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Pre-COVID, I've been going alone to Fanime for many years now (post-college). The people that I used to go with either moved or moved on from anime in general but I still liked to go for a handful of personal traditions that I liked to keep. Anime Hell, Studio Sokodei, people watching, checking out the video rooms, browsing the dealer's hall and gaming room. Stuff like that.

It was always a bit weird. The general population would all be around the same age range and I got older and older as the years passed. It gets harder and harder to keep up with all of the latest shows, so a lot of the cosplays and merch I see just goes over my head because I most likely haven't heard about it or know about it. It's been a bittersweet thing for me. I go, I enjoy it, I do what I want to do, but I often feel disconnected from it all. Like an alien or an outsider observing it, you know? That doesn't necessarily bother me, though, so I can't say you'd experience the same thing as I have.

If you go, just do your best and have as much fun as you want to. I personally am not going this year because I don't feel comfortable going back to pre-COVID conventions with COVID still very much around and causing trouble. Maybe next year things will be a bit better, but no con for me this year. First time since around 2005/2006 that I haven't gone.

Good luck to you! Stay safe out there!

I'm betting they will have to cancel but for now they don't want to risk cancelling and going bankrupt so they're waiting it out.

Yup, that would be my guess too, that there's a certain date that if we're still under restriction then the convention's insurance kicks in to alleviate some of the burden and it'll be deferred to 2021.  Same thing happened with a lot of other events.  I guess we'll see what comes late April.

And if that kinda crap is what they actually end up doing, that's gonna create a shitstorm of angry people. By then, most of the people who booked their hotels through Fanime might end up missing their deadline to change their bookings without penalty. A lot of people could be out a lot of money, not just the convention organizers.

And assuming all of this will just magically go away enough in what is now less than two months away...enough that a venue with thousands if not tens of thousands of attendants is going to go off without a hitch... Seriously?

No matter what, I'm not taking the chance and, worst case scenario, I'm writing off my pre-reg as a loss, since their policy still says no refunds. I booked a hotel outside of Fanime and was able to successfully cancel earlier this month without any penalty. I only hope that the bulk of the other attendees are able to do the same.

How disgusting. Other, far bigger bay area events have rescheduled or canceled with a faster response time. Cinequest from the beginning of this month postponed the second half of their film festival to the summer, despite a huge financial hit. They were able to get this done mid-festival, before the shelter in place order was even given. They have, arguably, lot more to lose than Fanime and they handled it beautifully, despite the short notice and it affecting not only San Jose but Redwood City venues.

If Fanime staff waits until the last possible minute to take any action, I think I'm done with Fanime and I've been going since '98.

[stunned]

Well. I think it's safe to say that Fanime isn't happening this year...

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/19/california-governor-issues-statewide-order-to-stay-at-home-effective-thursday-evening.html

No end date for this order...it's until further notice.

I'm quite frankly stunned at the utter silence and only the single perfunctory statement about COVID-19 from Fanime staff. How incredibly reckless and irresponsible.

To anyone who reads this message, I would strongly suggest you make arrangements to cancel and get refunds for any travel/lodgings that you booked for this event. This is especially urgent if you booked a hotel through Fanime. I believe that the deadline in previous years to cancel and make changes without penalty ends sometime in April. Not sure if that's the same policy this year. Be proactive and get it done to prevent complications.

Fanime's registration policy says no refunds...if they decide to hold that policy in place despite this, that will make many people VERY angry.

So, will the Fanime staff actually say anything about this or will they continue to announce additional guests of honor on Twitter?  ::)

Thanks, Panda! I had a great time at the Ball, too. Thanks for dancing with me (and likewise for all my partners)!

I clearly didn't realize how popular Jareth is (he's from an old movie, after all). It sounds like maybe I should wear him to the ball again next year.

A particular shout out to the shy girl who hid when I asked her to dance--maybe next year. :)

Oh you're not the first Jareth I've seen at Fanime Con. :) I've seen cosplays of him in previous years. Yes, it's safe to say that a Jareth cosplayer at a dance is a guaranteed babe magnet. *lol*

If you can somehow request that "As the World Falls Down" is on the song rotation at the ball, be prepared to be hounded!

You know, my friend and I wre discussing at the con how the dealers hall is no longer the magical place it used to be. I almost never find anything that interestsme because 99% of it I can find somewhere else.

I suppose one thing I have mixed feelings on is the Yaoi booth is the Yaoi-con booth. On one hand, it's awesome because that was certainly not prevelant several years ago. On the other hand, I can never get anything good because all of the kids have picked through it first and I feel a little cheated.

I did not have any trouble finding older people to hang out with. All of my friends are my age. Maybe anime fans just look yung so it's hard to tell.


Tell me of this 'Studio Sokodei". I'm always looking for more things to do at con.

Someone came upto me saying the yliked my costume and gave me a lolipop ...O_O

http://sokodei.com/

The only ones that get shown year after year are Evangelion ReDeath and Nescaflowne. If you still have a copy of this year's schedule, you'll notice that they were shown. They're only available at conventions and I've been seeing them since they first premiered.

I and other long-time fans have memorized bits and pieces of the shows and quote them out loud at the screen which is always a lot of fun. If you happen to see these shows in rotation, I highly recommend seeing them.

For ReDeath and Nescaflowne, it helps a bit to at least know the basic gist of the shows they're parodying (Neon Genesis Evangelion and Vision of Escaflowne, respectively) so that some of the jokes don't go over your head. Bonus if you know a bit of the old Macross series for ReDeath. ;)

Hopefully you'll get to experience them next year!

I am so glad to see a thread like this here. I'm 30 (soon to be 31) and I spent my time observing everything at Fanime this year, especially the people. It left me feeling very introspective and I felt very old. Most of the viewing room stuff that I enjoyed and saw was in the nostalgia room. The fact that it's labeled as "nostalgia" didn't help either.  ;D

It's funny....Fanime started as a place for the "misfits" (those who liked a genre of entertainment that, at the time, wasn't well known and as easily accessible as it is now) to get together and find out the latest and greatest thing in anime. I still remember "world premiere" showings of things that were just coming out in Japan and that being a HUGE deal. But with changing technology, I no longer dash to the dealer's room and load up on whatever I can because I can get most of it online at any time, same with viewing anime in the viewing rooms. It's not necessarily bad, just different.

Walking around and seeing all the younger people and very few older people made me feel like a misfit amongst the "misfits", which was a surreal feeling for me this year.

I still go to Fanime whenever I possibly can because I've been going for such a long time. It's always nice to be surrounded by those who have similar interests to me, even if I don't know what's particularly trendy that year. I must resist the urge to walk up to some of the cosplayers and ask "So what are you supposed to be, sweetie?" then hand them a piece of candy. *lol*

Thankfully some of my old favorites like Anime Hell and the Studio Sokodei fan parodies are still being shown year after year. I love those and hope they never go away. The Studio Sokodei stuff I consider to be the Fanime equivalent of the "Rocky Horror Picture Show" with those in the know reacting to various cues. :)

As I get older, I experience Fanime through a different perspective which, in a way, enhances the con-going experience. It would have been better to experience it with others closer to my age since I went alone this year. Perhaps next year the Fanime veterans can arrange a meetup where we can hang out and yell at all the youngsters to "get off our lawn", so to speak.  :P

To the Spike Spiegel with Ein plushie during the pre-reg line.

I noticed you pacing the lines, waiting like the rest of us for our pre-reg badges, occasionally stopping to take pictures for fans. Perhaps it was the fatigue of standing in line for hours but I couldn't help but notice the expressions on your face. Whether it was intentional or not, you really seemed to "become" Spike and you had that same kind of wan smile with a trace of sadness look. It surprised me and I couldn't look away.

I just wanted to say that you are a very attractive man. By attractive, I mean that in the most innocent and pure way possible. My eyes would follow you as you walked by the area I was in. Whether it was intentional or not, you really stood out in my mind during that time and I figured I would say so, in the off chance that you might see it.

I know that my remark comes off as totally creepy no matter what I say to the contrary but I figured I'd say it anyway.

Just dismiss it as the ramblings from some odd Fanime Con gal if you'd like. *lol*  ;D

Quick question about the first day of Damn You Internets...

I can't get that damn-near-give-me-seizures VaVaVa mix out of my head that was playing during the beginning of the panel. What was that and where can I find it? I really enjoyed trying to keep up with all of the text that whizzed by in the video.  ;D