Writing: Anime Convention, Social Norms, and Identity

I chose to discuss the Eron Rauch photo essay because its content intrigues me most. After struggling with the convoluted words and lengthy sentences, I realized there was no point in searching for a clear thesis statement. It is the opposite of an academic essay: a personal musing about experience with subculture. Thus, even though it provides no conclusion, it calls a very interesting point into question: what is the relationship between fandom and identity?

Most anime conventions cater to fans rather than industry. When members of a subculture gather, they become comfortable enough to express their interests, to the point where they purposely alter their behavior to breach social norms, which in turn forms new social norms. For Rauch and tens of thousands of others, anime conventions create bonds of eccentricity, and otherwise improbable events, like cosplay sex, can occur. The irony here is that, at the convention, fringe behavior becomes the main stream. When groups form, they begin to cultivate their own ideals – like cat ear headbands – and reject others – like business suits, an “us vs. them” situation. Take, for example, the 2008 commercial released by Sakura-con. It asks, “What if, for one weekend, the tables were turned?”

I feel this may be tied into American attitudes towards individuality. As we have learned, in Japan, cosplay outside of certain locales is frowned upon, and boys’ love forms only a fraction of the anime and manga market. However, here in the United States, cosplayers purposely wear their outfits at ordinary eating establishments to see how locals react, and boys’ love readers ridicule those who prefer heterosexual couples.

Personally, as an artist, I go to conventions with business in mind. I straddle the alley with one foot in fandom – because all anime relies somewhat on art – and one in reality – because I cannot give any series the same dedications as I do my own creations. While Rauch is accepted in this fan world, I am silently rejected. My work has been criticized many times over for having a visual style far more realistic than most manga and anime. However, as an outsider with no romantic or sexual intentions towards conventions, I felt Rauch’s essay gives a decent glimpse into the mind of another integral member of convention structure: the entrenched fan.

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