Vancouver Anime Comicon 2009 - Part 3
Written and photographed by Ben Tsui
As I mentioned before… those colorfully costumed cosplay otaku enthusiasts readily transported me into their extravagant frenzied Waterfront milieu! I was completely mesmerized by the exciting world of Anime Evolution 2009, in and out of the massive rooms and halls at the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre. After a quick self-introduction to one of the courtliest organizers and media coordinator - Jason Rako, I was hurried upstairs on the third floor for immediate accreditation. With my proud new media pass, I finally descended the steep escalators into the lower depth of the Centre along with hundreds of other impatient revelers. Vancouver’s growing appetite for Japanese animation and Asian pop-culture continued to expand and evolve. It has survived seven consecutive years now. The human lineup was unexpectedly long, the anticipation was excitingly breathless, and the people were extremely diverse!
I first encountered the jolly bearded local live band programming coordinator Devon Remington near the fan registration booths. He showed me the back area which also doubled as the concert performance stage. Devon was dressed in a casual navy blue tee that proclaimed “Satan is a nerd”, as well as a playful pirate hat trimmed with white faux fur. “I expect the show to be fun… I’m looking forward to all the local talents who have roots and passions in Japanese culture and anime. It’s good that they are getting better exposure. We’ll be presenting emerging new bands from the Vancouver area with bands like Locus, Eve, Paris in Tokyo and xEnders. They’ll be playing everything from rock, j-pop, anime covers and original compositions. I also can’t wait for the band Soul Candy from Seattle on Saturday! I hope people hear these bands and then tell others and spread through word of mouth.”
In a single file, people excitedly entered the exhibition hall where costumes, masks, weapons, toys, books, videos, art works and computer animation software were hawked by the plentiful vendors. Hannah dressed as Misa from DEATH NOTE, along with her best friend Emily who was dressed as Suiseiseki from ROZEN MAIDEN, were busily browsing at the many unique wares at the Featherfall booth.
Stefanie Chui was visiting the exhibition hall dressed in a dark patterned traditional Shojo Girl costume with a paper fan decorated with deep pink cherry blossoms. “It’s the third time I’ve been to the convention! This year’s place is much better than the old SFU. It pretty much expanded. The line up is longer… and way more people attending.” She fanned lightly to ward off the crowded heat.
Pacific Pyro was an established online anime internet user. He served as a vendor for the MTC Toys (www.mtctoys.com) and Tee-Shirt booth. He wore a white surgical mask over the lower face, orange friendship rubber band on the hand, and a black tee that boldly displayed “Glomp Me” across his chest. “I’m having fun volunteering here. It gives me good memories… and I’m giving back!”
Similarly, online blogger and crossplayer Cyan (Andy) came thousands of miles across the Pacific from Taiwan just to attend this year’s gathering - garmented in a mixed-design black and red Yukata cotton half kimono and mini skirt, he added rippled fringes to the sleeves. A silver black chopstick held up his lengthy dyed hair. He stood overpoweringly in a pair of high black velvet heels, with a tan colored rice paper parasol. “This is my first Vancouver convention. I’ve attended other past anime events in Taiwan. Back home, we have way more professional television advertising promoting the events, as well as video display booths than here. Vancouver does have more toys, stuffed plush animals, and trinkets, and artist allies. The convention offers lots of nice and cheap merchandises that you can’t find elsewhere. It’s way more crowed where I’m from…the best part about here is that people are so helpful and friendly! There is so much more roomy space here.” However, Cyan believed that this convention overlooked the set up and timing issues. “My friend and I had to wait for over an hour and a half before their promised schedule of events on Thursday. Today, it was a half-hour late. It’s understandable though because they are still setting up. In addition, he thought the volunteers were not very informed about certain procedures. “There were two line ups and the volunteer didn’t know which was which… but in fact, there was only one extended line. Some of the floor plans to the convention were not very inaccurate as well. No biggie.”
Snake Solid (Koji) from METAL GEAR SOLID also invaded the exhibition. “My aim is to meet new people, seeing other people’s hard work and looking at what the art gallery’s up to. This is a great venue. I’ve been coming for six years. I started at the SFU, but I love the professional feel of this Centre.” Another fellow attendee (Chris), who wore a long white tunic and a broad plastic sword added, “One of my friends got me into anime. It’s my third time here now. I love it… I love the stories… love the drawings too. It’s cool to be in the new Convention Centre. It’s so overwhelming… it’s so BIG!”
Convention assistant Robert Weaver was dressed in a bright red robe that represented Auron the warrior from FINAL FANTASY X. “It’s my second year here. Last year was a bit rough. It’s now different… more open… much better venue… and the crowd’s bigger. This year, I volunteer to help make sure people go into the right lines during registration. Tomorrow night, I’ll also keep the under 18 crowds out of the ‘Adults Only’ 404’s 10:30 pm improv show.”
Cross-cultural friends, Tatyana and Kevin, were newcomers to the convention. “We’ve been waiting all year for this event,” said Kevin who wore a costume that ressembled Ichigo from BLEACH. Tatyana in her Chi from CHOBITS costume added, “I wanted to explode when I got through the door! I’m experiencing the whole… taking in everything… I want all the mangas!” Kevin laughed profoundly, “We’ll be leaving with bags… that’s for sure.”
Across from the Convention Centre, an underground mall food fair catered to the hungry anime fans. The fast food restaurants offered everything from ethnic snacks to burgers, fries and drinks. A large sushi establishment was very popular with the crowd. There was a well-behaved line up there. A lone Ronin Samurai (David) in a black Oriental frock, shorts, black boots and a pointy decorated conical palm-leaf hat, sat eating at a table while resting his long sword beside him. He was savoring a large plate of inexpensive sweet and sour pork combo. It was a Kodak moment that I couldn’t resist. As so many jubilant fans kept coming in and out of the mall, I had jostled across several diners with plates full of food to introduce myself. David was pleasant enough to tolerate my sudden intrusion. “It’s hard as always to enjoy the dealer rooms,” he chuckled. “I just got this costume there today. I wasn’t planning on buying at all. I’m enjoying my weekend!”
To be continued…
Ben was born in pre-Communist British Hong Kong a long, long time ago. He was raised and educated in the Canadian Prairies since his family immigrated to Canada in the early seventies. His main interests in life are movies and pop cultures from around the world. He works as a media assistant and film appreciation instructor at a tech college in Calgary, Alberta. During his spare time, Ben works as an actor and filmmaker for the local independent film and television industry. He was one of the co-founding Board members for the Calgary International Film Festival, Global FilmFest and the Calgary Asian Film Festival. Currently, he is also serving as the curator and programming director for the upcoming 2009 Vancouver Singapore Film Festival in September.
