For the second time in as many years, my sister and I drove to
Chicago for the Midwest's largest convention last weekend. I'd
abstained from conventions since June in financial anticipation, and
it was worth it; even more fun than the first time around. Here were
the highlights, both good and bad:
I got to experience the legendary Anime Hell, having been too far
back in line last year to fit in the ballroom. I worried that I
might miss it again thanks to what appeared to be a professional
line-cutter and the fire alarm going off about ten minutes into the
show. Despite high expectations, being tired, and having seen some
clips before, I still laughed my ass off.
Seeing the guests I wanted to see was an ordeal. Many panels were
left off the schedule, and even the Panel Programming staff were
unsure of anything more than an hour or two in the future. I heard
rumors of some miscommunication or other, but have not yet heard what
went on behind the scenes. I missed all but one of Helen McCarthy's
panels, and wasn't even aware that Carl Gustav Horn would be present.
On the plus side, still got to see Helen McCarthy. The icing on the
cake to that experience was that she signed The Art of Osamu
Tezuka for me, which I'd happened to steal at the dealer's room
for just $25. And Richard Epcar signed my copy of The Mystery of
Mamo, while admitting offhand which Lupin role he
preferred to play.
Though I have considerable experience with Garzey's Wing (and
you can see my thoughts in a previous post), I attended the late
night viewing party along with my unfamiliar sister, and what a night
it was! We both loved every minute of that train wreck as presented
by the Bad Anime Group; you can find them on Facebook, apparently,
and I'll certainly be keeping an eye on them now.
And how does all this concern you, who may not care about my
personal take on this or any convention? Well, I blew about five
buttloads of money on DVDs, which means a more reviews in the future.
A few titles I've seen years ago and only vaguely remember, like
Cyber City Oedo, Project A-ko, and The Dagger of
Kamui. But the majority is blind purchases, a big change of pace
from my old buying habits.
Black Lagoon, a longtime member of my pile of shame, is now
part of my collection. So too is the original TV run of Dirty
Pair, since I've had such a good experience with the franchise
thus far. I made a conscious attempt to bone up on classic '70s with
Go Nagai's Devilman and Leiji Matsumoto's Galaxy Express
999 and Adieu Galaxy Express 999. Isao Takahata's early
work is represented with Horus: Prince of the Sun, and I even
managed to score Amazing Nuts!, which I expect to be just as
pleasantly weird and experimental as its studio's entire body of
work.
In short, I had a big fucking blast this year and would love to come
back once again. Did anyone else out there attend this convention,
and if so, what are your thoughts about it? Any conventions in
general you want to share your opinions/experiences on? Now's the
time, and the comments are the place!
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