Why is the fandom secondary at anime cons

Well take this with a grain of salt because im bot sure of it but i think it has most to do with the amount of anime there is compared to the amount of comics or cartoons and whatnot, for cartoons specifically theres a small number of good shows with decent sized fandoms and for comics you have mostly only the big 2 marvel and dc compare that to the sea anime both good and shit, theres just too much ground to cover

In my opinion i think its just the crowd anime cons have.

Really hope someone chimes in because im not too sure about this myself

I guess anime fans here are more social oriented when they're at conventions. They do like anime or they wouldn't be there in the first place and a lot of them do see the guests, go for autographs, concerts, etc and post online regularly about anime. Fanime for sure is party/social only because what else are you going to see while you're there? AX, in comparison, is throwing a ton of things to see at you

I actually think I don't have enough time in the day for all the stuff I want to see for AX

>>9520483

This, what ive seen is that anime congoers are pretty socialble and will often let you join their group if your cool

>>9520434
Honestly because there are a lot more obsessive people at comic cons, making it kinda boring.

I'm a huge DC fan but between Megacon and Heroescon I was either bored as hell at the panels or bored by how generic the costumes were.

I'm not as into anime as I used to be, but you can not be into anime and find people who are social and have something in common with at anime cons if you are more social than seaweed. Sewing, costuming, prop making, and yes, parties or going out as a group for dinner.

Even in comicon, the best part is usually after or outside the con, and usually the artists, editors, and writers want to talk and have fun about things other than work.

Talking fandom is different with obsessive people than regular people. A regular person can agree or disagree with an opinion and engage in conversation. An obsessive person is generally more into quoting exact issues, dates, and figures, making for a boring conversation.

Contrast: "I love Generic Chick, I think she writes great women." "Really? I don't like her. Birds of Prey was a fun spy story until she took over and suddenly everyone's arguing about who slept with whose ex boyfriend." Versus "Batman is stronger than Superman because in issue 65 of AreYouFuckingKiddingMe arc he was made to be susceptible to kryptonite but then when author Hacky McAsshole took over in issue 70 of the OhGodItNeverEnds arc he was still able to beat Superman in the presence of the sparkling Kryptonite Lex Luther had brought over from Universe 7b," "Oh my god are fucking retarded do you even read comic books that was totally retconned in the Magenta age when author This Guy Again had that version of Batman killed by his long lost twin who was actually Batman after NotAlanMoore's did a time traveling arc in reference to the time traveling arc from the aubergine era making issue 15 from 1964 canonical again and retconning everything from 1962-1964, 1981-1992, and every issue with a holographic variant cover.

>>9520472
Comic cons are full of older people who are t h ere for the con. The con has less shenanigans and people acting out as people usually have their blinders on and are in it for what they want to see and little else

Anime con goers are usually younger and usually carry less of a gameplan. A lot of the con experience is improved and thus shenanigans do occure

Because anime fans are often both mentally and physically younger, therefore more likely to act like high school kids. They are more likely to be concerned with popularity, "hot or not", status, getting laid, and partying. Comic cons have a slightly older audience, and they tend to be "been there, done that, I'm here to be a nerd and indulge in my passions and fuck what others think".

Comic cons also tend to have way better guests. Most of the guests at anime cons are the same few VAs and local artists/animators that many people will have already met. Anime con guests tend not to be a huge draw for people. The ones that are big draws tend to be the Japanese ones, and it's often too expensive and too complicated to get them there. Japanese guests are still very niche, too, so at anime cons, some of the more casual fans may not even know who they are. The major guests at a big city's comic con, though? Even your mom has heard of them.

Comic conventions tend to have a lot more of a mainstream and "normie" appeal, and a lot of the people going to them aren't really deep into fandom. They're there because some actors from movies and TV that they love are there, and have no reason to go to any other events or really care much about cosplaying.

The "fan-run" vs. "business-run/commercial" aspect makes a difference in how people perceive the events, too.

>>9520434
I actually think you're spot-on about this, OP. I \n all honesty, its kinda why i prefer the unique feel of anime cons. It has more a fun, kinda "anime-themed party" feel, and I dig that. Don't get me wrong, i still go to panels, i geek out about anime, I buy merch, but I like that the overall atmosphere is like a big party with panels and such happening as well, it has this kind a vibrant, fun air to it all. I like that more than the ComicCon or PAX kinda feel where it fees, I dunno, kinda stuffier or whatever.

>>9520545
It's also interesting how cos can carry a large attendee pool but little online presence. Like AoD was SUPER packed the past few years and lots of people go (many of them I know) but no one ever posts on their FB page or their forums.

>>9520483
> They do like anime or they wouldn't be there in the first place

Buddy I got news for you

>>9520498
>This, what ive seen is that anime congoers are pretty socialble

Are you saying the social seen is not as big at comic book conventions

>>9520511
>I'm not as into anime as I used to be, but you can not be into anime and find people who are social and have something in common with at anime cons if you are more social than seaweed. Sewing, costuming, prop making, and yes, parties or going out as a group for dinner.

I don't get this comment. Aren't there people who partake in sewing, costuming, prop making and go to parties and comic book conventions?

>>9520434
So many fatties...

>>9520604
Between anime cons and comic cons, you see a lot more cosplayers at the former. Not saying that people who partake in sewing, costuming, prop making, partying and comic conning don't exist, but that they are few and far in between. Comic cons tend to lean more towards commercial and there isn't that big of a party scene.

>Comic cons are not as social

Are we blatantly ignoring all the strangers chatting with dealers, in line and taking photos of cosplayers?

>>9520434
Why does it matter?

>>9521013
It matters because it helps decide what you're going to spend your money on.

>>9520434
There is a cultural difference. Anime conventions tend to be anime themed social events. Comic conventions are very driven and everyone is there for the con itself. I also noticed that anime convention attendees tend to be a lot younger. They're usually young adults and teenagers. At comic conventions, while still fun, they tend to be parents and their children. On the other hand, panels at comic conventions are run much better, while anime conventions have much more to do at night from dances to shows to parties.

Anime conventions are sort of new when it you compare them to how long science fiction and comic have bene around. I wonder if sci-fi and comic cons were like anime conventions when they first got started.

Comic cons are more fandom oriented as its way easier to get quality guests.

>>9520434
You don't hang around the right people I guess. That or your applying selective hearing to generalize people you've never actually talked to yourself. Which cons you've attended will also scew your results.

>>9520434
>only interested in improving their own status
people like to party, you fucking aspie. if you had any friends, you'd understand.

>>9521938
I've been to Big Wow and Wondercon, both pretty large and the talk of partying is no where near as high as say ALA or Fanime

>>9520434
You could say that anime fandom is a mile wide an an inch deep, while comic books are the opposite.

Anime has dozens and dozens of new series each season and 4 seasons a year, many only lasting one or two seasons. This leads to 1. a fractured market, where everyone follows their own little niche. 2. Very short popularity half-life for anything that does break out above the masses of content. 3. What fandom a property does have generally doesn't have that much to talk about because of the limited amount of published material unless you're the Shonen Jump flagship and even those have limited lifespans because they seldom get rebooted once the original author dies, they instead move on to the new characters and stories from the new hit author.

Compare this with (the popular superhero) comic books that are constantly rebooting the same characters over and over again for the last 40-60 years. 1. A homogenous market, where everyone knows who superman/batman/wonder woman/spider man are, even if they only read DC or only Marvel. 2. Very long running times, keeping the characters in the public eye, so people can share memories and opinions about the same characters and series even if they read them 10-20 years apart. 3. Decades of material and world building and alternate universes for these recurring characters, ripe for sperging and geeking out.

Thus in anime cons people seek out activities outside of anime for socialization, like room parties, raves, etc and spend less time socializing over the fandom object because there's less to talk about and less chance someone has even a working knowledge of the things you watch. In contrast, in comic cons people seek out socialization specifically in the context of their fandom because most people will at least be aware the thing you like exists and may have seen it in one form or another, like TV cartoon, live action movie, alternate writer/artists.

>>9522863
Wait so you went to two anime cons where partying and social aspects are the main draw and you're wondering why people like to party and hang out? Fanime and ALA aren't exactly known for their exhausting array of guests and things to see and do

>>9522992
This, really.
As stated:
>Which cons you've attended will also scew your results
And yes I know I spelled that wrong

>>9522904
You missed the fact that although literally hundreds of anime come out each year, most people just seem to watch the same few shows because anime fans are often sheep. It leads to everyone else (fans of more niche stuff) without anyone to talk to.

>>9523125
or the fact that 90% of anime is shit

then again the most popular anime today is Sao so I dunno

>>9523129
90% if everything is shit

>>9520511
underrated post
the comic conversation made me kek but it's painfully accurate

>>9523129
Nope. Yuri on Ice is more popular now. SAO has been out of style for a couple of years since people began recognizing it as mediocre junk.

>>9523129
If you think that sao is the most popular anime of today then your made-up stat is even more made-up

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say it's due to the way the industries work. At a comic convention, you'll see guests being writers and artists that work on the comics. You can get actors who played characters in movies or on television. You'll see authors that are writing books.

In contrast the general guest at an anime con is the NA VA for the dub which means exactly jack and squat to people who watch subs. We don't often see mangaka or the original VAs making an appearance. Thus the focus is shifted from the guests to other ways to have fun.

Comicons will see a lot more normies because it's more mainstream. It isn't as niche as it used to be since most people are watching shows and movies rather than reading traditional comics.

Look at OPs photo. You can count the number of cosplayers you see on one hand. In contrast at an anime con, nearly every other person is in cosplay these days. Just due to the sheer amount, anime con goers are much more interested in cosplay than comicon goers. This means the best of the best become more popular.

Even though the two types of convention seem very similar from the outside, under the hood they're worlds apart.

Comic cons are always like industry commercial events established by major industries with large sponsors. Charging arm and leg for autographs and photo ops of major A-listers. Anime cons are more towards fan run events by non profit groups to college clubs. They could afford VAs and more often YouTubers. Unless it's a major industry driven cons like AX, Sakuracon, and Otakon. Reason why you see anime cons can sprout in more remote areas which typically holds ~5k attendees. Same could be said for gaming, sci-fi, and brony conventions.
Harder to find small comic cons that's community run and are likely trade events buying collectibles unable to attract big names.

>>9520498
Is this true? I'm considering going to my first con by myself

>>9520434
stop going to ghetto conventions, I never hear what you describe at anime cons besides the one or two ghetto cons I've been to.

>>9523504
It's true but the part about "if you're cool" is important. You can't just say hi and instantly get a group. You have to show that you're at least a somewhat normally functional person and not a shut-in socially-retarded loner. Let's say there's a knee-high picket fence and not a chain link fence with barbed wire. It's easier to get in but you still have to do something.

>>9523566
What if I'm mostly functional, healthy, and not brutal on the eyes, ears, and nose, but still a loner weirdo?

>>9523693
like how weird we talking? people try to end conversations quickly so they can get away from me weird? can you hold a decent conversation about "how is your day/weekend going?"

>>9523198
>In contrast the general guest at an anime con is the NA VA for the dub which means exactly jack and squat to people who watch subs. We don't often see mangaka or the original VAs making an appearance. Thus the focus is shifted from the guests to other ways to have fun.

Thank you for summarizing why I don't like anime cons

>>9523699
I can hold a conversation reasonably well with most people

>>9520541
>>9523198

Speaking of guests. Baffling that anime cons or "anime cons" that are more multi-medium that's not major industry ones can bring guests voicing main western cartoon characters. Even actors from TV shows you would only find in comic or Wizard World cons. You might have James Marsters as a featured guest.
They might be the biggest attraction of the con among congoers having the longest autograph and panel lines.

>>9520434
This picture is so depressing. I'd fucking kill myself if I was trapped at an event with all of these people.

>>9523769
It's interesting how usually its /co/ stuff that gets multi media cons. From what I see there's more of a rallying cry for anime cons to "stay geared toward anime" when half the time people don't show up for the fandom

>>9523768
hmm you'll probably be fine then. find something with a line and start talking to the other people around you. that or try talking to people about their cosplay. you need a way in to really get anything going.

>>9523797
it's comic con when they're opening the doors at the beginning of the day at around 9am

comic con is pretty crowded ngl

>>9523173
90% of all entertainment media is either mediocre or shit. Anime is no exception.

>>9523769
I actually got to hear a con chair talk about this recently. Expanding the scope of a convention causes the core audience to become less passionate. They talked about some of the single fandom conventions like Dr. Who and My Little Pony that had horrible backlash from the attendees when they tried to diversify. The attendees would rather see a person who had been there 4+ times before than see someone outside the fandom. Even at anime conventions there has been backlash about getting western animation VAs over dub VAs. He even mentioned some conventions that tried to focus on western animation that failed horribly in their first year.

It's strange that western animation fans feel out of place at both comic and anime conventions, but there just isn't enough interest for a convention focused solely on western animation.

>>9524122
i'm going to have to agree. whoa niggah get that shit out of my anime convention. if you want to make a "mixed animation" convention be my guest but don't waste dollars on those faggots at something labeled an anime convention.

>>9523566
One of the easiest ways is to simply cosplay the flavor of the month and try to hang out with people in that fandom.

>>9524151
Of course, I forgot to mention this only really works if you actually into the flavor of the month.

This is just what I've noticed, so take it with a grain of salt because I could be way off or there could be regional or generational differences, but western animation seems like it still has the stigma of "cartoonz r 4 kidz" where even though a ton of anime is made to sell toys or is for similar age groups, somehow kids who watched dbz in the 00's because they mistakenly thought it was for older people (and therefore cool enough for them to not feel juvenile watching) don't see anime the same way now that they're in their 20'sand 30's.

Nowadays you can be "normal" and have anime or comics as one thing you like out of the many things you like as an adult, but if you say that one of your main things is "western animation" people will either think you're a brony or have the mentality of a ten year old or that you wear diapers on the weekend for fun (or all three).

I don't have a problem with some orphaned western stuff bleeding into an anime con, personally. I also don't care if people want to talk about stuff other than anime at an anime con because there's so much anime now that unless you and your friends have all seen the same stuff, there's not really many conversations to have. I roomed with some people last year and the only thing they talked about was a specific anime, and I had no idea what they were talking about because I hadn't seen it.

Showing my age a bit, but I remember back in the "good ol days" before crunchyroll and high speed internet, if somebody in the room hadn't seen something, people would be like "I conveniently have this on my laptop so we'll watch an episode of it right now because we all love it but also so you know what we're talking about and hopefully convert you to our cult." Now it seems like some people just expect you to have seen everything and don't bother to interact with you if you haven't psychically divined what would be popular at that con and made the effort to already be an expert about it.

>>9524449
you mean the IRC days?
since laptops were mentioned it can't be the VHS days

>>9520541
>been there, done that
Ehh yeah but I think another element of it is that comic book convention people are just not the party type? Honestly most comic book conventions I've been to have a very diverse group of people in attendance, but there's a few big differences that make it less of a party:

1: Less casual/recreational cosplayers
2: Most attendees aren't staying in some kind of hotel for the weekend, they may only be at the con one day
3: Programming usually ends before 11

The 'party' part of anime conventions is the late night aspect of it. Panels run until 2AM, people are staying in hotels all weekend that often have bars, room service, pool/hot tubs, more people are in fun costumes etc. You could say the reason for that is it's young people doing it and you might be right but if you organized a comic book convention like anime conventions are organized you would probably see similar behavior and I don't think there would necessarily be a major demographic shift.

>>9525082
>3: Programming usually ends before 11

So true. It's like the moment a comic convention ends everyone has already disappeared and went home a few hours before. Anime cons it just means that now everyone gets their party on

I've met and seen more people who go to anime cons for non anime reasons (room parties and raves) than at comic cons.

Hell I've seen groups of people who get hotel rooms for a con and spend it outside the place for photoshoots and then hanging out in lobby spaces partying

>>9524449
Idk my friends and I still bring stuff on our laptops for that very reason. We showed Saint Young Men to one of our non anime friends and he really liked it.

However maybe you are encountering people who don't want to force you to watch something just in case you're not interested. I once sat through a terrible explanation of the Necronomicon because it's ~so iconic~ and I should also want to know everything about it. I wanted to stab the person in the face.

>>9520523
As someone who dresses as Spider-man at all cons, I always have blinders on (I can't see anything)

I think it boils down to how obscure the content is at an Anime convention versus a comic convention. Comic cons get more attendees, and the overall content/guests/subject matter/fandoms etc are much more "mainstream" and even socially acceptable to a larger number of people (like, way way larger number).

Anime in general is more obscure, so you have a smaller number of people coming together that normally wouldn't find each other in such a large social setting, which I feel leads to more of a party atmosphere. Personally, I have more fun at Anime con parties than at normie parties, so I'm more up for partying at an Anime convention because I'm surrounded by more like-minded people than I normally would be. We all exist online in a greater capacity than most of my Western comic friends, too, just because we've grown accustomed to seeking out friendship and community on places like 4chan. So a lot of the more "serious" discussion happens online.

There's also just less people at Anime cons- there's definitely tons of partying happening at comic cons, but maybe the sheer number of people around is diluting the amount you're overhearing about it.

Comic style cons are more jam packed with guest panels and signings that I usually want to hit up. I don't care to cosplay or get photos of cosplay if it means its going to delay me fro getting to my next panel