Had you passed by the DCC over the weekend, you would have seen people dressed in outlandish costumes with a wide variety of colors. You were not hallucinating, nor were your tired eyes playing tricks on you. It was actually Genericon’s 20th convention at RPI. For three days, anime, sci-fi, and gaming fans bustled about taking part in various activities happening on campus.
Registration and the opening ceremonies took place Friday evening, just as classes began to finish. In fact, by the time 5 pm hit, three rooms were already set up to play anime (DCC 318 played anime 24 hours a day for all three days). Anime fans were free to roam each room to view anime episodes or fan-made music videos, depending on the schedule given. The titles shown throughout the convention included Princess Mononoke, Pretear, Hellsing, Chrono Crusade, DN Angel, and Stellvia, just to name a few.
Of course, the convention was not just about anime. Outside the anime rooms, tables were set up with a number of board games. People played a variety of games ranging from Risk to Power Grid to Magic: The Gathering. In fact, there was a competition scheduled for Magic: The Gathering. A grand prize of $200 was awarded to the winner.
If you were tired with the anime and the board games, there were also workshops and panels that took place in different rooms. Some of the panels for the convention talked about cosplay and webcomics, while others allowed visitors to meet science fiction authors and artists. These included Ryk Spoor (sci-fi and fantasy author), Rob Balder (artist for comic strip PartiallyClips), Jeph Jacques (artist of Questionable Content), and the Applegeeks (a humor-based webcomic involving college students and robots).
There were also trivia games taking place at certain times of the day. Participants were asked to name anime and game tunes, take part in trivia games, and guess where certain images came from. Prizes were awarded to the winners of each trivia game.
As if those activities weren’t enough, attendees were also able to participate in roleplaying games. Many of the RPGs occurring contained a Dungeons and Dragons-based play system—such as the Pan-Reality Scavenger Hunt and the Elemental Crystal Meth events. The games ranged in complexity from those meant for seasoned players to those meant for the inexperienced.
Across the way in the CII annex, vendors set up their goods for fans to purchase. Some of the items sold at each vendor were wall scrolls, imported CDs, games, posters, plushies, graphic novels, keychains, and other assorted goods. I managed to get lucky in my search for posters.
In CII 4050, video game consoles were set up for guests to use. Separate consoles were prepared in different parts of the room. While some played Guitar Hero and Soul Calibur on the Playstation 2, others were occupied with Dance Dance Revolution, and still others played Wii Sports. Even Tetris was the subject of a fierce competition (a $250 prize went to the winner).
Cosplay took place at DCC 308. This event involved participants who paraded around in costumes of anime or game characters. Along with a small competition, there were a few skits that some of the cosplaying groups performed in front of an audience. Some of the outfits included characters from Final Fantasy games to anime, including Utena, Naruto, Chrono Chrusade, and Fullmetal Alchemist. I was particularly impressed with the cosplayers that dressed themselves up as Robin Sena (from the anime Witch Hunter Robin) and San (from Princess Mononoke). Even the illustrious V from V for Vendetta made an appearance.
Fans were also able to showcase their artwork in various rooms. An auction took place, where artists displayed their work and sold paintings, handmade bookmarks, and other types of arts and crafts.
During the evenings, attendees were entertained with parody videos, karaoke, and a J-Rock concert featuring Lunar Cross, a band heavily influenced by Japanese bands such as X Japan and Luna Sea.
With all these activities, it’s a wonder how participants were able to sleep at all for the entire weekend. Genericon XX was an overall success.
