| When I first came up with last week’s comic, in which I dressed Mat up as Sailor Moon. I had no information about anime conventions to draw on except that I just thought it would be goofy and bizarre to put an overweight guy in a costume that was 10 sizes too small. Little did I know that my comic would soon be an example of art-imitating life. The first person I saw at Anime North was a guy in a fur dress that barely hid 5 percent of his hairy body.
Not that he was the only strangely dressed person I saw that day. The convention floor and the hotel across the street housed a mass collection of convention goers in a wide variety of Anime costumes. The group made a Brazilian Carnival look like a Tranny support group meeting at your local YMCA.
Even though, most of the costumes look as though they were stitched together by a blind metalworker, there were a few choice selections that did impress me.
Because of my ignorance on the subject of Anime, the entire day was filled with me leaning to my side and asking Sinnamon or Axel who people were suppose to be. Sadly, being a child of the 80's I was expecting Robotech, Voltron and Starblazer characters, but, it was not to be.
The moment I stepped into the hotel my view of the event was negatively skewed by the reality that most of the people in attendances were young women under the age of 18. I credit this to the fact parents would rather park there teenage girls at the convention for three days then have them around the house huffing paint in the basement or becoming unwed teenage mothers. If they only knew how much worse an influence Anime was then drugs and sex.
Out of the gathering of 13-year olds in InuYasha outfits, a few girls of legal age decided to follow the adage of less is more, and dressed in outfits that would make New York strippers uneasy.
Considering the demographic that made up the convention it was not surprising to see that Mecha Anime was almost nonexistent. Dedicating an event to satisfying the needs of teenage girls means that 95 percent of the Anime represented is Hentai. A type of Anime and Manga that is popular among younger fans.
Personally, I love giant robots and action-propelled cartoons, so it is hard for me to get excited when all I hear people talking about the convention is Yaoi (Gay anime). I do not watch Queer as Folk or Queer Eye for the Straight guy so this material doesn’t speak to me. (Not that there is anything wrong with that) Yet, my guide for the event, Axel, watches both shows so it’s conceivable it does speak to him. Although to his defense, he did not mention it during the convention.
His concern during the whole convention revolved around the beer in his hotel room and if he had enough to make it through the night. Without a doubt, this event will drive you to drink.
The convention floor was another disappointment. Especially considering I had to get past, a loser dressed in an ill fitting Klingon costume. Obviously, the 50 Star Trek events every year are not enough for this guy to show off his crappy costume. So instead, he feels the need to invade the territory of poor Anime fans. He made it worse by fact he was brandishing a light saber. Clearly, he was confused about which sci-fi universe his Klingon character lives in.
As we made our way through the artist section I noticed most of the people with art to display and sell had just took it on themselves to photocopy, trace or copy a drawing in a Manga book, and pass it off as there own.
The highlight of the night was suppose to be the Masquerade, an onstage competition where contestants show off there costumes and do skits.
This had to be the biggest letdown of the night. The show started late and openned up ith the worst improv group Canada has ever produced. Not only was there a lack of talent onstage, but these "performers" decided to make it an Anime improve in honour of the convention. It was a pathetic site as these people substituted a lack of skill by mentioning Yaoi repeatedly just so they could get a reaction from the crowd. They just lingered on stage without purpose, it was a relief when they finally retreated in embarrassment. Against all convention and reason the crowd seemed to enjoy the performance. Of course, considering these people enjoy watching Japanese movies with no English subtitles or dubbing, their ability to judge good entertainment may be suspect.
After a long hour, it was over and we didn't have to wait long for our friends to make it to the stage in their costumes, so we made a premature exit and headed back to the hotel where we tried to wash the disgust off our bodies. Not that it worked, because when we got to the hotel room and turned on the television, they were showing the Masquerade on close circuit TV. At least now I know what to expect in Hell.
And that was my day at the Anime North Convention, tune in next time as I try to top this night by joining a Fundamentalist Christian prayer group and experiencing a 4-day Evangelical retreat deep in the Appellation Mountains. I already have my costume all planned out, I'm going as a beheaded John the Baptist.
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