As in 1998, Kenichi Sonoda was the star of the show, tireless in his sketching for fans, uninhibited in his opinions about the state of the anime industry. By contrast, Yuji Moriyama was very modest and quiet for a man who has been part of so many major films. At the Friday night guests' reception, Moriyama had to be all but coaxed to sit at a table and meet the fans. When he started talking, Moriyama had some delightful insights on Project A-Ko.

While Amanda Winn Lee had another racy performance with a rotund costumer at the masquerade, the other English-language voice actors also brightened the convention. Those actors who provide many of the voices for the American version of Pocket Monsters may have shown the future of anime fandom, with that show's power to draw new, young fans. The appeal of Pokemon could be seen in a growing combination at Anime Central, children brought to the convention by their parents.

Anime fans from neighboring states drove through Friday's bad weather to get to Rosemont, Ill. and the convention site. At least one flyer was seen from an anime club in Cincinnati, a five-hour drive away. Tales of even longer drives were common. The longest trips, not in distance but in time, were by air - for once. The Thursday storm that dropped enough rain to flood several Chicago suburbs also stopped flights to O'Hare airport. Many fans said they had delays as long as eight hours getting to the convention.

The convention was popular. The hotel was not popular. When Anime Central asked fans to rate the Ramada Plaza O'Hare, one survey form gave the hotel a minus-ten on a scale of ten. The unpopularity probably started on Friday afternoon with a room registration line that stretched down most of the lobby. (In fairness, the hotel was swamped with people who stayed longer than expected on Friday because their Thursday flights were canceled, due to the bad weather.)

There was plenty of room for functions at the hotel, but they were spread nearly a city block apart. The four video rooms and the art and model display were at the hotel's south end, and the main convention hall, panel rooms and dealer room were at the north end (those panel rooms were much larger than the cubbyholes the convention had to use at the 1998 hotel). Comfortable shoes were a must to get from one end of the hotel to the other. The rooms weren't really up to the standards of a hotel that charges $80-$100 a night: the Ramada's rooms felt more like a $35 motel a mile away from a rural interstate interchange. Anime Central officials said they probably would find another hotel for 2000. On Sunday, they were selling memberships for the next convention (and the author bought one).

Sure enough, things were disorganized from time to time. Video room schedules changed and events usually started late (but the registration lines opened on time). There was the typical last-minute fiddling with sound and video equipment, and the lighting could have been brighter for the main convention stage (a typical photographer's lament that affects no one else).

Still, there's little comparison between the frustrations and disasters of the real world and the things that go wrong at an anime convention (and things always go wrong). Why does the author of this web page enjoy anime conventions so much? Because they're a wonderful escape from the real world. 

For example: the high school in Littleton, Colorado that was attacked on April 20, three days before the start of Anime Central, was a short drive from the hotel in Lakewood, Colorado where Nan Desu Con will be held. Last year, tornadoes struck just north of the hotel where Animazement was staged - and those twisters destroyed homes and killed people. A few weeks after Project: A-Kon 9 in Texas, a man was dragged to his death in another part of the state. And a hurricane swept through North Carolina and Virginia in the weeks before the first Neko-Con. 

This commentary shouldn't seem to suggest that disasters accompany anime conventions. (They might follow the author, however.)

Could that massacre in Colorado have an impact on anime fandom? It's not impossible. Consider that the parents of some of the children killed in a previous school shooting in Kentucky are suing 25 entertainment companies, claiming their programs inspired the boy who shot and killed their children.

There's no doubt that some anime is violent. In Japan, the violent content may be seen as having a cathartic effect (but that nation has bullying, its own school violence problem). In the U.S., eventually the outside world could look at the violence in anime as an influence on children. With high schoolers being among those who are anime's largest audience, that could have an impact on the art form's distribution. And in Europe, violence is censored more than sex.

This is not a call for censorship, which does more harm than good. It's an expression of hope that the good will generated by anime conventions continues, and that America's tolerance for alternative entertainment isn't damaged by events in Colorado.