-- Inside Details of Fanime Con --
Brought to you by the Anime Police Detective Agency, and co-sponsored by
the Bastard Taskmasters From Hell! ^_^
I, the Mouse, shall describe the mysterious events that occurred...
Day 1:
T'was a gusty day in San Jose, when hordes of lunatick anime fans
descended upon the Wyndham hotel, wherein the convention was held.
Although the fans were sparse that day, they would descend en masse upon
the convention next morn! Several notable guests also didst pay their
respects; Mari Ijima (Lynn Minmei of Macross infamy), Steve Bennett
(animator extraordinaire of Studio Ironcat), Shinpei Itoh (creator of
Moldiver), and many others found their way to the convention!
Alas, for many of the anime showings were entirely in Japanese, without
subtitles! 'Tis a discouragement for one who lacketh knowledge of the
language! Strangely enough, many fans were in attendance of these
showings, though the subbed and dubbed showings were of course much more
popular.
I myself arrived during the airing of Lupin - Die Nostradamus! 'Twas
fortunate that I had already chanced upon my own personal copy, for this
was an excellent video! Lupin was after a book containing Nostradamus'
secret prophecies, yet they had fallen into the hands of a dangerous
soothsayer who had started his own cult around these prophecies! Much
suspense and mayhem, as with all Lupin III films!
Following, after a short reprieve, was Dragon Half, two episodes
concerning a kawaii magical girl who was half human, half dragon. She
falls in love with a man who is a dragon slayer by trade. The title and
ending music are to die for, and the lyrics are hilarious! ^_^
Not finding another anime worth watching, immediately following these, I
scouted the environs looking for familiar faces. Lo and behold, the
Caffeine Couple were in attendance -- Tama-chan and Odie! (Okay, so
they're IRC #ranma! people, but so what? :-) They proudly posed for a
photo-op. ^_^
Later that day, I went to see two episodes of Lost Universe.
The anime and manga were created by Hajime Kanzaka (the creator of
Slayers) and Shouko Yoshinaka (the person who drew the Slayers manga). In
other words, it _had_ to be good! Kane Blueriver is the main character, a
trouble contractor. His companions are a hologram named Canal, and a
former detective agent (almost number 1 in the universe!) named Milly.
Kane's jobs tend to get them into trouble more often than not, and Milly
doesn't help matters. She can be a bit of a bimbo at times, even though
she's a great cook and a crack shot. ^_-
Immediately thereafter, I made haste to the room where "You Don't Know
Anime" was being hosted. This game show featured various levels of
difficulty, from "Puffball" easy questions to very obscure questions. I
still wonder why the Maison Ikkoku questions were so difficult for
them...THE DOG'S NAME WAS SOICHIRO, NOT TSUICHI!! :p
Unfortunately, my ride had to leave at 6 o'clock, and I had not rented a
room, so I couldn't stay...
Day 2:
I rented a sporty red Pontiac Grand Prix and returned in style, the
following evening. ^_^ Unfortunately, I missed the fanfic panel, which
had been scheduled that morning...did anyone on the list make it?
When I arrived, I discovered that the Masquerade was in another building,
a few minutes' drive away. However, the line was described as horrendous!
Nearly 3000 people had been in attendance on Saturday, and a good many of
them had decided to go to the Masquerade. It was a choice between waiting
in line for over an hour, with the remote possibility of finding a seat in
the simulcast room...or waiting until the Lupin III film, "Napoleon's
Dictionary", started at 8 o'clock. It wasn't a very difficult choice.
^_^
I happened upon Tama-chan and Odie again, as well as Joyce Lim (Sapphire)
and her sister. I also discovered Marla Miner's (Nabiki, aka Loeden, aka
many other nicknames) former roommate, Val, but Marla herself was nowhere
to be found! Alas!
I then wandered up to the eighth floor, searching for the person who had
promised to show more episodes of Lost Universe. For a while, I stayed in
the Hospitality Suite, chatting with the volunteers. They fed me cheese
and crackers (yay!) while I explained how to cure certain food allergies.
(I still don't understand how someone could be allergic to CORN! @.@ )
Finally, a kind soul directed me to the fifth floor, whereupon I found the
room which was to be showing Lost Universe. Sadly, there were complaints
from the tenants next door about the noise level, and hotel security
flatly informed us all that the anime showing was canceled, Or Else.
*sighs* Didn't we do this already at Anime Expo '98?
Somewhat disappointed, I returned to my humble car, and crashed soundly
for the rest of the eve.
Day 3:
At exactly six o'clock, I was awake again and ready to take over the
world! HAHAhaHAhaHAHAhaHAha!!!! Oh, wait a second. Wrong show.
^^;;;;
I whiled away the morning, watching the last two episodes of Ruin
Explorers, and two episodes of Hyper Police, while waiting for the
dealers' room to open. Hyper Police was absolutely fantastic! 'Tis set
in a post-apocalyptic world where humans, half-humans, and beasts all
coexist, some peacefully and some not so peacefully. There are several
different mercantile police corporations in addition to the regular
police. The mercantiles make use of bounty hunters to track down the
criminals, and compete with themselves and the regular police to keep the
city safe. One mercantile company in particular is the subject of the
anime, wherein are found the strangest and most comical bunch of
characters ever known! Natsuki, half woman, half cat. Easily distracted.
Sakura, who is almost a Kyuubi (nine-tailed) fox, and who wants to eat
Natsuki so that she can become one, because of Natsuki's powerful psychic
abilities. Batanen, a werewolf, who is the local hentai...except when it
comes to Natsuki, whom he has strong feelings for, but can't find the will
to say anything to! Etcetera...
When the dealers' room opened, I was pleasantly surprised to find Jennifer
Mondazzi behind one of the tables! During the fanfic panel at Anime Expo
'98, she had heckled me until I blushed what I've been told was a
charming shade of crimson, and I was determined to have my revenge! I had
tried to extract a lunch date from her as payment, but she was forced to
decline due to time constraints. This time, she claimed that she was
stuck behind the table in the dealers' room for the whole day! CURSES,
FOILED AGAIN!
(Oh, if anyone has Jennifer's email address, please let me know. She gave
it to me, but I lost it! Argh!!)
Marisa Price was also present, as a dealer in fine art...er, I mean, anime
cells and such. She expounded greatly upon her collection later that day,
during the Cell Enthusiasts' Round Table.
There were several interesting panels that day, including an "Anime for
Beginners" panel by the author of "The Anime Companion", Gilles Poitras.
'Twas a fascinating tale of the cultural references present in anime,
among many other things. Not just for beginners, to be sure! Lastly,
there was the long-awaited cell painting workshop, by the venerable Steve
Bennett himself. Steve told us all about what it was like to break into
animation "in the early days", as well as many other interesting but
ultimately pointless tales regarding anime. Meanwhile, I worked hard on
my cell but only got less than a tenth of it painted during the entire two
hours, while many others finished their cells entirely! I suppose I
should be happy with the cell I did manage to finish at the AX96 cell
painting workshop. *sighs*
At long last, the con began to draw to its painful conclusion. Parting is
such sweet sorrow...except, of course, for the closing ceremonies raffle.
^_- Long live the winner of the Ryo-oh-ki full-body costume!!
And that, dear friends, is the sordid tale of the events of Fanime Con.
^_^
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~ The Mouse (BTFH, APD) anime@mbay.net ~
~ Damon Casale damoo@redshift.com ~
~ Squeek! Pass the cheese... ~
~ "You evil, EVIL man!" -- Foxtrot ~
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