—by Egan Loo

As the founders of Fanime Con fondly recall, it was not too long ago when the convention was a one-afternoon get-together at a local college. Five years later, Fanime has moved from the college setting to all the trappings of a hotel, with several convention center rooms to boot.

From left to right: Yamaga Hiroyuki, Ippongi Bang, and Iijima Mari (best known as the voice of Lynn Minmay).

By serendipity as well as plenty of behind-the-scenes staff planning, it found the perfect way to celebrate its fifth anniversary: Fanime became the first anime convention in the world to host singer/songwriter Iijima Mari (THE SUPER DIMENSION FORTRESS MACROSS). (Almost as if they were stops on a concert tour, a half dozen cons across North America will also host her later this year.) Along for the ride was perennial guest creator Yamaga Hiroyuki (WINGS OF HONNEAMISE), translator and author Fred Schodt (MANGA! MANGA!, DREAMLAND JAPAN), publisher Studio Ironcat, and Lightwave software creator Allan Hastings. New to this year's roster is the travelling caravan of manga personality Ippongi Bang, author Gilles Poitras (THE ANIME COMPANION) and local animator Mark Koch.

Exhibit Hall

This being the first year Fanime ran three days instead of two or one, the Exhibitors Hall was placed in the unusual position of opening Friday night before the official Opening Ceremonies itself. On the inevitable compromise between short lines outside or breathing space inside, the staff chose the later. The result was a dealers room without the stifling sauna atmosphere typical of other cons, but a long line for fans waiting outside. The line partly resulted from the small quarters of Wyndham's halls, which also limited the selection of dealers. Fortunately, the staff is planning for bigger quarters for future Fanime Cons. In any case, there was enough of interest for a steady stream of anime fans and even Iijima's two POKÉMON-collecting sons, mother in tow.

Opening Ceremonies

After the Exhibitors Hall opened for a couple of hours, the attendees filed into the main on-site live programming room for the nominal opening ceremonies. For most, it was the first opportunity to ever see the guests—or at least their latest hairstyle, as in the case of the iconoclastic Yamaga. As one of the highlights during the ceremonies, Yamaga recalled an surprising fact about his MACROSS work. (He and his Gainax cohorts had worked as regular animators under Artland on the first MACROSS series and movie.) He attended Iijima's MACROSS audition and remembers commenting on her talent even then, over fifteen years ago and yet, Fanime Con was the first time he ever spoke to her.

Anime Programming

Guests and fan gatherings aside, anime is still the top draw for many attendees. This is where Fanime Con particularly shone, and not just for the three 24-hour video rooms. The staff simply supplemented the usual printed schedule with dry-erase signboards. The signboards listed in big, eye-catching letters the current showing—and more importantly, the title and time (revised if necessary) of the next showing, too. Kudos to the staff for this simple yet effective technique that other cons would do well to not overlook.