Dear Zerreth, How was NYAF 2K8?

'Twas interesting, yes it was. Going there has only proven my point to the illustrator that I edit that he needs to spend more time actually drawing instead of procrastinating. It isn't that his work is BAD but had he spent time to do his prime work, we'd sell more and I'd have more to work with. Whatever.

The convention itself was.... interesting. There weren't as many big players as I was expecting but a good amount had booths, in particular Bandai, Kinokuniya, Funimation, and Del Rey Press.

The cosplayers were too generic this time. Still WAAAAAAY too many naruto/bleach cosplays. Too many L'azy cosplays (Guys, it's not that hard. White shirt, jeans, ruffle up your hair, take off your shoes and socks. Done. That's not really showing how devoted you are...) and a ton of Gurren Lagann but I guess that was to be expected. I saw one girl with a BIG ASS Rifle though. It was larger than she was, now that's nice. I saw a Shinku from Rozen Maiden with a VELVET dress. Talk about dedication. Then I saw Balalaika from Black Lagoon. Now THAT was cool. A woman went all out with her hair, coat and even SCARS. It was seriously Fry Face and her demeanor was too good.

Since "Baby, The Stars Shine Bright" were at the convention as well there were a lot of Lolita outfits, and by that I mean gothic lolita outfits and by THAT i mean the generic $60 ones you get at a Halloween store. It was too obvious who was doing it just for kicks and who actually wore Lolita and Gothic Lolita outfits as a fashion. The first thing that notified me was how some of the outfits were exactly the same. Not even "looked", they actually WERE. Hooray for individuality. Others didn't look too comfortable and their eyes didn't display any form of nonchalance. Note: Self-conscious gothic lolitas are FAKE gothic lolitas.


Going to NYAF though also confirmed all my doubts: that there's a constant influx of the younger generation of fans who lack self control and believe conventions are where you do whatever the hell you want. I heard yelling wars between pirates and ninjas and Yawee and Yuri.
First of all, no. Being loud all together at a convention is stupid. Unless there's an actual REASON to make noise, there shouldn't be any. It's loud enough as is. Another yellfest involved couples kissing. Yes. that's it. "Fans" applied pressure onto couples and by that I also mean, some random person pushed another into the open area at the center, and would scream and "cheer" once they kissed.


What bothers me though is how some of this nonsense is encouraged. This one booth played music so ear-deafeningly loud, you'd think they'd know any better. Another store known as "Hen Da Ne!" sold Yaoi/Yuri paddles and had one of the booth clerks yell YAAAAWEEEEE in the most obnoxious, raspy, nasally voice possible. He needs to die. It's thanks to people like him that make con-goers think it's okay. It's NOT. Conventions are STILL public and STILL demand civility. Slapping random people in the ass with a paddle isn't funny, nor is treating cosplayers like their character. No. You just don't do that.

I've also read some ridiculous stuff, which only bothers me as this will continue on. What I dread is graduating from college and working only to be in the same office as some of these ignorant, delusional dim-wits.


On the positive side. Yen Press publicized their anthology books, Yen Plus, which looks like a really nice way to introduce manga to a non-japanese audience. It's not that shounen jump thing you can expect, from the looks of it, we're going to be seeing some not-so-overly-famous quality work.