The Main Events?

Dearest Rachel –

Main programming is not where I spend most of my time at an anime convention. To be sure, the largest part is spent in my hotel room – sleeping, of course, but we would also watch stuff (and do other things) there, and these days, I spend time writing you a lot – followed by the marketplace (not that we used to buy all that much – although, now that I commission certain specific artworks, perhaps I do spend a bit more than we used to, back in the day). Then, of course, there are the corridors (do those even count, or are they just a necessary evil for getting from one place one wants to be to another?) and the con suite or the recharge room (which is only a thing here at Anime Iowa – ACen got too big for something like that long ago, despite the assertion by an AI staffer many years ago that “a con, like an army, runs on its stomach”). The list of places we would spend time in, sorted by the amount of time spent, would drop rapidly from there.

In short, main programming is not high on my priority list, and even less so than it was when it was on ‘our’ list. You considered attending the cosplay – and the fast track to the good seats – to be one of the perks of being a sponsor here, which, considering how long it’s been since we could even get into the Masquerade at Anime Central, I guess I can understand. It is one of the more impressive things at any convention, and one of its most long-standing traditions.

But somewhere along the way, I think I lost my enthusiasm for the whole display. Maybe it’s the fact that, while I can pride myself on my knowledge of dozens of different anime titles, there remain what appear to be thousands of them that I’m totally unfamiliar with – including many of the most popular ones at any given moment, and therefore, the ones most being used for cosplay. And despite being well done to the point of professionalism, if I don’t recognize a character, they are all more or less the same to me. I may be able to appreciate the craftsmanship of a given costume, but the lack of recognition renders many of them all but faceless to me.

At home, we have film of a couple of over old cosplay events, and I’ll be honest, they don’t interest me as much for the visuals (or the sketches – that used to be a thing, back then) as for your occasional reactions to one or another. Cosplays there will be, seemingly until the end of time, but your voice (as we made sure to always keep the camera focused on the stage, so there is no footage of any visual reaction – and even any auditory response was kept to a minimum, as we were audience members, and would behave accordingly) will not be heard again.

In short, those recordings chose soup over art yet again. But hey, how were we expected to know that?

***

Nevertheless, there are moments when the main room is the place to be. Like right around noon, there was this game show being hosted there. It’s not the sort of thing that I’m wanting to actually participate in – dozens versus thousands, remember? – but hey, who doesn’t enjoy watching Jeopardy now and again?

Besides, the hosts – who seemed to actually be sponsored by a production and distribution company – were tossing prizes liberally and randomly into the audience throughout the production. And quite the production it was, with computer-generated question tables, only half of which could be answered correctly by the contestants. Still, even the losers didn’t get sent down empty-handed, as Pocky was passed around like the hosts were under orders to get rid of every last box within their allotted hour.

Even from where I was standing back against the wall, I actually caught something, albeit in the chest (not unlike a bullet). Fortunately, it didn’t hit that hard, and now I have a box of chocolate-filled cookies in case my sweet tooth starts to act up… again.

***

And while it will always be there to go to, there isn’t much else going on during the cosplay event, so I figure I might as well go. I paid for the seat, after all – might as well get me money’s worth, and use it, right? Besides, you’d want me to tell you about it, wouldn’t you?

I just wish I knew what there was about it to tell you. Every one of them is special in their own way, I’m sure, especially for the participants. But to me, it’s all very much the same; an MC comes out (in this case, someone dressed as a little old man claiming to be from another, steampunk-driven dimension, who needs audience applause and approval to recharge his machine in order to return. An interesting framing device, but rather inconsequential to the rest of the show – and not exactly in keeping with the theme of the convention, which seems to be on spirits and ghosts), introduces each costume and their ‘artist,’ the cosplayer does a turn around the stage, posing at various points to show off to the judges, and leaves the way they came.

Several do lip-sync acts, especially those based off of Vocaloid characters – they’re difficult to take pictures of, as they move around onstage and come out blurry on my camera app.

After fifty or so entrants pass by, the host stalls for time as the judges deliberate. Again, who the winners are is important to the competitors – and you would likely have insisted we stay to find out. But after a couple of hours, I can’t seem to find it in me to stick around to find out; I slip out the door, and return to the room to tell you about it all. Although, now that I’m here doing so, I realize you would have probably wanted me to stay and gotten that information to relay to you. Sorry.

Then again, if you can read about this from me, your spirit could probably have been there to see for yourself. Either way, keep an eye on me, and wish me luck; I’m going to need it.