Being new to an anime convention is fine. Everyone has a first time and hopefully your first anime convention was or will be be amazing. I'm putting together this post to try and help out new kids to the anime convention block. I'm doing my best to take you from the first step to the last step and put together a general plot to the convention so you will know what to expect.
Step 1: Pick Your Convention
First of all you have to find a convention. Finding one that is either local or near you in some way is always nice, my first convention was in Nashville, not to far from Memphis, so it was pretty good. It also doesn't necessarily have to be an ANIME convention. There are comic and game conventions as well. If you are a member of GaiaOnline then you know they host conventions all over the United States and GaiaOnline is an online community for the anime crowd, so its familiar territory. Either way you can easily find out about conventions online. There are two annual conventions that I go to every year in TN. The first is MTAC, the Middle Tennessee Anime Convention that is help in Nashville every year, it has been around a long time and is one of the largest (pure anime) anime convention in the mid-south. In Memphis there is Blues Con, it started last year and it is also a pure anime convention, although it is a lot smaller than the MTAC it is still a wonderful anime convention. I attended last year, its first year as I said, and it was much better than anything I had expected from it.
Step 2: Planning - Part 1 Making Arrangements
After you've completed the first step and found your convention, you need to book it. -Getting Passes:
You should first check out the cost of the convention and determine weather you want a full pass or only a one day or two day pass. They vary in price and usually you will want a pass for the whole convention. The bigger the convention the more expensive the pass I've found.
-Living Arrangements:
You need to find out if you will be able to commute from home or if you have to book a hotel. It doesn't hurt to stay with a friend who lives around there and search for random family members who live around the convention as well. Good luck. If you will be needing to stay in a hotel you will need to get online and check out some hotels and the prices. The sooner you book a hotel the closer you can be to the convention. Conventions are usually hosted at a hotel, that being said, the hotel that is hosting it is sometimes filled up to months in advance. So if you want to book that particular hotel, get on it ASAP to make sure you will be able to get a room. If you call and they are booked, don't worry, usually there are many hotels within walking distance and most of the time the hotel will have a shuttle of some kind to get you to the convention.
Registering:
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PRE-REGISTER! You can always pre-register online and the sooner you pre-register the cheaper it will be. The longer you wait the more likely you are to have to pay late fees and what not, for for one it is a money saver. For two, pre-registering will make it a better experience for you and your friends, no one LIKES waiting in the registration line with their friends because they didn't register on time. :/ Either way, don't stress if you don't pre-register though. HOWEVER IF YOU DON'T PRE-REGISTER MAKE SURE YOU KNOW THE REGISTRATION TIMES!!!!!!
If You Don't Pre-Register:
Once you get to the convention, if you haven't pre-registered and you have to register there, there will be time slots designated for it. They are usually some where from 7AM to maybe 12 Noon then again from 7PM to maybe 10PM or something like that, but they aren't always open and if you don't make it in the line before they close then you will have to miss out on the convention until you can register again. Also, there will be two lines, one for people who have pre-registered and one for people who didn't. :P You in the right line and once you get to the front have your money out and tell them what kind of pass you want. (full, one day, two day, parental pass etc.) You will fill out a small form, then get your pass and be on your way, but the ling takes longer.
If You Did Pre-Register:
You will get to the convention, again be sure to pay attention to the registration times and get in the right line, the pre-registration line. Go to the counter, have out your paper work, and show them. They will glance it over maybe and hand you your pass then you will be on your way. (Unless you're waiting on your friend who is still in the back of the registration line XD )
Registration Aftermath: After you successfully register, they will give you a button of a lanyard, something to say that you are registered, you will wear that around and show that when you get into a panel. You will need that everyday, it is your ticket into the convention and without it, if you leave it at the hotel room, you won't get into anything and you will have to go ALL the way back to the hotel to get it. :/ So be sure to hold onto that like you do your hotel room key, it is oh so very important and unless you keep a document of some sort saying you have registered, you will have to buy another pass if you loose yours.
Different Type of Registration Passes:
There are a few different type of passes, a night pass, for the adult time late at night, a one day pass, that will get you in the convention one of the days, two day pass or whatever it will get you in for two days. A full pass that will get you in anytime all the time. (The only exception is if there is an adult panel, then you will carded so they make sure you are 18) Also at most conventions there is a Parental Pass of some sort so that your parent/guardian can get into the convention area, but not into any of the panels and they can find you if they need you or you need them. If you don't see an option for a parental pass then you may wish to inquire about one.
Step 3: Planning - Part 2 - Convention Plans:
Schedule:
After you have chosen a convention, found that your budget allows it and you've made the appropriate arrangements you will now be able to start planning what you will do at the convention. this is especially important if you are going with a group. Most of the time you will be able to get online and see the events and panels. (A panel is a time dedicated to one thing. For instance if you go see an Origami Panel, it will be teaching origami or discussing something about it. There are a variety of panels, most ranging from thirty minuets to an hour.) There will be several large events and guest speakers, like a dance/rave or a famous voice actor.
When you look online you SHOULD ideally be able to get a schedule for the convention that tells you what panels are when and where at the convention. (When I say where I mean which panel room will it be held in.) There is ALWAYS a Dealers Room as well. (The Dealers Room is a room dedicated entirely to buying stuff where vendors can come and sell their anime related items and what not. :) the Dealers room is awesome) Once you have the schedule look it over and highlight some of the panels that look interesting to you and which ones you KNOW you want to attend. If you are going with a group have them do the same and you can make compromises about who will do what and when since you will want to stay with you group the whole time or at least use the buddy system. Make sure you leave some time to sit down and relax, allow some time to eat lunch, and you should always leave time for the Dealers room, but be ready because while there is usually a long line for the Dealer room, it goes by fast and is worth it, so make sure once you get in you have A LOT of time to make sure you look at EVERYTHING! Cause no one likes long lines more than once or twice. :/ (also when you get to the convention don't stress if it doesn't go exactly minuet by minuet, it is a time to relax so don't hurry your friends if they are taking a little more time than you would like, there isn't anything to stress about. :) )
A few last notes:
Cosplay - Cosplay is really expensive if you are one of those people who buys the entire costume, the wig, and the props. If you are going to buy and outfit, make sure the website is reputable and see if you can find some customer feedback or reviews about the costumes. Sometimes you look online and the costume looks great, but there have been several times when I have gotten the costume and been severely disappointed. When looking at the costume online be sure to check out the sizes, most of them are sized differently and will include a chart with height, weight, and the three magic numbers -the chest, the torso, the hips- and what size you need based on that information. In the details area it will also tell you what all is included in the costume. The picture may have the model wearing the wig and more often than not, the wig is not included. You want to make sure you are getting a good quality product that fits you and is what you thought it was.
Anyways, like I said earlier, Cosplay is very expensive so make sure you get costumes that will fit for a long time and you won't get tired of. Make it a character you really love! :D But if this is your first convention, you may not want to spend all that money on a cosplay. That's fine, you don't have to cosplay at the convention, its just really fun. :) And if you still want to cosplay but don't have the money there are lots of cheap DIY makeshift cosplays that are plenty fun too! :D
Convention Terminology: When you go to an anime convention you'll be talking to a lot of people, and if your a noob they will tell right off the bat because usually beginners tend to ask questions about words that are mostly used on the internet that they probably haven't encountered yet. So for all you beginners out there I have a list of a few terms that you may find useful in regular conversation. throw them out there and just see if your company isn't impressed.
~J-Pop - Japanese pop music. Think Utada Hikaru. :)
~Subbed - The anime has subtitles.
~Dubbed - It's voiced over so that no they speak English(or whatever language its translated into) instead of Japanese(or whatever language it started out as).
~Beginner (anime) - A beginner anime is one that it isn't too strange. It is usually main stream and it doesn't have any kind of blood and guts or sex or nudity or anything strange. It is pretty much cut and dry, the most basic of anime. Good beginner animes are Yu-Gi-Oh and Inuyasha.
~Mainstream (anime)- Mainstream animes don't have to necessarily be aired on TV in America for them to be mainstream, for instance, the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is mainstream and it wasn't aired on TV for all Americans to see. Unfortunately though, an anime is main stream BECAUSE its aired on TV, Haruhi Suzumiya was a rather special case. A main stream anime is one that is talked about so much that after a while if you hear one more thing about it you're going to rip out your hair and feed it to the person talking so they will just shut up. Mainstream animes are often overrated and they are usually long with lots of filler that is just boring. I, personally, don't mind one or two filler episodes, but come on, when a season is a hundred episodes long, more than ten need to be plot related!
(On a side note there are Mainstream anime that are only mainstream to anime viewers, like Ouran High School Host Club, if you're at an Anime Convention, chances are almost everyone has seen it -cause its totally awesome an amazing- but if you're in the real world and you ask someone if they liked it, they might look at you like you were crazy and move a few seats away. These animes are, I'll admit, sometimes popular for a reason, cause Ouran was so freaking good! :D )
~Gateway (anime)- A gateway anime means that it usually ushers people in from beginner anime to regular anime. Its like a beginner anime in that it usually isn't too strange and is usually main stream and it doesn't have any kind of blood and guts or sex or nudity or anything strange. These animes usually have more involved plot lines and they are more than fifty episodes long. If an anime is a gateway anime it is long so that the viewer can get really into it, and the plot is involved and usually all twisty turny so that it really gets the viewer hooked. Most of the time, animes that are long are gateway BECAUSE a newer anime watcher doesn't mind filler and filler and filler and extra episodes and filler, but after you've seen a few different animes you tend to be more interested in getting on with the plot instead of the weird episode between plots when they go off on some strange adventure. A good beginner anime is FairyTail or Full Metal Alchemist.
~Underground (anime)- These animes are the best animes of all time. X3 Usually no one has heard of them, they are short, and sweet and just great. A lot of times their titles will still be in Japanese and they are rarely dubbed. A few examples might be Higurashi, Umineko, Chrono Crusade, Wolfs Rain, Majin Tantei NÅgami Neuro, and Ga Rei Zero. They are all amazing animes that not a lot of people have heard of. Most of them have less than forty episodes and the plot line is just amazing.
~Yaoi - Gay manga/anime
~Yuri - Lesbian manga/anime
~Hentai - This is a adult rated anime because it is pretty much porn in anime form.
~Vocaloid - No, Vocaloid isn't an anime or a manga or a musical artist. When someone says 'vocaloid' they are referring to the program or the characters. Vocaloid is a program that is an artificial voice that you can make sing. (Some how I haven't actually done it myself.) Vocaloid has a whole cast of characters though, Hatsune Miku for example, is a Vocaloid. She isn't from an anime, she is just the product of the Vocaloid program.
~Shojo - A genre of anime/manga. A Shojo manga is a girly one. Their audience is for women and usually they are romantic comedies or even slice of life. ShojoBeat publishes Shojo manga. When someone says Shojo, think along the lines of Kitchen Princess, Mermaid Melody, Sailor Moon, and Love Attack.
~Shonen - A genre of anime/manga. A Shonen manga usually is focus on a male audience, these have lots of action and not a lot of romance usually. Anything that appears in ShonenJump magazine are Shonen manga. Bleach, Naruto, Rosario Vampire, Yu-Gi-Oh
~Abridged Series - An abridged series is when someone takes the anime and shortens it up so that each episode, or few episodes, are only a few minuets long. A lot of times they are comical and poke a bit of fun at the anime. If you haven't you need to go online and watch the YuGiOh Abridged Series and the Dragon Ball Z Abridged Series (both on youtube) because they are great conversation starters. If you have seen the anime or not, and if you loved it or hated it, they are really hilarious. I even liked the Naruto Abridged series! XD They are usually spoof like.
~Visual Novel - A visual novel is a computer game, it is also called a choose your own adventure or a point and click game. You play through the story and can make different decisions, based on the decisions you make the story will have a different out come. :) Sake Visual is a website that hasa lot of visual novels that are usually either free or cheap and its a safe website that I use a lot. :) Sooo here's the link and check them out,. Visual novels are a lot of fun! :D http://sakevisual.com/index.html
And last but not least....
Convention Manners: When you go to a convention its crowded, there are lots of people, everyone is usually hot and sweaty, and everyone is in a hurry to get somewhere or to get to someone to get their picture. So when you go it is important to remember a few basic rules. If you will, treat like you're at a crowded mall or fair.
- If you sit down, get out of the way and find a proper place to sit, no sitting in the hallway.
-If you do sit on a wall or something, don't put your feet out, keep them close to your person. You wouldn't sit in the middle of the street and put your feet out in front of a car would you? Don't put them out in front of a horde of anime lovers, someone could easily trip or step on you.
- Please don't stand around like high school students dawdling in front of their lockers and block the way for everyone else behind you. Step to the side if you will, but GET OUT OF THE WAY! No one wants to stand behind you while you chat up a cute guy or a friend or try to decide where to go.
- Pictures, getting pictures is fine, keep you camera on you at all time by any means, go ahead. But if you want to get a picture of someone, there is mostly a designated room or area for you to get a picture, if you can go there, if you can't wait until you get out of the hallway and make sure you get out of other people's way to get the picture. You wouldn't want to wait behind someone getting a picture of the tenth Sailor Moon you've seen, so don't do it to someone else. Cause honestly, lets face it, you're in the hallway and suddenly the person in front of you stops to get a picture...this is what your thinking. 'Man do you have to do that right here? I was following that really hot guy to the anime viewing room. And come on! Sailor Moon Cosplayer? I've seen TEN of them today and this one's costume doesn't even look right...oh wait..maybe she's Sailor Venus....That's a strange prop, oh no..that a tail..wait...what? Oh whatever! Just finish your picture and move on!'
-Don't be rude or push people. Don't roll your eyes when someone stand in the middle of the hallways or sigh heavily and make a fuss, tap them on the shoulder and politely suggest that they stand to the side or move along. Its not your job to do that, but if security is no where around making sure people aren't clogging the walking areas, you may have to do something yourself. And DON'T GET VIOLENT! NO MATTER WHAT! YOU WILL BE THROWN OUT OF THE CONVENTION AND BANNED FROM COMING BACK! I think you can stand to hold on in the hallway a second. Again here, you wouldn't want people pushing you or sighing about how you stand around -but your not going to do that right? cause you read the rules above, right?- so don't be all high and mighty and do it to someone else, you're not perfect, neither are they. Also if you're in a hurry, don't push people out of your way or elbow your way out of the crowd, be patient.
- ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS USE THE BUDDY SYSTEM! I don't care if your grown and I don't care if you don't think anyone would wanna rape you to take you or whatever. I don't care if you think you're grown and just because you have a bottle of mace you can take on anyone. I'll admit, anime conventions are great and full of great people, I'm not questioning that. I meet nothing but friendly people at anime conventions, but they are just any other huge crowd you will see anywhere else. Just because they are at the convention doesn't mean they are a good person. So when you're at the convention keep a buddy system so someone knows where you are at all the time, keep someone you trust with you, don't leave with strangers even if your buddy is with you. Its easy to meet great people at anime conventions, but it is just as easy to get snatched at one. I have freaked out several times because I couldn't find my buddy and I was deathly afraid they'd been snatched and kidnapped and were getting raped and would get thrown in a dumpster. I mean I found them an everything, but still, it isn't pleasant.
-Hygiene - Keep it in mind. Take showers, brush your teeth, bite the bullet on the cancerous deodorant or antiperspirant and use it, if your feet smell keep your shoes on. There are lots of things you can do to to make sure your don't smell. And the convention will be crowded and hot enough without you protesting to not shower or wash your hair or wear deodorant or something to cover up you stink. We get it, you think perfumes are too girly and you WILL NOT succumb to man's way of forcing women to smell like flowers....but for gods sake use some fabreeze or SOMETHING! (Also, if you sweat a lot, bring along some baby powder, you can get them in scents like cucumber melon and lavender and if you pat a little where you sweat it will absorb the sweat and make you feel fresh, clean, and dry.)
That's about it. I hope you guys thought this was helpful. I'm pretty sure I covered all of the topics you will need and have fun at your first convention! :D
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