I recently was able to interview a local anime fan about her interest in anime and her trip to an anime con recently. It is a privilege to share her experience with other anime fans who may have wondered what it is like to visit an anime con.
Melissa: Can you state your name or pen name for the Examiner readers?
Rina Chiba: Rina Chiba.
Melissa: Hello, Rina Chiba. I am Melissa Gromley from the Cleveland Examiner. I understand you've been an anime fan for many years. Is this correct?
Rina Chiba: Yes it is. Even before I knew what anime was.
Melissa: When would say you first began to like it? How old were you?
Rina Chiba: I think I was around 12.
Melissa: And what was your first anime?
Rina Chiba: Pokemon.
Melissa: A first anime for a lot of anime fans. I find Pickachu to be adorable. Have you ever been to any anime cons?
Rina Chiba: Yes. I've just been to my first one.
Melissa: And where was the location of the anime con?
Rina Chiba: Boston, Mass.
Melissa: I bet you were pretty excited. What did you do first when you arrived?
Rina Chiba: I was. First thing was actually getting my badge the day before. But the opening ceremony was the first thing I did when the convention started.
Melissa: What was the opening ceremony? Can you describe it?
Rina Chiba: It was a lot of fun. We were introduced to the voice actors, music icons and fashion icons that had been invited there and given an idea of some of what would be going on.
Melissa: Do you recall any of the names of the voice actors, music icons, and fashion icons?
Rina Chiba: Chris Ayres and Greg Ayres were there. As was Caitlin Glass.
Melissa: All very excellent voice actors. Did you get to speak to any of them?
Rina Chiba: Sadly, I didn't. I would've loved to have gotten to meet Greg Ayres.
Melissa: That is a shame you did not get to speak with them. Now Greg Ayres has voiced a lot of anime characters, including Kouta Tsuchiya from Baka and Test and Youhei Sunohara from Clannad. What anime did he best impress you with?
Rina Chiba: I would have to say Chrono Crusade and Nerima Daikon Brothers. Boy can that guy sing!
Melissa: Agreed. During your time at the convention, what precisely did you do?
Rina Chiba: A lot of things. There was a make your own plushie activity, the cosplay skits, cosplay dating games. I did some karaoke and shopping. Oh, and photos. Lots of photos!
Melissa: What were the photos?
Rina Chiba: I took a lot of photos of cosplayers. There were so many and they were all very nice.
Melissa: Are you able to provide permission for the Examiner to show one or two of the photos?
Rina Chiba: I don't see why not. I've been uploading them onto my DeviantArt account.
Melissa: With your permission then, I would like to share a couple of links to the images. May I have two photograph links?
Rina Chiba: Of course! Cosplayer 1, Cosplayer 2.
Melissa: Excellent photographs if I may say. The first was quite amusing. The second featuring Sailor Jupiter had a resemblence to the character, minus the lighter hair color.
Rina Chiba: Yeah. The Deadpool was hilarious. And I loved how much like Jupiter that cosplayer looked.
Melissa: It is great when anime fans can join together to provide an impact on other anime fans. Now did you do any cosplaying?
Rina Chiba: I wanted to but I couldn't figure out what to do with the clothes I had in my closet.
Melissa: If you had or could have thought of something, who would you want to go as?
Rina Chiba: That's a tough one. Especially since there are so many I would love to dress as. Probably Satsuki from CLAMP's X,
Melissa: An excellent consideration. Satsuki was perhaps best known for her ability with computers.
Rina Chiba: Yeah. She was. Out of the Dragons of Heaven, she was my favorite.
Melissa: I can definitely see why. Well, it looks like our time is over now. But it's been a terrific pleasure speaking with you about your experience at the anime con.
Rina Chiba: It was fun talking about it.
Melissa: I'm glad you enjoyed it! Until next time then. Thank you, Rina Chiba, for the privilege of interviewing you.
Rina Chiba: You're welcome. It was pleasure and an honor.
Comments