If you live anywhere near the Albany, NY area, you should come to Genericon THIS WEEKEND, March 3-5. Not only is it a really fun, quirky college anime/sci-fi/gaming convention, but for this, their 30th year, the students have managed to nab some incredible guests: Studio Trigger’s Hiromi Wakabayashi (Kill la Kill, Inferno Cop) and Shigeto Koyama (Kill la Kill, Heroman). They’ll be doing their usual studio panel (Saturday) and signing session (Sunday), but they’ll also be running a panel about the anime production process with yours truly as moderator. Speaking of, here’s the list of panels I’ll be hosting at the con:
- Animation in Anime, Friday at 6:30pm — Not quite a “sakuga” panel. I explain the fundamentals of animation and build on that to impart an understanding of both the creative choices Japanese animators make and the historical development of the Japanese animation style. This conflicts with Opening Ceremonies, so get your badges early!
- Anime Burger Time, Saturday at 12:30pm — The return of America’s favorite (and only) anime con clip show entirely dedicated to hamburgers. I’ve got some new clips, but the same rules apply: BYOB (Bring Your Own Burger).
- Anime & Manga Firsts, Saturday at 4:00pm — A new twist on my anime history panel, this one tackles history through the lens of a series of notable “firsts,” from the first anime and manga ever to the first eyecatch illustration.
- How Anime Is Made with Studio Trigger, Sunday at 1:30pm — I’m acting partially as a presenter here and partially as moderator. It will be a mix of my anime production process panel and a back-and-forth discussion with Mr. Wakabayashi and Mr. Koyama from Trigger about their hands-on experience producing anime. We’re planning to leave ample time for Q&A so come with questions!
In addition to all this cool stuff, our very own David Estrella will be around, as usual, alongside a few other anime Twitter personalities who I convinced to make the trek up the NY Thruway. I hope to see you there too!