Anime Iowa - Sunday - Author's Notes

Anime Iowa - Sunday - Author's Notes

To go from one of the largest anime conventions in North America to one of the smallest; from a harbor town to a railroad city; from flying at 41,000 feet to driving between the grain silos - this was the contrast between the early-August trip to Otakon in Baltimore and the late-August trek to AnimeIowa in Cedar Rapids.
The only thing these towns have in common is their link to water: the Inner Harbor is in the heart of Baltimore and the Cedar River flows through downtown Cedar Rapids. In Iowa, the city hall and county courthouse stand on an island in the middle of the river.
Cedar Rapids is the model of a modern small Midwestern town, clean, neat and with an empty downtown on Sundays. Stroll down the streets and you'd think that anime would make no inroads in a city like this, but stop in the Taco Bell two blocks to the west of the Crowne Plaza hotel and you spot a Digimon display inside...and you understand. The message was reinforced by the group of children sitting on the floor of the dealers' room, trading Pokemon cards on Sunday afternoon.
After Otakon, the second-largest anime convention in history, the author noted a lot of online messages from fans who said that they would rather go to a smaller convention. In previous years AnimeIowa was a small event, but did it stay small in 2000?
Yes it did, but it wasn't as small as it was in previous years. The facility was larger and the attendance grew from around 400 in 1999 to about 700 in 2000, but there was still plenty of space to stretch out and relax. Those who complained it was hard to find friends at Otakon might have had the same complaint about AnimeIowa because the convention covered so much space: from the main floor and a ballroom of the Five Seasons convention center to rooms on three floors of the Crowne Plaza.
Still, AnimeIowa stayed small and friendly - and relaxing. After rushing through big events since May, it was unique to be at an event where it made as much sense to just hang out as to dash from panel to panel. On Sunday, the convention was an easy-going, pleasant stroll through the halls.
Over the weekend, the noisiest event at the hotel and convention center complex was a wedding party; the music was so loud that it nearly overpowered the sound for the Saturday night cosplay. That led to an unintentional joke when the wedding party DJ played "The Stripper" so loud that it seemed to be the music for a female costumer who was walking onto the stage at the same time.
The second-loudest noise of the weekend came from the motorcyclists who made endless nighttime laps around the hotel. Third-loudest was the bunch of kids playing in the hotel pool, which was next door to the room where people were discussing how to build piñatas.
People certainly had fun. The author's hotel room happened to be across the hall from one of the convention's video rooms. There was delighted laughter from that room at all hours of the day and night, from the author's Friday arrival until the last moments of the convention on Sunday afternoon. Some of the loudest laughs were for a showing of a Ranma 1/2 episode, showing that series is a long way from being out of fashion in the heartland.
And there was one great costuming irony. One female costumer was told that her outfit was too revealing. So, she put it on a man, instead - and women were squealing about how cute the man was in that costume.
In 2001, the convention moves a few miles north to the Collins Plaza Hotel where AnimeIowa was held in 1999.
So why did this page go to AnimeIowa instead of the Canadian National Anime Expo held in Toronto on the same weekend? The Midwest trip cost less than the Canadian trip, that's why. The author doesn't have an unlimited budget (contributions appreciated), and the less expensive trip helps stretch the budget (and gives the author a chance to pay some real-world bills).
Of course, it would cost nothing to stay home...but that would be wrong.

Friday
Saturday

Sunday

To go from one of the largest anime conventions in North America to one of the smallest; from a harbor town to a railroad city; from flying at 41,000 feet to driving between the grain silos - this was the contrast between the early-August trip to Otakon in Baltimore and the late-August trek to AnimeIowa in Cedar Rapids. The only thing these towns have in common is their link to water: the Inner Harbor is in the heart of Baltimore and the Cedar River flows through downtown Cedar Rapids. In Iowa, the city hall and county courthouse stand on an island in the middle of the river. Cedar Rapids is the model of a modern small Midwestern town, clean, neat and with an empty downtown on Sundays. Stroll down the streets and you'd think that anime would make no inroads in a city like this, but stop in the Taco Bell two blocks to the west of the Crowne Plaza hotel and you spot a Digimon display inside...and you understand. The message was reinforced by the group of children sitting on the floor of the dealers' room, trading Pokemon cards on Sunday afternoon. After Otakon, the second-largest anime convention in history, the author noted a lot of online messages from fans who said that they would rather go to a smaller convention. In previous years AnimeIowa was a small event, but did it stay small in 2000? Yes it did, but it wasn't as small as it was in previous years. The facility was larger and the attendance grew from around 400 in 1999 to about 700 in 2000, but there was still plenty of space to stretch out and relax. Those who complained it was hard to find friends at Otakon might have had the same complaint about AnimeIowa because the convention covered so much space: from the main floor and a ballroom of the Five Seasons convention center to rooms on three floors of the Crowne Plaza. Still, AnimeIowa stayed small and friendly - and relaxing. After rushing through big events since May, it was unique to be at an event where it made as much sense to just hang out as to dash from panel to panel. On Sunday, the convention was an easy-going, pleasant stroll through the halls. Over the weekend, the noisiest event at the hotel and convention center complex was a wedding party; the music was so loud that it nearly overpowered the sound for the Saturday night cosplay. That led to an unintentional joke when the wedding party DJ played "The Stripper" so loud that it seemed to be the music for a female costumer who was walking onto the stage at the same time. The second-loudest noise of the weekend came from the motorcyclists who made endless nighttime laps around the hotel. Third-loudest was the bunch of kids playing in the hotel pool, which was next door to the room where people were discussing how to build piñatas. People certainly had fun. The author's hotel room happened to be across the hall from one of the convention's video rooms. There was delighted laughter from that room at all hours of the day and night, from the author's Friday arrival until the last moments of the convention on Sunday afternoon. Some of the loudest laughs were for a showing of a Ranma 1/2 episode, showing that series is a long way from being out of fashion in the heartland. And there was one great costuming irony. One female costumer was told that her outfit was too revealing. So, she put it on a man, instead - and women were squealing about how cute the man was in that costume. In 2001, the convention moves a few miles north to the Collins Plaza Hotel where AnimeIowa was held in 1999. So why did this page go to AnimeIowa instead of the Canadian National Anime Expo held in Toronto on the same weekend? The Midwest trip cost less than the Canadian trip, that's why. The author doesn't have an unlimited budget (contributions appreciated), and the less expensive trip helps stretch the budget (and gives the author a chance to pay some real-world bills). Of course, it would cost nothing to stay home...but that would be wrong.