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Manga Answerman - Do's and Don'ts of Meeting Convention Guests from Japan

Oh, they DO try to cut them off. The person asking the essay-long question just keeps going. Every single time. I don't know if they're ignoring the person telling them to wrap up what they have to say or they really ARE switching to a condensed version and the normal one was even longer, however. But more often than not, they have to be scolded in some way to make them get to the point.

I am surprised that nobody has mentioned this (since the MHA mangaka is coming) so either it is beyond common sense or nobody thought about it. It is okay in US conventions to take photos of japanese guests? Nowadays even smartphones have zoom options in their cameras for a distance shoot and real cameras have even better zoom precision.

As someone who's gotten numerous things signed by Japanese guests, they tend to be much easier to line up for than English guests (major name seiyuu, notwithstanding), there's nothing wrong with greeting them with a "Konnichiwa" or "Ohayou" (depending on the time of day), handing your item to them with a simple "Hai, douzo", or thanking them with a standard "Arigatou (+ gozaimasu, if you want to be fancy)". Beyond that, & this is coming from experience, there are interpreters with the guests during autograph sessions for a reason, so unless you are mostly fluent, just rely on them to get your question or remark to the guest. Early on in my autograph efforts, I tried saying very basic lines, but after I got into an excited & hectic bit with Yoshiki Fukuyama at Anime Boston '14 (who was going through a nostalgia bomb of emotion with the item I had him sign, so he wasn't much better), I realized that I should just take advantage of the interpreters that are there from then on out. Since then, I've had some really neat moments with the guests, and the interpreters definitely make both me & the guest comfortable to communicate with each other.

As for asking a guests in Japanese during a Q&A panel, it's a bit of a double-edged sword. Sure, the guests likely find it awesome that someone's learned Japanese enough to converse with them, but at the same time it can give off a feeling of showing off to every other fan in attendance. Plus, the interpreter may very well just ask you to repeat the question in English, so that everyone else knows what you said, which kind of dulls the point of showing off your Japanese skills in the first place. Also, unless you're really damn good at Japanese, it will simply take longer to ask your question than it would to simply ask in English, & have the interpreter translate for the guests, which in turn leaves less time for others to potentially get their questions asked & answered.

Beyond that, everything Deb said is true. Respect them, their work, the official efforts to get them released over here (if they exist), & respect everyone else who is there to see the guests, and a fun time will be had.

DON'T ask questions in the Q&A about events or characters that have not yet appeared in the official English releases – That also says “I read the scanlations!”

I am surprised that nobody has mentioned this (since the MHA mangaka is coming) so either it is beyond common sense or nobody thought about it. It is okay in US conventions to take photos of japanese guests? Nowadays even smartphones have zoom options in their cameras for a distance shoot and real cameras have even better zoom precision. It seems to me the MHA mangaka is not ok with this and gone are the days when what happened at either side of the pacific ocean could remain mostly a secret to the other side. The other possibility is that he is really going to show at the panel with the face mask he owns O_O

leafy sea dragon wrote:

Oh, they DO try to cut them off. The person asking the essay-long question just keeps going. Every single time. I don't know if they're ignoring the person telling them to wrap up what they have to say or they really ARE switching to a condensed version and the normal one was even longer, however. But more often than not, they have to be scolded in some way to make them get to the point.

The MC just needs to be more forceful in those cases; the audience likely won't be mad at them for being a little mean. But don't get me wrong; I'm not saying that it's the fault of the MC if any of these types of questions get through.