The experience of navigating the somewhat overwhelming fandom of AnimeNext 2010.
Animenext 2010
Okay, I’ll admit it. Although I consider myself an early adopter of Anime back in the late 70′s and early 80′s (so early that I purchased them in the original Japanese language.. without translated captions!) it pretty much dropped off my radar by the early 90′s. I’d seen and enjoyed
Akira and
Ghost in the Shell but my interest began to migrate back to live-action cinema.
Pokemon,
Digimon and
Dragon Ball Z were for another generation of fans as far as I was concerned and frankly the storylines weren’t appealing to me. By then, Anime had become nothing more than a cliche for me and the characters and themes, all interchangeable.
Fast forward 20 years later to the AnimeNext convention. In its 9th year, this annual event has become a mecca for the growing legion of fans for all things Anime. Just like Horror or Fantasy fans in their respective conventions, Anime is a blending of both genres with a distinctive Japanese flavor. Suiting up as your favorite film character may be optional at other festivals but at AnimeNext it appeared to be almost an obligatory requirement.
It’s an event that it you don’t “get it”, if you don’t understand the passion that Generation Y and the Millennials have for this form of entertainment, you’ll be at a complete loss as to what to make of it all.
Dominating the Double Tree Hotel and Garden State Exhibit Center complex in Somerset NJ on June 18-20, AnimeNext had an enormous turnout of attendees, vindicating the move from a smaller venue they utilized last year.
Press badged and camera ready, I walked the aisles of the Dealers Room looking for anyone selling original animations – unfortunately it was all licensed material.
Then I wandered the halls looking for the various panels and basically getting a feel for the area.
Strolling into the Artist’s Gallery, I saw quite a few talented artists displaying their work and offering to work on commission. Some of it was impressive.
Grace Fong – fongmingyun.com
Mike Luckas – mikeluckas.blogspot.com
Melinda Guo – Prodigybombay.deviantart.com
Marc McKenzie – Redshoulder.deviantart.com
Michelle Chen – michelle-chen.deviantart.com
Kevin Mckeever gives advice to aspiring film animators.
I arrived late to the independent filmmaking discussion by
Kevin McKeever, an entertainment industry veteran of 15 years, who has worked on such projects as the series
Jackass,
Mystery Men and
Robotech. The audience, composed of aspiring filmmaker high school seniors and college students, inquired about getting into feature animation and the film business in general, if there was a potential of migrating between the television and feature film industries and the often asked, how do you make a movie with no money down?
When the talk was over, I asked Kevin about the importance of not only creating a good story but a franchise for Transmedia storytelling. He responded by maintaining that the story is key, no matter what you intend to do with it. He used
Twilight and
Batman Begins as examples of how good storytelling created a lucrative franchise. While these were good representations of successful stories, I must in retrospect, challenge him on his answer- in both cases, Twilight and Batman, the films are based on an established canon of lore with a foundation of resources that can be repeatedly accessed for experimentation in an effort to get “the right formula.” First time filmmakers are rarely inspired to create their “universes” behind their original ideas in order to establish their own franchises. It may start with a good story but it has to “live” beyond that one story if filmmakers want a chance at being successful in their own right.
Avatar combat suit costume
I walked back over to the convention center proper just in time to see an attendee suit up in an
AVATAR inspired exosuit, complete with moving legs, arms and electronics. Fans milled about taking joy and pictures in recognizing other attendees dressed as their favorite characters – with the same exuberance as the fans along the red carpet at the Academy Awards.
I recognized a few characters from video game magazines but for the most part, the significance of the costumes escaped me. I took pictures based on the quality of the costume design rather than the fidelity of the interpretation.
Next, my ramblings took me over to the Hangry and Angry Fashion Show- a goth, anime and grunge inspired clothing and accessory line created by Gashicon. The namesake mascots Hangry and Angry came out on the stage to the music of the Vamps and began to dance to the J-Rock beats. Shortly thereafter, the models walked out, showcasing the clothing line and tossing key rings and other swag into the appreciative audience.
Gashicon fashions
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Gashicon and interpreter discuss the fashion line of Hangry and Angry
After that transpired, I walked into the abridged version
Yu-Gi-Oh and then took a look at the ParaPara Dance Club as its instructors gave the audience of the moves they would be performing during the class.
Tony Oliver
From there I walked back across the concourse and drifted into
Tony Oliver’s voice acting workshop. “Voice acting” he explained, “requires being able to act.” The audience sat and stood in rapt attention as Tony pointed out that people come back to Anime because they become emotionally involved with the characters. “Even villains love themselves, ” he said, much to the humor of of those in attendance, and he mentioned actors “need to learn to feel. They must understand what the character is feeling at that particular moment.” Emotion first, then express.
Most US animation voice acting is based on the concept of “Outside-In”, in which a character sounds like how it looks. Think
Bugs Bunny and
Sponge Bob.
Most Anime voice acting is based on “Inside-Out”, wherein the what the character is feeling dictates how the voice sounds.
Like any craft, Tony stressed the importance of practice and suggested getting involved with local community college theater programs and community theaters organizations.
Kenji Kamiyama and interpreter discuss his recent projects with the audience.
At 5pm, it was time to head back over to the main hall for the
Kenji Kamiyama Q & A session. Well known as the director of
MiniPato and the
Ghost in the Shell series of films, Kenji arrived on stage just after an hour long autograph session with an interpreter by his side, thanking the audience for coming.
He briefly mentioned his concerns about the possible lack of interest from fans overseas, but his fears vanished when he saw the large turnout at the convention.
Unfortunately, an audio level war ensued between this room and another room two sections over. That, coupled with the overworked HVAC overhead, the almost whisper like tone of the interpreter it became increasingly difficult to follow the Q & A.
By a 5:45, I decided to call it a day. The panel on how to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse would have to wait for another time.
Steampunk meets Resident Evil?
Overall, this was a unique experience. Reflecting back on my first convention experience – a Star Trek/Comic Con back in the early 80′s – it was interesting to cover a convention as opposed to attending one.
The organizers did a credible and effecting job of coordinating the event and while the schedule was sometimes a challenge to read in its Gantt format, it worked after a fashion.
The atmosphere was one of friendliness, acceptance and play.
I came to AnimeNext looking for tech or original new media content, but I was missing the point. This wasn’t about being original… it was a rousing celebration of all things Anime. With over 130 panels and worshops, 14 special guests , 7 events, two game shows, a Masquerade and Costume contest, there was something for everyone over the weekend. I may not watch Anime anymore but I certainly respect the work and passion that the fans have for the genre. It took a while, but this weekend, I finally “got it.” My thanks to Gregg Turek, President of Universal Animation Inc. for press access to this event.
