I attended Fanime again this year. Last year I got food poisoning just before the convention, which limited my activities at the convention. This year I was healthy and made the most of my time there.
I qualified for an industry badge again this year, which was much appreciated. I’m too old at this point to be standing in three-hour badge pickup lines in the hot sun. ;-) I had a quiet Thursday after I got my badge, hanging around the mostly empty convention center until I returned to my hotel.
Friday morning I had some personal business in nearby Santa Clara and also visited the Valley Fair mall, before returning to Fanime.
The artist who did my I Woke Up in Another Life cover, gem2niki, had her art featured in the Fanime program and posters.
I attended a panel on the first day, “Page2Plate’s Anime Food IRL.”
It was about where in the Bay Area and L.A. to get the best dishes you’ve seen in anime. The female presenter on the panel seemed to have eaten at every Asian restaurant in California, lol. A true foodie.
Idris’ Closet was a Fanime charity. A room in the Marriott was turned into a thrift shop and all purchases benefited a local charity. I bought a bracelet.
Near the Signia hotel, there’s a café/bakery I’ve always wanted to try. I finally did this time.
Bijan’s Café is a European-style café with a huge selection of pastries and baked goods. I had a slice of Black Forest cake. I’d intended to do an Instagram-style photo before eating it, but forgot. :-D So here’s a picture of slices of it in the bakery case.
I stopped taking cosplay photos ages ago... don’t have the energy for it, but here’s some photos taken of cosplay shoots, mostly from behind them.
I really like Fanime’s adult programming track. Not all anime is Pokemon and Doraemon, and not all fans want all-ages stuff exclusively. This year, as in previous years, the 18+ track was held at the Doubletree.
I stayed at the Doubletree this year, so it was certainly convenient for me. This has been one of the official Fanime hotels for a long time and shuttle buses run frequently between it and the convention center, about a three-mile drive.
It was my first time staying at the Doubletree. What I didn’t realize is that the lines for the shuttle buses can get pretty long, though they move fairly quickly. I’ve usually stayed within walking distance of the convention center so my shuttle bus trips to the Doubletree and back were limited before this year’s convention.
It was manageable, though. All the adult programming was in the evening hours, so it was convenient for me to be staying at the same hotel.
The adult track consisted of a video room, a “Night Market,” a stand-up comedy and performance stage, an 18+ manga library, and the adult version of Manga Ichiba. Manga Ichiba was new this year. I think the idea was a small Comiket with artists selling their handmade manga and zines. The Manga Ichiba at night was 18+, while the daytime version featured all-ages materials.
I couldn’t really take photos of the Night Market etc., but I took a few photos in and around the hallway.
Back at the convention center, one of my favorite panels was the Real or Fanfiction? panel. The premise is simple. Read a passage from a story and the audience guesses: is it from a published book or fanfiction?
Of course, the chosen passages are usually floridly overwritten, trope-laden, smut-heavy, and frankly mostly unbelievable... which is why the audience usually guesses that it’s fanfiction. However... often it’s from published fiction, believe it or not.
In a time in the publishing world when fanfiction routinely gets “the serial numbers filed off,” i.e., the character names changed and then published as original fiction, this doesn’t surprise me. And too, remember that there is a lot of really excellent fanfiction out there that is professional quality in every respect, except that the author just enjoys writing fanfiction and isn’t seeking to have their stories published. And also... that being published is not an automatic measure of “quality” by any means.
It’s like the blurred line between the Dealer’s Hall and Artist’s Alley. Really, most of the Artist’s Alley artists are professional level and could easily sell in the Dealer’s Hall. There’s almost no distinction anymore that matters.
Speaking of the Artist’s Alley, this year I finally got to meet my cover artist gem2niki in person. Last year, her sister was manning the booth and I left my business card. This year gem2niki was at her booth and we got to meet and chat, which was great. :-)
Fanime is always enjoyable. This year I made up for last year’s limited activities due to food poisoning and did everything I planned to. I’m trying not to commit to things far in advance, so I don’t know if I’ll be back next year or not, but I had a very good time this year. :-)
