Anime Expo, As Much About Seeing as Being Seen in Character
Anime Expo, the Nation’s largest international animation and comics exposition convention, held across from Disneyland at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California was more than anything, a fan convention.
Events were held around the clock for them to participate and enjoy. Every single fan event I attended or peaked in to view were packed with standing room only beginning with opening ceremonies until I left at 8:30 pm and I would expect through the night. You couldn’t help but feel the pulse, energy and anticipation of the fans.
Cosplay was a favorite for many of the fans and one of the main reasons many credited as why they enjoyed this particular show so much.
Prior to attending, I reviewed Anime Expo’s policy about costumes and clothing.
“Public exposure of genitalia, buttocks or (female) breasts is not permitted. When choosing and creating your costume, please keep in mind the constraints of local laws and customs concerning public decency. Just because an anime character wears only a face mask, you may not do so. Sturdy and fitted costumes are required; you should not be falling out of your costume and it should not be falling apart around you. Also, remember to have proper support such as bras and athletic cups, especially if you plan to be physically active, i.e., dancing or running.”
In discussing their policy with another journalist, I discovered what was probably a main reason for the policy. Three consecutive years, a male was kicked out of Anime Expo for dressing up as “Fye”, a female character, and when in costume his genitalia was exposed.
Attendees tended to be in the high school and college age group, some looking forward to attending not only for cosplay but to meet other fans they had met online, as it seemed many of them reside in California. I spoke with fans who traveled from Chicago, Arizona and Texas. Most had different costumes for each day they planned to attend.
People gathered together in similar costumes all comparing. Never had I seen so many ears and tails, forget Playboy bunnies, there were cats all over the place with different colors of ears, hair and tails. In speaking with attendees, I discovered that being a generic cat is considered a lazy costume, one which took little imagination, even though you could buy just about any type of costume at the Anime Expo.
Renee and Ann Marie traveled from Chicago and dressed all in white with black accents as characters “Chii”(with a white umbrella) and “Yuuko” from XXX.
Steve Umeda and John Enverga dressed as Grave spent over a month on their first gravestone with only a week on the second, learning during the process…and then their were their costumes and weapons.
All of the effort of standing there and preparing pays off when people stop and ask them to be photographed. Ready to pose were 4 girlfriends which drove from Arizona. Encouraged by Alex(andra Yout) who first attended Anime Expo 3-4 years ago to visit her cousin, this of all anime shows “holds a special place in my heart for the amount of cosplay it has and number of events it has… I always have a good time. Everyone’s nice to me. I have no reason not to come here. It’s like home.”
When asked how long it took them to prepare, Alex as “Chocolate Misa” had just finished getting ready an hour prior to meeting her since she created, with their help, 13 costumes for her and her friends to dress in. Joining her were friends Christia dressed in a Japanese kimono, Michelle Arens as “Misa”, and Jessica Dobryzkowski as “Kagero”
The Wisniewski family plus one dressed up as characters from Hellsing. For them, it was a family event. They were dressed as Hellsing characters as Random Soldier, Humble Butler Walter, Alucard (the main character), Commander Ferguson and Sir Integra. Besides the costumes, they even had the voices down in role play. They own as many anime dvds as they can get, collect and swap them. They’ve be in anime clubs in high school and college and one was even the Vice President of the anime club at University of California Riverside.
In describing their fascination, the Wisniewski sons chimed in “It’s more for adults. Anime is more serious, It has in-depth characters. They’re real. You have to get into it.
Anime, you never know where it’s going to go.”
“Anime is for intellectuals. The art is beautiful. The stories are intense. It’s for people that are interested in more intellectual pursuits. Anime’s not for dummies.” Shared Sir Integra (otherwise known as Lisa Wisniewski, the mother of the clan). “(We) look forward to the costumes. See what everyone else is doing. See how they pulled it off. (There’s a ) massive display of creativity.”
Perhaps what explains the mood best of all about the anime expo as best shared by the Wisniewski family, “Everybody gets along. Everybody’s accepted. Otaku. Everyone’s a otaku here…The Japanese word for anime friend is otaku. Everyone’s an otaku here.”
(C)MBN 2006 (William Hoehne)
