So every year in Auckland there's this anime convention that gets held at the same netball stadium. There are other conventions, to be sure, but this one is probably the only convention in the whole of New Zealand that caters specifically to anime. My previous experiences had been pretty decent (it's been a year since my last post on this convention, who knew!) and hopefully this year would be even better. So I packed and set off, managing to arrive there at about one.

The thing about conventions is that it attracts the best and worst people in the fandom. Some people are pretty chill while others can be really obnoxious, and that's just something you'll have to deal with. The community in New Zealand is really small, so it's not surprising that you're going to see some Dr. Who cosplay here and there even though, well, neither Dr. Who nor something like Adventure Time counts as anime.

Most of the merchandise there is really overpriced, but there were quite a few good stalls, since people were selling their own art and things of that sort. I think that by going to conventions, you get a good idea of what the most popular (aka flavour-of-the-month) anime is among the Western fan base. Three years ago, it was Madoka. Two years ago, Attack on Titan and Free, and last year it was Kill la Kill. This year - and you'd never believe it - it was actually Love Live! I'd actually never imagined anyone except for a vocal minority would be into idols. I was wrong.

This convention turned out to be a weird reunion of some sorts. The Love Live cosplayers, who were at the Love Live movie screening, came here as well, and this time their costumes were actually pretty good. Most of the people who went to Noizi Ito's earlier event came here as well. That included the president of my university's anime club, whom I had a nice short chat with. There really are only so many anime fans in the Auckland region, and it gives me a weird feeling that somehow everyone is now together in the same room.

Last time I came, I met a really good artist who drew a lot of Love Live fan-art. It turns out he's come a long way since and now he's well into making his first game. I went to his stall and greeted him, and asked him if he remembered me. He didn't. I said that I was the person who really liked Honoka, and he instantly remembered. I think that's a sort of litmus test for Love Live fans, really, is that you remember people by who their favourite (best) girl is and not by other things like names. I believe he really likes Nozomi and Eli.

I had a really nice chat with him. Like me, he also used to browse a lot of 4chan, and the conversation that happens between two people that browses /a/ is totally different from a more 'normal' conversation. I can't really put my finger on how exactly it's different, but it just is. Anyway, I asked him a bunch of questions about how things are going on in Japan, since he just came back from there. Apparently Love Live is enormously popular (obviously), but @ is holding its ground, and Wake Up Girls is still a spectacular failure. He also told me that no-one in Japan cares about what /a/ thinks - or what the Western fandom thinks in general, rather. Nothing too surprising. 

So I bought some stuff from him, and after a bit of nagging, I managed to get him to sketch me a portrait of Honoka. Maybe this is turning into a yearly tradition or something. I'm pretty sure we only meet like once a year anyway so I might as well make the most of it. But honestly, I have a lot of respect for him, since he's actually a very good artist and obviously works very hard. 

I kept walking on, and then a girl called my name. I looked back and she immediately lowered here head, pretending that she didn't see me. But I recognized her immediately - she was my high school classmate, whom I haven't seen in four years. I couldn't remember her name, but she still looked every bit like how she was in high school. It turns out that she's putting out some of her drawings for sale, and it turns out she really likes Saber and that apparently Fate/Zero is a masterpiece. I told her that I really liked Prisma Illya and she accused me of being a lolicon. Of course I denied it outright but deep inside she was kind of right.

It turns out that the high school arrangement hasn't changed at all. Back in high school, there was a bunch of people who really liked anime - herself included. Most of them are turning up to this convention as well, though I'll probably be gone before they get here. So much for my high school reunion, then, but it was pretty fun chatting to her while it lasted.

Lots of drama happened on the day, as well. But that's a story for another post.