What was the con and fandom scene like "back in the day",

There weren't many cons in general. Anime was its own niche so the couple cons that existed back then were exclusively anime and much smaller.

Cosplay didn't have quite as many resources and standards didn't exist so you had a lot of spray-dye and party city wigs, cheap satin, and improper footwear. Obviously no Facebook, so cosplay was more of a small local community thing and everyone just did their own thing. There was a little drama but it was minimal and mostly only within those small local communities. DA and Coscom didn't start being used for cosplay networking until the mid 2000s.

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Anime cons outside of Japan have only really been a thing for the last twenty years. Most cons in the 70s/80s were sci-fi cons.

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You were into it because you were really into it. Not mainstream. Average age of attendee was a l higher.

>>8813658

I miss when this stuff wasn't kiddie hour.

my god, I would love to have been around for cons when dirty pair and harlock were the big thing.

>>8813658
holy shit, what I wouldn't give to see Matsumoto and Sadamoto now

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>>8813745
>I miss when this stuff wasn't kiddie hour.

Same.
My first con had late 20s and early 30s people all over it.
I didn't fear getting older at all. I disliked being new and so young at 17.

Now I look around and I'm SUCH an odd guy out in my mid-30s.
I can't even really hang out with people my age because of the ones left they are obsessed with themselves and who they know and who you know and image.

So I'm stuck. The kids don't want to talk to anyone outside their age group or friend circle and the older ones are into themselves and their famous friends.

I'd stop going but I still enjoy anime and I love creating things.

YOU KNOW WHAT YOU HAD TO DO BACK IN THE DAY? WATCH VHS TAPES AT THE COLLEGE THAT SOME FUCKER MANAGED TO GET. SUBS? LOL MAYBE IF YOU WERE SOME FANCY FUCKS WHO KNEW HOW TO GET THAT ONTO THE FOOTAGE. YOU HAD PRINTOUTS

WANTED A COPY? BETTER BRING YOUR VCR OR FIND SOMEONE WITH ONE OF THOSE TWO TAPE VCRS

DIDN'T HAVE NO MANGA AGGREGATORS OR BITTORRENT

YOU HAVE IT EASY

I'M SURE YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE ULTRAPORN THAT WE COULD ONLY DREAM OF SOON

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>>8813658
>Haruhiko Mikimoto
FUCK

cons now a days are just glorified weekend long stag parties with people in costumes. When I used to go to cons, I would go to see a guest i've always wanted to see or see something before anyone else, now, that kind of special event atmosphere is gone and the appeal of going to cons are gone. It doesn't help alot of con chairs pissed off alot of people in the anime industry and you'll be hard press to find any japanese GOH that's willing to come to the states now.

>con chairs pissed off alot of people in the anime industry

Pissed them off doing what?

>>8813880
I'm 27, but I only started going to cons back on 2011. It's not so bad now, but I have a feeling it's gonna be a whole different ball game in like 5 years.

>>8814080
http://selective-hearing.com/shooting-yourself-in-the-foot

>>8813880
Uhg i know that feeling so much right now. I'm 24 and have a hard time as well since the age of attendees has lowered to like, 14.
It also doesn't help that people look younger and younger these days so its near impossible to tell if you're actually talking to someone over the age of 18.

I'm in my late 20s, so I was a fan right when the "mainstream" bubble started in the early 2000s.

If anyone remembers this was the time when a lot of smaller cons started popping up in every state, books stores started universally carrying manga sections, ect.

Back in those days although we had the internet to keep us tuned in to anime development in Japan, attendee interest and cosplay was less "flavor of the year" and more the same staples of the Genre that had been popular from inception i.e. people knew almost all the references and characters on display and a lot of them stretched back to the 80's.

So the biggest difference I can think of is that now if I go to a con I have to think "What's popular, what are people watching. Whats the shiny new series" and I also have to pay attention to memes and references that come and go very quickly unlike old Con memes that persisted for ages and everybody knew about like Man Faye.

It was more of a social effort so people were more passionate about their cosplay series and character so even if they looked like shit, it was still fun. People we certainly autistic nerds but I think it was a more socially polite group of people and a lot less creeps and glompers.

>>8813880

It's funny because the main characters of everyone's favorite manga were still 17 y.o.

>>8814369
But the stories were treated differently. I guess it helped that plate-sized eyes weren't really a thing yet and that it was niche enough that only people who had the disposable income and time to track these things down (mostly adults, basically) went to cons and watched anime. There wasn't such a massive focus on kawaii uguuuu~ art and more focus on plot.

>>8814191
I guess overtime, we just started getting hanged up on concepts such as "Autist" and the need to be "above" the people that go to cons that hurting cons the most.

Where as before, yeah, there where a bunch of people who acted out-of-line, for the most part, you felt like you where part of a community, part of something bigger, now a days, things have gotten out of control that it's just better to separate and d your own thing and get yourself over that it's not about the con, but the people associated with the con.

Take for example Anime Los Angeles. Can ANYONE name me a guest of honor from Japan that went to that con in the last 3 years? and now compare that to how may Seaguls you met in those last 3 years?

>>8814096

This kind of thing happens a lot. A con I work for has been able to break into getting way better J-guests recently because our higher ups act professional and polite and like its a business, which big cons are. And we're east coast which is less appealing to Japanese guests but so much of the con scene has turned into amateur hour its easy to clean up from other peoples fuck ups

>>8815317
which is sad to hear as a west coast con goer that wants those Triple A guest, not Jessica Nigri. Cons here in the west coast are ether perfectly satisfied with mediocrity or burned bridges with Japanese PR Firms like Anime Expo has done.

>>8815378
I helped support AX financially and now it is a cancerous ever living zombie con.

It will never be great like it once was, nor will it ever die. Casual fags will sift through it's halls like dialysed blood forever now, and it'll simply stagnate into a state of ever-living, but not truly alive or dead.

I apologize for my hand in this.

>>8815387
you're not the only one. Trust me. There are MANY people on that boat that deserve the blame.

>>8814096
Wow. Why is this idiot running a con? Couldn't he have hired someone else to do it if acting like a decent human is too difficult?

>>8816498
>Lattanzio
Oh. That's all you had to mention. Thought you guys were talking about something new.

He's not running the con anymore. He was around for one year and managed to screw things up royally in that one year. Lots of staff left in part because of him. SPJA ended up with a million dollar deficit after 2010 and only recently have they managed to even out or come close to it. He had a lot of good experience on his resume with some really big name companies and that didn't translate to running an anime convention. I'm not sure AX's guest situation is as bad as it sounds in that article as they have been able to get some big name acts even after Lattanzio's reign. Being the largest anime convention in the country by far also has a certain effect. Funny part is that some of those things like tickets is a drop in the bucket compared to the attendance increases (and their revenue) in recent years.

Was the con scene then as horrifyingly decadent as it is today? Worse?

>>8815115
>plate-sized eyes weren't really a thing yet

What is Outlanders? What is Dominion Tank Police?

>>8817062
It was really tame. Remember, these were 80s-90s nerds, not the normie "nerds" of today.

I'm disappointed that I missed out on the older con scene, but at the same time I'm kinda glad I can just crunchyroll/buy/torrent whatever anime I want without worrying about a bunch of badly dubbed censored VHS tapes.

>>8817126
yeah, but at the same time, you missed out on the magic of trading tapes with questionable fansubs

>>8817126
you used to get a whopping two episodes a tape at the store
want a whole series? hope you got a bookshelf free

and a lot of the time we watched stuff on showtime and sci fi and for me the public stations because they were crazy enough to play anime. I watched old school stuff growing up.

>>8813880
I only started going to cons when I was 21 and as much as I enjoy them, I really hate how many young teenagers run around squealing, with absolutely no respect for people's personal space or anything. Maybe I'm just old and cranky, but I'd really like to enjoy my hobbies and interests without being surrounded by incessant shrieking.

>>8817234
>how many young teenagers run around squealing, with absolutely no respect for people's personal space or anything

A lot of anime fans are diagnosable as autistic or ADHD so maybe that might account for your annoyance?

>>8817234, >>8817301 is right.

Even if a (popular) 21+ con existed, there would still be plenty of degenerates that would make you question the future of humanity. All you can hope to do is either go with friends and tag up with other cool people, or keep vigilant and steer away from obvious fucktards.

Some places are better than others though, honestly. I stopped going to just about everything except Colossalcon for this reason, as it's at least bearable.

>>8817234
You should check out Dragoncon. The older crowd keeps those types of people in check. Plus the cost of hotels and admission tends to keep the stereotypical broke and annoying teenagers out.

>>8815152
>Take for example Anime Los Angeles. Can ANYONE name me a guest of honor from Japan that went to that con in the last 3 years? and now compare that to how may Seaguls you met in those last 3 years?

ALA does not have the money and resources to pull stuff off like that. As a result they doubled down on the guest experience. That's why at ALA you see them set up beanbags and benches so guests can just lounge around a chill. They also select hotel blocks that have real lax party policies so guests can just hang out into late hours. People are encouraged to socialize and trade with the ribbon system and if you have a crazy and unusual panel then they want it in the programming. Social events run up the wazoo as there's a black and white ball a sing a long show with The Captain and his crew and the classic rum party.

Not every con needs to grab big name guests in order to do well

>>8816531
Believe it or not AX is recovering. The surviving staff members have started to take charge and are making changes for the better. The fact that most resent AX years had Porno Graffiti, Miku, Anno and Kenji Inafune shows it still has pull

>>8813883

I was talking to the guy that runs a comic shop near me who used to pirate anime back in the day. They knew a few guys who knew some guys in Japan who would ship VHSs over to the US, then the comic shop owner's friends would translate and overlay subs on them. Timing was pretty off, and they weren't great, but it was amazing at the time. And it was the only way they could get the stuff.

He also started talking about how they would get hentai in the 90s, but that didn't need any translation...

>>8817541
yeah, but it still feels like it isn't enough and the stink of what Lattanzio did and what the current staff is currently screwing up is being felt. Last Anime Expo I was at was 2014 and everything was disorganized and everone up and down looked like they where chickens running around without heads, clueless to whats going on. Didn't help that before that, the last Anime Expo I was at was 2010 and it was a barren wasteland, and then suddenly, it was-wall-to-wall people, and it seemed like the con had no way to contain it.


>>8817533

at first, I can understand, but it seems every Fucking con in California, even big cons like Fanime, is this now. No one's taking big risk, no hail marries. ALA NEEDS to take this risk now, it being a con in it's 12th year now. It's fine and dandy doing these things for the first years, but 12 years later, it's time to take risk and some gambles, if that doesn't work, take solace in the fact that doing the same thing isn't as taxing with money, so for them to go big or go home isn't going to hurt them.

>>8817466

Wasn't there some to do about a rapist at DragonCon a while back?

Dragon Con is okay but the crowd is more mid life crisis aged goths and people who never outgrew their 80s New Wave phase than anime geeks.

>>8817424

Anime fans are a pretty even split between decadent self destructive hedonists and people who spend every week at a therapist's office for throwing tantrums at their parents out of their basement. You can't win. Even the occasional off duty police officers or off duty army reservists that show up at anime cons are fucking nuts in spite it being a condition of their jobs that they have to be sane.

>>8818486
>people who never outgrew their 80s New Wave phase

Or their 90s rave phase...... dragoncon is one of the few places left in the U.S. you still see glowsticks paired with JNCO jeans and Tripp pants

>>8818478
>at first, I can understand, but it seems every Fucking con in California, even big cons like Fanime, is this now. No one's taking big risk, no hail marries.

Uhh, AX got Anno and Miku, Sac Anime gets high profile VAs, Comic Con and Big Wow pull in HUGE stars.

If anything with all the big cons banking on star power, focusing on the fan experience IS the big risk and gamble.

>>8818478
AX's organization is def shitty
the fact they are pulling 90k people helps a lot to bring in people though
LACC is a horrible convention center not meant for 90k people

>>8819128
I imagine it's nice to have a "hangout" con where you don't have to worry about guests or panels or whatever and that's how ALA thrives. I get the same thing with Fanime but am also disappointed because they don't seem to be trying at all.

>>8819137
or at least find some middle ground. Fanime SHOULD be the size, if not more because of it's pedigree and amount of time running, of AX, but instead, I see it on a sharp decline. Anime L.A. SHOULD be the size of where Fanime is RIGHT NOW, but instead, it's coasting on mediocrity. This kind of stagnet mentality is also hurting any other cons that want to start up as well: most, if not all, just emplode on their faces (Anime Conji). I feel like the convention scene is perfectly fine where it is catering to fans only and doesn't want to expand, meanwhile, other parts in the U.S. are thriving with cons.

>>8819159
conji's fault is that the SPJA bought it and killed it. I don't think the SPJA really knows how AX got as big as it did and figured they could do whatever magic it was again. AX was this perfect storm thing where they managed to get miku during vocaloid's high and then later on attack on titan, kill la kill, and fate (although i don't think fate is super huge in america even though it's like 12 years old now). basically they are lucking into what seems to be a perpetual attendance machine like SDCC but for anime and with a much shittier convention center. as the biggest anime con in america studios are going to want to put their anime in front of that audience and they will basically throw money at the convention. more accurately, the convention doesn't have to throw money at them - guests are being footed by studios and production companies. last year had a LOT of industry guests and basically industry guest = someone else is paying, guest of honor = convention is paying

ALA is kind of... if it ain't broke, don't fix it. right now since it just moved it's going to be a feeling out for the next few years to see just what happens. new location and no more badge limit. they'll have to see just how attendance jumps because of the lack of a limit and then the year after to see what happens then. right now it's just building attendance via pure word of mouth which is enviable for any company.

>>8819159
You think that guests are what define a convention. If a con just banks on huge names then what the hell do you do when you've gotten your autographs? You can only sit in panels for so long, Far too often I get bored at industry cons where its guests and a big dealers room as the attendees are not even interesting in socializing with one another outside of an odd selfie or picture.

I love Fanime because the con center is huge and there is tons of shit to do the entire 4 days. If the programing wasn't enough the social atmosphere allows the attendees to create some of the most fun activities. Fanime had a huge "Pikachu Volleyball" circle just pop out of nowhere where fans did their best to keep the plushie in the air and everyone was counting out loud. We were running, yelling and everyone was hyped. I don't see that spontaneity at some of the more "big guest" cons.

If you want big guests, CA is already FULL of cons/events that do that.

Comic Con
Big Wow
Game Developer's Conference
Sac Anime
AoD (Recently got Japanese Nichijo VAs and Lotus Juice)
E3
Anime Expo
Wondercon

I'll take ALA's "mediocre" experience as a nice contrast

>>8819434
a few issues:

-whats Big Wow?

-E3 and GDC are not open to the public, or you need to pay out the ass and/or be part of the press.

-SAC Anime and AoD hasn't been pushed and according to many people, they are not worth anyone's time.

So what the hell is Otakon's problem? Why cant they bring in top flight guests like they used to?

>>8819556
Big wow is a comics convention before fanime

Lol I don't even know why gdc was mentioned. It's more of a networking con than anything. You don't really go omg guests there. It's almost boring, actually

Sac continues to suck

Aod I actually have hopes for and they are growing. Just moved to a big (too big?) convention center.

>>8819967
Also, most of the anime/cons are in northern California. 2 of those cons are inaccessible to normal people, 2 are owned by the same company and have their own issues they need to fix.

So that leaves SAC Anime, Anime on Display and Anime Expo, and Anime Expo is so piss-poorly runned that we are now down to 2 cons.

>>8819967
Fanime doesn't seem to be trying at all anymore. Higher ups are either completely incompetent or content to rest on their laurels and continue on as a hangout/party con. I wish someone would get their act together over there.

Sac Anime is pretty pathetic as well. They have a lot of potential (summer shows keep getting bigger, good American guests, good convention center) but keep running it like it's still a small con. It's also overrun with underage weebs. I wonder what is is about that con that attracts so many weebs? The Sacramento location, the way the con is run, or what? If they could pull their heads out of their asses and somehow drive the weeb population down while attracting good cosplayers and an older crowd they'd have a great thing going.

I haven't been to AOD since it was in Japantown but I'm going again this year. This is the NorCal con with the most potential that I've seen.

How are some of the smaller cons around? I don't usually keep up with small cons because they're less fun unless you're there almost entirely to hang out with friends, but I know that Krakencon has pulled in some decent guests. Are there any other cons of note in NorCal?

>>8820152
Jpop summit if that counts as a con. Used to be the best because it was free but now they are charging. It's still small in that there isn't much to do outside the stage events (the rest of the con is pretty sparse) but gets good guests thanks to connections. It's weird in that you can run into guests just walking around and they aren't getting mobbed. Like eir aoi was just waltzing around with her manager.

>>8820181
A, I forgot about this one. I guess I don't really consider it a con in my mind.

I used to go as an excuse to dress up cute and hang out in Japantown to shop and eat at restaurants with friends, but I hardly did any of the events except watch the fashion show some years. I didn't go last year when they started charging because I figured it wasn't worth it anymore.

>>8820202
Probably not for you because it's not even in Japantown anymore. Japan town does have a bunch of events that people hold there though. There was a love live gathering a week ago

>>8820152
I feel like SacAnime has the demographic that it does because of the location. Sac doesn't exactly have the booming Asian populations that the Bay Area does, which makes the weebs thirstier for content. The people who go to Sac can't always afford to hit up the bay super frequently for cons, so they just go to what's local and convenient.

Content might have to do with it too. SacAnime has a pretty big "tumblr" population and the programming (panels) to cater to them.

>smaller cons
I still have a huge soft spot for Anime Destiny, UC Berkeley's anime convention. For a small con run by a by a bunch of college kids, it's still pretty well-maintained. Gives me an excuse to go up to Berkeley too. I think it also does well because the location on Berkeley campus is pretty convenient for a lot of things (food, hanging out, photos, etc.)

>>8818495

lol yeah it's like a time travel trip to some European nightclub in the 90s at times

>>8820217
Is it any good, though? Or worth going to? I haven't heard anything about it since the move. Still probably not for me, but I'm curious.

>>8820239
That makes a lot of sense about Sac. The location away from the Bay area means that a lot of the younger kids can only travel to this one con, where they don't get indoctrinated into better con culture, and they're even more excited when they get there. They also haven't been surrounded by Asian culture from a young age, so it's something more exotic to them and it adds to their weebiness. (Not that there can't be Bay Area weebs too, but Asian things aren't as ~special~ out here.)

I think that it also feeds into itself in many ways, where it already has a lot of weebs -> only weeby panels are submitted, has a reputation for being weeby, etc. -> people who don't want to be in that atmosphere stay away -> it keeps getting weebier

I've heard from the programming director that the vast majority of submitted panels are of the weeby type (my words there not his, but the implication was obvious), so there isn't much to go off of, and then it keeps catering to weebs. The cycle of weeb, I suppose.

Anime Destiny might be interesting simply because it's so close to where I live. It might be worth checking out for half a day.


Now that I think about I did go to AOD after it moved, in 2014. Not much was going on. Didn't go last year so I don't know if it improved. Hopefully the new location this year will be good.

>>8820537
I like music so it was worth the money and then some. Lots of different music performances. Autographs were fairly easy to get compared to other conventions.

Not sure how Santa Clara convention center is going to be for aod but when Japan Expo USA was there it was pretty big and pretty empty. I imagine it'll be kind of similar so we'll see how aod's demographic takes it since they're already established. I imagine they would not have moved if they didn't have enough money to fund it over the older location because that's a big jump

>tfw finding out Wendy Pini and Richard Pini used to be con guests at shit before ElfQuest was even published

TIL....

>>8814179
25 and currently having this problem. It makes me feel like a creep because I am not even interested in other attendees that way but I'm very openly friendly, and I feel like I have to act super distant once I find out someone isn't in my age group so I don't come off as flirty.

>>8820113
>2 are owned by the same company and have their own issues they need to fix.

Name a con without issues? You asked for big Megacons with good guests and I gave you those names.

>>8820152
>>8820239
Here's what I don't understand about people saying "Sac Anime sucks"

The con is in a roomy convention center, shit is not overcrowded, panels run on time, good guests are announced, registration is easy for dealers, artists, vendors etc. shit runs on time.

So if a con gets good guests, run stuff on time, reg is easy, stuff isn't overcrowded and all that stuff doesn't that mean it hits all the check boxes for a good con?

>>8820576
>>8820537
AoD moved as their hotel was going through renovations. Not sure if they'll stay or go back.

>>8820777
I'm >>8820152
Sac Anime doesn't suck as much as it could be much better. I still attend and enjoy the con, but it feels lacking. I think the problem is more with the demographics than with the con itself, but I think the con itself could do a lot more to change the demographics.

Last summer was bad, but it was surprising because it's usually decently-run, for all the reasons you list.

The problem is that the con seems to think it can still run itself like a small con, and it isn't there anymore. The programming is lacking if you aren't a teenage weeb. Cosplay gatherings and the masquerade are a huge mess.

It's overrun with teenage weebs and they seem to be content to attract these crowds instead of treating their attendees like adults, providing appealing programming, and getting their cosplay scene (gatherings and masquerade) together. All of those things would go a long way in improving the con. I think it's more an image problem that then contributes to the cycle of weeb I outlined above, but if the con actively tried to court the non-weeb demographic it would break that cycle.

Even if all they did was get better panels I think it would help. A con can't be 90% cringey ask panels for their fan-provided programming.

They do great on getting American guests and getting the Dealer's/AA organized.

>>8820778
Good to know. We'll see how it goes after this year. I remember how empty it seemed for Japan Expo.

>>8820792
>but if the con actively tried to court the non-weeb demographic it would break that cycle.

They do that by getting famous VAs in non weeb things (ie Kevin Conroy)

>>8820777
>Name a con without issues? You asked for big Megacons with good guests and I gave you those names.

The best rule of thumb is not to learn what's going on behind the scenes at a con or what its problems are. It's like watching a making of documentary of some cheery Rodgers and Hammerstein musical movie where you learn half the actors were drug addicts who cut themselves or that the lead actress got raped by the producer or the lead actor tried to kill himself

"Troubled production" is just something you don't want to know about if you want to enjoy an experience.

I guess my issue is at this point, I expected at least 8 mega Cons in the U.S. 4 for Norcal and 4 for Socal and at best, we have like 3: Anime Expo, Comic-con and Wondercon. The rest don't even bother making it mid range, meanwhile, cons outside of the west coast are getting better guest and better quality of panels. I feel like the fans and the con runners do not want to bother taking risk to make the con bigger and better.

>>8814179
26 and also struggling. It doesn't help that I'm all about older anime for the most part and barely keep up with any new anime/manga at all, so my chances of finding people to befriend based on similar tastes feel like they keep getting slimmer and slimmer. So I'm just some old creep in outdated magical girl/Gundam cosplay who can't jive with the kiddos.

>>8823467
At the end of the day people only have so much vacation time and so much money to go around each year. It's better that there aren't a ton of huge cons. People are able to focus on just a few and go to the smaller ones nearby while skipping the rest

>>8823487
HELLO ANON ARE YOU ME?? (well, i'm older but anyhow) this is exactly how i feel at anime cons now....i don't watch new shit for the most part, and love my old 70s-90s animu. i wear my costumes and no one ever knows who i am...it's such a bummer.

>>8823487
>>8814179
Stop complaining, I'm 31. You're not old, you're goddamn kids as far as I'm concerned.

>>8823467
Do you realize that's still 3 big mega cons in CA. Most of the states don't even have one.

>meanwhile, cons outside of the west coast are getting better guest and better quality of panels.

I'll give you the edge on guests but have you seen the panel recommendation threads. A good chunk recommended are from West Coast cons. I can't speak for east con panels (though cosplay deathmatch can suck an egg) but we get shows with tons of TLC in them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqlLTqvhfJ4

>>8823548
i'm 35....do i get to complain? i'm >>8823545

only time i feel young is at dcon

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I look back at some of my costumes from my first years at anime conventions and I shudder. It was different then. You were just happy to meet someone who liked the same things as you and your cosplay was a conversation starter. I really miss when AMVs were exciting to watch and it actually took a lot of effort to make. I miss when Otakon only took up half of the convention center. My favorite con year was 2002. I just remember having so much fun. I wish I could enjoy that again. Anyway, this advertisement (and a guy at suncoast) introduced me to anime conventions and I was never the same again.

>>8820697
26 turning 27. It's extremely uncomfortable getting hit on by teenagers and I'm the one who comes out of it feeling like a creep, even though I make sure to convey my complete lack of interest.

>>8823467
Or if you want to count Wizard World Sacramento. WW Las Vegas is close enough. Whatever numbers they gather.
Also, Silicon Valley Comic Con in San Jose.

Why are some of you guys surprised that if you go to an anime convention in 2016 that most people probably don't know about 80's anime.
There's so many series that barely anyone even has time to get to those years.

Either way, I'm Dutch and anime is pretty dead mainstream wise, there used to be some publishers that would release manga in Dutch until a few years ago, but most of them either stopped or get 4 volumes a year out. You can't find them in the average bookstore anymore, anime on tv doesn't go beyond Pokémon and Inazuma Eleven, so it seems like we had our peak and it's only downhill now.

As for our cons, I don't know much about the history but they aren't big but they're slowly growing. The biggest con gets a few thousand in attendance so it's not horrible, but we sure as hell won't be getting any good guests ever.

>>8823548
45+ here. Sit down, baby.

>>8823755
i'm talking like super fuckhuge titles like rose of versailles or macross or gundam wing, not some obscure teeny thing.

most of the new stuff is garbage anyways....there's a reason i stopped watching it.

>>8823708
>B-MO
>Homestuck
This might as well have been taken last year. Not relevant to the thread.

>>8818495
I miss JNCO jeans.
Sage for 90s fashion trash.

>>8823983
>JNCO jeans
I heard they were supposed to put out a comeback line of jeans soon?

>>8823953
>most of the new stuff is garbage anyways....there's a reason i stopped watching it.

News flash, most of the old stuff was garbage too. Except that with how hard it was to import/translate titles, you had to be super selective

What has really bummed me out in the last decade or so of going to cons has been the shift in what people are there for. When I started going to cons, everybody was into anime, and it was all relatively adult stuff, things like Bebop, Trigun, Hellsing, UC Gundam and Macross, Ghost in the Shell, Patlabor, etc. It was mostly late teens to 30-somethings watching age appropriate anime, with a bit of DBZ, Sailor Moon, and Pokemon nostalgia and the like mixed in. Nobody I knew was seriously into the latter kinds of shows, but we liked them because we grew up with them.

I'd say around 2007 there was a big shift, one that had started a few years earlier with Naruto. Suddenly kid-oriented Shounen stuff was huge, and cons started flooding with younger kids. By 2009 or so, half the stuff I'd see around cons was either kiddy video game stuff or, worse, American cartoon stuff. The KIND of people who were attending changed, too - we may have been nerds in the old days, but we were socially adjusted nerds, relatively normal people with abnormal interests. I'm not sure how or when our kind got replaced with all of these total spaz kids with zero social skills.

>>8813880
Exactly this. I was 15 at my first con (AX01) and felt like a baby around all of these 20 and 30 somethings, but we got along because I was mature for my age, liked adult-oriented anime, and looked older than I was.

Actually, this whole post sounds so much like my experience, it really bums me out. I feel like a creepy old man at cons now, my similarly aged friends are totally wrapped up in their serious business cosplay groups and shoots, and the only people willing to cross friends groups are the autistic super otaku types.

>>8814191
Oh man, talking about Man Faye takes me back. I actually knew him, we had mutual friends and would all hang out sometimes.

>>8824359
Oh, I didn't even touch on cosplay, did I?

The biggest thing back then was that if somebody was cosplaying, you could assume it was because they really liked a character or a series, and cosplay was a great way to meet people who liked the same things you did. Most of my long-term con friends are people I met because of the costumes we were wearing.

Nowadays you go up to a cosplayer and you're lucky if they've even watched the source material, unless it's some Adult Swim thing. Even if they're a fan, they're so paranoid about creeps and weirdos these days that it's hard to actually have a decent conversation with anybody about anything.

I met my ex-girlfriend at a cosplay gathering in 2008, and I couldn't imagine that happening with the way things are now. Even in the few years I was dating her, I watched things start to turn from a scene where cosplayers would meet and socialize with one another to one where everybody would stick to their own groups and leave as soon as photos were over.

>>8820792
AOD is actually sharing the con center with some muscle building con. So it probably won't be as empty as Japan Expo USA since they won't be using all the space.

They've been around for a really long time though... remember when they were called Anime Overdose? They've been pretty stagnant, but at least this year they seem to be upping their game with better guests.

>>8823548
A person's personality and maturity more or less solidifies in their mid-twenties, barring any serious, life-altering experiences. These 24-27 year olds probably do feel just about as out of place with screaming teens as you do. Quiet down, grandma.

>>8823755
No one has said they were surprised that older titles aren't as recognizable, dumbass. Just that it's either a little disappointing or harder to connect with others now because of it.

>>8813880

That feel.

It's very hard to find that sliver of Venn diagram of "25+ fan" and "functioning adult that is actually fun to be around."

This makes me pretty sad and not really excited to start going to cons. I want to go to cons to chat with/meet people but this threat makes it sounds like that impossible nowadays.

>>8824861
It is totally possible. I'm 29 and always manage to find myself in new social groups. Just be chill and respect people's boundaries and you'll be good

>>8824708

pretty sure that's when you go through your quarter-life crisis or third-of-life crisis and start wishing you were a hyperactive, inexperienced teen again

>>8823989

will only do as well as flared hippy/disco jeans during the 70s-revival trend in the 90s

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>>8823548
>I'm 31.
>>8823655
>i'm 35
>>8823942
>45+ here.

I have found my people! And one of you is older than me. That never happens.
I feel a little less alone now.

>>8824365
I'm >>8813880

Yes. Yes. So much.
I met some of my best pals in the past 15 years because we were wearing stuff from the same show once.
Now when I walk up to someone cause I like that show too they aren't that into it. I thought one reason is due to the super saturation of the anime market that since they have SO much to choose from now they can be relatively apathetic about what they have on. They have 30 other characters they like too. Not just 5.

You had to try harder to cosplay less than 10 yrs ago. You had to get out that VHS tape, pause, pause more, try and remember what you saw, piece together some pattern that was never meant to be whatever you were trying to make, and spend some time on it. That pretty much guaranteed you had to be a fan if you were going to go through all that.

Now since you don't really have to try all that hard: Hit up ebay, print out full out character sheets with every angle of the costume, commission someone, ect I feel like they're less invested in whatever they have on. Heck, like I said before even if they make it they have 30 other characters they are just as invested in so they don't care as much.

>>everybody would stick to their own groups and leave as soon as photos were over.

gah this makes me so sad.
I was gushing over some cosplayers I met cosplaying fanfic of all things. They were excited I even knew who they were. We exchanged pleasantries, took photos, and even tweeted the author. Despite being into this sliver of a sliver of fandom we didn't hang out past those photos.
When not long ago that shit was stuff you bonded over.

my dad is 65 and likes going to cons with me. I'm pushing 30. He seems to handle things just fine.

I went to my first con about ten years ago (with my parents no less) because my favourite manga artists were there. It was pretty much the start of the scene in Germany and all these artists were gaining popularity and doing panels, it was really fun I have to say. Cosplay-wise it wasn't really that big of scene but I do rememeber that people put a lot more effort into things, at least from what I've gathered.

>>8820629
>Elfquest
Good taste.

>>8826549

I went to see Rocky Horror for the first time with my parents. It felt like losing my gay ass virginity in front of them and I was traumatized.

>>8825920

30's = the best range of cute, eligible singles before 40+ where "eligible single" starts to become a byword for "> 50% chance mental illness"

Real shit the more of these threads I read the more I wish anime cons didn't get super mainstream or at the very least still kept the chill and tame style.

I am going to take a shot in the dark and say when the internet wasn't as mainstream in the 90s as it was now people learn about cons from BBS boards and newsletter groups.

Man, reading all these comments makes me feel young (26) and excited to go to at least DragonCon. Meebe ALA since it sounds like AX is a clusterfuck.

However there are still conventions that have somewhat of a homely feel to them. They're fun when you're a noob to the convention scene but quickly lose their flavor when you grow older and notice the amount of teen weebs in them. ASTL is one that comes to mind. Hell even ZAP has it too despite the drama of Ryan Kopf.

I feel tho for those that feel weirded out talking to con-goers now. Most of them seem uninterested either because their in their own cliques or because they had a really shitty experience and are a big ball of nerves. Its gotten hard to actually make some good friends at cons and even the parties themselves can be a little stale.

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Doesn't it strike anyone as strange that that a thread like this is reminiscing about old con days when this board is emblematic of the demographic and cultural change of cons as a whole?
If you want the old culture and atmosphere to change the focus on fashion and cosplay would be one of the first things to go.

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>>8824848
>>very hard to find that sliver of Venn diagram of "25+ fan" and "functioning adult that is actually fun to be around."

Yes. That is exactly the problem I am facing.

I occasionally attract weirdos that probably come about because they see I'm around their age. But then you know something is up like 3 minutes into the conversation.
*Medication mention
*kissing your hand 3 minutes after meeting them
*weirdly sloppy clothing
*immediately mentioning being friends with a guest
*any mention of grandeur. (Being a world published comic artist, the con specifically asked you to come roam the halls as an attendee)

and you're back at square one trying to find someone otherwise normal.

>>8827889
I get this too. (Turning 30 this year by the way.)

I've met some decently cool guys that are fun to actually talk about anime and stuff with, but none of them are people I'd want to go to bars or parties with.

I'll admit, I'm hoping to meet women at cons too, I've always dated within the scene and I'm really too polluted to go anywhere else, but that's been nearly impossible these last few years, I can't remember the last time I met a local 25+ woman at a con that wasn't already somebody I'd already known for years.

>>8827476
>They're fun when you're a noob to the convention scene but quickly lose their flavor when you grow older and notice the amount of teen weebs in them.

See: most student/university-run mini-cons.

>>8827889

Two of these were pretty common to the overdramatic goths/emos and rave club kids I used to be friends with as a teen, who were also the biggest weeaboos. Some of them didn't mature beyond that and kept the drama queen attitude as an adult.

I was. My first convention was back in 1996 - anime expo. Back then, there was very little cosplay. Cosplayers were a minority of the con-goers. All cosplay was hand made back then. There was no store bought cosplay yet. Conventions were 80% male and the average age was probably ~30.

>>8829496

I know this is an unpopular thing to say on /cgl/ of all places, but today's cosplay seems like an insulting expression of privilege and excess in some ways.

>>8829894
What do you mean, anon?

>>8829927
No that anon, but they might be referring to the money and implied hierarchy involved. They were more simple projects back then that people made on the side instead of an investment of serious effort (or money). You were there for the anime or comics and not the costumes so it didn't matter how good it was. I doubt there was gossip about "bad" cosplay or materials back then.
It's just a different demographic.

Cons today are depraved and full of psychopaths, but if you can avoid the people and enjoy the show that's what counts

I have the same philosophy of nightclubs, that cutie who wants to hook up with you might be an std vector OR legit trying to murder you worst case scenario, but you should just go for the strobe lights, music at loud volumes, and air conditioning - and making sweet moves on the dancefloor because life can be fun.

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Western cons were mostly scifi and comics as previously mentioned.
Costumes did still happen, and people trying to get famous on the merit of their costumes likewise still happened.

Basically, the biggest changes between cosplay/costumes then and now is the volume, the types, and techniques. More people throw together casual costumes now, or buy costumes from a store to have something fun to wear. And more elaborate costumes happen, because tech has changed and the techniques that used to be reserved for the "industry" are now more readily accessible to the public (meaning prosthetics, electronic components, etc.).

Pic related is from a previous "back in the day" thread.

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>>8830685
Pic related is from another "back in the day" thread. The girl in the middle is Heidi Saha. Her mother would make costumes for her for conventions, and it turned really, really exploitative. She's 14 in this photo.

She got her own photo book published (and publicised/sold in the back of comic books) after this point. Someone assembled a whole timeline of her "career" as a convention costumer here:

http://junglefrolics.blogspot.com.au/2010/01/much-of-whats-written-about-heidi-saha.html

>>8830685
Don't forget 3D printing of props and costumes.

>>8825920
>Now when I walk up to someone cause I like that show too they aren't that into it.

I feel this hard.

Like, if you don't at least somewhat regularly stay up to the AMs reading/writing fanfiction, what the fuck are you doing at a con?

I know that kind of swings around to the other extreme, but it's like damn I hate how you have disposable income for something you aren't even that crazy about.

>>8827143

The best part about people in their ~30s at these things is that you can very quickly discern if they are well adjusted or batshit. Usually just by appearance.

>>8837876

This is true. I think the crazy oozes out after a time and instead of being better at hiding it's as if they just got tired of trying.

>>8823545
I would love to see Rose of Versailles cosplay . . .

>>8823548
I'm 26 and have a bad habit of calling everybody 'kids' because my dad, who's pushing 60, does it to everybody who isn't at least 50.

>>8827476
Jesus, do NOT go to AX. I flew cross-country for 2014 for my first year. It's also my last year until they clean their fucking act up.
My friends went to 2015 and it hasn't gotten better. They desperately need to move to the bigger convention center in Anaheim, but instead they signed another contract with LACC, then they increased their VIP prices another 20% or so. Nearly 400 fucking dollars so you can stand in the VIP line instead of the regular line. They had already sold out of 2016 VIP on the last day of 2015.

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So apparently this is the first cosplay (that we have record of), by Forest Ackerman at the 1940s World Expo in New York.

Apparently it was the result of a misunderstanding, he thought there would be other people in costume there and nope, he just misunderstood the program.

>>8838522
The only person to be given the "#1 Fan Personality" Hugo Award.
>the result of a misunderstanding
Would love a source on this. Sounds like a good read.

>>8838543
I'll see if I can find it, half wondering if I'm just spreading hearsay.

>>8823708

Is that one person with the fucking red scythe going to every con or is that a common cosplay prop!?

>>8817062
Sci-Fi cons definitely were. Naked women in body paint EVERYWHERE. Winners of the costume competitions were always the chick with the least clothing. I'm talking some of these women would be full on nude and painted like their favorite book cover. But the folk that made the costumes really made them well, with all the little details and no two costumes were alike.

>>8838522
I wouldn't put it past uncle Forrey to claim something like that. Miss the old guy.

>>8838522

Who is it even supposed to be?

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I can tell you what it was like in the 2000's.

Everyone made their costume. There were many not well made. The ones that put time in stood out like a sore thumb.

Wigs that looked like the character were hard to get. Eventually places like amphigory popped up offering wigs to cosplayers at reasonable pricing due to directly ordering from the parent company. But they took a while to ship.

(Amphigory.com is still a trusted and quality seller of wigs if anyone is having issues looking for wigs. Also they sell cosmetics.)

Everyone had the years cosplays planned out in advance because they took so dang long to construct and make.

Cosplay.com was jammin, everyone was in once place in the community allowing easy gatherings of full groups.

Almost no 'pro photography'. Everything is hallway pics, or gathering pics.

Pic is past 2000's is 2005 but it's one of my favorite snaps.

>>8841628
No in particular apparently, but his girlfriend/wife designed it for him

So maybe its not really cosplay

>>8813619

Better than how it is now thats for sure

>>8827576
This. This board when it first started was about cosplay and drama just happened. Now it's fucking EGL, Jfashion, and whatever the flavor of the month is. Homestuck is awful, Undertales fanbase is awful, you people are cancer that has killed this board.

>>8841771
I was so excited when I heard about Amphigory, which of course I learned about it on C.c. I bought my first wig for my Chii costume on there. Good times. Floridians were pretty lucky because we had Maboroshi taking great pictures for us until he got outed as a creeper or something and wiped his website of all the pictures he had taken over the years, leaving us with lost memories if we hadn't saved freaking everything.