From: fafhrd@clubzen.fidonet.org (Fafhrd)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.anime
Subject: Re: Anime Politics >> Don't Lose Sight of the Fans
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 92 01:55:41 PST
Organization: Club Zen BBS - Fidonet/Internet - +1 408 734 2289

lmann@orion.oac.uci.edu (Larry Mann) writes:

> 
> 	Rumors abound now, and in all honesty I'm not sure who to
> believe; it's getting worse than the national elections.
> 
> 	The thing that bothers me the most is, the people who are
> most responsible for bringing our fandom to the US are the same ones
> who could send it all to hell in a handbasket.  At one meeting (whose
> members I will not identify for business/security reasons) I heard
> rumors that there might be two cons going on simultaneously next year,
> AnimeCon '93 and Anime Expo '93.  I also heard -- mind you, these are
> all rumors now -- that the respective heads of the operations, David
> Medinnus (sp?) and Mike Tatsugawa, were ready to lock horns and have
> a full-on competition for the fans.
> 
> 	I hope to God that this is not true.  If there's going to be
> competition between factions of the anime industry for business,
> combat between a for-profit and a non-profit agency (check me if I'm
> wrong, please), then both cons will be lacking the kind of power that
> made, or at least attempted to make, AC '91 and AE '92 work.  Splitting
> the resources and pitting them against each other will only serve to
> run both cons into the ground, cause a general failure of everything,
> give us bad reviews here and, worse, on the Japanese front.  It'll
> destroy everything anime fandom has worked for.
> 
> 
> 	I'm a manga artist and writer attempting to break into the
> comics industry.  I would like to have a place where I can display
> my artwork and have it seen by a large fan audience.  I cannot do this
> if half the audience is somewhere else, and the place where I *am*
> displaying is suffering because of that.  You can't get noticed and
> (hopefully) hired by anyone if they're not there to see your work.
> 
> 	I am also an Otaku, and quite a few of my best friends are also
> members of the cause.  I want a forum where I can enjoy anime and manga,
> and not feel threatened by who's going to run what, who's going to be
> doing what in the political field, etc., etc.
> 
> 
> 	All this runaround just serves to make a point which has been
> bothering me, even more so since AE '92.  I fear that the people in
> charge are losing sight of the fans.  These people, and the people who
> are solely in this market for the business aspect (there are several
> names I would like to name here), are not interested in providing the
> forum that anime fans and prospective artists/writers like myself
> would like to have.  They're in it for the money.  Granted, money is
> what makes all of this possible; I'd like to turn a profit on my own
> work, too.  But should profit on this genre be made at the expense
> of the people who want to enjoy themselves and their anime/manga?
> I don't think so.
> 
> 	Mike, David, and anyone else to whom this applies: keep this
> in mind as you plan your business strategy for the upcoming year.
> If I may speak for the rest of fandom: we want to enjoy ourselves,
> not be overshadowed by a political war.
> 
> 
> 	Thanks for your time and patience.
> 
> - Larry Mann
> 
> ========================================================================
> =                                                                  ___ =
> = "Watch it.  I'm armed,         WWWA Terran Office, Irvine       /  | =
> =   and not that generous."          "I will solve any           /   | =
> =        - Kei, DPIII:5               problem for you."         /    | =
> =____________________________                                  /     | =
> =        Larry Mann          |   /|   / |   /|   / |   /|   / /______| =
> = <lmann@orion.oac.uci.edu>  |__/ |__/  |__/ |__/  |__/ |__/ /-------| =
> = WWWA: Creative Consultant  |_/  |_/   |_/  |_/   |_/  |_/ /________/ =
> ========================================================================

Dear Larry,

FYI....Animecon '93 is going to be run by a non-profit corporation, as is 
Anime Expo '93.

To the best of my knowledge, neither Mike tatsugawa nor myself will 
receive any direct income from running the cons. But, if I raise the 
consciousness of potential anime fans in the process, my retail store 
(which carries Animeigo, Streamline, etc.) will almost certainly benefit; 
not that many stores in the South Bay Area carry anime at all. 

My staff and I are working to bring you a great anime convention. It 
bothers me that Mike is running Anime Expo '93 in competition (or I 
am...it depends on your outlook, I suppose). But if I digress into the 
reasons why I beleive that Animecon '93 is the superior organization/con, 
it really will start a flame-war, and, enough is enough. 

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