MangaNEXT is my first con, and I wasn’t sure what to expect, other than lots of cosplayers. What it’s turning out to be is a series of good conversations.
It started in the dealer’s room, when I was chatting with the guy at the Dark Horse table and suddenly realized I was talking to Carl Horn himself! He had a nice little display of books up, some of them still in Japanese, and we had a great chat about upcoming titles. Hopefully I’ll be able to tug his sleeve for a podcast later on in the evening.
Naturally I had to go to the Dark Horse panel, which attracted only a few people, but all of them serious fans. I’ll be posting pictures and notes from that later in the day. This morning I went to Erica Friedman’s panel on Manga for Parents, again, a small group but a very enthusiastic discussion, and then Jack and I headed off to my panel, Manga4Kids, which featured a special guest, Tania del Rio. We only had two audience members, so we just pulled the chairs into a circle and had a great chat about technique, favorite titles, and the mangaverse. Some of the panels are more crowded than the ones I went to, but it was great to just sit down and talk to fellow enthusiasts.
The artist’s alley and dealer’s room are in full swing, and I’m happy to say the cosplay contingent has turned out in force. I just passed the entire Ouran High School Host Club on the stairs.
This con is small, and it strikes me as being much different from the bigger ones I’ve read about on the web. I’d say it’s a good starter con.
OK, I have to go see what I’m missing. More later.
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