I’m actually kind of glad they got rid of glomping. I’m sure it caused a lot of injuries back in the day. Now we have “Shake my hand in Character.” Which is a lot nicer and family friendly. 😊
jay free hugs are the best thing ever, but glomping is more risky XD (I still free hug a 1000 people + every time at my fav con every 3 months. It never changed. Its 100% like 2009. xD)
My friend was one of the last victims of glomping. He got a lot of attention for being tall, fit and nerdy, so there was a group of teens jumping on him and the game was to try to take him off balance. They were all probably 110 lbs or less so it was nothing, and they took turns so he could reset is footing between lunges. The last girl who went for it was no part of the original group and was way more heavyset. She glomped out of rotation and hit him in a bad position. His knee sounded like bubble wrap when it gave out. It killed his tae-kwon-do career, and even after surgery, most physical activities like hiking or swimming were absolutely off the table. I do miss yaoi paddles though. A degenerate weapon for a less civilized age.
I miss the early 2000s cosplay vibe. Like, it's so cool to see really nice fancy cosplays, but I feel like there's way more pressure now to have a perfect body, cosplay, wig and makeup instead of just the celebration of dressing up and being a weird nerd.
@@sakai_sukistudios4157 I still do cosplay But now I do 100% original characters and have fun making my own characters (though I usually end up doing some sort of Kenshiro / Rambo / Terminator crossover). I find it fun creating the design and the character. I also feel that TaoBao and sites like that have made it too easy to just buy a premade costume. Which makes it just fancy dress at that point. So I want to differentiate myself from that. I do find modern cons a bit boring though. I know I will sound old but....I wish people would not be so glued to their phones. I would remember it is cosPLAY, not cosPHONE.
I feel so old when I say this but back in my day haha, as a kid anime was so scarce and it blows my mind how it’s so popular now. I was obsessed with anime as a kid and went to my first convention when I was a teenager. I still remember the butterflies in my stomach excitement I felt walking into Animazement for the first time. I remember all of this stuff you talked about in the video too. I haven’t been to an anime con in many years now and I’m not into it any more but it’s still a fond memory. Great video, thanks for the walk down memory lane!
Animazement was my very first con too! I'm 32 now and still very much enjoy anime and my next con will be momocon in Atlanta. I agree it's strange to see how popular anime is now. Strange but a good strange
Just got recommended this by the algorithm. I attended my first convention when I was 17, in 2002. I really do miss the feeling of scrappiness and excitement around the old con scene. It's cool that anime is more accessible, but it feels a lot more commercial now - of course there were always opportunists making money off of crazed otaku, but with the big companies involved and AI art in the artists alleys, I do feel like the idea of identity as consumption has reached an all time high in nerd culture for about the last decade or so. Still, I have a ton of good memories, and even as I approach middle age I love going to my local con every year and always wish I had more friends with more free time so I could attend more.
Hmm. I was an attendee of Animecon 91 and Anime Expo 92. I wish there was a way to actually bring the feeling and memories of that era to those of you curious of what it was like for the beginnings of anime cons in the US. It was a fun time and not super overcrowded. I mean we always had our share “deodorant less” fans but at least there was breathing room. I just recently looked at some 2022 or 2023 Anime Expo footage and that gave me some anxiety just how much people are there. lol. I just recently started going to local cons in 2022 because now my kids are old enough to enjoy most anime. They always roll their eyes when I keep telling them how good they have with the internet and anime being pretty much everywhere and mainstream. Never mind their dad only ever had Nikaku Animart and SJ Books Kinokuniya for official anime merch. Lol.
its wild seeing younger people who look at cons from 90s-early 2000s like they missed out on something. yeah they were wild for what they were but i do not miss paying $30 for a single volume of a bandai anime series dvd lol
@@matty6878 That’s why we “sailed the Grand Line” even back then. The prices for official merch was much higher and more scarce. The malls didn’t carry this stuff. We were satisfied with viewing fuzzy 3rd generation English fan sub vhs tapes of Kimagure Orange Road and such. lol. There is always a trade off with the older generation and the younger. The younger folk have easier access to anime and their merch is generally cheaper. Older folk have bragging rights of being there first. lol.
i have mixed feelings about the loss of stuff like free hug signs glomping and yaoi paddles like yes its definitely for the best in the big picture but man those weird little things were so out of pocket and really gave the anime community more of a unique identity
omg the glomping 😩I remember going to a anime panel where con goers shared their con horror stories and this one person said they joined a "glomp circle" where people take turns to hug each other. This person put on a clear poncho before hand and by the end of the glomp circle the poncho turned a yellow hue from what I assume was the amount of sweat that was being transferred to them. Needless to say when I saw a glomp circle later the same day I chose not to participate
2010’s is when geek culture changed to mainstream. By the time Anime cons got the attention of Hollywood they already had taken over Comic Con. I also blame the Free Hugs thing on Sick Puppies for making it go viral.
This boomer will never forget the one time I got glomped... In front of my wife. In public. OUTSIDE the convention hall. Cosplaying as Commander Ikari. Glomper was a teenage girl cosplaying as Kyo (cat form) from Fruits Basket. After she ran off, my wife and I looked at each other, chalked it up to immaturity, and went about our day. [This was about 20 years ago.]
As someone who was into anime in the early 2010s but didn't start going to cons until 2016, it's so fascinating to hear about the earlier days of cons! Especially things that seemed to influence anime fan culture as a whole online during those eras!
honestly, my favorite sign I ever saw someone holding at a convention recently, was a "free shrugs" sign. I thought the concept was hilarious, and wish I could see more of them in the future.
OMG your first convention was also MY first convention! Funny how despite the convention scene ever expanding, it remains a small world. You’re absolutely right though, cons back then were SO different. I like to call those days the Wild West since there was way less structure back then and also way less rules. Hell, the reason half of the rules exist nowadays (especially yaoi paddles) is BECAUSE of the early 21st century con scene.
Something that Anime Boston used to do was have someone in the hall scream Marco and everyone will say Polo. Although that has died down... I did hear a Marco Polo this year at AB 2024. Now onto anime dances. I do not remember anyone doing the Hare Hare Yukai dance.... However, I do recall when Funimation was at Anime Boston one year with a live stream and chat style similar to that on Nico Nico Douga. Anyway, people started doing the Caramelldansen dance and being the techie that I am, I queued up the song on my phone and put it near the camera mic. We had a blast. lol
Back in the days where you got bullied for Liking anime or ( and god forbid) bringing a manga to school These Conventions were a holy Place to me. People yelled jutsu names over the place, danced and hugged and idk it was just so lovely. Sharing umbrellas when it Rained with people that you never met before and never saw again after, Battling out 6v6 pokemon fights on Nintendo DSes everybody brought along, low budget cosplays... now where anime is kinda Popular a lot has changed, i still love the anime community, but the old one felt more like home. But thats just nostalgia
I love this video! I didn’t start getting into anime & conventions until I started watching in 2016 and went to LA Anime Expo for the first time that same year. It’s so fascinating to hear how they were before and have continued to grow & develop along with the anime fan culture. Awesome video Alex!
God I miss the self-aware "yep we sure are degenerates and it's freakin great" side of the convention scene. Like, yeah, Yaoi paddles and glomping were objectively bad but the real degen memes breaking containment were the best. I still catch the faint whispers of that part of the culture anytime I see someone cosplay Chris Chan but haven't seen a Pedobear costume in ages and miss that sumuma. Also, so many of those hall shots coming from Otakons at the Baltimore Convention Center! B-more baby!
If only we could have realised between 2000-2009 that we rode astride the crest of a high and mighty wave, the high water mark of anime conventions. The flawless blend of old with new generations whose union resulted in that era of con culture striking a perfect balance between the wholesome and the hedonistic. I made lifelong friends hailing from far off places and more than once, found love that I still can't believe was ever mine to know. I didn't wind up with a collection of con friends. I found my chosen convention family, and you may not have heard of us but if you had? Well, we wouldn't be very worthy of calling ourselves the League of Disposable Ninja now, would we?
Otakuthon in Montreal still holds a masquerade & has held a panel dedicated to Caramel Dansen in the past few years! The crowds have definitely changed tho. I remember the straight caps with like metal "hentai" or "yaoi" letters on them and i have to say i absolutely do not miss them, they were horrendous ahahah
I helped start Otakon. I got hooked by anime in the early 80s at Trek conventions. A small club would take over a hotel room, get filled with VCRs copying copies and we all watched untranslated anime on tiny tvs. In the late 90s my wife and I had a Vash count because there were so many Vash the Stampede cosplayers everywhere. I remember there were free Pocky people. The vibe changed to a more corporate feel in the 2000s so we stopped going.
Unfortunately, I've only ever been to 3 anime conventions when I was a freshman in high school and gosh I miss the feeling of going. They are so freakin fun, and it's a great way to meet people/new friends if you're like me who normally gets uncomfortable around people.
Don't mean to be "that guy," but the otaku in me can't help correcting: just FYI, it's read as "Galaxy Express three-nine," not "Galaxy Express nine hundred ninety-nine." Be it '70s or no, I highly recommend at least watching the first Galaxy Express 999 movie, as it's a Leiji Matsumoto classic! And you'll never say the name wrong again if you do, after you hear Godiego's iconic theme song, featuring a perfectly pronounced English chorus: "The Galaxy Express three-nine will take you a journey, a never-ending journey... A journey to the stars!" (This video was a nice nostalgia trip overall, BTW!)
6:11 WHAT?????????? every and I eman EVERY anime convention in Europe has a masquerade. Almost all have MULTIPLE. Animecon, the biggest one here in the Netherlands, has like SEVEN per con!
Idk where thr creator is from , but from the conventions they talked about in assuming the eastern side of the US. On the western side where in from all conventions definitely still have masquerades, but they are not the highlight of the entire conventions like they used to be.
Video got recommended to me randomly. I did not go to any conventions until NYCC 2010 when I was a kid due to family members getting tickets (I think it was the last year of NYC Anime Fest before it just become Comic Con entirely). I wasn't much into anime or manga at the time (I had kind of fell out of love for it for a few years), so it didn't quite catch my interest. Before that, I had only seen anime cons via TH-cam vids and iirc some channel on TV was reporting about an anime convention around 2007ish but I don't really remember the specifics. Something about conventions at the time felt a little off putting to me. I think stuff like the glomping and the free hugs you mention kind of explains it well, but even beyond that, something rubbed me the wrong way. That being said, I dunno, nowadays I kind of appreciate the convention scene a lot more (though the glomping and the free hugs I'm glad aren't a thing anymore). I think about this a lot, but I feel like it's become "cool" over the years to act ironic about your hobbies, and while sometimes the stuff at old conventions was kind of cringey, it had this sincerity to it that I much prefer over people pretending they are too good for their own interests. I go to conventions every now and then due to family members, but generally speaking, I'm not huge on the con scene just because I tend to not like big crowds very much. But it is still cool to me to see some of the Japanese guests. Anyhow, thanks for the vid!
I started going to conventions and cosplaying in 2004, met my now husband at a con, and now we take our kids to cons lol. It's soo different nowadays and while there's a lot I'm thankful for, i definitely miss the old days!!
I miss the anime conventions of the 2000's. Remember how everyone and their dog sold perler art of 8 and 16bit sprites from video games? I was wondering why that's no longer a big touchstone at conventions and I had an overwhelming sense of my own mortality as I realized that what NES and SNES were to me, PS3 and Wii are now nostalgic to most convention goers these days. Through the years, there would always be those hardcore elder otaku that would make their way to the convention and last year I realized that I am now carrying that torch. It's like watching a recorded performance of the Macross DYRL theme on YT and reading nostalgic comments from 50+ year old Japanese men that carry such a torch for their youth and the shows of the late Shōwa era.
I don't miss the horrible stuff like glomping which was creepy. Nothing is more disturbing than a random adult glomping a teenager. But I miss random dancing, talking to your fellow nerds and just having fun. Now it's so over saturated that it's impossible to make friends anymore.
The way i got so nostaglic watching this video. I started going to conventions in 2010, NYCC was my first con. Seeing all of that talk about it just made me want to reminisce with others.
I actually really liked old conventions. The ones in my city are now just 99% people promoting their instagram and spending all their time on their phone.
the first con I ever went to was Fanime back when it was at the Santa Clara Covention center next to great america. "The game" was basically "ANDY'S COMING" for weebs.
I am a cosplayer since 2008 and I really felt that 😂 and I am still amazed that even back then some wigs were really good! Considering which materials we had at our disposal. And OMG yes, I spend so many hours looking through uploaded gallerys on the official convention pages to maaaaybe get a glimpse of my costume being photographed. I can’t remember masquerades though? The way you explained it it sounded like normal cosplay performance skits, just without the judging part? Because the normal performance competitions we have at every convention in my country, even the very little ones
I’ve only recently just started getting into anime, I’ve only gone to a few anime conventions, my favorite anime are sailor moon, black butler, kamisama kiss, OuranHighSchoolHostClub, steins gate and spice and wolf, I’ve gotten to meet a few voice actors, j Michael Tatum, Tara Strong and in April Jack de sena from avatar the last airbender 😊
I kinda hate how anime has over taken nerd conventions. Geek conventions started with sci-fi and comic books, but when people talk about a con now they always say anime convention even if they're talking about Dragon Con or NYCC. Even in this video you mentioned PAX East and NYCC even though they're video games and comic conventions. And when I ask people about getting into cosplay they saw they're not into cosplay like cosplay isn't like literally anything. Games, anime, comics, movies, tv, sci-fi, ocs, memes, celebrities, even a CVS receipt. Anime has just taken over the whole nerd culture which I don't like. All branches of nerdom should be highlighted.
been going to anime cons since 2008 but ngl cons suck now anime cons use to be about love now its about trying to get the most followers and make money its lifeless now i went from going to 7 cons a year to one or two and i only go now just to hang with old friends and drink but the cons i use to love now are lifeless and nothing but money grabbiing events
Another likely reason why the "Free hugs" sign is banned is because it could fall under solictiation depending on local laws. It sounds innocent, but Ive personally saw a growing use of signs (mostly coming from girls of questionable ages) that said things like "$1 for a kiss!" which more than likely stemmed from "Free hug" signs. Now its not as innocent anymore, ESPECIALLY if you're approached while holding such a sign by another con-goer who's looking for more than kiss or a hug and is willing to pay for it.
Just a tiny nitpick, but the name of the series is Galaxy Express Three Nine, not Nine-hundred and ninety nine. Yes, I know it's weird, but...Japan. lol Have a good day! :)
Huh the free hugs signs have been banned? I haven't heard about that, but I've seen an influx of women with signs with I'll Step on You or Use You as a Chair signs. I still see deodorant signs at Katsu. I don't see how they're really predatory they're a thing even outside of cons. People men, women, and children do them at random things like festivals and protests.
#animefansubs I went to conventions before 2000. What we lost was the freedom from being around fake fans and clout chasers. We also had social media before 2003. AOL and forums existed, Yahoo and Geocities existed. We had anime on IRC. Some people were cool with being glomped and literally wore signs. You all really go out of the way of making anime conventions seem like it was just darkness and predators without y'alls moral intervention. People went to conventions to be around like minded people for a reason.
these new kids just don't know lol man faye, clomping, the yaoi paddles, those hug signs oh the dancing and over done groups of death note, fml, hetalia, cosplay
![Why cosplay conventions are not as fun anymore [Storytime]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/c5Q63mb0gco/mqdefault.jpg)
I’m actually kind of glad they got rid of glomping. I’m sure it caused a lot of injuries back in the day. Now we have “Shake my hand in Character.” Which is a lot nicer and family friendly. 😊
jay free hugs are the best thing ever, but glomping is more risky XD (I still free hug a 1000 people + every time at my fav con every 3 months. It never changed. Its 100% like 2009. xD)
But free hugs isn’t a thing anymore either. People found it too creepy.
My friend was one of the last victims of glomping. He got a lot of attention for being tall, fit and nerdy, so there was a group of teens jumping on him and the game was to try to take him off balance. They were all probably 110 lbs or less so it was nothing, and they took turns so he could reset is footing between lunges. The last girl who went for it was no part of the original group and was way more heavyset. She glomped out of rotation and hit him in a bad position. His knee sounded like bubble wrap when it gave out. It killed his tae-kwon-do career, and even after surgery, most physical activities like hiking or swimming were absolutely off the table. I do miss yaoi paddles though. A degenerate weapon for a less civilized age.
I miss the early 2000s cosplay vibe. Like, it's so cool to see really nice fancy cosplays, but I feel like there's way more pressure now to have a perfect body, cosplay, wig and makeup instead of just the celebration of dressing up and being a weird nerd.
If you're in europe, come to mondocon in Budapest. It's 4 times a year. You'll love it. Trust me XD
Where are they now 🤔 the og cosplayers not the modern ones
@@sakai_sukistudios4157 we're still here but with back pain and not posting on social media as much as all the young ones 😂
@@sakai_sukistudios4157
I still do cosplay
But now I do 100% original characters and have fun making my own characters (though I usually end up doing some sort of Kenshiro / Rambo / Terminator crossover). I find it fun creating the design and the character.
I also feel that TaoBao and sites like that have made it too easy to just buy a premade costume. Which makes it just fancy dress at that point. So I want to differentiate myself from that.
I do find modern cons a bit boring though. I know I will sound old but....I wish people would not be so glued to their phones. I would remember it is cosPLAY, not cosPHONE.
I do Miss when Cons didn't have 8 diffrent booths full of Funko Pops
I feel so old when I say this but back in my day haha, as a kid anime was so scarce and it blows my mind how it’s so popular now. I was obsessed with anime as a kid and went to my first convention when I was a teenager. I still remember the butterflies in my stomach excitement I felt walking into Animazement for the first time. I remember all of this stuff you talked about in the video too. I haven’t been to an anime con in many years now and I’m not into it any more but it’s still a fond memory. Great video, thanks for the walk down memory lane!
Animazement was my very first con too! I'm 32 now and still very much enjoy anime and my next con will be momocon in Atlanta. I agree it's strange to see how popular anime is now. Strange but a good strange
Just got recommended this by the algorithm. I attended my first convention when I was 17, in 2002. I really do miss the feeling of scrappiness and excitement around the old con scene. It's cool that anime is more accessible, but it feels a lot more commercial now - of course there were always opportunists making money off of crazed otaku, but with the big companies involved and AI art in the artists alleys, I do feel like the idea of identity as consumption has reached an all time high in nerd culture for about the last decade or so. Still, I have a ton of good memories, and even as I approach middle age I love going to my local con every year and always wish I had more friends with more free time so I could attend more.
Hmm. I was an attendee of Animecon 91 and Anime Expo 92. I wish there was a way to actually bring the feeling and memories of that era to those of you curious of what it was like for the beginnings of anime cons in the US. It was a fun time and not super overcrowded. I mean we always had our share “deodorant less” fans but at least there was breathing room. I just recently looked at some 2022 or 2023 Anime Expo footage and that gave me some anxiety just how much people are there. lol. I just recently started going to local cons in 2022 because now my kids are old enough to enjoy most anime. They always roll their eyes when I keep telling them how good they have with the internet and anime being pretty much everywhere and mainstream. Never mind their dad only ever had Nikaku Animart and SJ Books Kinokuniya for official anime merch. Lol.
its wild seeing younger people who look at cons from 90s-early 2000s like they missed out on something. yeah they were wild for what they were but i do not miss paying $30 for a single volume of a bandai anime series dvd lol
@@matty6878 That’s why we “sailed the Grand Line” even back then. The prices for official merch was much higher and more scarce. The malls didn’t carry this stuff. We were satisfied with viewing fuzzy 3rd generation English fan sub vhs tapes of Kimagure Orange Road and such. lol. There is always a trade off with the older generation and the younger. The younger folk have easier access to anime and their merch is generally cheaper. Older folk have bragging rights of being there first. lol.
i have mixed feelings about the loss of stuff like free hug signs glomping and yaoi paddles like yes its definitely for the best in the big picture but man those weird little things were so out of pocket and really gave the anime community more of a unique identity
this feels like i have a friend yapping (positive) to me about their interests (i am paying complete attention and genuinely interested)
FREE HUGS!!!!
YES!!
omg the glomping 😩I remember going to a anime panel where con goers shared their con horror stories and this one person said they joined a "glomp circle" where people take turns to hug each other. This person put on a clear poncho before hand and by the end of the glomp circle the poncho turned a yellow hue from what I assume was the amount of sweat that was being transferred to them. Needless to say when I saw a glomp circle later the same day I chose not to participate
2010’s is when geek culture changed to mainstream. By the time Anime cons got the attention of Hollywood they already had taken over Comic Con.
I also blame the Free Hugs thing on Sick Puppies for making it go viral.
This boomer will never forget the one time I got glomped...
In front of my wife. In public. OUTSIDE the convention hall. Cosplaying as Commander Ikari.
Glomper was a teenage girl cosplaying as Kyo (cat form) from Fruits Basket.
After she ran off, my wife and I looked at each other, chalked it up to immaturity, and went about our day. [This was about 20 years ago.]
As someone who was into anime in the early 2010s but didn't start going to cons until 2016, it's so fascinating to hear about the earlier days of cons! Especially things that seemed to influence anime fan culture as a whole online during those eras!
honestly, my favorite sign I ever saw someone holding at a convention recently, was a "free shrugs" sign. I thought the concept was hilarious, and wish I could see more of them in the future.
Fun fact about bluey: The artist are homestucks which is known due to them hiding respectively colored prospit and derse signs in a short animation
OMG your first convention was also MY first convention! Funny how despite the convention scene ever expanding, it remains a small world.
You’re absolutely right though, cons back then were SO different. I like to call those days the Wild West since there was way less structure back then and also way less rules. Hell, the reason half of the rules exist nowadays (especially yaoi paddles) is BECAUSE of the early 21st century con scene.
Something that Anime Boston used to do was have someone in the hall scream Marco and everyone will say Polo. Although that has died down... I did hear a Marco Polo this year at AB 2024.
Now onto anime dances. I do not remember anyone doing the Hare Hare Yukai dance.... However, I do recall when Funimation was at Anime Boston one year with a live stream and chat style similar to that on Nico Nico Douga. Anyway, people started doing the Caramelldansen dance and being the techie that I am, I queued up the song on my phone and put it near the camera mic. We had a blast. lol
Back in the days where you got bullied for Liking anime or ( and god forbid) bringing a manga to school These Conventions were a holy Place to me. People yelled jutsu names over the place, danced and hugged and idk it was just so lovely. Sharing umbrellas when it Rained with people that you never met before and never saw again after, Battling out 6v6 pokemon fights on Nintendo DSes everybody brought along, low budget cosplays... now where anime is kinda Popular a lot has changed, i still love the anime community, but the old one felt more like home. But thats just nostalgia
I love this video! I didn’t start getting into anime & conventions until I started watching in 2016 and went to LA Anime Expo for the first time that same year. It’s so fascinating to hear how they were before and have continued to grow & develop along with the anime fan culture.
Awesome video Alex!
Omg ty bestie 🥹🫶❤️
God I miss the self-aware "yep we sure are degenerates and it's freakin great" side of the convention scene. Like, yeah, Yaoi paddles and glomping were objectively bad but the real degen memes breaking containment were the best. I still catch the faint whispers of that part of the culture anytime I see someone cosplay Chris Chan but haven't seen a Pedobear costume in ages and miss that sumuma.
Also, so many of those hall shots coming from Otakons at the Baltimore Convention Center! B-more baby!
The yaoi paddle as a substitute for the keyblade absolutely killed me sjksjsjksjk. Great video!
If only we could have realised between 2000-2009 that we rode astride the crest of a high and mighty wave, the high water mark of anime conventions.
The flawless blend of old with new generations whose union resulted in that era of con culture striking a perfect balance between the wholesome and the hedonistic.
I made lifelong friends hailing from far off places and more than once, found love that I still can't believe was ever mine to know. I didn't wind up with a collection of con friends.
I found my chosen convention family, and you may not have heard of us but if you had? Well, we wouldn't be very worthy of calling ourselves the League of Disposable Ninja now, would we?
Otakuthon in Montreal still holds a masquerade & has held a panel dedicated to Caramel Dansen in the past few years! The crowds have definitely changed tho.
I remember the straight caps with like metal "hentai" or "yaoi" letters on them and i have to say i absolutely do not miss them, they were horrendous ahahah
I helped start Otakon. I got hooked by anime in the early 80s at Trek conventions. A small club would take over a hotel room, get filled with VCRs copying copies and we all watched untranslated anime on tiny tvs. In the late 90s my wife and I had a Vash count because there were so many Vash the Stampede cosplayers everywhere. I remember there were free Pocky people. The vibe changed to a more corporate feel in the 2000s so we stopped going.
Unfortunately, I've only ever been to 3 anime conventions when I was a freshman in high school and gosh I miss the feeling of going. They are so freakin fun, and it's a great way to meet people/new friends if you're like me who normally gets uncomfortable around people.
Awe man you should def try to go to
More! I made a lot of my life long friends at con’s :3
Don't mean to be "that guy," but the otaku in me can't help correcting: just FYI, it's read as "Galaxy Express three-nine," not "Galaxy Express nine hundred ninety-nine." Be it '70s or no, I highly recommend at least watching the first Galaxy Express 999 movie, as it's a Leiji Matsumoto classic! And you'll never say the name wrong again if you do, after you hear Godiego's iconic theme song, featuring a perfectly pronounced English chorus: "The Galaxy Express three-nine will take you a journey, a never-ending journey... A journey to the stars!"
(This video was a nice nostalgia trip overall, BTW!)
Nerd❤
Loving your vest in this one! Also loving your new channel because you can see you are passionate about it!
Thanks so much!
Oh my sweet Summer child.... Old is 1991 gathered round the black monolith of AnimeDay. 🤣
This was really interesting. The time before social media is weirdddd lol
I miss it tbh LOL
actually blown away that ctcon was also ur childhood con, i also wanted nothing more than to go to the rave but alas
Related so much to the shouts of THE GAME really helped me get out of my shell and have fond memories of going to my first anime con!
I miss the game so much LOL
Glomping brings back bad memories 😰
It does 😭
6:11 WHAT?????????? every and I eman EVERY anime convention in Europe has a masquerade. Almost all have MULTIPLE. Animecon, the biggest one here in the Netherlands, has like SEVEN per con!
Idk where thr creator is from , but from the conventions they talked about in assuming the eastern side of the US. On the western side where in from all conventions definitely still have masquerades, but they are not the highlight of the entire conventions like they used to be.
Video got recommended to me randomly. I did not go to any conventions until NYCC 2010 when I was a kid due to family members getting tickets (I think it was the last year of NYC Anime Fest before it just become Comic Con entirely). I wasn't much into anime or manga at the time (I had kind of fell out of love for it for a few years), so it didn't quite catch my interest. Before that, I had only seen anime cons via TH-cam vids and iirc some channel on TV was reporting about an anime convention around 2007ish but I don't really remember the specifics. Something about conventions at the time felt a little off putting to me. I think stuff like the glomping and the free hugs you mention kind of explains it well, but even beyond that, something rubbed me the wrong way.
That being said, I dunno, nowadays I kind of appreciate the convention scene a lot more (though the glomping and the free hugs I'm glad aren't a thing anymore). I think about this a lot, but I feel like it's become "cool" over the years to act ironic about your hobbies, and while sometimes the stuff at old conventions was kind of cringey, it had this sincerity to it that I much prefer over people pretending they are too good for their own interests.
I go to conventions every now and then due to family members, but generally speaking, I'm not huge on the con scene just because I tend to not like big crowds very much. But it is still cool to me to see some of the Japanese guests.
Anyhow, thanks for the vid!
thank you for so accurately describing this time period i have such fond memories of cons in the early 2000s 😭🖤
I started going to conventions and cosplaying in 2004, met my now husband at a con, and now we take our kids to cons lol. It's soo different nowadays and while there's a lot I'm thankful for, i definitely miss the old days!!
I miss the anime conventions of the 2000's. Remember how everyone and their dog sold perler art of 8 and 16bit sprites from video games? I was wondering why that's no longer a big touchstone at conventions and I had an overwhelming sense of my own mortality as I realized that what NES and SNES were to me, PS3 and Wii are now nostalgic to most convention goers these days.
Through the years, there would always be those hardcore elder otaku that would make their way to the convention and last year I realized that I am now carrying that torch. It's like watching a recorded performance of the Macross DYRL theme on YT and reading nostalgic comments from 50+ year old Japanese men that carry such a torch for their youth and the shows of the late Shōwa era.
I don't miss the horrible stuff like glomping which was creepy. Nothing is more disturbing than a random adult glomping a teenager. But I miss random dancing, talking to your fellow nerds and just having fun. Now it's so over saturated that it's impossible to make friends anymore.
Ayyy let’s go! So excited for this second channel! Keep up the awesome grind Alex! Looking forward to all the new content 😁💜
The way i got so nostaglic watching this video. I started going to conventions in 2010, NYCC was my first con. Seeing all of that talk about it just made me want to reminisce with others.
I actually really liked old conventions.
The ones in my city are now just 99% people promoting their instagram and spending all their time on their phone.
the first con I ever went to was Fanime back when it was at the Santa Clara Covention center next to great america. "The game" was basically "ANDY'S COMING" for weebs.
I am a cosplayer since 2008 and I really felt that 😂 and I am still amazed that even back then some wigs were really good! Considering which materials we had at our disposal. And OMG yes, I spend so many hours looking through uploaded gallerys on the official convention pages to maaaaybe get a glimpse of my costume being photographed. I can’t remember masquerades though? The way you explained it it sounded like normal cosplay performance skits, just without the judging part? Because the normal performance competitions we have at every convention in my country, even the very little ones
Great video! Loved your energy. The throwback pics were a fun touch.
Tysm!
I think I did my first con in 2011 and it definitely is different than it is today. WAYYYY different lmfao.
Video is amazing but you causing all the viewers to lose the game was cruel 😂
LOL
I’ve only recently just started getting into anime, I’ve only gone to a few anime conventions, my favorite anime are sailor moon, black butler, kamisama kiss, OuranHighSchoolHostClub, steins gate and spice and wolf, I’ve gotten to meet a few voice actors, j Michael Tatum, Tara Strong and in April Jack de sena from avatar the last airbender 😊
Congratulations, the thumbnail alone gave me PTSD. Those yaoi paddles....
LOL that’s the goal!
I kinda hate how anime has over taken nerd conventions. Geek conventions started with sci-fi and comic books, but when people talk about a con now they always say anime convention even if they're talking about Dragon Con or NYCC. Even in this video you mentioned PAX East and NYCC even though they're video games and comic conventions. And when I ask people about getting into cosplay they saw they're not into cosplay like cosplay isn't like literally anything. Games, anime, comics, movies, tv, sci-fi, ocs, memes, celebrities, even a CVS receipt. Anime has just taken over the whole nerd culture which I don't like. All branches of nerdom should be highlighted.
It's not that anime has taken them over. The promoters wanted to make money so they just kept adding fandoms.
been going to anime cons since 2008 but ngl cons suck now anime cons use to be about love now its about trying to get the most followers and make money its lifeless now i went from going to 7 cons a year to one or two and i only go now just to hang with old friends and drink but the cons i use to love now are lifeless and nothing but money grabbiing events
Banning free hugs signs must be an exclusive american thing. They are everywhere at german anime conventions.
We had free hugs thing at Anime Midwest in Chicago , so this must be an Expo thing.
Another likely reason why the "Free hugs" sign is banned is because it could fall under solictiation depending on local laws. It sounds innocent, but Ive personally saw a growing use of signs (mostly coming from girls of questionable ages) that said things like "$1 for a kiss!" which more than likely stemmed from "Free hug" signs. Now its not as innocent anymore, ESPECIALLY if you're approached while holding such a sign by another con-goer who's looking for more than kiss or a hug and is willing to pay for it.
yaoi paddles literally gave my friend a black eye, and glomping made me feel like I had scoliosis lmao
Just a tiny nitpick, but the name of the series is Galaxy Express Three Nine, not Nine-hundred and ninety nine. Yes, I know it's weird, but...Japan. lol
Have a good day! :)
Ty for letting me know!! :3
would love to hear more anime con stories !!
6:25 wait your telling me you guys didn't have voice actors back then?
YAOI VS YURI!!!!!!
Saw this and it peeked my interest 😊😊🙂
Thank you!
I wish i could've experienced cons in the 2000s ! but i was born in 2005
Today´s Cons: Smartphones over all..
And everyone look on them.
You definitely cooked with this video
hopefully, there's no PoGo event that'll keep me away from Youmacon next year lol. Youmacon being the biggest anime convention of them all btw lol
Hope not!
Huh the free hugs signs have been banned? I haven't heard about that, but I've seen an influx of women with signs with I'll Step on You or Use You as a Chair signs. I still see deodorant signs at Katsu. I don't see how they're really predatory they're a thing even outside of cons. People men, women, and children do them at random things like festivals and protests.
And dont you think current anime cons are not cringe either? Is just basically a lot of loopholes that we keep making patch after patch
#animefansubs I went to conventions before 2000. What we lost was the freedom from being around fake fans and clout chasers. We also had social media before 2003. AOL and forums existed, Yahoo and Geocities existed. We had anime on IRC. Some people were cool with being glomped and literally wore signs. You all really go out of the way of making anime conventions seem like it was just darkness and predators without y'alls moral intervention. People went to conventions to be around like minded people for a reason.
Great video!
tf2 spy: hehehe they dont know im here
man i wish ppl were still cringe now.. everyone's so embarrassed of being themselves nowadays it js sucks :P
things got so political at anime cons now a days. hate it
Please take showers when you go to conventions
i went to my second ever ctcon this year
13:00 No!
Sell us your Yaoi paddle.
...are you just reading off of wikipedia?
these new kids just don't know lol man faye, clomping, the yaoi paddles, those hug signs oh the dancing and over done groups of death note, fml, hetalia, cosplay