Ohayocon 2010: Where even Pokémon is cool

Darth Vader and three of his troopers marched past me through the hallway, and on this particular Saturday afternoon in the Columbus Convention Center, this was perfectly normal.  Welcome to Ohayocon — Columbus’ 10th annual anime convention — where fans can come out to play.

Anime conventions are events where people who enjoy Japanese animation can dress up like their favorite characters , shop for Japanese related commodities, meet voice actors, compete in contests, attend panels, and generally enjoy being around their fellow fans.

For those of you who have never been to a convention of this genre, you’re in store for scandalous outfits, plenty of anthropomorphism, hordes of dealers selling Pocky (a Japanese dessert), costume photo shoots, and random dance sessions.

This was my first time at this particular convention, and I went not fully aware of what I was getting myself into.  I am not what you might consider an “anime fan,” as I am not fond of most anime.  I am, however, a complete Japan-junkie, and a sucker for dressing up in costumes.  What’s more, I went to this convention with the assumption that I would meet other digital artists and perhaps develop my networking.

Unfortunately, what I expected and what I found were not altogether synonymous.

Dressed in Steampunk style (a fashion which combines historical dress and technological advances), I attended the convention with a group of high school and college friends.  Registration was a long and lengthy process.  I recommend never attending a conference without preregistering, lest you wait in line for a solid two hours.

At registration we were given badges, which are necessary to get into any event or vendor area.  Afterward we were free to wander.  Of the panels that were offered, I was disappointed to find that most were solely anime related…and poorly run.  Twice my panelists never showed, and of the six panels that weren’t canceled, each was unorganized and started late.

With a record that poor, I wonder if I wasn’t simply picking the wrong panels.

In any case, aside from the poorly planned panels and general disarray in the hallways, there were also some generally enjoyable moments.  I attended a question-and-answer session with the voice actor of G.I.R. in Nickelodeon’s Invader Zim, one of my favorite television shows through middle school.

I also attended a workshop that taught basic break dancing. While I am no master  (especially while I’m in Victorian dress), watching a room full of anime characters dance together is a sight one does not often see.

Additionally, I found Ohayocon 2010 had an inspirational ability to bring a community together.  Here you had high school students who felt outcast while at school, but who found a convention full of people who support their love for “geekiness.”

Ohayocon created a safe environment where it was okay to love Pokémon or dress up like Darth Vader or use chopsticks or give hugs to strangers (okay…that last one is still a bit creepy). For a strange, socially abnormal weekend, what the world deems “geeky” was suddenly the fashion.

Undoubtedly, this fashion was not always good family fun.  With anime can come pornographic connotations, and that was true at Ohayocon.  Young girls in few clothes, others on leashes, and the ever-popular distribution of pornographic graphic novels were just a few examples where this community-building convention went awry. What is supposed to be a family event masks the underlying sexuality.

Still, for what good the convention did, I can still commend it.  Promoting other cultures, accepting the lonely, and providing a space to create and share — these are truly praiseworthy traits.  So, while I think Ohaycon is in desire need of a better organizational staff and panelists who know what they’re talking about, and while I think it is a giant promotion of gender inequality, there is the slight chance I may try again next year.

After all, someone has to win the next costume contest…and it might as well be me.

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