John’s Glass City III Convention Adventure

Tampa was overcast by a lightning storm on the morning of Friday, July 8, which caused my departure to Chicago, on my way to Toledo, Ohio for Glass City Con III, to be delayed by about 15 minutes. The transfer at O’Hare went smoothly, and I lounged in the Toledo Express airport for ten minutes before Mimi arrived to pick me up. During the drive to the Comfort Inn down the road from Owens Community College, I learned through conversation that steampunk is much more popular up North than it is down in Florida. At the hotel, I was walked to my room around 2pm and left to my own devices. A can of Coke for lunch and a 20 ounce bottle of Coke for dinner may not have been especially healthy, but I had little motivation for anything more substantial. Without a plan or schedule, I woke Saturday morning, lightly partook of the hotel restaurant’s free breakfast, and sunk into a hotel lobby chair with the idea of making myself easy to find. Eventually a convention staffer arrived, and Matt Greenfield, followed shortly by his wife, Tiffany Grant, entered the lobby. With opening ceremonies looming, Matt & I were chauffeured by the McDonalds drive-through so Matt could grab a bite, then taken directly to the convention’s opening ceremony. On the way Mr. Greenfield mentioned that I seemed to have gotten stuck with attending the little con while my compatriots had attended the previous weekend’s Anime Expo. I realized that Matt had confused my affiliation with AnimeNation with Anime News Network but said nothing. To my pleasant surprise, during the opening ceremony introductions, Matt recognized his mistake and jovially apologized.

The Owens Community College campus is typically sized but very spread out. The guests were escorted to a nicely provisioned green room attached to a dealers’ room significantly larger than I’d anticipated. Since the two-day convention is free and open to the public, the young and very enthusiastic crowd was already swelling. An hour after the opening ceremony, I presented my first panel discussion, an audio-visual introduction to unusual and obscure anime like TV commercials, religious and political propaganda, educational anime, and pilot films for unproduced anime. The small room packed to standing-room-only capacity and even with me providing commentary on the video clips as they played, rather than before they played, I had to forego introducing music videos entirely, and select highlights from several of the other categories I wanted to introduce. At the end of the panel, I offered the 20 extra DVDR copies of my visual aid I’d brought along. They all disappeared swiftly.

The panel room I moved into next was less populated. In fact, I was entirely alone for the first ten minutes of the “Ask John” panel. Eventually a curious trio wandered in, eventually to be followed by another several participants. We collectively discussed the merits of Tenchi Muyo GXP, our favorite mecha anime, the differences in Japanese and American reaction to Shinji Ikari, the sexual orientation of the Gundam W boys, the relative vintage of select anime tropes, and the relative impact of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni versus Elfen Lied.

As that hour ended, I stepped into another panel room to participate in the convention chairman’s well-attended panel discussion of censorship in anime. While con chair Chris Zasada was delayed in arriving, I found myself warming up the crowd with some initial discussion. The presentation eventually touched upon 4Kids’ censoring of One Piece, Dragon Ball, and Sonic X, Japanese censoring of Dragon Ball Kai, and various edits and related situations including Tokyopop’s “Tricked Out” Initial D, Mew Mew Power, music edits, translation edits in Angel Cop, the hierarchy of domestic Kite releases, and much more.

Chris and I were then scheduled to host a discussion about the lost treasures and trash of the domestic VHS era. I was pleased and surprised to have Matt Greenfield volunteer to sit in on the panel as well. Matt corrected my pronunciation of Carl Macek’s name. (It’s “Maysek.”) Matt argued that Madox-01 and Akira Production Report were America’s first commercial VHS releases. I debated that Akira Production report isn’t a conventional “anime” and that while Madox-01 was screened publicly first, it wasn’t released on commercial VHS until March 1990, three months after US Rendition’s first Gunbuster & Dangaioh tapes. When Lensman came up, Matt revealed that the the E.E. Smith estate despises the movie, and the film was never officially licensed for domestic release, which explains why Streamline’s (unauthorized) domestic release is so obscure. Matt also explained that VHS is actually capable of supporting two, switchable audio tracks – a fact that neither Chris nor I knew. The capacity was never widely used because few VCRs had the hardware capability to select VHS audio tracks. Regrettably, due to technical difficulties delaying the formal start of the panel discussion, the focus on further specific VHS era favorites was cut short.

With my scheduled responsibilities for the day completed, I retired to the green room to stuff myself with peanut M&Ms. Matt kindly invited me to join he and Tiffany as they roped a staffer into taking us to a local restaurant for an early dinner. We ended up at a nearby American & Mediterranean restaurant. Over dinner, Matt, Tiffany, and I discussed the evolution of con culture from our early days until now, our shared experience of a restless Friday night in the local Comfort Inn caused by a rowdy convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses (no kidding), our love/hate reaction to dumb questions from fans, and our mutual dismay that we’re all getting old when an anime title like Maburaho is now considered “old school.”

During my minimal free time during the day, I dove into the “Vendor’s Venue,” initially picking up the first volume of the Nin x Nin ga Shinobuden domestic magna for $5 and the Revoltech Toro with optional Hatsune Miku costume for $25. I mused to myself, especially when spotting a pair of obscure Pixel Mari-tan Nendoroid figures, that I should have brought a bigger suitcase. With just a school backpack, I didn’t have enough room to take large purchases back home with me.

To pass the evening, I wandered into the very poorly attended “Real Men Watch Princess Tutu” panel run by a con staffer dressed as Ponyo’s father. I found presenter Kyle Smith a bit too absorbed in attaching TV Trope labels to characters without explaining what the witticisms meant or why something so seemingly filled with clichés was actually so good. But at the same time I respect his obvious affection for the title. After again stuffing myself with Green Room peanut M&M’s, I seated myself for the late evening panel introducing shibari. The panel started with an explanation of practical cultural history – erotic Japanese bondage growing out of the martial art of binding prisoners and convicts – to a guide to varieties of rope and resources for aspiring fetishists. When the panel moved into the hands-on phase I departed, not because I was offended or nervous, but just because I was exhausted. A considerate staffer volunteered to drive me back to the hotel.

Sunday morning started with two con staffers fetching, initially, me, Matt, Tiffany, and Doug Smith. With no early responsibilities, I sat in the audience for Matt Greenfield’s “Anime B.C. (Before Conventions)” history lesson. While I personally learned little new, hearing it all first-hand was interesting. Matt concluded the panel by stating that a typical contemporary anime may be licensed now for the cost of a house. He then stipulated that he didn’t specify what size house or where. Most of the roughly half-dozen audience members stayed seated as I took over to present my recollection of the history of AN Entertainment. I surprised myself by discovering that by revealing all the dirt I could recall, I actually managed a 50 minute discussion including a few audience questions.

Since my convention duties for the day were done, I hit the dealer’s room again. At the AniGames table, I spotted a Zenki DVD volume 4. When I inquired about the price, store owner Stan initially responded $40. When I hesitated, he offered $30, and I pulled out my wallet. I then inquired about his unopened volume 3. Stan again quoted me $30, so I bought that one too. He explained that in his experience volume 1 had been tough to find. I said that I’d never had trouble finding the first two volumes. It was now sets 3 & 4 that I had trouble locating affordably. Stan then asked me to identify myself. When he realized that I was “Ask John” of dubious fame, he kept me anchored in place with a lengthy, but not uninteresting, explanation of his idea for a website that would provide concise, practical descriptive analogies for anime series, like calling Galaxy Angel “Anime meets Looney Tunes” or Slayers, “Lord of the Rings meets M.A.S.H.”

Finally, I noticed a pocket sized plush coin purse in the design of a teddy bear’s head sticker priced at $3. I decided that it was too cheap and cute to pass up.

Because video game journalism isn’t too terribly different from anime journalism, I stuck my head into the “Video Game Journalism” panel, only to discover that it was, due to limited attendance, just a conversation between video game reviewer (and brand new father) Aaron Auzins and a single aspiring video game journalist. I did feel encouraged to see an anime convention actually providing an attendee with pragmatic, useful advice and guidance about progressing within the industry. As that panel concluded, I stayed seated for Kyle Smith’s presentation on the Sluggy Freelance webcomic which I’d never even heard of before. The planned panel, due to lack of attendance, turned into Kyle literally explaining various Sluggy Freelance story arcs and character backgrounds to me. Again, honestly, I have little interest in web comics, but I appreciate Kyle’s enthusiasm. After roughly a half-hour and a second panel attendee wandering into the room to take my place, I excused myself to attend a panel ostensibly discussing the parallels and differences between Super Sentai and Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers. Once again, largely due to minimal attendance, the panel quickly turned into a two-person Power Rangers love-fest with me listening in. I’m not complaining. If I wasn’t enjoying the discussion, I could have left. By that time, the anime industry guests Matt & Tiffany, Robert Axelrod, and Doug Smith, had departed the con. I sat in on the closing ceremony and post-con critique. In its third year, Glass City Con had attracted over 1,500 attendees. Glass City IV would, for the first time, have to charge an entrance fee, but a minimal contribution of as little as $5 would be a bargain for a convention as robust and enjoyable as this one.

Not wanting to impose or interrupt the clean-up, I lounged in con-ops for about an hour before the staff arranged a ride back to the hotel. Since I hadn’t eaten anything at all Sunday apart from a few cubes of day-old cheese and a few handfuls of peanut M&M’s, I walked a quarter mile to the nearby Arby’s for dinner. My night concluded with watching Batman Begins on TV, then reminding myself of how awful Batman Forever was.

I woke early Monday morning to overcast skies and nasty rain. I remained in the hotel room until one when con chair Chris Zasada came to fetch me. We first stopped at Tony Packo’s Hungarian Chili-dog restaurant for lunch before visiting the AniGames store where Stan and his wife were exceedingly gracious. Honestly, I saw little that I actually needed, but I didn’t want to leave empty handed. Although I already own new copies of CPM’s Ariel and “Cat Soup” Limited Edition DVDs, I purchased duplicate copies because Stan’s asking price of $18 and $15 each respectively for still unopened discs was very reasonable. Stan then surprised me by giving me a deck of the “Family Fluxx” card game and a box of Pocky for the road. From there, we visited a second Toledo anime specialty store (Was it “Next Door Anime?” Forgive me if I’m wrong.) The place was small and sparse, but I respect its posted “No Bootlegs” policy, and I respect the determination and devotion necessary to launch any anime retail store. Chris then took me to “Seann’s Anime & Comics,” the retailer that still had one of the Pixel Mari-tan Nendo figures unsold. I wavered over the $50 price tag, but I really wanted to contribute to the independent anime retailer. When Seann offered to ship it to me for free, his extending the extra effort was enough to push me over the hump of my hesitation.

From there, Chris saw me into the Toledo Express Airport where, after slight flight delays in Toledo and Chicago and an unexpectedly painful $60 parking fee for leaving my car at the Tampa International Airport for four days, I arrived home, tired but happy.

I’m grateful to the Glass City III convention staff, volunteers, and participants for welcoming me to their convention and treating me graciously. I’ll gladly come back next year if they’ll have me, and next year I’ll run an anime trivia contest, too.