Tag Archives: At The Con

L.A.R.P.-Knowing the Line

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“Live Action Role Playing” (pg 70, How To Avoid Hara-Kiri)

L.A.R.P., short for Live Action Role-Playing, is a form of acting where people cosplay and act like their favorite characters from a story, game, or anime series. In most conventions, there will be an area dedicated to this, where people can meet and act out their favorite scenes from a show or a game, or it may be something original that the convention offers. Either way, the concept still centers around acting out, and my advice today is on what to do when you need to act in a certain role.

Whether it’s at a convention, or in a big-budgeted motion-picture, acting is an art; one takes serious effort in getting into their respective role, portraying the proper emotions, body-language, and most of all knowing the correct lines for a particular scene. As such, you have to take the role with a certain seriousness when you are portraying that certain mood or posture. At the same time, it doesn’t mean that they can’t have fun with it either, and in most cases, L.A.R.P. [events] at cons tend to be very comedic and easy-going, nothing like a Broadway musical. Have fun with your role, but make sure that you portray the role that you’re playing correctly, whether its comic relief, or being the serious badass.

However, I cannot stress enough when saying, please do not take role-playing too seriously. Remember, it is just acting. Most of the time people don’t actually/always mean the things they say when acting out a persona. And while there are those who understand this, there are also cases where people take to role-playing as if it’s a part of their life, in every aspect. I unfortunately have experienced this firsthand; interacting with people who claimed identities aside from their own, I formed relationships despite never meeting them, and almost got into some serious trouble for it. Even though I was still young, I realized that the blurring line between what is real and what is not is extremely dangerous.

With L.A.R.P., have fun with the experience, as it is a chance to meet people and interact in a different way from the norm, but also be serious when portraying the right character to your audience, because they won’t show interest in your character if your emotions are all over the place. Try not to take to heart any [potentially] rude comments or lines people may say, as it is not in their intention to hurt you. Not every character’s a good guy. Most importantly, do not mix the line between your acting and your actual lifestyle. Trust me, it’s not always pretty.

Secuirty At Conventions

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“Our job is not to boss anyone around but to help attendees with any problems, answer any questions, and stop anything that may cause a problem for the attendees and the area the convention is held at.” (pg 45, How To Avoid Hara-Kiri)

During my third year at AnimeNext, I was hanging out with my friend, (we’ll call her Sam) who showed me her authentic Soul Eater sword from “Kingdom Hearts”. It wasn’t one of those wooden ones either, but an actual metal one. We played around with it, with her pretending to stab me, until one of the security guards caught the potentially dangerous scene and asked her to put it away. We were both upset; especially me, because I felt mostly responsible. A part of me even want to get all philosophical and boast, “That’s how the government controls us man! It’s the 99% all over again”. Seriously though, we knew that the man was just doing his job, the same as anyone else in his position would. That is ultimately the same understanding that any con-goer has to have when dealing with con security.

Security is basic protocol at any large gathering, be it anime-related or otherwise. The reason being is to make sure that no serious altercations occur: fights, accidents, something that may cause panic for attendees, etc. Some will be more uptight with this than others, enforcing rules and regulations that may disrupt your convention activities. However, it is all to make sure that no one gets hurt or does something stupid to hurt themselves in the end.

The person we dealt with was easygoing, and was only doing the right thing after what he saw was a potential incident. There are, however, situations when you’ll be dealing with those who abuse their authority, be it because they have too little experience, or just because they’re assholes. The best thing you can do, whether an attendee, media, and/or a guest, is to be civil and avoid potential confrontation. If there is a situation where you may have to deal with security, just do what the person says and try to avoid any problems with him or her. Trust me, the last thing you want to do is cause a conflict that may get you kicked out of the convention. Then, all that hard work on cosplay, the money spent getting to the con, etc; it all goes down the drain.

So, for the sake of not getting potentially banned at a con, respect the rules of the event, including those that come from people whose job it is to enforce them. If there is a conflict, respect security’s positions, listen, and just don’t do anything rash. It is one thing to get angry, but generally better to be the bigger person and just walk away.

Multi-Hotel Conventions

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“So expect to do a lot of walking.” (pg 88, How To Avoid Hara-Kiri)

Some of the bigger Japanese culture and anime conventions in the country take place that more than one hotel at a time. These types of larger conventions are called ‘multi-hotel’ cons. Normally, these types of conventions are in two or more different hotels that are either on the same block or across the street from each other; they may or may not be physically connected to each other somehow.

An example of a multi-hotel con would be Animazement in Raleigh, North Carolina. This convention took place in the Raleigh Convention Center on one side of the street, but it also held some panel rooms and a manga library in the Marriott across the street. The two hotels were conveniently connected via an underground parking garage, so attendees didn’t have to walk outside in the hot summer sun.

Multi-hotel conventions have more space than regular conventions, but with that extra space, you need to plan for more commute time. If you just got done in the dealer’s room in one hotel, but you have a panel in the other hotel in fifteen minutes, you might not make it in time. Plan ahead for the extra time you’ll probably need. You can plan accordingly by checking the convention’s website and/or forums beforehand.

Bad Weather At Cons

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“…be sure to have the appropriate equipment” (pg 98, How To Avoid Hara-Kiri)

One of the few things often overlooked by even the most grizzled con-goers are the weather conditions. The weather can either make or break your entire convention experience. Good weather is a blessing for most (cosplayers in particular), whereas bad weather can be a hellish nightmare.

Bad weather is not just limited to rain or snow during a convention weekend; it can also include extreme temperatures as well as high winds. Most of the time people don’t plan their cosplays out for freezing temperatures or scorching summer days, but that should really be taken into consideration. If you are cosplaying a scantily clad character for a winter convention, then you might have a difficult time walking to and from the convention freezing cold. Sun’s no better. Not only can the summer heat make you sweat more profusely than normal, but it can also mess up your wig. If there is a lot of humidity in the air, then it can cause your wig to mat up and lose its style.

Other than bad weather affecting your cosplay choices, it can also affect certain things within the convention. One of the obvious things that bad weather can affect is your actual trip to the convention itself. This is more so meant to be considered during the winter convention season when the roads are icy and covered in snow. Sometimes, in extreme cases, a convention can be snowed out (or in >.<). An example would be back in the late-2000s, when Katsucon experienced “Snowpocalypse”. There was a big blizzard that hit Washington D.C. that year, and the entire city of D.C. was basically shut down. The city wasn’t ready for all the snow and did not have the means to take care of the roads. Needless to say, all of the con-goers were trapped in their hotel rooms until the snow was cleared up.

The main thing to remember about bad weather is that bad weather can happen at any time, you should plan your cosplays accordingly. Just remember to check the weather forecast before heading to a convention.

Industry Panels

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“…an information session that can range from discussion about a particular anime…” (pg 72, How To Avoid Hara-Kiri)

Though it may not seem it at first, industry panels can be a very fun and exciting thing to attend at conventions. They are one of the best ways to find out what’s going on with anime, not only in America but in Japan as well. Industry panels are also fun because they will often show previews of new projects and bring in the Artist and Director to discuss them.

Attending an industry panel can give you lots to look forward to!  There will often times be Q&A’s at industry panels; so if you have a question, chances are you will have the opportunity to ask the people who make the anime. So next time you’re at a con take advantage of the opportunity and go check out an industry panel!