After a short hiatus, Anime Evolution returns in full force with a new governing body
Photos by Vaikunthe Banerjee
On Nov. 3 and 4, SFU’s Burnaby campus was overrun with Endermen, Links, and even a few Pokemon while it played host to the rebirth of Anime Evolution’s annual convention. It was appropriately dubbed Akimatsuri, a condensation of the Japanese phrase aki matsuri, meaning “autumn festival,” a nod to the fact that this is the first year the convention has been held during any time of the year but summer.
This is also the first time the convention has taken place at all since 2010. While Anime Evolution’s normal three-day event was slated to run from Aug. 13-15 in 2011, it was cancelled, leaving ticket holders and fans in general out of the funds paid for tickets and in the dark regarding the convention’s future.
AE Conventions Corporation, the group that produced anime evolution conventions until 2010, cited various legal and financial issues leading to the 2011 convention’s failure to launch. Anime Evolution is now run by the Vancouver Anime Convention Society, a registered non-profit organization that they state will allow “certain benefits we didn’t [have] before that should lead to more opportunities and reduced costs for the convention.” It will also allow them to partner with other organizations more easily.
The convention itself maintained the same amount of material that their usual three-day event would hold, jam-packed into a two-day format. The halls of the AQ were as busy as a normal school day, except the crowds lasted late into the night, with the last panels wrapping up at 2:00 a.m., only to have the first panels restart the next day at 9:30 a.m.
A big part of any anime convention is cosplay, or costume play, in which fans dress up as their favourite characters from different shows, mangas, movies, etc., often getting completely in character by adopting their personas and mannerisms. The Peak was able to speak to Wayne and Garth, from Aurora, Illinois, who came all that way to “see the show,” said Wayne; “and to maybe score — schwingity-schwang,” added Garth.
The feel of the event was more of a meeting of friends than an opportunity to listen to panels and talk to industry professionals. “It’s more random, I have tonnes of friends here, so I’m always looking for them. As for the guests, if I get to see one, I get to see one,” said Chris Jensen, who started cosplaying about five years ago, and has been a self-defined nerd his whole life. “It’s like nerd mardi-gras almost,” echoed Natasha Pereira, dressed as Belarus from the Hetalia: Axis Powers series. “There’s so many fandoms, there’s so many people to talk to, so many things to see — I can’t get enough of it.”
The next Anime Evolution convention is slated to run sometime in 2013 and will reconvene with their usual three-day format.
