Kelly Stewart

Staff Writer

Photo by Kelly Stewart
On Friday, the first day I was there, they had opening ceremonies for the convention in the evening. The grand ballroom was crammed with hundreds of seats in long rows, of which I was fortunate enough to sit near the front.  

Even if I were deaf, I still would have been able to hear the music. It was the type of music that could be felt more than heard. It rumbled under your feet and made the air vibrate with such energy that I suddenly wondered why I was still sitting down.

 And that was how Animefest 2010 kicked off the school year for me. For those who don’t know, Animefest is the name of an anime convention on Labor Day weekend at the Hyatt Regency Dallas at Reunion Tower. Anime Conventions are hosted for people who love anime, the TV version of a type of Japanese cartoon (similar to American comic books).

But the conventions have a lot more than just anime. They have an Artist Alley where budding authors in the field can get their work out to the public, guests such as voice actors from different shows, and this year they had a band fly in all the way from Japan to give a concert in the ballroom. Not to mention the hundreds of people that come dressed in costumes as their favorite characters.

One of the many convention attendees is Katharine Sheaferstein, who has been to nearly all of the conventions in the Dallas area.

“It’s just really fun, because you get to be with other people who have a common ground with you,” Sheaferstein said.

With Sheaferstein was her friend, Regi Mitchell, who also had this to say.

“The people here are just so nice,” Mitchell said. “Some people, I don’t even know their name, but I’ve been hanging out with them all weekend.”

Photo By Kelly Stewart
That seems to be the general consensus when it comes to why anime fans keep coming back to Animefest: community. Anime Fest is a place where people from all walks of life can come and find something in common with people who they may not have noticed before. Not only that, but they can find items pertaining to their obsession in one convenient place.

After a word from the directors of the convention about who the guest voice actors were and what we could expect at Animefest this year, we heard a sample of the Japanese band Nirgilis, who played three songs full of eardrum-blasting goodness. Then it was on to the cosplay walk-on competition, with over 50 contestants who walked on stage and struck a pose in their costumes. There was even a Luke Skywalker among them.

The second day, I had the privilege of sitting down and talking to Bruce Lewis, a voice actor who does the voices for the English translations of different anime shows.

 “Being a voice actor is great,” he said. “Because you’re getting paid to be creative and any job where you get paid to be creative is the best kind of job.”

Lewis became a voice actor after being a radio DJ a few years earlier. He said that he was lucky enough to have a resonate voice which is perfect for recording. Several years ago he got a call from one of his friends, a director at Funimation which is a company that translates Japanese anime into English, for a small part in the anime show Ragnarok.

If you are interested in becoming a voice actor, he has some advice.

“Dallas is a great place to live because unlike LA, you don’t have to have inside connections,” Lewis said. “You can basically walk in the door, and if you’re good, you can get a job. The best thing that I would do if I were your age is to come to these conventions and get to know the guests from Funimation. And next time you see them, maybe buy them a cup of coffee and say ‘hey I’d like to give this a shot.’”

Another big part of Animefest are the booths in the Dealer Room that sell many interesting and unique items just for the type of people who go to Animefest. There are collars, cat ears, goggles, gas masks, wigs, dolls, and even a hat shaped like Pikachu (which I bought). The dealers themselves have just as much fun as the con goers do.

“I just like to make things that are completely unique and have people buy them,” dealer Marty Enriquez said. “It makes me really happy when people get them and get really excited because they’re one-of-a-kind things, or they’ll get something that matches their outfit perfectly and say ‘Oh, it’s finally complete!’ That feels really good, you know?”

As Animefest draws to a close, and the people who attended crawl back into their normal lives, many will already be awaiting next year’s festivities and picking out their costumes. Animefest is a unique avenue of entertainment, but that doesn’t take away from the experience at all. For those who love anime, but have never been, you’re certainly missing a lot.

Video by Drake McWhirter