It’s not the years, it’s the mileage. Fanime Con 2011 marks my eighth consecutive Fanime. It is amazing to think that ten years ago, I considered going to Fanime 2001, but because Fanime 2001 conflicted with the March SAT test, I was not able to attend. School first, hobbies second. Ten years later, I finally have a Master’s degree. Fanime certainly has been a huge part in my young adult years. Most of my college buddies from San Francisco State still attend this convention. We look at this time to reminisce about the good times we had in college and celebrate a medium we all enjoy.

Since my first Fanime, I have grown from closet cosplayer to a professional theatre costumer. I attended the convention as a cosplayer, but now, I enjoy going to Fanime to help younger fans understand anime adaptation in the 90s (ie: “Moon Prism Poptarts” panel) and provide professional development for my press peers (ie: “Reporting Anime Conventions” panel). I still enjoy writing and taking part in multimedia driven journalism. That’s why I still attend these conventions after all this time. People can go in and out of fandom, but I enjoy taking my time and talent to contribute.

Fanime Con 2011 was a very enjoyable event. There were few flaws compared to previous years. The most common complaint was the lack of schedules. Not everyone owns a smart phone (yet). Having the schedule online is not a bad idea, but it is unfair to those who do not have easy access to the Internet. Because of the lack of schedule, there were a lack of a full audience at most of the panels. Kudos to those who took time to find the panels they wanted to attend. I would recommend Fanime to survey their registered attendees to find out what percentage uses smart phones so that they can get a better sense of having Fanime apps for mobile devices. It would also be wise to have the schedule included in the program guide.

The only other lackluster thing about Fanime Con is the Black and White Ball. Though I have voiced my opinion on the Fanime Con forums, I will say them in this review again. The music was not very danceable. You can certainly have popular music (ie: “Never Gonna Give You Up” by Rick Astley…note that Anime Expo’s ballroom dance has played Rick Astley before Rickroll) at a ballroom dance. As long as the beat is appropriate to the steps, I would consider it fine to dance too. “My Only Love” from Sailor Moon is not a waltz. I love the song to death, but it sounds more like a slow dance than it is a waltz. I could go into more detail about the music selection, but overall, it felt pretty weak this year compared to previous years. I thought midi version “Thriller” was played just to troll the attendees. My sister and I were making jokes at our table about the Michael Jackson video game rather than going on the dance floor. In addition, there were too many mixers and demonstrations. I thought the ballroom dance was already a mixer. However, the atmosphere was very nice. Everyone was dressed to the nines. I would love to see the Black and White Ball restore to their former glory. Let’s hope for a larger venue that can accommodate this popular event.

Otherwise, I thought the overall convention was pretty good. It was nice to see the Bay Area regulars again. In addition to covering the event as press, I also ran three different panels: “WowoWTF?!,” “Reporting Anime Conventions,” and “Moon Prism Poptarts.” Rena, head honcho of panels, was very accommodating to us for scheduling our panels. The only complaint I have is that “WowoWTF?” needed to be place in a room similar to Panels 3 wherein the laptop, projector, microphones, and table need to be close together to run an effective panel.

I feel that I need to bring this up because this often occurs at Fanime Con each year. There are a group of fundamentalists that troll Fanime Con attendees that they are going to Hell. Mind you, these people are doing this for the sake of getting a reaction. These people are professional trolls. Do not try to argue with them or instigate anything with them. These trolls appear at any major event at the San Jose Convention Center, including health care conferences. It is not that they have anything against anime or cosplayers, the trolls hate for the sake of getting you to react. Someone mentioned that Fanime Con Ops were defending the trolls. Allow me to clarify that Fanime Con was preventing any liabilities should any attendee provoke the trolls. The trolls want to be provoked so they can instigate a lawsuit against Fanime Con. The best way to deal with these trolls is to ignore them. All I can say is, “Keep it classy, California.”

Otherwise, Fanime Con 2011 was a very fun event. I loved the Steampunk themed utilized in the mascot and program design. I thought the guest of honor line up was very well rounded and appealed to different types of otaku young and old. Likewise, it was great to see friends from San Francisco State University (Go Openly Gators!) and Anime FX (past publicity officer reporting in!).

I really hope Fanime Con keeps doing what they are doing right. Overall layout, cosplay gathering organizations, convenience to restaurants, swap meet, arcade, maid café, programming, karaoke, etc were very well done this year. It seems every year gets much more enjoyable. I will admit that I am growing out of attending and participating in cosplay gatherings, but the Sailor Moon gathering was a definite highlight. I will continue to support this event so as long as I am living in California. Hope to see you all again at Fanime Con 2012.

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