Con rules complaint

[casuallyironicknight]

The title is both misleading and not. I have a complaint that seems to never be answered by staff properly in my emails and was hoping the convention forum staff could help and if the community wants to throw in their two cents I don’t mind.

Anime conventions such as Anime Boston are huge and home to many fans of varying shows, manga, video games, and other media.

Anime Boston (in my experience thus far) will not let you have a panel or attend certain events unless your cosplay hails from Japanese culture. I understand. Anime is primarily Japanese and this would make sense. Despite this, I can’t help but feel a little discriminated against.

I started out as a Homestuck cosplayer, Homestuck is a webcomic and not at all Anime. I now cosplay for Miraculous, which is a cartoon. It does have an anime, however it was never completed and I believe it only had a preview? Regardless, the characters based off the anime characters are different in many aspects. I can’t participate in any events as far as I’m aware.

I don’t think this is fair, I feel like a change is in order not just for myself but for the rest of the cosplayers in various fandoms as well.

Anime Boston is supposed to be fun! It feels more businessy and strict to me lately. Staff, is there any way you are willing to work with us?

I am sorry if this post is out of place or out of line in any way, I am just trying to understand and get a little help. I wish to work with Anime Boston on the rules and come to a satisfactory end result. I mean no harm and overall enjoy my con experience, I only think broadening the horizon and being a bit more all-inclusive would benefit the con and con-goers overall and would love if you could hear me out!

Thank you for reading!

[Faceman]

Hi, thanks for coming to us with your question/issue. I'm going to address it the best I can.

Anime Boston's focus is anime (that's why we have it in the name), manga, J-Pop, J-Rock, and everything Japanese. We understand that limits the scope of our event compared to other conventions. But we also think it's what sets us apart from those conventions.

Right now there is no shortage of fan conventions that cater to all aspects of nerdom: anime, manga, super hero films, western comics and animation, science fiction, fantasy, etc. I could go on and on. But when the programming focus at these conventions is all very similar, it makes it harder for any one of them to stand out.

Our narrower focus on Japanese animation, comics, and pop-culture may seem to be an unnecessary restriction. But it allows us to focus and excel on this niche of nerdom. If you're really into Anime and Manga, an all-around nerd con might have some things that interest you, but it can just as well have anime and manga topics that's not your cup of tea. At Anime Boston, if you're not into the action anime, there's romance. If you're not into comedy, there's drama. If you love slice of life, we have panels on living in everyday Japan. If you want to know more about historical Japan, we've got things on that too.

It comes down to "jack of all trades, master of none." We'd rather be a leader of anime, manga, and Japanese-pop culture conventions than middle of the pack of general fan conventions. And it's been working for us. Anime Boston is the 7th largest anime convention in North America. Our success has gone noticed by the industry, both in America and Japan. That success helps us get bigger and better guests (FLOW, Kaoru Wada, Shingo Natsume, Puffy AmiYumi), and events (Kiznaiver World Premiere, Anonymous Noise World Premiere, Sailor Moon SuperS Moonlight Masquerade). That helps us set ourselves apart and grow even more.

Anime Boston (in my experience thus far) will not let you have a panel or attend certain events unless your cosplay hails from Japanese culture.

For the record, our requirements about presenting a panel are that its topic is something relevant to Japanese entertainment, pop-culture, or society, not what you're wearing. I've seen Supernatural cosplayers give panels about Anime Music Video editing and Inception cosplayers present panels on Bishounen Character Tropes. The important part is the subject of the panel you're presenting, not your own personal appearance.

Additionally, anyone can attend and watch any event no matter what their cosplay is. If you're cosplaying as Lisa Simpson, Captain America, or Garnet, by all means come in and see what's going on!

The distinction comes when you want to present a panel or participate in a cosplay event at Anime Boston, you are looking to become part of the Programming Anime Boston puts on. As our programming's focus is Japanese culture, we have to be selective to make sure the participants reflect that focus. For panels, it means your topic has to apply to our mission. For cosplay events and contests, it means your costume has to be aligned with what we're presenting.

I hope you can understand where we're coming from. I know it's probably not the answer you were looking for. But we feel that by focusing on anime, manga, and Japanese-culture overall, it will set us apart from the all-around fan conventions that have become increasingly commonplace.

[casuallyironicknight]

It may not have been the answer I was looking for but it was more in depth and well written. I understand how things work a little better now.

I love the Japanese culture theme, although I do feel left out with panels. Do you know any good conventions that are jack of all trades as well?

[Faceman]

I love the Japanese culture theme, although I do feel left out with panels. Do you know any good conventions that are jack of all trades as well?

FanCons.com has a great database to find all types of nerd-conventions. For the New England area, there's this list: http://fancons.com/events/state.shtml/ZZ002800799

[casuallyironicknight]

Thank you for being so helpful!

[Staren]

As an attendee, one of the main reason that I attend Anime Boston is because it is anime specific, and I'm sure that is true for a lot of other attendees. If it is what you want, there are a fair number of comic cons and other general geek conventions as others have said.

Here's another good list of cons and events in New England.
https://www.cosplayconventioncenter.com ... w_england/

[Chrom]

In the Boston area, there's a few other conventions as well. One that is pretty heavily scifi/fantasy in January, as well as a few comic/video game conventions scattered through the year.

Also, for certain events like the formal ball, your cosplay doesn't have to be exclusively anime/manga/etc, it just has to be formal. You could also choose not to cosplay and just attend the ball in formal wear, probably?

[Fetch]

In the Boston area, there's a few other conventions as well. One that is pretty heavily scifi/fantasy in January, as well as a few comic/video game conventions scattered through the year.

Also, for certain events like the formal ball, your cosplay doesn't have to be exclusively anime/manga/etc, it just has to be formal. You could also choose not to cosplay and just attend the ball in formal wear, probably?

The one in January is Arisia. It's at the Westin Waterfront, next to the BCEC.
The Star Trek group I'm with has a fan table there every year, trying to recruit new members.