). Many of these are not involved with the masquerade or with any kind of costume contest in any way, although you expect the best ones to turn up in those. This makes the entire con into a sort of walking voluntary trivia quiz: seeing an amazing costume which triggers no recognition in your head means that you may want to talk to the cosplayer and find out more about the series, and there's also the whole spot-your-favorites game. The costumes I've seen at sf cons tend to be from movies or television franchises, which doesn't surprise me, since there's a visual image associated with film that makes creating a recognizable costume much easier than it is with a novel; consequently, it makes sense that there are more cosplayers at anime cons, but the sheer number of them and the elaborate detail blew me away the first few times I encountered it. Interestingly enough, one also gets non-anime cosplays at anime cons; the Ghostbusters (a great group with light-up backpacks and arc light beam units) have been at every Otakon I've been to as well as this Katsucon, and a man wandered by me on Saturday who was very obviously dressed as Jesus. (No, I do not know why.)
The non-specific costuming is interesting, too. The default clothes I noticed at sf cons seem to be T-shirts with slogans and jeans, or Renfaire garb, with occasional leather, and really nifty jewelry, which is about how I dress when I'm at home. I find it relaxing. Anime cons have a lot of catgirls and catboys, quite often with tail as well as ears, and a lot of punkwear and fetishwear and gothica and hip-hop garb. Extreme hair. Impressive bodyart-- the highest concentration of facial piercings I see in any given year is at Otakon. Girls in extremely short skirts-- thigh-high stockings and garters seem to be in right now, with or without a school uniform. A sort of urban ninja look is very common, and not just because of the impressive popularity of Naruto. So I tend to find the general atmosphere of an anime con much more high-tension, because this is only how I dress when I'm high-maintenance and going out somewhere or making a statement (or, like today, when there's a laundry shortage which has caused the wearing of a fishnet shirt). That kind of look takes work, when you're on the femme end of it. High heels and stockings and garters and minidresses take continuous awareness of one's body and situation and movements at all times, and the guy stuff isn't much easier. I don't know if the difference between the styles of the types of con has anything to do with demographics-- anime cons seem to attract people between high school and mid-thirties, whereas sf cons seem to have a wider age spread-- but it's a really marked difference.
More on this later. I have some things to say about the differences between panel types, as well as the events I went to at Katsucon, and the differences between dealers' rooms, but I'm really still pretty exhausted, so it'll have to wait.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-02-21 10:17 pm (UTC)Noooooooo!
Date: 2005-02-22 01:44 pm (UTC)"Bobobo-bo Bo-Bobo: In this silly action series, BoBoBo can talk to and understand hair. With the help of his blond hair, he is out to save the land from the Hair Patrol posse and their leader, Baldy Bald, who is forcing everyone to be bald. The action series is scheduled to air in fourth quarter."
no subject
Date: 2005-02-22 09:29 pm (UTC)SF cons, on the other hand, seem to me to involve more and better programming, more performance, and I've found that the people tend to be friendlier. I freely admit I go to cons almost entirely for the music, both the pro-ish performance stuff and the insta-Smoker-type filkcircles late at night. Anime cons have never given me the instantaneous feeling of comraderie that I got from, say, trading wolf-howls with a complete stranger dressed like a Viking.
But that's why there's vanilla and chocolate, I guess.