The Old School Otaku Lounge

We were covering Sakura-Con this past weekend and was so thrilled that Michihiko Suwa, producer of "Meitantei Conan", "Yawara", "City Hunter", "Inuyasha" was there.

But once again... disappointment as the room featured hundreds getting an autograph from the music guests and the English voice actors. Yet for Suwa-san, only two dozen people were there to get an autograph from him. And this is a convention that brings around 18,000 or more people.

This is really starting to tick me off. Back in the early '90s, I can remember Japanese guests, fans lining up at anime cons for hours to meet these wonderful talents. Now, when you go to these no one hardly shows up and they would rather meet the English voice talent.

Since they ran out of schedules, I had a hard time knowing what was even going on and where. I wandered around for awhile, hoping to find the autograph area but never did. I mostly wanted to see Yutaka Minowa. Your post makes me wish I had tried a little harder. Bummer.

How many people attended Suwa's panels or events? That might be a better gauge of interest (or lack thereof) than the crowd for autographs. I would definitely see a Q&A with Suwa, whereas I have no real interest in autographs - and the musicial guests and American voice talent have a fan base that lives to line up for autographs, for whatever reason.

davemerrill wrote:How many people attended Suwa's panels or events? That might be a better gauge of interest (or lack thereof) than the crowd for autographs. I would definitely see a Q&A with Suwa, whereas I have no real interest in autographs - and the musicial guests and American voice talent have a fan base that lives to line up for autographs, for whatever reason.

(just looked at a video) At first there was around ten people that came to his Q&A but about 25 people by the end. We did a few recordings from a few Q&A's, but for Suwa-san we are awaiting his management to give us the yes or no on whether we can make them live.

Believe it or not, this same thing happened last year with voice actor Ryu Horikawa (who does the voice for Vegeta (Dragon Ball Z), Andromeda Shun (Saint Seiya), Heiji Hattori (Detective Conan), Reinhard von Lohengramm (Legend of the Galactic Heroes), hardly anyone came.

kndy wrote: A little over a dozen people came to his Q&A. We did a few recordings from a few Q&A's, but for Suwa-san we are awaiting his management to give us the yes or no on whether we can make them live.

Believe it or not, this same thing happened last year with voice actor Ryu Horikawa (who does the voice for Vegeta (Dragon Ball Z), Andromeda Shun (Saint Seiya), Heiji Hattori (Detective Conan), Reinhard von Lohengramm (Legend of the Galactic Heroes), hardly anyone came.

That's just kinda sad. Of course when you look at Sakuracon's web page for their guests, Sawa is 8 names down the list, behind American voice actors, lolita cosplay designers, and a musical act. It certainly seems as if the attendees are taking their cues from the convention itself.

Of course, if you can't get a schedule, you won't know when or where he's speaking.

Were all the Japanese animation industry guests this neglected?

davemerrill wrote:

kndy wrote: A little over a dozen people came to his Q&A. We did a few recordings from a few Q&A's, but for Suwa-san we are awaiting his management to give us the yes or no on whether we can make them live.

Believe it or not, this same thing happened last year with voice actor Ryu Horikawa (who does the voice for Vegeta (Dragon Ball Z), Andromeda Shun (Saint Seiya), Heiji Hattori (Detective Conan), Reinhard von Lohengramm (Legend of the Galactic Heroes), hardly anyone came.

That's just kinda sad. Of course when you look at Sakuracon's web page for their guests, Sawa is 8 names down the list, behind American voice actors, lolita cosplay designers, and a musical act. It certainly seems as if the attendees are taking their cues from the convention itself.

Of course, if you can't get a schedule, you won't know when or where he's speaking.

Were all the Japanese animation industry guests this neglected?

It happens a lot. It's so bad that conventions have stripped away press panels from us (mainly music and anime - Japan side) because it was always us, Anime News Network and maybe one or two others from blogs. Even when there are several dozen press that are covering an anime con, majority of them are in it on the cosplay side. It's just weird to see how things have changed since the '90s and then the early 2000's to now.

I meant the other Japanese guests at this year's Sakura-con - say, Yutaka Minowa from Madhouse, or Yoshiaki Kawajiri (!) or Atsuhiro Iwakami, the Madoka Magica producer - did they recieve the same level of non-interest as Sawa?

Edited to say, I would totally get Kawajiri's autograph. He's done some outstanding work.

In my opinion, many American con goers aren't big autograph collectors. I wonder if many folks thought that it would be hard to get or cost money? I've only got one - Megumi Hayashibara's - on my Pai cell. As for the Q&A, I would've gone to it if I was aware of it. I know many of my friends in my club here would've definitely gone to the voice actor for Reinhard's Q&A plus autograph session. I think my friend Barbara has a cell of Reinhard.

Cels are one of the few things I am likely to seek out and spend money on at cons. Not a LOT of money, but they're neat to have.

I talked to a friend of mine who was at Sakura-Con and he confirms the lack of attendance at Japanese industry guest events, as well as a general lack of competence among both the convention staff and the fan panelists. On the one hand you'd expect a con that size to have their act together; but on the other, people seem to keep coming back. I dunno.

davemerrill wrote:I talked to a friend of mine who was at Sakura-Con and he confirms the lack of attendance at Japanese industry guest events, as well as a general lack of competence among both the convention staff and the fan panelists.

I think you might have hit the nail on the head here. The word must get out and scheduling is very important. Con organizers must arrange it so the guests can get maximum patronage.