As the convention season (for me, at least) approaches, I have to decide what I’ll be going to. This will certainly include ConnectiCon, later this year. I’ve also gone to Anime Boston every year so far, so I’d hate to miss that, even though I didn’t pre-register! That probably a long line awaits me there, just like last year. Every year I think about going to Otakon, but I haven’t made it to one yet! And this year, Otakon is so close in time to Connecticon that I probably won’t want (or have enough money) to go to both.
As I think about upcoming cons, I’m moved to reminisce about conventions past (I’ve been going to them since 1998!) So without further ado, I present my personal con history.
The first Anime con I ever went to was Anime Central 98, at the Holiday Inn International O’Hare in Rosemont, IL. I remember the long ride, first on the commuter train from the South Side of Chicago to downtown, and then on the “L” all the way out to the airport (probably took over an hour). This was the same route, with a bus ride added to the mix, that I had to take whenever I went to the Mitsuwa (Yaohan as it was called back then) out in Arlington Heights. At this first convention, I think I went wild and spent over $400 in the Dealers’ Room. The money I’ve spent at conventions has (thankfully!) gone down in later years! The main guest I remember they had was Kenichi Sonoda, which was appropriate given his interest in Chicago as seen in Riding Bean and Gunsmith Cats.
My second con in 2001 was the most unique one of all, Mikkakan at the Radisson in Merrimack, NH. This may have been the first in New England, two years before the first Anime Boston. This was also a very special con due to its small size, and there never was a second one. I think a lot of people who were there will remember fondly for its intimate atmosphere, the closer interaction with the guests, and the greater camaraderie among the fans who attended. The “Whose Line is it Anime,” led by PatrickD was the best I’ve seen. One guy I knew showed up with a bunch of money to spend, only to find out the “Dearlers’ Room” was more like a “Dealer’s Room”–it was only one guy selling some of his used stuff! Like I said, it was a small convention!
2001 was really the year of many cons for me, because in October I went with a friend to my third one of the year (but just for one day). This was the Big Apple Anime Fest 2001. This was more like a real convention the previous year’s film festival, with a Dealers’ Room and so on, but the main events were still centered in the Directors Guild of America Theater. This was not long after September 11, and was the first time I’d been back to the city since that day. My friend and I went up the Empire State Building for a night view. You could see the darkened area where the WTC had been. The convention’s t-shirt also reflected recent events.
In 2002, the only convention I went to was the AnimeExpo New York/BAAF 2002 combo centered around Times Square. The con hotel was the Marriott New York Marquis–what a huge place that was! Anyway, this massive con was notable for the showing of the Cowboy Bebop Movie, and the presence of guests like Yoshiyuki Tomino, Akitaroh Daichi and Yoko Kanno. This was the con where many fans (including me) waited in line a long time at the Virgin Megastore to get Yoko Kanno’s autograph, but they had planned things very badly, so she was only there for a short time and left before we got to her! But the fans stayed (almost in protest) until she had left the building, even though they were saying before that that she would not get to us. As compensation all they could do was hand out Cowboy Bebop posters! But I did get Daichi’s autograph and pictures of him and Tomino!
In 2003-2006, I’ve gone to Anime Boston each year. These four cons kind of blur together in my mind, but I know the first two were in the extremely cramped Boston Park Plaza Hotel, although the second year the Dealers Room was in the castle-like building next door (where I once attended a Doctor Who convention back in 1986!) I think I probably stayed in the con hotel in 2003 and one across town in 2004. In 2005 & 2006, Anime Boston has been in the Convention Center, with a lot more room. In 2005, I went for just one day with a friend (whose now in Japan, so American cons must seem pretty ordinary to him now!) and I again went for one day only in 2006 and, like I said earlier, I hadn’t pre-registered (plus I arrived a little later in the day), so the line was long! But I guess I just felt I should put in an appearance, even if none of my friends went to this one!
That just leaves one more con to mention, ConnectiCon in Hartford, CT which is an even more obvious one for me to go to then Anime Boston due to its proximity to where I live! I didn’t go to the old ones when they were at the University of Hartford, so my first Connecticon one was at the new Connecticut Convention Center in 2005. Connecticon is really a multi-genre convention, with a big focus on webcomics and gaming as well, but there’s been a lot of anime stuff. The cosplayers are pretty much focused on anime and video games, and the Dealers Room has been pretty evenly divided between anime and general fantasy (plus web comics). In the wake of the 2005 convention, Connecticon had some financial problems, but the webcomics community rallied behind the convention and it was saved, so I was able to go in 2006, which was the twelfth convention I’ve been to! So we’ll see which cons I go to this year!
A FLCL cosplayer at Mikkakan 2001.
Me and Yuu Watase at Animazement 2001.
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You’ve been to quite a few more cons than I have, though I do have you beat in the Earliest Con category: some friends and I attended Anime East in November of ‘95. Toshio Okada was there. Half a dozen of us cosplayed as the Demonseed gang from Assemble Insert. Someone had a tape of the first couple of episodes of Eva, fresh from a penpal in Japan. That tape got copied and watched a lot. Good times!
Who’s that charming gentleman dressed up as Commander Amarao?