This is Part 2 of Strange Playground. You can find Part 1 here
Before I embarked on this convention, I would have struggled to explain the difference between Manga and Anime, and would have eschewed dubbed productions for subtitles. I also would have nodded quietly when anyone was critical of men.
Ciarán Strange broadened my horizons on every front. For what it's worth, manga are Japanese comics, and graphic novels. Anime is literally a shortening of "animation" and is applied within Japan to every form of that art. Outside of Japan however (such as in Fargo), the label applies to Japanese animation of a very particular style, usually adapted from manga.
All of which brings us back to models of masculinity. As Ciarán acknowledged in Part 1, there is a definite thread amongst some Trans men and non-binary trans-mascs to reject male-hood, but as he countered, there is also a model of positive masculinity with which one can be armed against the worst excesses of toxic masculinity. In short, he helped me re-find my relationship with masculinity. Anime Fargo is a very Queer, Trans-friendly space and beyond that there was a palpable sense of familiarity amongst the 1000+ con goers as the Kamikaze Snowmen brought the con to a close.
The Fringe
So, let me take you on a tour of the breakout spaces which were the con equivalent of a festival fringe.
The Community Room
The volunteer Faye Seidler decorated and staffed this recuperation space where con goers could pick up water and a snack. She told me that her intention was to help people, however briefly, forget they were in a hotel. As I spoke to her, the hotel corridor behind us was buzzing with fully costumed cosplayers.
The Quiet/Manga Room
As the name suggests, this was a haven of tranquility amidst the social chaos of the convention, a place to recharge your mind with manga or a jigsaw. (Insert audio)
Tabletop Games
What I would call board games were stacked numerously along the back wall and tables provided to play said games.
E-Gaming
Another of Japan's great industries, electronic gaming, was very prominent at the event. You can literally hear it as you approach. (Insert audio)
I played the drum game in center frame.
Artist/Vendor Alley
The commercial space in this otherwise non-commercial event, Artist Alley, was packed full of items made by independent artists, but also had booths for the special guests.
The Panels
The vast majority of the schedule is set aside for guest panels.
Events were kicked off (even before the official Opening Ceremony) by Steve Prince and Paul St Peter discussing Digimon and transporting those characters to foreign contexts.
I was not aware of Digimon, but they gave some valuable insight into the key skills of voice dubbing.
Ciaran Strange's first panel was an 18+ panel (you are not allowed to record, or even use your phone, during such panels). The following morning was The Liminal Space, Life as a Trans Creative. As noted in Part 1, I've known Ciaran for 13 years and we are friends but I still think I can be enough of an observer to note that they remain passionate about the Queer community in general fighting to take up space in society.
Joining him on stage was Sins, an anime reviewer.
If you are interested in supporting Trans voice actors you should check out Ciarán's BlueSky starter pack of Transgender voice actors.
On top of editorial decisions, algorithmic decisions are also thinning the field.
Some questions hit harder than others, and Ciarán mentioned being a white, Queer, immigrant (all of which I also am).
The panel ended with questions from the audience.
Later that day, there was a panel on LGBTQ representation in the media.
Guest Q&A (x2, kinda)
There were two Guest Q&A panels - also known as AMAs after the Reddit abbreviation for Ask Me Anything. The 18+ panel was unrecorded - per the rules of the Con. Earlier in the day, the three voice acting guests, Ciarán Strange, Paul St Peter and Steve Prince took questions - with the explicit instruction that they are allowed to say no. In the end, a wide range of questions were asked, the best of which was "What would you tell your younger self?"
The three would reprise their trio for The Kamikazi Snowmen Explain the Universe (and other stuff)
The Kamikazi Snowmen
Both the MCs of the opening and closing ceremonies and very funny guys in their own right, they held a couple of panels. I caught some audio from the latter panel just referred to. Oh, and Strange (who is from Sussex) doing a Scottish accent and making hand puppets to get his point across.
Anime Madlibs
As someone who has watched precious little anime and never played madlibs, I had no idea what to expect. Hilarity ensued.
The Closing Ceremony
Teary-eyed and possibly inebriated, the con-goers gathered one last time on the Sunday. As before, the Snowmen were MC'ing. As before, the audience seemed interested in sex (if you don't know what I mean, listen to the audio).
If you can listen to the audio, please do, but here are Ciaran's remarks - and they are worthy of emphasis.
Thank you so much for everything this weekend. Äge and the rest of the Guest Relations Team and a couple of folks from Detour...and the Kamikazi Snowmen have been telling me how incredible this Con is, and how I need to come up and experience Anime Fargo, and y'all did not disappoint for a second.
Y'all are so happy and so positive and so Queer and so cozy. You're my new favorite cozy, Queer con. Seriously, you all have something so, so special here. Like Steve said, don't let that go. Hang on to that and hang on to each other, and remember when you go back out there and the world tries to remind you through algorithms and other bs that you are alone, we are all still here - just a little Instagram message away. So, stay safe please. Your only job right now is to survive until next year.
Paul St Peter (and mascot Buffington) removed Excalibur and the Snowmen serenaded an audience who replied with waving phone lights. Photos by Tim Abbott for Northland Media
Thank you to all at Anime Fargo from a convention virgin no longer.
