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Anime Convention Concept A Western One?


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Hey guys, so someone I talk to says he might not do Otakon anymore past this year due to him having the opportunity of moving across the country to Washington State, and someone in that group chat we're in on FaceBook said for him to move to Japan to attend anime conventions there to spite us all... Is convention culture as strong in Japan as it is in other countries/continents like North America and Europe? To my knowledge anime is so intertwined into the general pop culture in Japan that having a convention for a general TV show genre for them would be overly exaggerated, don't you guys think? Also to my knowledge the only "convention" like things that happen are Comiket (Comic Market) twice a year, the Kyoto International Manga Anime Fair, as well as C3AFA Tokyo, which are convention-like events, but to me it doesn't seem to represent what we in the Western world depict as a true anime convention... This is all speculation on my part really since I've never been to Japan in general, but what are your guys' thoughts?

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That's a good question. Comiket serves the doujinshi creators, while AnimeJapan (nee TAF) is a trade show. JumpFesta is run by Shueisha.

Anime conventions as we know them are more of a western concept--not just in the US, but events like Anime Friends and Japan Expo. That's perhaps a byproduct of how anime cons here were outgrowths of comic and sci-fi cons. For Japanese guests, it's something novel and, for musical acts, a feather in their cap.

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5 minutes ago, Aresef said:

That's a good question. Comiket serves the doujinshi creators, while AnimeJapan (nee TAF) is a trade show. JumpFesta is run by Shueisha.

Anime conventions as we know them are more of a western concept--not just in the US, but events like Anime Friends and Japan Expo. That's perhaps a byproduct of how anime cons here were outgrowths of comic and sci-fi cons. For Japanese guests, it's something novel and, for musical acts, a feather in their cap.

Yeah... I really can't see legit "Western-style" anime cons popping up in Japan... it seems too meta/too redundant since anime in Japan is basically a regular TV show, and celebrating a TV show seems silly IMO...

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22 hours ago, GasparAKAShiggitay said:

Yeah... I really can't see legit "Western-style" anime cons popping up in Japan... it seems too meta/too redundant since anime in Japan is basically a regular TV show, and celebrating a TV show seems silly IMO...

...Star Trek, anyone?

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3 hours ago, onsenmark said:

...Star Trek, anyone?

Touché! Also, there's "Gateway - The Official Stargate Convention" http://creationentertainment859.activehosted.com/index.php?action=social&chash=59f51fd6937412b7e56ded1ea2470c25.1576

 

Edited by Fadamor
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On 6/24/2019 at 1:37 PM, GasparAKAShiggitay said:

Yeah... I really can't see legit "Western-style" anime cons popping up in Japan... it seems too meta/too redundant since anime in Japan is basically a regular TV show, and celebrating a TV show seems silly IMO...

Game of Thrones would like a word...

Anyways, I went to AnimeJapan in Tokyo in 2018, and while it was more of an anime trade show/fair than a traditional con, it had a lot of the same elements. Cosplayers, industry booths, meeting voice actors, merch for sale, etc. Though the most different thing I noticed was that I didn't see anyone arriving in cosplay to the con, most came with rolling suitcases and changed there. Fandom is a thing anywhere there's pop culture.

 
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On 6/24/2019 at 1:37 PM, GasparAKAShiggitay said:

Yeah... I really can't see legit "Western-style" anime cons popping up in Japan... it seems too meta/too redundant since anime in Japan is basically a regular TV show, and celebrating a TV show seems silly IMO...

What would you say is the defining characteristic of a "Western-style anime con"?  If you are picturing a mostly fan-organized event then that is what Comiket already is.  If you are picturing something that has industry panel rooms, vendor halls, and creator autographs then there are events like AnimeJapan and Wonderfest.  If you are picturing something like Otakon that straddles between industry and volunteer efforts, well that might be a phenomenon that is unique to Western audiences because the local fan-generated content is used to fill the gaps that are too expensive to fly Japanese guests for every programming track.

Edited by DeathJester
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  • 3 months later...

I've not been to Japan, no experience with JP conventions.  

This is 2nd hand information:  The American style convention is a western thing.  There was more than one attempt at trying to introduce Western-style cons in Japan and I had marketing materials  (fliers I picked up while at early AnimeExpo) hyping up their attempts.

I don't know what it's like today.  

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  • 1 month later...
On 7/2/2019 at 4:33 PM, DeathJester said:

If you are picturing something like Otakon that straddles between industry and volunteer efforts, well that might be a phenomenon that is unique to Western audiences because the local fan-generated content is used to fill the gaps that are too expensive to fly Japanese guests for every programming track.

...as I reply to this months later...

Yeah I sort of envisioned it like what I quoted there... I just don't think it'd have the same effect as we make it here in the US/Europe/Canada etc.

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