Conventions, to me at least, are places where I can go to have fun and leave the troubles of the world behind for at least one weekend. It’s where I can find like-minded people and make friends, hang out with them and share our love for whatever we are talking about. Left, Right, it didn’t matter. For that one weekend you were just seen as a fellow nerd/geek/otaku/weebs having fun with others. And then Covid-19 happened, and things started to spiral down from there. Let’s not sugar coat this: all of this could have been avoided if people followed just the basic protocol the CDC had put out at the beginning of the pandemic: wear a mask to help slow the spread and social distance by keeping at least 6ft apart. But due to the heavy spread of misinformation and people believing that it’s a hoax, people started to die. Businesses started to close down and fire or furlough staff. Schools started to cancel in person learning and moved over to digital distance. Events such as music concerts, sports and yes even conventions canceled in order try to stop the spread. We were stuck in our homes, either sick or not wanting to risk getting sick. Yes we have the internet and are able to communicate with our friends and loved ones over great distances, but we humans are a social species. We yearn for in person contact: the warmth of a hug, the sound of laughter from a fiend, the sight of seeing them smile, that’s what conventions provide to many people. And like other conventions during 2020, San Japan, South Texas’ largest anime convention, had to cancel the event, though they did put on an online virtual convention. It’s now 2021 and as the world slowly tries to open up, conventions have also started to come back. This year San Japan has also decided to come back, but instead of the horror theme that was planned for 2020, the organizers decided to use a throwback theme. Thus San Japan 12.5: Throwback was born.
Observations
Streamlined game room- San Japan likes to boast that they have the largest arcade area for an anime convention in South Texas. And in previous years this was true. This year however, the arcade was noticeably much smaller. This was particularly due to the result of Covid forcing the companies that San Japan partners to supply arcade machines and help fill out their arcade area to cut back on conventions appearances and selling off cabinets just to be able to stay open. That didn’t didn’t stop San Japan from providing a fun arcade experience to its attendees as they still had local anime shop/arcade Otaku Cafe provide arcade cabinets. Even a dozen Arcade 1Up cabinets were there for those who needed an 90’s arcade fix. This year also saw the moving of console gaming from having its own room in the convention center to sharing space in the arcade area. This allowed console gaming to have more room for more consoles, to hold tournaments and more room to have spectators sit and watch.
Smaller dealer’s room/artist’s alley- Much like how the convention organizers had to scale back the dealer’s room and artist’s alley due to Hurricane Harvey in 2017, San Japan 12.5 had to scale back the dealer’s room and artist’s alley due to Covid. For most dealers and artists (especially artists), being able to go to conventions is one of their big sources of income and is what allows them to be able to go to several conventions in a year. As (at least in Texas) things are opening back up, dealers and artists have to pick and choose where to go and hope that the convention goes well. In San Japan 12.5’s case, even with the decrease in size there was still a wide variety of art, merchandise and other things to shop and look through.
Events streamlined/canceled- One of the best things about San Japan is the amount of events and panels that they hold every year. From concerts and ballroom dances to swap meets and panels San Japan tries to cater to a wide range of fandoms. But, much like the dealers and artists areas, content had to be streamlined and even cut. The maid cafe was cut from the programming and due to travel restrictions there were no Japanese guests. The yearly masquerade ball also saw a cancelation. Though these events were canceled, there were still musical act to be enjoyed during the weekend as well as the EDM/rave still on schedule.
Line Con 2021- Long lines are a fixture at any convention. San Japan has always had a good track record in keeping lines orderly when letting con attendees pick up their passes on Thursday but this year lines were longer than usual. Before they could enter the convention proper and pick up their passes, attendees had to provide proof of being fully vaccinated, proof of a negative Covid test, or take a health questionnaire. Sounds simple and makes sense wanting to do this before the convention officially starts and not having to stand in line trying to get a badge on that first day. Well roughly a couple hundred, just under a thousand people all thought the same thing and descended onto the HBG Convention center to fully fill the Covid protocols early and get their badge, causing lines to spill out into the main lobby area. Screening protocols started late which turned a usually 20 to 30 minute wait time to 2 to 3 hours, four hours for some. I don’t think the registration team expected that many people to show up early and did their best to handle the situation.
Capped attendance, mask mandates and health check- The whole point of having social distance was to help prevent the spread of Covid. This was to especially prevent such large gatherings like conventions from becoming super spreader events, causing Covid to spread further. As things start to open back up, many convention organizers have implemented protocols in order to help prevent conventions from being super spreader events. Things like requiring masks to be on and over the noise while in the convention, having proof of either being fully vaccinated or having a negative Covid test result, and capping attendance. San Japan adopted these protocols which allowed them to hold the con this year. While a 10,000 person cap is still a lot of people and would make social distancing impossible, everyone was masked up and only took off their masks when eating or for a quick photo if they were in cosplay. Rangers called out those who were not wearing masks correctly and there was hand sanitizer at every booth and at every entrance both in the convention center and the Grand Hyatt.
Smaller guest lineup- One of the main attractions for San Japan is the guests that they bring to the convention. From voice actors to musical acts and even industry insiders from Japan, San Japan has always had a wide range of guests. But due to Covid, concerns over safety and in the case for Japanese guests travel restrictions, the guest list was much smaller this year. Even with a smaller line up, San Japan still managed to bring out guest that attendees would enjoyed.
Final thoughts/Review
Even with a pandemic still going on, people complaining and arguing over the safety protocols, a smaller guest lineup and noticeable size reduction in the arcade, dealers’ room and artists’ alley, San Japan still manage to put on a fun convention experience. Most of the size reductions were really out of their hands and had no control over and that’s understandable. They made do with who was still available and made it work. Though there still some things that need to be worked out, such as Thursday night badge pick ups. Another complaint that I’ve heard about was that the Clear App wasn’t working for many people. I also think that its about time that San Japan starts to invest in some candy arcade cabinets of their own to help supplement the Otaku Cafe cabinets when an out of town supplier isn’t able to attend. Other than those minor things and of course the pandemic, San Japan 12.5 Throwback was a success. Let’s hope that Texas gets its act together and everyone gets vaccinated so that the full might of San Japan can return for next year’s theme Horror.
