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Hey, Answerman! [2010-04-23]

That Youtube video; Just when I think I've seen it all I find I haven't. That had to be in Japan because everyone else on the other lanes paid absolutely no attention to...um...her...it...whatever.

One of the better FotWs I've read lately.

lostinagoodbook wrote:

That video is the thing nightmares are made of. As a woman, I'd love to take the mask off her face and slap some sense back into that stupid girl for humiliating herself like that .. but they'd just keep the camera rolling and call it catfight fan service right? Some days you just can't win.

Are you sure that kigurumi was actually a girl?

I think all of that is important. An inbetweener who is hired to draw some frames is exchangeable; anyone with the requisite skill (and it's not much for inbetweening) can do the job. But there are only so many people on earth who is willing to trade their time and money for some crappy moe anime on DVD, and it isn't like it make sense to hire them into existence. In other words, you can't really force people to become fans. They are harder to replace than an inbetweener, an animator. But yet the fans are also generally not well-respected, why is that?

I regularly go to Otakon and Katsucon and that's normally people of all ages. The only time I ever felt creep-ed out by an older con goer was when I saw a woman about 70ish cos-playing as Chibi-Usa (mini skirt and all [my eyes]). My only problem is that I have reached an age now where most of my college anime club buddies have moved away. I've gone to the last two cons by myself which has been less fun socially but I can't really see myself connecting with any clubs in the area. They're mostly high school to first two years of college range. Has anyone else had this problem?

I went to a con once back in '02. I felt like someones parent at a high school party. Scared the bloody 'ell out of me. I avoided them like the pox up until last year when I went to a small con to see Ocean Waves last Summer. That was at a university so the fans were a bit older and anyway I had me two teenagers with me so I had a good reason.

I think the reason anime fandom at cons is so young is due to how recent a phenomenon it is overall. Science fiction and fantasy fandom have been around for maybe a century.

Anime has only developed a substantial Western fanbase in the last 15 years. If we oldies hold our nerve and don't forsake 'teh animes', eventually we'll see a broader age range at the cons, just as with the other geek pasttimes.

How common is a lower age restriction at conventions in the US? Most UK cons have them because of legal and insurance issues (as people who work in an environment with under 18s have to be Criminal Rights Bureau enhanced checked which can be pricey when every dealer, gopher and committee member needs to have it - so it's cheaper to simply limit the con to over 18s only, plus you don't need to police the hentai screenings as much).

I'm a 35-year-old who wishes she had a way to attend a con. Living in the Seattle area, there is a con close by, and a big one at that (Sakura-Con).

Unfortunately for me, the past two years, the convention has been scheduled on Easter weekend. As a parent with young kids, I'm ot able to get away from home that weekend to go.

I've gone to the last two cons by myself which has been less fun socially but I can't really see myself connecting with any clubs in the area. They're mostly high school to first two years of college range. Has anyone else had this problem?

eyeresist wrote:

I think the reason anime fandom at cons is so young is due to how recent a phenomenon it is overall. Science fiction and fantasy fandom have been around for maybe a century.

Not quite-- since sometime in the late 1930s. (Worldcon, the oldest extant convention, was first held in 1939, but there were other gatherings around then that lay claim to being "the first convention".) Just recently enough that there are still a few people alive who remember that time...