Oh… what’s this and this and this???

First, a little about the con, then more cosplay pics below. At ConnectiCon this year, I attended an interesting panel on Kawaii Anime and Culture in Japan, which featured Minoru Ohno. He produced anime, such as Creamy Mami and Minky Momo, and is now a professor in the Department of “Culture and Communication Activities” at Shokei Gakuin University. In the panel, we learned how kawaii refers to things which are tiny, little, cute, pretty, lovely, sweet and adorable. Much of the info presented in the power point was derived from surveys of students at Shokei Gakuin with their take on the meaning of kawaii. A few academic works by Japanese scholars were also referenced, but overall the presentation was not that in-depth. As expected, a lot of the examples focused on anime Mr. Ohno had been involved with and also some random pics of modern kawaii fashion. I’m not sure if they have done any deeper research and were only presenting a simplified version of their subject, or if this represents the extent of their work. He was asked about moe, but Mr. Ohno’s career in the anime industry occurred before moe developed. He did offer the explanation that kawaii refers to outward appearances, while moe involves more the feelings being evoked. But on the whole, he was clearly very old-school and probably does not approve of late-night anime for older kids and adults. He voiced strong support for family-centered anime produced primarily for children.

Hetalia Madness

ConnectiCon is a multi-genre convention, with a big emphasis on web comics, gaming, etc.. Another panel I attended was about the pioneering horror/sci-fi author H.P. Lovecraft. It was a solid introductory power point presentation and featured, among the four panelists, an author who writes stores in the Cthulhu Mythos. Much of the rest of the con was spent walking around. Among the cosplayers, there were a number of girls carrying the flags of different nations. Later, I stumbled on a whole group of these squealing Hetalia Axis Powers fangirls having a photoshoot. They kept calling for different countries so they could get pics of different favored pairings. I was also sad to see that Sasuga Books is closing (this was the bookstore’s last con and they had little stock left). I heard another dealer talking about the bad market for anime retailers. I guess there will be fewer anime merchandise dealers at cons in the future. I did buy some stuff: some Aria DVDs, and plush Yoshi and Toads from Mario. Also one figure: Mio from K-ON. Now for more pics:

Selty

Beaker

Soul Eater group

Kid Ed

Jessica from Umineko

Rosario + Vampire

I think this one was a guy

Trix Rabbit

Lucky Star

The Tenth Doctor

The Eleventh Doctor

Quotation sources:
http://www.omonomono.com/2010/05/09/this-is-why-angel-beats-gets-my-attention/
http://www.omonomono.com/2010/04/28/open-the-minorigate
http://www.omonomono.com/2010/04/19/the-curse-of-choice/

I was at home, dusting off my Haruhi figures, when there was a knock at the door.

“Who could it be at this hour of the night?” I wondered.

Opening the door, I first thought no one was there. But looking down, I saw that three Dango had come to see me. Sitting there was a pink dango and a green dango, flanking a large red dango wearing a kind of ceremonial sash.

“Congratulations!” the dangos cried out in unison.

“Congratulations for what?” I asked.

“You’ve won the Anime Blog Tournament!!!” declared Red Dango, with much excitement.

“B-b-but I didn’t,” I stammered, “I was eliminated in the first round.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about,” said Red, “we represent the Dango AniBlog Tournament.”

“Oh,” said I, “but I win that every year. And I’m usually the only contestant!”

Green Dango suddenly piped up, “But this year is special. You actually had an opponent!”

I was surprised. “Who was it?”

Now it was Pink’s turn to speak. “It was the Dango Squashing Blog that you beat. What a horrible blog!! The writer took pics of himself squashing dangos!!!!”

I was shocked. “How horrible!!!” I cried out.

“Agreed,” said Red Dango, “We have already hacked his site, so no one has to worry about him anymore. Now he has a site where he melts down K-On figures in his oven. We find this a more acceptable pastime.”

“Well, thank you again for the award this year, dangos!”

“Good night,” said Red Dango.

The sound of a shower curtain being pulled aside could be heard from inside my house.

“Oh, and how is your wife?” asked Red Dango.

“Oh, Satty’s OK, she’s just always in the shower!”

“Oh well, good night then.” And with that, the dango departed.

“It’s always nice to get a visit from them,” I thought, as I returned to my work. “As long as the dango love me, I know all is well!”