By: Peggy Sue Wood | @pswediting

I love attending anime conventions. They are often places to celebrate the vibrant hubs of creativity in the medium we love and are generally places where fans gather to share their passion for anime, manga, and pop culture. However, within the colorful tapestry of these events, there can be uncomfortable and even disturbing incidents that unfold and I feel a need to remind potential attendees about the dark side of conventions as we go into the 2024 Summer season when so many conventions tend to take place. 

I’ve been attending convention spaces for about 10 years, and this last year had a revival of some of the toxic things I saw ten or so years ago. This may be due to the pandemic, which brought a huge influx of new people to the fandom, or it may have simply come back as the absence gave sides of the fandom time to be less heavily discouraged and penalized compared to what had been kicked out over the last decade.

Originally, my intention was to craft a positive post, serving as a gentle reminder about the importance of maintaining good convention behavior. However, after reflecting and discussing with friends, I’ve come to realize that people generally comprehend the expectations of public settings. The incidents I intend to recount here, as cautionary tales to fellow attendees about the darker aspects of conventions, are not behaviors that individuals are unaware of as lacking in social etiquette. It’s not incidental that these breaches of social convention, such as inappropriate remarks or unwelcome physical contact, occurred. They were deliberate choices, made publicly, that impacted others. As such, through examples from my experiences in 2023, I aim to remind and warn our readership to remain vigilant at conventions:

The first is the approach of strangers with unsettling conversations. While most often I’ve found fellow con-goers to be friendly, well-rounded people who are perfectly capable of making short conversations on favorite characters, story arcs, recommendations, and fandom experiences, there some attendees may veer into inappropriate and truly off-topic territories. In 2023, I had one person I was next to in line at AX start up a conversation explaining how upset they were for being kicked out of every discord group they had joined. They claimed it was due to their autism (probably not) before mentioning that they are a die-hard loli fan and hate that adults who look like adults wear loli cosplay before telling me and the group I was with that they wished they could date a real-life child-looking loli. They said this publicly and unprompted. They did not seem to be joking. I did report them as a potential danger, and—as it turns out—they had been removed the day before for filming in artist alley. I don’t know if they got back in (I do know that they left where we had been in line), but I surely hope not. 

Later in the year, I was speaking at a convention and was approached by one of my panel attendees later asking if I thought Hitler was truly evil because Hitler believed he was in the moral right and therefore may not have understood the action as evil. Um… what? If your answer is not “Yes; Hitler was evil” then I don’t know what to tell you. I ended up using an example of how parents that abuse their children sometimes think they are in the right and gave a truly gruesome example from a recent documentary I had watched on Netflix, which seemed to clear the question for this stranger but, like, my God. Why me? I actually asked them why ask me this when it had nothing to do with anything I was presenting on and seemed like a really out of pocket question, and they said that it felt like I’d actually talk them through it. Go figure I did, but like–my GOD. WHY ME?

These two situations, unprompted once again, were off-kilter and it seems like I was not alone in such experiences because a few of my friends discussed similar strange conversations held in other lines at various conventions in the last year. I want to stress that these kinds of “conversations” (which I am hesitant to call them that) disrupt the generally lighthearted atmosphere. It is crucial to address and redirect such discussions to maintain a safe environment for yourself and to report those that appear to be unsafe individuals as soon as you safely can do so to the nearest security person.

On that note, I turn you all to cosplaying, which is a beloved tradition at anime conventions that can, unfortunately, become a source of discomfort for many, particularly women or female presenting individuals. The act of dressing up as a favorite character can sometimes attract unwanted attention, ranging from uncomfortable stares to outright stalking or inappropriate touching. The line between appreciation and inappropriate behavior can blur when people confuse fantasy for reality. So it is vital for convention-goers to be vigilant and report any instances of harassment to event organizers.

If you are attending with a friend and your friend is “handsy” with a cosplayer, tell them to stop. When I was younger, I had a friend (no longer a friend after this incident) make inappropriate comments towards a male cosplayer at a cafe event that clearly made that cosplayer uncomfortable and I literally dragged that friend out. I haven’t had to say or do anything for a handful of years now, but last year I ended up telling off several fellow attendees at different conventions for crossing the lines between being a fan and being a low-key predator on behalf of a few uncomfortable cosplayers who thanked me for stepping in (some of whom were minors).

You also should be aware of any panel games with potential physical contact. I participated in a panel game where we played a version of hot potato, and another attendee nearly pushed someone over to get rid of the potato from their hands. Had there not been a white board behind that person, and myself standing next to them, the player that was pushed would have been on the ground and the other person likely could have gotten assault charges. Games are games and being competitive is fine, but people should be aware of how dangerous this can be, particularly with inexperienced panelists and moderators. Moderators should have stepped in at that point, pausing the game, but the moderators had never done this before and were not sure how to handle it. So, they did nothing. That, in itself, can be an issue.

Another encounter to avoid is the social media influencer (or influencer wannabe). The allure of fame can drive some individuals to crash anime conventions in pursuit of viral moments. These attention-seekers can jeopardize the safety of attendees. From setting pranks to inappropriate behavior captured on camera, these incidents tarnish the reputation of anime conventions and pose risks to the well-being of those in attendance. I’ve seen numerous videos this year of “pranksters” who sometimes turn violence into a joke for a camera. I’ve seen people ignore signs and post pictures of art/artists (always ask if you can take a photo), and I’ve seen several more get verbally abusive towards other attendees, including someone loudly claiming that someone with a walker was ruining their shot while they were largely disrupting traffic to try and get footage. 

I’m not talking about the respectful influencers that are reviewing credibly. I like Swell Entertainment, for example, who tries to give good reviews and has glowing reviews from those that recognize them. I’m talking about the ones that are like Jack Doherty.

I want to clarify that although I have intervened on a few occasions to address problematic situations, I don’t expect everyone else to do the same (nor should they feel obligated). However, this doesn’t imply that you should do nothing either. If someone has made you or someone you know feel deeply uncomfortable and appears to pose a potential threat to others, don’t hesitate to approach event security. If someone is harassing cosplayers, notify event security. If an influencer is causing trouble, notify event security. That’s their role and why they’re there.

That being said, notwithstanding these unfortunate occurrences, anime conventions remain primarily hubs of creativity, camaraderie, and shared enthusiasm. It’s crucial to recognize and confront the uncomfortable truths that can mar these events as we approach convention season, but I do not want to discourage you entirely from attending. The majority of these incidents were isolated to a particular convention, implying that over the course of two to three days, I encountered roughly one such incident. Previously, such occurrences would happen only once per year or every other year, which is why I feel compelled to caution others through a post like this.

Overall, I want our convention spaces to continue being places that foster open communication, promote respectful behaviors, and that use the security measures that have been put into place to help keep our space that way. As attendees we can work together to ensure that anime conventions remain enjoyable and safe spaces for everyone and, hopefully, with this notice, you all can look out for these actions too. 

It is only through collective efforts that the community can continue to thrive, while also minimizing the impact of those who seek to turn fun into discomfort. So, have fun this summer (but be careful)!

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Copyedited by: Katherine Cañeba | @kcserinlee