Fennel's been an anime (Japanese cartoons) and manga (Japanese comics) costumer for 10 years -- he blames Speed Racer and Robotech, which sucked him in during high school.
His gig at the Phoenix Comicon gives him the opportunity to provide something for both old school anime fans -- like the nightly anime raves -- and draw in new fans with events like the Japanese Maid Café and Lolita Tea Party.
We recently sat down with Fennel to discuss Comicon programming, the appeal of anime, and the moxie of costumers.
What's great about Phoenix Comicon for anime costumers who dress up
all the time?
What's the anime and manga scene like at a convention?
The anime community is one of the greatest groups of people I've ever
seen. They're the most well-behaved people you could meet. When people
hear there are 10,000 screaming teenagers somewhere, they think it'll
be chaos. After the con, we get accolades for how smoothly
everything went and how cool everybody was.
What do you like about anime and manga?
I like anime story lines and artistic talent. A lot of anime series have
deeper story lines than shows on TV today. Anime is usually designed
around manga, which can also be called "graphic novels." They're usually
longer series, with characters that people feel strongly about, and the
story lines speak to a lot of people in their daily lives.
What do you have lined up for the anime track at PCC?
It's not just anime. I try to tie in the comics [manga], and
bring guests that will talk about directing, writing, voice acting --
the gamut. A lot of [anime conventions] focus just on voice actors, but
I booked panels where they talk about every aspect of anime and manga.
I also wanted to tie in Japanese culture, so we'll have a fashion group
called Tokyo Girls there, and panels on kimono dressing, too.