We had a good time at our first anime convention, MomoCon. It was held at Georgia Tech in Atlanta last weekend. We drove down and back on Sunday (3.5 hours each way) which made for a long day, but worth it.
Impressions: almost everyone was in costume, groups of affiliated costumes moved together in packs, many genres were represented but the majority were Japanese anime characters. Overall the culture is young, barely out of their teens. But seriously committed to their art and very playful. Lots of goofing around and laughter. The vendors were selling mostly mass produced items, though at least half the particpants were wearing handmade costumes.
Met a real nice guy, Carleton, at the booth of fantasy artist Lee Fev Camara, who gave me some background on the con and vending tips.
It was cold and rainy, getting more so as the day went on. Felt sorry for the flock of Gothic Lolitas shivering prettily in ruffled skirts and parasols. I realized I don’t know enough about anime, recognized few characters. Luckily Connor was there to clue us in! Where’s a good place to start?
The panels were great. The steampunk contingent was well represented. We connected with some cool artists that are part of it.
