mai attended Yaoi Con 2010 held at San Francisco recently! It’s a pity she forgot her camera but her report gives us a wonderfully detailed image of some of the events she went to :) I particularly enjoyed her description about what happened during discussion panels of Yamane Ayano-sensei and Takanaga Hinako-sensei. Check it out!
Update: Check out more Yaoi-con coverage from TasukiHoney here. Thanks for sharing!
Event: Yaoi Convention 2010 (Yaoi-con 2010)
Date: 29 – 31 October 2010
Location: San Francisco, Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport
Official site: http://www.yaoicon.com/
I was there for the whole three days though I kinda skipped a lot of the activities there. My main purpose of going was actually to meet Ayano-sensei and Takanaga-sensei. This was my first convention, and I expected the place to be very crowded and noisy, but it wasn’t like that at all. The place (Hyatt hotel in San Francisco) was huge, and people are pretty much scattered about, though I remember reading somewhere that there were around 10,000 participants. Another thing that surprised me was that there were a lot of guys at the convention, and some of them were in cosplay, and I thought that’s kind of neat. There were a lot of people cosplaying, from series such as Kuroshitsuji, Togainu no Chi, Crimson Spell, Ouran, Hetalia etc. and most of them were really nice. Too bad I forgot my camera, otherwise, I would take lots of pictures. ^^
The event took place from Friday the 29th to Sunday the 31th.
Day 1 – 29 October 2010
On Friday, they had an Opening Ceremony, a Swap Meet, and some other activities. I only attended the Swap Meet. I hoped to sell some of my old stuff to get back some of the money I spent on the plane tickets. I didn’t get to sell a lot, but I did manage to meet a lot of fans who shared the same interest so I had a lot of fun.
Day 2 and 3 – 30-31 October 2010
On Saturday, I went there 1 and a half hours early to line up for Takanaga-sensei’s panel after I found out that you have to attend the panel to get tickets to sensei’s autograph sessions. The one thing that I found dissatisfying about this con is the lack of important announcements. They would tell you that you would need tickets to attend the autograph sessions, but they never told you how to obtain those tickets. Not a lot of people I talked to knew that you have to attend the panel to get the tickets. I only found that out when I visited their forum before coming to the event. >..<;;)
Takanaga-sensei’s Discussion Panel
The panel itself was pretty entertaining. Sensei answered a lot of questions, and even told us two stories of her life experiences.
The first one was about how she went to deliver her manuscript for one of her stories but met up with an accident on the way. She was okay but had to go to the hospital so she decided to call up the publisher to tell them that she’ll be late in getting her stories in. She told them that she was involved in the accident and needed to go to the hospital, but since that sounded like a typical excuse, he didn’t believe her. So she let them hear the sound of the ambulance, and they finally believe her. Lol.
The other story was about how one of her deadlines was pushed to two days earlier, and she had to ask one of her friends to help. They thought they wouldn’t make it and had to draw even when they were on the bullet train to Tokyo (where they’ll be handing the script in. Sensei was living in Nagoya at the time.) They did complete the script, but after they turned it in, both of them had to go to the toilet to throw up, due to the drowsiness caused by the train ride. Sensei made it clear that BOTH of them threw up. XD
After the Q&A, DMP announced some of their newly licensed titles and some more info about their up-coming big project. It seems to me that they are making use of the saying “if you can’t fight them, join them.” Though I hope they’re not trying to charge ridiculous high fees to view each chapters like how Libre is doing with theirs. I’ve been purchasing a lot of the physical books, and I would rather continue purchasing them than paying a couple of bucks to view only a chapter online. :/
Anyway, after the panel ended, we were then told that you don’t need tickets to attend Takanaga-sensei autograph sessions, which will take place in another couple of hours (there goes my 1 and ½ hours of waiting >.<;;)
Ayano-sensei’s Discussion Panel
Ayano-sensei’s panel was next. We were told to clear the room and return 10 minutes later. As expected, there were a lot more people at Ayano-sensei’s panel.
Once we settled down, one of the people there took out one of the Akihito’s pillow cover and placed it in front of us. He was gorgeous! People began coming up to take pictures of “him”. People were really excited when they heard he would be on sale at the end of the panel, but then there were only ten of him. :/
When I found out that the autograph session for Ayano-sensei was going to be raffled, (they only announced it when we got into the room <.<) I was really disappointed, to be honest. All of us who were attending the panel will get tickets but only 200 chosen ones will get to have sensei’s autograph. I’ve never expected that I would win ( was extremely happy when I did) and I felt bad for the people who didn’t win, especially the ones who waited at least 3 hours in line for her panel. I thought that was unfair for them. Those people should have let us know something like that way before hand, so people wouldn’t have to wait in line for a couple of hours in advance just to get the ticket. Though I guess I shouldn’t complain since I got the winning ticket. :/
The panel was for fans to ask sensei questions. Lots of interesting questions were asked. Though I already heard a lot from other fans, I found Ayano-sensei’s personality to be wonderfully cute. When she sat down, she didn’t notice that the Akihito’s cover was placed in front of her. When she finally noticed, she kept standing up to check it out. ^^
Another thing, when the translator translated one of sensei’s response, and one of the fan got so excited that he/she stood up and threw his/her hands in the air and yelled out. Sensei followed that person and did the same thing, lol. I think the fan’s reaction somehow took her by surprise. XD Sensei seems to like to laugh a lot and seems to take great interest in trying to understand what the fans try to ask her, though too bad for us that the translator does not have the same enthusiasm so I believe a lot of sensei’s response went untranslated. There were a couple of times she didn’t even understand some of the questions asked. ^^;; I think in this regard, Takanaga-sensei’s translator was better.
Another thing I like about Ayano-sensei was that she had message cards passed out to everyone who attended her panel. This way, fans can write her messages. I’ve found that to be very thoughtful of her ^^.
Autograph Sessions
Ayano-sensei’s autograph session was before Takanaga-sensei’s, though I mixed them up and ended up waiting for Takanaga-sensei’s, not knowing that hers would take place 1 hour after Ayano-sensei’s. In the end, I only managed to get Takanaga-sensei’s autograph and had to come back on Sunday for Ayano-sensei (both of them have two autograph sessions). But! When I got back on Sunday, I managed to get Takanaga-sensei to sign another book for me. :DDD
Other events
Besides the autograph sessions, there were also the Bishie Brunch, Bishie Bingo, Bishie auction, Carnival and a couple of other events, but I didn’t go to any. I did visit the Video Room where they showed a lot of different anime and the Dealer’s Room, where they sold a lot of stuff, though most of them were way overpriced. They did give out freebies if you purchased a lot, like pencil boards, though if you’re not a collector, I don’t see any use :(
All in all, I really enjoyed the con and was glad I managed to meet the two sensei and learned more about them. The three books will be my treasure forever. :D
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Thanks mai for your lovely event coverage! XD
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Were you at the convention too? ^^
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I finally got Yaoi Con blog post done. Please enjoy. Thanks!
http://randomramblingsfromme.wordpress.com/2011/01/06/yaoi-con-2010/
@ponytale – “I was inside my mum’s tummy! lol lol~ XDD (of cos I had no memory of that) XDD”
lol ah, what a good age to fly! XD
I think it would be a first horrible experience for me if i ever do go on a plane. They have body scanners where they can see you completely naked now. If you refuse to go to the body scanner then you the option of getting your body frisked by the air port security. Sometimes they go so far as to take you to a room where you have to take off your clothes in case something is up. ;_;
A lot of people are super mad about this. What i feel bad for is not them but the people only doing there jobs, have to put up with horrible verbal abuse everyday.
Is the airport security the same were you are at?
@sigma: Did you have a good holiday? XD
Oh… I saw those scanners in the news that our airports were testing. I didn’t really follow what happened after that but there was mention that it wasn’t compulsory (maybe used only on passengers they’re really suspicious of) and will be viewed by a female security officer (for female passengers. The faces and private body parts will be blurred out in the images and images automatically deleted after the scan)
I’ve flown a couple of times and so far, have only stepped through the traditional x-ray type of scanners, nothing so extreme. Even if they do use those scanners, I’ll try not to think about it and just focus on enjoying my trip :P Don’t be afraid!
@ponytale – I plan on doing a write up of my adventure at Yaoi con on my blog… when I get the chance.
@Tasuki_Honey: That’ll be awesome! XD Do give me a buzz when you post!
@Tasuki_Honey – That’s awesome! XD I’m glad you managed to take a pic with Okiayu-san in the end! Definitely a happier outcome! *hugz*
Feedback to the Yaoi-con organisers so that they plan better for next year? I feel bad for you and the other fans too and wouldn’t want to be in the same situation either… :-\ It may not help that much if they still have to raffle it but it may just be better to be mentally prepared than be royally disappointed like that.
Just curious hehe are there any interesting highlights he said during the seiyuu panel? :D
I was at Yaoi Con, too!!! I went to go see Ryoutarou Okiayu!!! He is the seiyruu for Tezuka Kunimitsu in the Prince of Tennis. I am totally in love with Tezuka.
I so agree with mai about the autograph session. It royally sucked!!! I was one of first twenty people in line for Ryoutarou Okiayu’s focus panel and I found about ticket raffle after I sat down. I was not as lucky as Mai. I was doing my best from crying when I found out at all the numbers before me got in but me. I missed out on quite a few things waiting over an hour and half for his panel.
But my trip did end with a happy note, he and he other seiyruu had a session late on Sunday where you give them gifts and say thanks and if you wanted your picture with them (if you had a camera with you.) I ended up a having my picture taken with him in my Tezuka cosplay outfit. In which my friends who I went with said was better than an autograph.
@hiroshichan: yeah! It would’ve been interesting to be there :D
@sigma – It’s definitely nicer and more fun to go to a new place if you have company :D but I’m sure you’ll be able to find fellow fans to go together eventually *time to brainwash your friends lol* XDD As for being on the plane… I was around 0 years old when I first flew on one :P I was inside my mum’s tummy! lol lol~ XDD (of cos I had no memory of that) XDD
Aww so lucky!! Just reading this makes me wish i was there! Sounds very exciting to meet the person you admire. They sound like so much fun!
I’ve always wanted to go to one of those cons especially the yaoi con. I have no one to go with me though. I don’t even know how i would get around to places in a place i’ve never been to. *has never even been on air plane before;;;* OTL
OMG!! Your friend is so lucky to be able to attend and meet those lovely ladies!! I wish I can get a chance to meet Ayano Yamane someday, she’s my inspiration!! ;.;
*goes off to google pics of the con*