News

Enchanted by Anime

Anime has evolved into a multimedia octopus with fan conventions. Its devotees have embraced Japanese culture.

By TAMARA LUSH
Published December 19, 2004

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At OtakuCon in Miami Beach, the influence of Japan is reflected by, from left, Caron Fischbach of St. Petersburg, who is interested in Japanese music; Amanda Leo of Orlando, dressed as a ninja; a Godzilla toy; Travis Vaughn of Gainesville, as Anime character Jiraiya; and Harry Lo of Atlanta, who specializes in Japanese rock and pop music. [Times photos: Bob Croslin]

MIAMI BEACH - In the lobby of the Fontainebleau Hilton, a svelte girl wearing an overabundance of lip gloss stops Alexandra Land and Susan Hogan.

"Can I get a picture?" the girl asks, shyly.

Land and Hogan agree, pose, and the girl snaps the photo with her digital camera. She shows the instant image to the pair.

"OHHH!" squeals Hogan. "SO CUTE!"

Land, who is 24, and Hogan, 29, aren't celebrities. But this weekend, they might as well be.

They are dressed as "humanized computers" from Chobits - their favorite Anime series. They're drawing a lot of attention. With their roomy, red velvet dresses, they look a little like Mrs. Claus.

If Mrs. Claus wore white garter stockings, long blond ponytails and white and pink mouse ears.

This weekend, nearly 5,000 people who think like Land and Hogan have descended on this tony Miami Beach hotel, all for the love of Anime. Many are in costume, and it's a strange sight, even for Miami.

Called OtakuCon, it's one of the largest Anime gatherings ever held in Florida.

A quick pause here for those who don't know the difference between a Chobits and a Chibi.

Anime - the name for Japanese animation of all kinds - is popular. Really popular. Five-hundred-million dollars a year in the United States alone popular.

It all started in the 1960s in Japan. Initially a nickname for "animation," it gained a following and its own lexicon.

Anime (pronounced AH-nee-may) is now the name for the entire genre. There are thousands of Anime DVD movies and television programs, one cable channel, Internet sites, books and figurines and even tea cozies.

There is X-rated Anime and there are cute Anime stuffed animals for preschoolers.

Chances are, even the least cartoon-savvy among us is familiar with a little Anime.

Speed Racer, the 1960s TV show, was Anime. The Transformers, those robot superheroes from the 1980s, were Anime. Pokemon, Pikachu, Yu-Gi-Oh! - all Anime.

In the mid 1990s, a few Anime fans got together on the West Coast for conferences, or "cons." Now there are more than 70 cons nationwide, with at least a dozen in Florida every year. A conference in Tampa last year drew 1,000 people, so many that organizers have booked the Tampa Convention Center for their next bash.

Here's the special thing about most Anime: There's no big corporate backer, no McDonald's Happy Meal deal, no kids' cereal tie-in.

It's largely a word-of-mouth, Internet-fueled craze, said Kevin Lillard, a writer of Anime magazine articles.

"It's something that's not being pushed hard through TV advertising," said Lillard, whose main job at OtakuCon is to take photos of people in costumes and put them on his Web site. "There's genuine grass roots enthusiasm."

Many say they enjoy the bizarre, even philosophical plots of the Anime programs. A typical description of one such series was in the conference program:

"Panda Z chronicles the misadventures of Pan Taron and his giant robot Panda Z, as they battle the evil Skull Panda and his Warunimal forces."

A premiere of Panda Z showed on Saturday.

Yet the cons are mostly social events, a place to show off a costume or discuss the latest episode of a series. Hogan, who lives in Tampa and works at Home Shopping Network, seems to know nearly everyone here in Miami Beach. She greets many of them with a "glomp" - an Anime word for big hug.

Like Hogan, many of the attendees spend hundreds of dollars making their own costumes, and when a person dresses in character, it's called "Cosplay."

Kevin McKenzie, a 28-year-old police officer in the city of Pinecrest, dressed as Wesley Snipes' character in the movie Blade. Although his wasn't an Anime character outfit, he loves the genre and likes the attention at the conferences.

"This gives me the chance to be someone I'm not," said McKenzie, a handsome man dressed in black leather with a plastic sword sticking out of his back. "And it gives me the chance to be amongst other people who appreciate it."

Some of the more popular outfits for Anime characters include ninja warriors, futuristic cats and Japanese schoolgirls.

That's the other thing about Anime: Many of the fans embrace Japanese culture.

Which explains why the vendors at the con sell Pocky, a Japanese sweet treat, and Ramune, a Japanese soft drink. The rising sun flags of Japan seemed to also be hot sellers, as were replicas of Samurai swords.

There's more than just shopping and socializing at the con. Video game tournaments, Japanese pop music karaoke contests and a panel discussion on the history of the Transformers are also scheduled during the three-day conference.

There are do-it-yourself costume-making seminars. World premieres of new Anime series. Techno dance parties, where impossibly loud music is played - with Japanese lyrics, of course.

There's a gathering of "plushies," or people who love stuffed animals, often characters from their favorite Anime series.

After midnight, Steve Bennett, a well-known Anime artist, instructs people on how to draw "Hentai," or adult Anime. Over 18, please.

And because many of the attendees are younger than 18, there are a number of parents here, too. Some are enthusiastic - one 13-year-old's dad is dressed up like a character from the Super Mario Brothers video games - while others trudge along, unsure of why or how they came to be in such a strange setting.

Dawn Yan, a 47-year-old schoolteacher from Miami, thought it would be fun to spend the weekend with her 9-year-old son Tom. So she booked a hotel room and cheered as Tom played Naruto, a video game, against someone twice his age.

"When I see my son happy, I'm happy," said Yan.

Indeed, everyone at the con is polite, smiling and laughing. Who wouldn't in the midst of such surreality?

"There's a lot of plain, day-to-day living," Hogan said, explaining why she dresses as a cartoon character in her spare time.

Laughing, she adjusted her 3-foot-long ponytail and secured her foam ears. She bounced through the Hilton's hallways and into a ballroom, where vendors sold thousands of different Anime products.

She paused to look at a comic book when a fan tapped her red velvet-covered shoulder.

"Where did you get your ears?"

Tamara Lush can be reached at 727 893-8612 or at lush@sptimes.com

[Last modified December 19, 2004, 00:15:16]

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