by Dustin Kramer

Ah, the wonderful weariness of convention fatigue. Having just returned home from my fifth anime-related event in Japan, I realize I’ve come to enjoy the icky self-debriefing process from a day-long sensory overload of sweet, new media. I’ve got 90 pictures to share from the day’s festivities, and the moment I click “publish,” I’ll be off to take the best shower I’ve had all year. (I won’t be sharing pictures of my bathing ritual, however.)

Today, I attended the first ever AnimeJapan convention at Tokyo Big Sight, a sort of Frankenstein’s monster composed the fresh corpses of the Tokyo International Anime Fair (TAF) and the Anime Contents Expo (ACE). Anime News Network has a great interview with Yuma Takahashi and Koji Kitakami, former producers of ACE and TAF respectively, on how and why they came together to create the beast that is AnimeJapan. In the interview, they mentioned a desire to cater to both the business and fan sides of the anime equation, and from my perspective, that’s the most notable difference in what I saw today compared to similar engagements I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing here in the Far East.

Although the absence of business/press days is a little strange for an event that is still so industry-oriented, the relaxed cosplay rules really imbue the gathering with the kind of enthusiasm that all but defines media conventions in the West. Traditionally, events like TAF and Comiket always enforce a strict “no cosplay on the show floor” rule, meaning that if you want to see and photograph your favorite costumed characters, you have to go to a designated (and impossibly crowded) area to do so. AnimeJapan threw this rule out right out the window, instead opting for the more lenient “no photographing cosplayers on the show floor” alternative. From what I saw, the new guideline was generally followed by attendees, keeping the walking paths in (slow) motion and everybody happy. Now you can stand shoulder to shoulder at the Aniplex booth with someone in a colorful, physics-defying garment! How fun!

The cosplay thing was my biggest takeaway that I felt deserved more of a note than just a photograph, so without further ado, this is AnimeJapan 2014!