Articles
Report: Anime Evolution 2007 part 1 - 24/12/07
Writing and Bad Photography by: Jesse Betteridge
Good Photography by: Erin Ennis
Thursday
As usual, Anime Evolution did not get off to an ideal start. While I won't divulge the specific details, some very nasty scheduling problems burst out of AE's planning, like some kind of parasitic worm waiting to spoil everyone's appetite. Thankfully, the problems were narrowly averted, resulting in limited and hastily rescheduled rooms for panels and video showings which, to say the least, could've wound up being much, much, much, much, much worse. But while Anime Evolution did materialize mostly as planned on this fateful August weekend, it also just happened to be the one weekend in August that the weather forecast decided to predict rain with notable consistency. Did this come to pass? Well, even if it had, I don't think it would've prevented AE 2007 from being the most well-organized, enjoyable, and overall fun anime con we've seen here in Vancouver.
Thankfully, the weather decided to subside for Thursday night. While pre-reg was in exactly the same place it was last year, it still proved to be somewhat frustrating to find since the line (and ergo the screaming) didn't stretch into the main hallway as it did before. This left me wandering the hallways of Simon Fraser University for a good half hour, trying to decipher directions from some ambiguous and, admittedly, rather ghetto signage taped in random places, as pictured below.
VHS copies of Tenchi in Tokyo and some obscure Tamogatchi movie awaited pre-registered attendees.
But this small bit of frustration ultimately paid off, as the pre-reg line for AE 2007 moved smoother than ever this year. Or at least I am left to assume that was the case for most con-goers, since acquiring my press pass from the adjacent table took a mere two minutes. A nice change of pace for sure. But before I could yell "eat it, suckas!", I noticed one very interesting bonus that those who pre-registered were being given - old anime VHS tapes! Wait... what? That's a prize? Well, it's an interesting way to liquidate old stock, in any case. Gotta preserve this stuff for future generations to puzzle over, after all.
After taking my Romeo x Juliet badge (remember that show? Yeah, didn't think so), I began to peruse the (obviously rushed) schedule to make a horrifying discovery. While my own panel, the State of Anime in Canada, was given a full, accurate description at the front of the book, it was not present anywhere on the actual grids. While it was supposed to take place on Saturday morning at 11:30am, it was instead replaced with a double listing for "Japanese Baseball". It was a misprint of course, with "Japanese Baseball" being the one-hour follow up, but far be it from the average con-goer to stop for a second and wonder why, exactly, they would they give three hours of con time to that. Not for a second would they take a minute to consider "hey, since this is obviously a misprint, maybe the actual panel scheduled for this time just happens to be something really awesome that we should go and check out".
The SFU Film Club gets the groundwork started for their annual AE documentary, the cosplayers begin congegrating outside on campus, and our good friend Tammy brandishes her fancy cloth Anime Evolution 2007 bag which was available only to those who pre-registered. Of course, this didn't include press people!
But those concerns were soon washed away as we hit the pub for three hours. Before we knew it the outdoor Masquerade Ball was starting. They had a neat little idea this year to hold a small event on registration night, and while it wasn't exactly packed, it appeared to be successful enough. The resulting attempts at photography are featured below.
The Masquerade Ball may be a bit of an exclusive event for those who participate, but having it out in the open didn't seem to phase anyone. I pretty good way to kick off the con, overall.
Only a few hours had gone by, but it already felt like the convention was moving forward in full force! And I'm happy to say that the momentum did keep up for most of the weekend!