AnimeiCon 2011 at Monterey County Fairgrounds

When: Friday, July 22, 2011, 10 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.
Where: Monterey County Fairgrounds, Monterey
Cost: Free - $35
Age limit: Not available
Categories: Parlor games, Fashion, Film, Performance art, Lectures, Pop

If you don't know the big, teeming, colorful pop-culture world of Japanese and pan-Asian anime—those stylistic and highly detailed animated films and TV shows that you probably know from Pokemon, Dragonball Z, Princess Mononoke or Spirited Away. Japanese animation grew on a nearly parallel but alternative track from the U.S.. from as far back as 1917, borrowing a foundation from U.S. works, but then going a course all its own. The distinct style we know today as anime, which has gone on to, in turn, influence and inform U.S. animation, comics and video games, was birthed from one Osamu Tezuka, considered the godfather of the form. The current master is Hayao Miyazaki (the, let's say, Stanley Kubrick of Japanese anime) of Studio Ghibli. The most well known of this stuff may sound familiar: Pokemon, Dragonball Z, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away. The South Park homage to anime is a classic. But enough on that big, bold world. It deserves the kind of 3-day convention that the Fairgrounds (the entire Fairgrounds) is hosting, packed with an Artist Alley, vendors galore, panels, workshops, a viewing room, parade, swap meet, cosplay (do not miss the costly) and concerts. (See film story.) [WR]
10am-11:30pm Fri; 9am-11:30pm Sat; 9am-5pm Sun. Monterey County Fairgrounds, Monterey. Registration: $25/Fri, $30/Sat, $35/Sun; free/child 5 and under; $25/youth 6-11 all 3 days; group discounts available. 372-5863, www.animeicon.org.

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