By Rodrigo Angeles
You walk into a convention center feeling nervous you will be made fun of, verbally abused, or told you don’t belong there, right? No. You walk in to see many people just like you some with the same hobbies and interest. Well, this is exactly what happened to Jonell S. when he attended Fanimecon last year.
Anime is animated Japanese cartoons that are made from the manga. Manga is the Japanese version of comics books that come from light novels which is the source material.
Phoenix Wilson talked about attending the upcoming Crunchyroll Expo this year with a couple of friends. He said he was planning to go because his friends were going. After that I asked him if he would go for all the event or for just a couple of days he responded with “Uhh I am going to go with friends because that would be kind of weird if I go by myself and like it depends but like I would probably go for the three days but if not I’ll just stay for one day and look at things.”
On the other hand, when I asked Jonell about Crunchyroll Expo he said that he was more interested in Fanimecon.
Jonell states, “Fanime is basically an anime convention where we as cosplayers and people who like anime gather around and share the mutual love of anime and video games as well and also manga…”
I also asked him if he would rather attend such events with friends or by themselves, he responded with activities and exhibits you do could with friends that you can’t do if you go by yourself.
“I am planning to go with friends because you know it is not bad to go alone it is just more fun if you go with friends because there's a multiple variety of activities that you can go to such as Dealer’s Hall or even the Artists alley just to admire the drawings that the artists made and sometimes it can be crowded so going alone is pretty scary in a way because you do not know where to go to but if you are with friends you can locate them easily by calling them or even asking him where to meet up.”
These events are held once a year and are attended by thousands of anime, videogame, manga, and cosplay fans. According to AnimeCons.com, about 45,000 attended the Crunchyroll Expo last year.
The reasons many people go to these conventions is because of the events, attractions, and the guests who will be attending the convention. To but these examples into perspective imagine not only meeting voice actors, producers, artists, and even cosplayers that influence the game, manga, or anime you are into but you will also be able to buy merchandise like manga, video games, or even a CD of your favorite anime.
For every person that loves what they view there is an origin. I asked Phoenix and Jonell what got them into what they view.
Phoenix said, “So I was the type of person who would be like ‘Wow you like anime bet you watch Naruto’ and then run away and laugh, but then after a man came up to me and he was like ‘Hey you should watch Naruto’ [sic] and I was like alright finally someone who watches Naruto will sit next to me during lunch and then I was like wow this is pretty good and from there all hell broke loose.”
Jonell also talked about his first contact with (anime) video games.
“For [anime] video games it is basically like being in another world where I can escape reality and it is a way to express myself in a way cause in a way it helps you invest in what type of person you will be [in video games] like a mage, cleric, or even a soldier, it is a very unique way of expressing how you are as a person.”
Anime is more than just “weebs freaking out over cartoons.” It’s a community where someone can feel home.
You end your adventure in Fanimecon, feeling content with how you spent the day. Knowing you’ll have two more days filled with the same amount of enjoyment, you continue to see people cosplaying anime characters and talking. This is the feeling of a community coming together and embracing what they support.
You walk into a convention center feeling nervous you will be made fun of, verbally abused, or told you don’t belong there, right? No. You walk in to see many people just like you some with the same hobbies and interest. Well, this is exactly what happened to Jonell S. when he attended Fanimecon last year.
Anime is animated Japanese cartoons that are made from the manga. Manga is the Japanese version of comics books that come from light novels which is the source material.
Phoenix Wilson talked about attending the upcoming Crunchyroll Expo this year with a couple of friends. He said he was planning to go because his friends were going. After that I asked him if he would go for all the event or for just a couple of days he responded with “Uhh I am going to go with friends because that would be kind of weird if I go by myself and like it depends but like I would probably go for the three days but if not I’ll just stay for one day and look at things.”
On the other hand, when I asked Jonell about Crunchyroll Expo he said that he was more interested in Fanimecon.
Jonell states, “Fanime is basically an anime convention where we as cosplayers and people who like anime gather around and share the mutual love of anime and video games as well and also manga…”
I also asked him if he would rather attend such events with friends or by themselves, he responded with activities and exhibits you do could with friends that you can’t do if you go by yourself.
“I am planning to go with friends because you know it is not bad to go alone it is just more fun if you go with friends because there's a multiple variety of activities that you can go to such as Dealer’s Hall or even the Artists alley just to admire the drawings that the artists made and sometimes it can be crowded so going alone is pretty scary in a way because you do not know where to go to but if you are with friends you can locate them easily by calling them or even asking him where to meet up.”
These events are held once a year and are attended by thousands of anime, videogame, manga, and cosplay fans. According to AnimeCons.com, about 45,000 attended the Crunchyroll Expo last year.
The reasons many people go to these conventions is because of the events, attractions, and the guests who will be attending the convention. To but these examples into perspective imagine not only meeting voice actors, producers, artists, and even cosplayers that influence the game, manga, or anime you are into but you will also be able to buy merchandise like manga, video games, or even a CD of your favorite anime.
For every person that loves what they view there is an origin. I asked Phoenix and Jonell what got them into what they view.
Phoenix said, “So I was the type of person who would be like ‘Wow you like anime bet you watch Naruto’ and then run away and laugh, but then after a man came up to me and he was like ‘Hey you should watch Naruto’ [sic] and I was like alright finally someone who watches Naruto will sit next to me during lunch and then I was like wow this is pretty good and from there all hell broke loose.”
Jonell also talked about his first contact with (anime) video games.
“For [anime] video games it is basically like being in another world where I can escape reality and it is a way to express myself in a way cause in a way it helps you invest in what type of person you will be [in video games] like a mage, cleric, or even a soldier, it is a very unique way of expressing how you are as a person.”
Anime is more than just “weebs freaking out over cartoons.” It’s a community where someone can feel home.
You end your adventure in Fanimecon, feeling content with how you spent the day. Knowing you’ll have two more days filled with the same amount of enjoyment, you continue to see people cosplaying anime characters and talking. This is the feeling of a community coming together and embracing what they support.