Foreigner
Today I took Link, Kiki, and Kiki’s friend to Anime Banzai in Salt Lake City. I had that “Not in Kansas anymore” feeling as soon as I walked in the door. It had all the vibe that a convention does, but I knew no one and I recognized very few of the costumes in the hallways. I spent all day there and the feeling never left me. I want to say I felt old, but that isn’t exactly right because there were many people my age and older who were fully immersed in the Anime culture. Perhaps I should say “out of step.” The truth is that while I can enjoy anime, I don’t really get it. It does not sing to me the way that LoTR, Buffy, Dr. Horrible, Dr. who, Miles Vorkosigan, or hundreds of other books do. All day long I could tell that marvelously wonderful things were happening because huge crowds of people would cheer or clap, while I was left not really knowing why. Some of that is a lack of exposure to the necessary source material, but even when the referenced Anime was something I’d seen, I still did not have the emotional connection carried by those surrounding me. The experience gave me a new appreciation for what it means to be foreign.
Kiki and her friend had a marvelous time. They were like fish in water. They wished they could clone themselves so that they could do even more things. Link had fun too, but he wore out early. Fortunately I was able to send him home with Howard, who was also worn out. I stayed with the girls so that they could watch the cosplay. They loved every minute of it. I think the part of the convention I enjoyed most was the Anime Music Video competition. Most of them had no meaning for me, but some of them used songs that I recognized and I could tell that the words in the song were being used in conjunction with or in counterpoint to the video clips I was seeing. Because of my emotional connection to the music, I was much more able to connect to the experience. Some of those video edits were amazingly well done. We didn’t get our hands on the DVD, but I’m pretty sure we can find it via the Anime Banzai website.
It was a day well spent, but I’m glad to be back home.