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krpalmerIn my scattershot “I haven’t signed up for this service but I will look at these feeds” way, I managed to see announcements of an “online anime convention for quarantine season.” That did get my attention. Last year I managed to work up sufficient motivation to lift myself out of a comfortable enough yet very familiar weekly routine and make a day trip to a major anime convention in my area for the first time. Perhaps I shouldn’t dwell on getting around to sampling a bit of what so many other anime fans make a big deal of one year before those mass gatherings started being cancelled as that considerable amount much unhealthier than before; it risks being another “personal inconvenience dwelt on where so many others have much bigger problems.” Still, a “virtual convention” seeming more convenient than travelling, much less checking into a hotel to make it more than a day trip, was a thought, and as the schedule filled in and some genuine “industry panels” appeared on it I decided I could certainly spend some time tuning into the stream.
Where I know others had accounts on chat services that would let them communicate with fellow convention-goers, I amounted to “someone sitting quietly out of the way,” just following a selection of panels. Everything I took in amounted to “illustrated radio” with slides and occasional video clips; there were no “glimpses of how other fans live,” but this seemed acceptable enough for me. After sampling “opening ceremonies,” the Right Stuf panel was interesting enough to start with but then left me a little cold as usual at the thought of “conspicuous consumption of expensive editions”; leaving a virtual panel early is that unfortunate bit easier than sneaking out of a conference room, as I realised on seeing later reports there had been an announcement of a disc of Gundam Build Fighters specials. I then took in a panel about “the business behind anime” (and how the people drawing it keep getting stuck with limited, pre-arranged slices of what actually seems decent money) and, tuning in the next day, a discussion of “real robots,” which might have had a narrower focus than other possible definitions might allow for but did close in a more positive way than I’d half-worried about. The last day of the weekend was that much more interesting, though, with a much more focused look at the “innovation within bounds” of Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans and an industry panel from Discotek which made some announcements look interesting even without quite setting personal purchasing plans but did bring up a few titles that very much caught my own interest given previous awareness. I then managed to see a third panel on “mecha” with a focus in-between the first two, but which managed to offer a decent overview of the genre’s roots in the 1960s and 1970s.
I can suppose this online convention was at best a stopgap measure for some, but it did seem to work all right for me, its “tune in at this time” necessities in some odd way making it more engaging than just “watching a selection of pre-recorded videos,” which I have to admit came to mind to begin with (and which is something I don’t make much time for either, being a speedy reader even as I realise it takes longer to write). Not being able to “risk exposing my opinions to others” was more a matter of personal lapses in signing up for discussion services (although I suppose there’s something to “seeing actual physical merchandise” even if I’m not inclined to buy anything large). The convention could even have set a pretty decent bar for others that might follow this way. The one odd thing about it for me was that it took up enough time I didn’t want to tune into a live stream of a special Mystery Science Theater 3000 event the same weekend; however, that video was available for later viewing.
Where I know others had accounts on chat services that would let them communicate with fellow convention-goers, I amounted to “someone sitting quietly out of the way,” just following a selection of panels. Everything I took in amounted to “illustrated radio” with slides and occasional video clips; there were no “glimpses of how other fans live,” but this seemed acceptable enough for me. After sampling “opening ceremonies,” the Right Stuf panel was interesting enough to start with but then left me a little cold as usual at the thought of “conspicuous consumption of expensive editions”; leaving a virtual panel early is that unfortunate bit easier than sneaking out of a conference room, as I realised on seeing later reports there had been an announcement of a disc of Gundam Build Fighters specials. I then took in a panel about “the business behind anime” (and how the people drawing it keep getting stuck with limited, pre-arranged slices of what actually seems decent money) and, tuning in the next day, a discussion of “real robots,” which might have had a narrower focus than other possible definitions might allow for but did close in a more positive way than I’d half-worried about. The last day of the weekend was that much more interesting, though, with a much more focused look at the “innovation within bounds” of Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans and an industry panel from Discotek which made some announcements look interesting even without quite setting personal purchasing plans but did bring up a few titles that very much caught my own interest given previous awareness. I then managed to see a third panel on “mecha” with a focus in-between the first two, but which managed to offer a decent overview of the genre’s roots in the 1960s and 1970s.
I can suppose this online convention was at best a stopgap measure for some, but it did seem to work all right for me, its “tune in at this time” necessities in some odd way making it more engaging than just “watching a selection of pre-recorded videos,” which I have to admit came to mind to begin with (and which is something I don’t make much time for either, being a speedy reader even as I realise it takes longer to write). Not being able to “risk exposing my opinions to others” was more a matter of personal lapses in signing up for discussion services (although I suppose there’s something to “seeing actual physical merchandise” even if I’m not inclined to buy anything large). The convention could even have set a pretty decent bar for others that might follow this way. The one odd thing about it for me was that it took up enough time I didn’t want to tune into a live stream of a special Mystery Science Theater 3000 event the same weekend; however, that video was available for later viewing.