Yama-Con 2018: The Year of "Re"

Yama-Con 2018: The Year of “Re”

This year was unlike anything before from start to finish. Let me explain.

I did not plan on going to Yama-Con this year, I am in the middle of getting my bachelors degree and not only is it expensive but also time consuming (I am actually ignoring a final I have to do by Sunday night… whoops). I only went on Sunday this year because my mother had her own weekend vacation planned with her friends and was very sad when it fell through because of the weather. To cheer her up I decided to take her to Pigeon Forge for the day and she also made sure I had fun by letting me go to Yama-con for a while. That being said, I had done no research about Yama-con 2018 and it’s themes or changes so everything was a surprise.

Let us talk about this years “Re’s”.

Reconnect:

Within 10 minutes of entering the con (after purchasing my day pass!) I saw some familiar faces. By familiar faces I mean I ran into one of my best friends from the con, shout out to the only fan of Black Clover I have ever met! This person is someone I have known since Yama-con 2016, if you are interested in how you make friends at cons check out that years review post.
I saw familiar vendors – who were just as friendly, or unfriendly depending on the vendor.

However, that being said, I saw someone incredibly important and new that sparked my interest. New owners. That’s right, supposedly Yama-Con changed to new owners who were more prepared to handle the size to which the con has grown. I saw a lot of improvements this year that I believe could be accredited to the new owners.

Reorganize:

As I mentioned, the new owners changes some things around. The first change I noticed before I was even inside the con was the new security policy. Over the speakers you could hear an announcement reminding con-goers how bags were all subject to search, no weapons were allowed on the property, and other security measures. This is drastically different from previous years where the con had security but it was very passive. Being in the Criminal Justice field and working in private security I always question buildings for their safety measures and safety design. Yama-con’s building design is great for conventions, but only decent for safety. That isn’t to say it isn’t safe; however, the structure of rooms such as the main event hall becomes a fishbowl in the event of an attack. It is still stunningly better than places such as where Hickory-Con is hosted, and none of that should be held against the conventions themselves, it is merely an observation.

Another change that was noticed would be the vendors room. Last year I really cracked down about the mix of mature content in with the general population content. By that I am referring to hentai on skyscraper boards, children’s crop tops hanging up highly saying “Yes Daddy”,  body pillows of moaning characters and… well I will let you imagine the rest. I understand that anime conventions are a special place for all types of fans, and I respect that they should have access to merchandise that appeals to them; however, it should not be displayed so vividly at a family friendly convention. I suggested more closed in booths, or a private area for such merchandise. This year the booth that contained those items as well as the squishy/kawaii boobs and male genitals (this blog is fairly family friendly as well) and stuffed ones had dividers to keep the merchandise out of public eye but still available to the merchants. I saw no hentai on display boards or standing out amongst other art. I was very pleased with these changes.

Reinforce:

Along with the new vendor room design and announcements came a few new rules. On the backside of the con badges they revised the standard rules, and added new ones. The con staff were also clearly identified and placed at more stationed locations throughout the convention hall. I also saw them walking throughout the vendors room, hopefully monitoring prices to make sure they weren’t changing throughout the days. I am not referring to the lowering of prices on the last day, I am referring to price gouging which I covered extensively last year.

Reinvigorate:

This short visit to the redesigned Yama-con reinvigorated me to start doing the things I love again. Start dancing, start binging, start reading, but most importantly start going to conventions again. I have already secured my plans for attending Yama-con 2019, as well as my Significant Other, their twin, and one for our longtime friends. So in total I have a group of potentially 8 people to attend with me. This is my new goal for 2019 and I can’t wait to see you all there next year.

I’ve missed you all,

-Aki Ame Okami

Yama-con 2017: Paranormal and Supernatural - Vendor Review

Yama-Con 2017: Paranormal and Supernatural

(The theme not the TV show)

 

 

I know the question that you've all been asking.

"Did animazeme make it to Yama-con?!" well my fair folks, we sure did.

 

I didn't really get loud about us going to Yama-con before hand because of the topic I wanted to report on this year. Now generally, people get a little up-tight when you mention this so bear with me.

I wanted to observe and report the Vendors/Artists and see if they were doing the following:

1. Following all Yama-con, convention center, and state guidelines for merchants.
2. Keeping the same prices at all times.
3. "Family Friendly" as is the convention.

 

First thing's first, What are the Yama-Con vendor rules? In fact, what are rules at all? Well my good people, rules exist to keep you and I safe. Sometimes they might seem like a buzz-kill but I assure you there is a good reason for most of them. The rules specific to Vendors, AKA Merchants, can be found on Yama-cons website here. I wont go over all of them because as I'm sure you can see, there are a lot of them. I will pick and choose the ones that I find are commonly ignored

 

1. Bootlegs: Oh do I have bad news. Every convention, say it with me, every convention ends up being a hot spot for bootleg merchandise. It isn't even always intentional, sometimes you have vendors who just don't know. Regardless of the reason though, there is always bootleg merchandise afoot, or a-hand, or sometimes a-plushie.
1. How am I so certain of this? Bootleg refers to unlicensed or unauthorized sale of a product without the producers consent. Did you see all of the posters at Yama-con? Did you see those plushies? How about all those books? Posters are usually a big one for bootlegs, because it is so hard to obtain creative license for them; however, just like everything else there are ways around it. Buy 1 (one) poster, get your purchase rights, order 100+ unofficial posters, sell them all under the pretense that they are the same one you bought the rights too. OR, my personal favorite, rip off hard working artists who make stunningly beautiful fan art because what  could the repercussions for that be? a lawsuit? only if some artist from Berlin happens to physically see you selling their art.
   Now did Yama-con have an issue with this? Not really. The merchandise wasn't blatantly obvious. The only issues came about when you asked vendors if you could see their license to sell.
1. Don't let me enthusiasm fool you, bootlegging art and other merchandise is despicable and I will continue to call out merchants I see doing it till the day I stop attending cons.
2. Adult Content: Mmmmm Daddy, check again. It's hard to filter this subject because everyone sees different things as being adult content. Some more reserved people might believe that Sailor Moon has a little too much skin showing and call it 18+ where as others will read Sekaiichi Hatsukoi and think "Could have shown a little more". What I typically judge it by is, "How would I feel showing this to my grandma? And not the crazy one." Usually, artists are in more violation of this than merchants are. BUT WAIT - Yama-con has 2 rules on adult content. The first rule is just a general description of adult content, the second says it may be displayed in a tasteful manner.
1. Is the convention really family friendly if you've got Hentai front and center on some massive art walls that can be seen from almost any point in the vendors room? Don't get me wrong, I like a little fanservice as much as the next guy but I don't need to see all that when I'm shopping for pocky. Since this entire subject is up to discretion I wont linger. Personally, I saw some art pieces and items (I'm looking at you, "Yes, Daddy?" belly shirt!) that I found a little distasteful. Oh and at one point in one of the vendors booths, a cosplayers shirt fell down and she didn't have a hidden modesty panel if you catch my drift. I know that isn't exactly accredited to vendors; however, what happens in the vendors room stays in the vendors room. I guess it just dampened my enjoyment of PG13 stuff.
3. Minor things like merchant conduct, checking of ID's and use of music are also always little issues.
1. Every con has minor violations. Why? Because vendors are people too. They are fans and otaku's just like the rest of us. They want to cut loose and have fun, they sometimes forget that they are there working. It's not that big a deal because generally the area manager nips it in the bud. I heard music that was probably a little too loud, I heard vendors cussing or saying things that I personally would have taken the wrong way, I never saw a single ID checked and I personally asked about some items that should have prompted that. It's normal in the con environment. Personally, I secretly believe we all enjoy that a little bit. We don't want our convention centers to have a little Otaku edition of Walmart, we want to fangirl/fanman with the merchants when we find an item we love, we want to openly discuss why we might hate/love this franchise or that character. We don't want them to force smiles and say "My Pleasure!" after every transaction. It's because we are there for more than just a transaction, we are looking for a connection.

So did Yama-con follow all convention, building and state rules, guidelines and laws? I would say yes. There wasn't anything blatantly disturbing or crudely illegal. They passed!

 

Did the vendors keep consistent and fair pricing? Depends. The consistency of pricing was pretty good, I didn't see too many vendors actively changing prices or anything like that. The biggest infraction with price changes that I saw was the "friends and family discount" which is when a vendor gives you a cheaper price cause they like you. It's not exactly a bad thing so I don't deduct any points for it. I was very pleased to not see any gauging this year. I have been seeing it a lot at the other conventions that I go too and it would have made me sad to be forced to do some call out posts on my favorite vendors.

Were the prices fair, this is where it really depends. For an example, I saw Harry Potter wizarding wands being sold for $20. I own one of the same wands, I purchased it brand new for $7 on Wish.com. Because I have vendor friends, I happen to know that this is where a lot of them will get their merchandise. Knowing that they were charging $13 over what I would have paid for it elsewhere, can I honestly think that the prices were fair? Different items, like character custom jackets (Yuri on Ice and Free!! Fans, I am referring to your boys jackets) where it has to be different fabric patterns, stitch types, and materials. Hell yeah, I'll pay whatever god-awful price you want. Why? Because it is highly unlikely that I'd be able to make it for cheaper. After you buy all the different materials, do your research, and sew the thing, you have more time and money invested than if you had just bought it. I'm not saying pay $100 for a track suit jacket, but $27-$35, yeah. That's a fair price. T-shirts with custom prints are ENTIRELY different. Do you know how cheap and easy it is to order custom shirts? Last year I bought a Nekoma (Haikyuu!! Represent!) t-shirt for $20. Just a t-shirt with the school name, not a fancy jersey or anything. Yesterday, from a freelance embroider/fabric printer that I know, I paid $22 for an overly custom hoodie that I got my sister for Christmas. He can do t-shirts for $10, or even cheaper if I provide the shirt. So don't get suckered into buying the shirts, they are different from the jackets.

Sorry about the tangent, I hope you learned something though.

Were the prices fair? Not really. They were over priced. BUT, all dealers rooms are over priced. It is part of con culture.

 

Was the convention hall "Family Friendly"?  Again, that lady lost her shirt. That one vendor was selling boob mousepads. Oh God all the Hentai and "Daddy" Merchandise... Yes, it was family friendly. Surprised? You shouldn't be. Even in the family friends animes, the girls jiggle when they breath, there is fanservice everywhere, and it's just a part of the culture. I'm not saying you should have your kid watch Junjou Romantica (unless you are ready to answer a ton of questions), but if your kid watched even the first season of Naruto then he or she is familiar with the over-sexualization of the female body in anime.

 

Overall, the Yama-con "Market Place" was great. They had more unity and standardization among the vendors than I have seen in years past. There was an obvious increase in security (Back the Blue!), and the vendors were civil human beings. I think that this is one of the best merchant rooms I've seen. I hope you enjoyed this post and that you might have learned something! Feel free to leave your feedback in the comments or email me at akiameokami@gmail.com!

 

~Aki Ame Okami

Fall Hickory-Con 2017 Cosplans

Cosplans for Hickory-Con F2017

Hello again, I thought about trying something new for Hickory-con. I suppose you could say I'm about to experiment on my fellow con-folks. 

You all know the common cosplay motto of "Anyone can cosplay!" but is it real? I personally believe anyone can cosplay, but does the reception change depending on who it is and what they're wearing? 

My suspicions are: 

• Child cosplays are more well-received than not just because they are young.  
• What I mean here is someone will see a kid with a crayon on cardboard costume in think it's amazing yet someone will see a teenager or adult with a cardboard costume and judge them harshly. 
• Females are more well-received than not. 
• Do I have to break this one down for you?
• Hand-made costumes that look "good" are more well received than a fancy purchased costume. 
• A costume that is purchased online o be an exact replica still might not be regarded as highly as a hand-made costume BUT a cheap purchased costume is still better than a bad hand-made costume?! What are these strange cosplay bylaws?! 

My primary focus for Hickory-con will be the first and third theory. 

I will be bringing my kid cousin to the convention, partially to help in testing the theory and partially to bring him to the dork side. I'm just going to throw him a costume together and see what we get in response.

For the third theory I joined a website called Wish and purchased the different parts of the "Attack on Titan: Survey Corps." uniform. Specifically the jacket, butt cape, and cape. I am being slightly bitter by trying to use the harness I made in my last cosplay attempt. If it doesn't work I will go without a harness this time and retest the theory later.  

The results I am anticipating are:

 

For the first, I expect my cousin to be cooed at. I expect women to be more receptive than men but for him to be found "adorable" regardless of the quality of the costume. I am curious to see how he will interact with other cosplayers his age and if they will come across as judgemental. 

For the third, I expect people to be a little "over" the AoT fandom. Even though they just had their second season, they have already had a ton of cosplayers that have shown up at these 1-day cons dressed in AoT gear. I wont be anything new, so I do not expect a shock factor. I expect the general questions of "Did you make it or buy it?". 

I think it will be curious to gauge peoples reactions and figure out where the bias of Hickory lays. 

I can't wait to run into any of you there, be sure to swing by and say hi if you follow the blog! 

-Aki Ame Okami

Upcoming Appearances

Upcoming Appearances

 

 

 

 

Hey Y'all, I am just giving you a 20 day notice that I will be at Hickory-con on September 30th and at Morganton-con November 4th.

 

This semester around my instructions seem to be in sync with con season! I wont have midterms or finals right around there so we are good to roll.

 

See you soon!

 

-Aki Ame Okami 

 

Why Him? Dean Winchester Edition

Why Him? Dean Winchester Edition!

 

The segments of "Why Him?" and "Why Her?" are going to be character studies of characters I want to cosplay. I will dig deeply into what makes them, them. It will be something akin to the way your English or art teachers always over analyzed everything authors or artists did.

 

The first character we are going to dissect will be the infamous Dean Winchester. Dean is one of the main characters of the incredibly popular CW show Supernatural.

Dean is a character who has depth, he is more than just a pretty face. But boy is he a pretty face!

This show follows the story of Dean and his brother, Sam and eventually their best friend, Castiel. The brothers hunt monsters and demons and Cas is an angel of the Lord. Strange sentence, am I right? But I am here to focus on Dean's personality, not the show.

 

Things that make Dean perfect:

• Dean is short.
• Being short is important for two reasons. First, I am short so from a cosplay perspective I can provide a better character depiction if I match our heights up.
• Second, the strong male image that media projects is that of the "Tall, dark and handsome". It is important to show that short men can be strong and impressive. Their height doesn't make them any less manly. This is the message that young men who are short need.
• Dean likes leather, combat boots and nice cars.
• We all know I have a thing for these three objects. Dean is the epitome of manliness, but he isn't a schmuck like most playboys. He doesn't conform to stereotypical unhealthy male behaviors. He shows it is possible to be a man, but not be a jerk. (No offense my dudes, but a lot of you that I go to school with could use some work.)
• Dean cries.
• People die? Good time to cry. Just because you are male doesn't mean you don't get upset. I think it is important to show young males that when you lose someone, it is okay to cry about it!
• Dean has family issues.
• You guys tired of me talking about this yet? Too bad. I have had a lot of issues similar to Deans. This reason is incredibly personal. When you spend your entire life living for someone else and they just leave.... It messes you up.
• Dean is strong, selfless, brave, sarcastic and loving.
• I respect him. He has the character traits that I can only aspire to have.

 Let me guess, I have you wanting to cosplay him now too don't I? ;)

Well now you know why! If you have any further questions feel free to email me at akiameokami@gmail.com to ask!

See ya!

-Aki Ame Okami



Descendants 2 Character review

Descendants 2 Review

 

I am a hopeless Disney Descendants fan. You know it, I know it and now the neighbors know it because I was a very enthusiastic fan this evening.


Here is a general review of the characters and the growth that we have been able to see. Overall I think Disney did a very nice job with this new movie and I think it flows nicely. There were some areas that could use a little more emphasis, but I guess that is where Descendants 3 comes in. ;)

 

Again, if you are new here I am going to provide a short self introduction as to my personality and writing style to help you better understand this review. I write in a casual/inclusive writing style. I want to you to feel involved and like I am speaking directly to you. Nothing is more frustrating than professional reviews that are painful to read, so here is an alternative review style. I am an enthusiastic cosplayer/reviewer who is 18 and well versed in most areas. If I don't know something, I will just tell you that instead of making something up. With that in mind, I hope you enjoy the review!

 

Descendants 2 had a lot of strong points but what this post is going to focus on is the character development in all of the characters.

Mal -

Obviously this movie focused a lot on Mal. She has grown a lot from the first movie but not in a healthy way. She developed some bad habits (spelling things and people) and developed some self image issues. This is a vast difference from our defiant and confident Mal from the first movie. While I don't like the softer Mal that was shown, even closer to the end of the movie, I like that they explored these identity issues. By the end of the movie Mal has reconnected with her roots, her group and what made her want to change in the first place. I think it leaves us with a strong Mal with more room to grow in the right direction.

Evie -

THIS IS MY GIRL! Gonna be honest, I disliked her in the first movie cause she was a ditz but my girl has come a lonngggg way. Evie grew from a superficial girl into an incredibly smart, talented and confident lady. She has a booming design business and doesn't take crap from anyone, and right beside her for these changes was her supportive boyfriend Doug. I love the dynamic they have because they are equal to each other, she is the strong one but he will still defend her to princes, he manages her business finances and supports her dreams. BUT she is not a dainty princess and he know he isn't her "prince" but he is her knight. I will defend this ship with. My. Life. Also, she has a big heart and is fighting for the kids that she grew up with. She is going to be a great advocate for the isle.

Jay -

Jay came a long way from his rule breaking enthusiastic lifestyle. He even obeys the smallest (and more sexist) of rules. We also saw that he became less aggressive than before. It was curious to see him as a responsible captain, and it was very fitting. Through out the rest of the movie we got to see him step up as a leader when Mal was lacking or when something needed to be said. Like when everyone was arguing he calmed them down and when Mal and Evie were chatting about her hair, he took initiative to bring them together. Jay is a born leader and is doing the one thing his father, jafar, could not. Being successful and compassionate in a leadership position. In the end when he forfeits his title as captain to Lonnie(?) so she can join the team that is him doing what is best for the team. She is strong and they needed her. He sacrificed his title for the greater good and I hope that doesn't go unnoticed.

Carlos -

Our shy boy came a long way as well. Carlos is a more outspoken and confident person. I don't think he lacked confidence in the first movie but I believe he was more introverted, now we see a more open Carlos who stands his ground. For example, kicking Chad out of his room repeatedly. He is dismissing a prince and gives 0 cares. We also have a slight mention of how he programmed his 3D printer to have really cool hacks and such which references his special abilities with computers. Jay can be physical, Evie can be smart, Mal can be sly and Carlos can hack. This is important. Finally we see our boy finally ask Jane out. To be honest, I didn't see it. BUT I am not against it. The little dorks make each other happy and they make each other stronger, for Carlos he has someone to protect and for Jane she has someone who makes her feel beautiful which is not to be under-estimated.

Jane -

Jane grew in a few notable ways. She became a more involved and outspoken person than the shy, squeaky girl from the first movie. Now she is coordinating big projects and making sure the schedule is kept to. BUT she is still insecure about herself and you can tell, even the way she thought Carlos wanted to go to the party as friends until he spelled it out for her is a sign of the insecurity. Carlos makes her feel beautiful and while that isn't the best place to get a confidence boost it is still a wonderful development for a young girls self esteem to have someone like that.

Duke -
well, he/she learned English so that is pretty impressive.

Ben -

Ben was a goodie two-shoes in the first movie. While he developed a wicked streak in the second one, he NEVER abandoned his big heart, which is what truly makes him King Ben. He was trying to tackle the life struggles of ruling a kingdom, dealing with an engagement, helping the project areas and maintaining his grades. We know he had to quit his different sports teams because he didn't have time, the time he spent with Mal dwindled to near nothing and we know he was overwhelmed. He never complained though. Ben is a strong character who is taking care of business and while he might not be the first to throw a punch he is powerful with words before fists, and he doesn't let his girlfriend fight all his battles for him. In the end when he still trying to seek peace, preventing what could have been a catastrophic battle, he was doing his duty as a king. He put his life on the line. His biggest development in this movie was seeing the other side of things and understanding just how abused these kids were. It is one thing to hear about it and think you know, but he never really knew.  And Uma abusing his kindness and spelling him didn't scare him away from continuing to seek justice for these kids. Ben is a good leader.

Lonnie -

In the first movie we never really got to explore her character. We saw that she wasn't afraid of our lil' villains and that she was still compassionate towards them but that was it. In this movie she is introduced as a threat. She is powerful and smart just like her mother, and she may be a love interest for Jay which is a perfect math. Talk about power couple, am I right?! I look forward to seeing more of her.
NEW CHARACTERS -

Uma -

 

You can see the results of abuse and bullying in her personality. All she is looking for is validation. This is the entire point of "Say my name", she wants to be acknowledged. Her dwarf rats don't really obey her, they still challenge her constantly and call her "Shrimpy". While she has issues, there is room for change. I really hope Disney takes the opportunity to properly show kids/people how to interact with someone who comes from that abusive background.

 

Harry Hook -

 

Dang.. Uh, not gonna lie, I am so weak to this little out law. I was practically drooling over him, and when he tickled Ben my heart skipped a beat. I could ship that, I wont cause I will be lynched, but I could. I could see him being a bigger problem in the future. He has more of a cutthroat attitude than Uma and it is clear that him and Jay have bad blood. I hope we see much more of that delectable pirate.

 

Son of Gaston -

Sorry dude, I can't remember your name but I bet you are one that gets to leave the isle. You don't seem inherently bad, just kinda a dunce. Definitely room for improvement. 

Flash update: ARDA

ARDA DID THE THING!

 

Arda is the wig company that I religiously order my wigs from. They have made some ground breaking progress lately which has relieved some major stress from the cosplay community.

 

They released Kyle which is a wig that can be made to have an UNDERCUT.

 

This is ground breaking because now characters like Levi (Attack on Titan) And Dean Winchester (Supernatural) are within reach.

 

Anyways here is the link: https://www.arda-wigs.com/products/kyle-classic?mc_cid=56227537ef&mc_eid=240c7dc393&variant=42810982732 

 

Much love!

 

~Aki Ame Okami