[Essay] Dez's First Anime Convention - Reflective

Originally published November 15, 2010

Dez was in high school when she went to her first anime convention. It consisted of one small board room on the floor of a Mariott Hotel. Hardly anyone dressed up (though a few did, and they were considered extreme Otaku) and everyone loved anime. That’s just it. No video games. No manga, really, except for the rare few. It was just anime. Akira, Bubblegum Crisis, Cutie Honey, Dominion Tank Police, Astroboy, Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball, Slayers, Revolutionary Girl Utena, and Gundam just to name a few. There was no such thing as YAOI/YURI/HENTAI back then, though most mainstream anime included those themes. There wasn’t perversion. There wasn’t elitism. It was just fifty or so people sitting in a convention hall listening to American voice actors and production teams of such things as Robotec and Macross discuss their business. They came because they loved anime. Most of them were considered outcasts.

When the hell did it all change?

I mean, I can remember trying to defend myself to my mother. She used to accuse me of liking “cartoons”, she used to say “aren’t you a little too old for this?” How can you explain to someone the difference between anime and cartoons? All they saw was animation. They never actually saw the plot. Now it is acceptable for adults to watch animated shows and movies (Pixar and Adult Swim options) but before it was looked down upon. Only “weird kids” did things so unsophisticated.

It just goes to show that no matter what you like, or what you think is cool, one day everyone else will agree with you. Nobody should ever change their interests or what they are passionate about just because society looks down upon it, or people judge you for it. As long as you have fun and enjoy it, screw everyone else. They are just envious that they can’t be as open as you.

Case in point: I went to a party at a friend’s house a long time ago. A group of us were dressed up for a con, but we stopped in for have a few drinks before we went back for the nightly dance. By all accounts we looked ridiculous. Bright colors, fluffy skirts, eye patches and wigs, the whole bit. We stood out like a sore thumb, but we didn’t care. Later that night a group of girls came in who were in shock at how we looked. They looked down their noses at us and asked why we were dressed so ridiculously. We joyfully explained what we were doing and how much fun we were having. They didn’t talk to us for the rest of the night, whispered among themselves, pointed, and judged us. Whatever. We drank and laughed and ran around like kids having a ball while they sat on the couch nursing their beers being “ashamed” for us.

At the end of the night we said out goodbyes and as we were leaving one of the girls from that group ran outside to catch us. She lowered her voice to a whisper and proceeded to tell us we looked awesome, and that she loved anime and conventions, and that she really wanted to come with us. We told her where it was and how to get there and said that she would be more than welcome to tag along. She told us she was scared to let the others know that she was into “that kind of stuff” and said she would try to come. Sadly we never saw her there.

It was sad to me that she felt the need to hide something she liked for fear of judgement. I felt sorry for her.

I haven’t been on this earth for very long, but the cliche saying of “you only have one life to live” rings true to me. Who the hell cares what other people think? Those snotty girls at that party didn’t ruin MY fun. I had a blast with my best friends being dorky and silly, with a large crowd of people who felt the same way about life as I did.

That is the great thing about conventions of any type, whether it is Anime, Star Trek, Sci-Fi, Writing, Fishing, Shooting, Picking your nose- whatever it is! It is a way to connect with people who love the same things you do without having to deal with the negative popular culture’s judgement.

So for those of you who are going to an anime con for the first time this weekend it may be a little strange at first. People are uncensored. They have no inhibitions. They may be awkward and weird and a little goofy but they won’t judge you. They are being themselves (even if that self is a little peculiar), but here you can be yourself too.