{"id":22460,"date":"2025-06-08T22:39:15","date_gmt":"2025-06-08T22:39:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scarlet-rhapsody.com\/?p=22460"},"modified":"2025-06-09T00:14:06","modified_gmt":"2025-06-09T00:14:06","slug":"fanime-25-hit-me-hard-and-soft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scarlet-rhapsody.com\/?p=22460","title":{"rendered":"[Fanime ’25] Hit Me Hard and Soft"},"content":{"rendered":"

Birds of a feather, we should stick together, I know<\/em><\/p>\n

I skipped out on Fanime Con 2024 to save up for a London trip. I\u2019ve been attending Fanime Con intermittently between the years since 2003. I recall the last Santa Clara days, the fountain at the San Jose Convention Center, and the era where all panels were held at the Signia (formerly, the Fairmont). I was selected to host two panels, appear in a Stage Zero Author Q&A, perform two shows for Cosplay Wrestling Federation (CWF), and perform with my idol group, Angel Hearts.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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The legendary maid cafe takes Stage Zero!<\/p><\/div>\n

And that\u2019s what Fanime Con is – by fans for fans. Elder millennials and Fanime Con veterans give back to this in programming, performance, and staffing. While Fanime doesn\u2019t quite have the star power of anime industry guests such as Animazement or Anime North, this is the con where the community lifts up one another.<\/span><\/p>\n

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By fans, for fans<\/p><\/div>\n

I landed in San Jose on Day 1 Friday. The four day anime convention typically gets things going later in the afternoon. I joined friends for a Disney GAL photoshoot where I was dolled up as the OG Disney Princess \u2122, Snow White. Downtown San Jose has picturesque spots for photos. The science museum has bold backgrounds, the park has greenery and fountains, and the area by the Signia Hotel has stylish downtown backgrounds. Most photographers, especially GWC\u2019s (gooners with cameras), will use the grey walls outside the convention center. This area can get crowded and stinky real fast (even stinkier than the video game room), just note there are far more unique and better backgrounds for cosplay photos. Even the Signia Hotel and Westin lobby had choice locations wherein it wasn\u2019t crowded or squatted by GWC\u2019s.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Westin is one of my favorite photo spots!<\/p><\/div>\n

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Things got stinkier than the video game room at the GWC photo zone<\/p><\/div>\n

I did attend a few cosplay meet ups throughout the weekend. One such highlight is the Old School Anime meet up where cosplayers represented anime and manga series created before 2000. This year, Ranma \u00bd cosplayers dominated the bunch. It helped that there was a Ranma \u00bd meet up earlier in the day. Other classic series present were Starblazers, Rose of Versailles, Patlabor, among others. I represented Miaka from Fushigi Yuugi. I was quite happy I had more people whom recognized the isekai romantasy than mistaking my cosplay from the Mihoyoverse.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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A sampling of the Old School Cosplay gathering<\/p><\/div>\n

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We gather to remember…<\/p><\/div>\n

It\u2019s tough to comment on programming when you are running multiple panels and performing in a few shows. A few panels I wanted to check out where going on while I had other commitments. I did check out a few shows at Stage Zero. While it appeared crowded, I could always find a seat in the front row. I caught a few idol performances, especially the mega Fanimaid Cafe performance where they celebrated all 80 Fanime maids. They danced to J-pop and anisongs and ended it with a dance off to Atarashii Gakko. There were a few game shows such as \u201cWho\u2019s That Pokemon?\u201d I think my favorite was Angel Hearts vs. FaniMaid Cafe vs. Black and White Ball when it came to Para Para and dressing up in Sweet Lolita fashion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Stage Zero shenanigans<\/p><\/div>\n

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A collaboration of different departments – ballroom dance, J-fashion, and maids<\/p><\/div>\n

I did peak into a few J-fashion events at the Signia Hotel. The hotel was home to the J-fashion programming. There was a separate vendor hall for J-fashion styles including GAL, Lolita, Decora, Morigirl, and others. I did spent quite a bit on Morigirl and GAL clothing and accessories. Most of these were indie and local designers. Forest Girl Clothing is a brand from the Pacific Northwest that is very much into cottagecore. A Gato Designs is mixing up kawaii Lolita style and pastels for all sizes. I also attended a history of Para Para panel and went into the photo booth room where I got photos of my Snow White GAL coordinate \/ fit (or whatever the kids call it these days). There was even a Monday event where you can pose your dolls and plushes with tiny backgrounds. I took my Sailor Mars (idol version) crocheted doll gifted by my friend Miles with these backdrops.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Shopping at the Signia<\/p><\/div>\n

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Disney GAL shoot<\/p><\/div>\n

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Backdrops for dolls, stuffies, and more<\/p><\/div>\n

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Teaching “Deluxe” at the Para Para 101 panel<\/p><\/div>\n

The Oasis was the 18+ zone where you had to take a shuttle (or a ride share over). I did not have time to check out the Oasis, but I did have a friend who went in to play casino games such as Texas Hold \u2018Em. He generally had a positive experience. The convention used to have a 24 hour vibe at the San Jose Convention Center, but the times have changed. People have taken the party to Park Con right across the street where you would have random DJ\u2019s do their thing at different sections of the park right across the street. It was crowded and it can get messy. It\u2019s not really my scene, but I did end up with friends over at Miniboss, a simple barcade that was playing Macross: Do You Remember Love on its screen.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Park Con shenanigans<\/p><\/div>\n

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Macross: Do You Remember Love plays at Miniboss.<\/p><\/div>\n

The vendor hall and Artist Alley always draws a crowd. One of my biggest gripes with Fanime is the crowding in the Artist Alley. Fanime is a medium sized convention. While I am unsure of the numbers, it\u2019s definitely a huge draw. Yet, the Artist Alley can get very crowded where you\u2019re very much sardined in I did appreciate seeing the artists present; an artist all the way from Europe was selling 90\u2019s themed prints of modern anime and girlypop – think what if Sabrina Carpenter was in Creamy Mami.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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I didn’t take many photos in the Artist Alley, but here’s someone at registration working on a Pokemon puzzle<\/p><\/div>\n

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BART makes themselves known<\/p><\/div>\n

The dealers hall had Japanese clothes and accessories, a lot of love for acrylic pins and accessories for Ita bag enthusiasts, card games, casual anime street fashion, anime pinup posters, and food. This time around, because of the economy, I was in no rush to buy anything from the vendor hall. Yet, because my head was suffering from wig itch, Epic Cosplay saved the day by getting me a new wig cap and a plastic wig headband to place underneath the wig. The results were night and day. I think I\u2019ll go forward with this practice here on out.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Aisles were wide and walkable in the vendor hall<\/p><\/div>\n

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American Goku?<\/p><\/div>\n

Something new I checked out this year was the Itasha car show. I\u2019m not deep into car culture. This was held at the large tented off area behind the convention center. Anime fans from across the west coast brought their anime themed cars to be put on display. Dreamscape provided some anime and k-pop tunes as people were browsing through this anime car show. I also liked that there were Summer Festival themed backdrops for photos for everyone. Of course I had to take my Miaka cosplay to a few of these.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Istasha car show!<\/p><\/div>\n

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Dreamscape setting the vibe<\/p><\/div>\n

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Sailor Moon car!<\/p><\/div>\n

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Photo backdrops that fit the Summer Festival theme at the car show<\/p><\/div>\n

The vibes at Fanime were pretty good. People were very friendly. Most of my interaction came from hanging out by stage zero. Most social zones were outside. Even at offsite venues like SOFA Market down the street, anime fans shared tables with other anime fans to enjoy a meal at the mom and pop owned food court. I tend to avoid areas where there\u2019s a lot of GWC\u2019s and I go where most fans are. Stage Zero was our official town center of Fanime. I am happy that Fanime has kept this tradition of having a central stage at the convention center.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Carl from Jimmy Neutron is gonna fight Shadow the Hedgehog<\/p><\/div>\n

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A dog, an aardvark, and a pirate gather…what happens?<\/p><\/div>\n

As a presenter and performer, I had three performances and three panels. This was a huge endeavor for me. Like I said, Fanime is by the fans for the fans. As an elder in the community. I like to step up where I can to give back. I appreciate that Fanime values fan submitted content whether it’s performance, cosplay meet ups, game shows, or informational sessions. I had a great experience with Stage Zero and programming staff.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Stage Zero vibes<\/p><\/div>\n

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Welcome to California<\/p><\/div>\n

Rob Miles had invited me to do Fireside Chat author talk on Stage Zero. Earlier in the month, I had my first library author talk with the New York Public Library to talk about fandom. I enjoyed talking to Rob Miles about the era of anime fandom as it was transitioning into a niche thing for Gen X\u2019ers to the latest fad for Millennials in the early 00\u2019s. Rob also share a lot of insight from his days leading programming and being one of the top dogs at Anime Expo. \u201cI walk into AX today and no one even remembers me,\u201d the convention veteran expressed.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Stage Zero author talk<\/p><\/div>\n

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The OG, Rob Miles<\/p><\/div>\n

Performing with Cosplay Wrestling Federation and Angel Hearts is always a delight. This was my first time performing in front of a Fanime audience with either. Fanimania has the mosted hyped up wrestling crowd out of all the CWF main event shows I\u2019ve ever done for the past year and a half. I made my idol debut at San Diego Anime Con last year, and this was the Stage Zero idol debut with Angel Hearts. We performed classic Para Para Paradise songs followed by songs inspired by Japanese summer festivals (with cute outfits to match!)<\/span><\/p>\n

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Angel Hearts Matsuri squad (photo by RTL)<\/p><\/div>\n

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Angel Hearts SoCal squad (Photo by RTL)<\/p><\/div>\n

I also have to give a special shoutout to Con Ops for taking care of a creepy person situation. Without going into the details, there is a number on the back of the badge that you can call and report suspicious persons to. In the past, I was iffy about Con Ops because of questionable people on staff at the time. Skip to a few years later, Con Ops were able to listen to my issue with empathy, care, and diligence.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Fast Food cosplay<\/p><\/div>\n

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Vtubers free-wheeling the con floor<\/p><\/div>\n

Before I wrap up the report, a special shoutout to Geki, Kitty Princess Kie, Rob Miles, and Azur Mage for your support and partnership with my panels. You are all amazing!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Free ponderings? Don’t mind if I do!<\/p><\/div>\n

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Thank you to Kie and Geki!<\/p><\/div>\n

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And this guy too!<\/p><\/div>\n

Fanime Con 2025 was a pretty darn good year. I had fun giving back to the convention that defined my university days in the Bay Area. I have very little gripes about the convention. I felt they improved in areas that I saw needed fixing (ie: Con Ops and safety reporting questionable attendees). Perhaps a good problem to have is that there was so much going on; I tried to double book watching a stage zero performance and a cosplay meet up steps away from the stage.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Next year’s theme – Boo! Haunted House<\/p><\/div>\n

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Matsuri GAL squad<\/p><\/div>\n

And let\u2019s hope Fanime can invite this millennial fandom historian and scholar as a guest in 2026!<\/span><\/p>\n

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Written by Cosplay Ancestor Eri
IG: @cosplayancestoreri
TikTok: @cosplayancestoreri
BluSky: scarlet-rhapsody.com<\/p><\/div>\n