A Northwestern anime, manga and Japanese-culture convention held April 8-10 for approximately 5,000 attendees, Sakura-Con 2005 was like a comics convention on speed. In the lobby of the labyrinthine Sea-Tac Hilton, a teen girl pounced camera-ready on every cosplayer who walked through the door. In the hall, one girl scornfully complained to another that "she had her obi tied in front, and I was like, 'You know that's how prostitutes tied their obis, right, because it made them quicker to take off...'" There were dark rooms lit only by LCD screens; In front of a conference room, a 15-year-old girl next to a boy dressed as a Sailor Scout proudly proclaimed that she had been told she was the best Edward Elric somebody had. There was a Japanese woman clad in diaphanous chiffon with green feathers in her hair who politely explained to a shutterbug that she wasn't in costume -- this was her habiliment. She was, in fact, Ippongi Bang, the manga-ka scheduled to conduct the next panel. Downstairs, the artists alley was filled with cat-eared ladies (such as Tiffany Nours and Amanda Lien, soon to be published by Arcana Studios) pushing their minis, handing out URLs, and doodling in their sketchbooks. Meanwhile, in the adjoining Sea-Tac Marriot, Go games raged on, Revolutions were Danced-Danced, and fanfics rounded tables. After hours, booty-shaking continued into the wee smas.

I couldn't help but contrast my first impressions of this con to my experience at the 2005 Seattle Emerald City ComiCon, which was a pretty clear reflection of the comics-shop Direct Market demographic. One incident I witnessed there (I heard several similar stories) was that of a man well into his 40s whom, upon discovering he had left one out of the huge stack of comics he had had Brian Michael Bendis sign, instructed his son (who looked to be about 7) to cut in front of the huge line to get that all-important 150th comic signed.

At Sakura-Con, the parents were there for the kids, not vice versa. Split about 50/50 across the gender line, most attendees appeared to be in their mid-teens to early 20s. (Attendees under 18 had "Child" printed on their name tag and had to be accompanied by an adult.) With exhaustive 24-hour programming, the con was well-suited to the Young, Wired and Wireless set in attendance. Fully half were dressed in costume, some bringing two or three to the con; Accordingly, by far the most popular event of the weekend was the costume contest, and a room was relegated solely for the purpose of taking photos of the orange-jumpsuited Narutos, pink-kimonoed Inu-Yashas, red-coated Edward Elrics and pigtailed Witch Hunter Robins (although there was a significant lack of storm troopers). Other attractions included panels, anime screenings, table-top role-playing, LAN gaming, arcade videogaming, origami, Chinese knotting, inflatable-suit sumo wrestling, tea ceremonies, karaoke, skits, costuming workshops, manga and fanfic contests and an art gallery with art for sale. In terms of anime/manga companies, ADV Films, Bandai, Geneon and FUNimation held panels, Antarctic Press hung out on the merchandising floor and Tokyopop and Harmony Gold were also in attendance.

Although the convention's guest list was spangled with luminaries flown in from Japan, they were primarily associated with anime, which reflected the fact that the majority of the attendees (and the sense that they were skewing slightly younger than predicted) were there courtesy of the Cartoon Network. The manga field was represented solely by cartoonist Ippongi Bang, who conducted a panel entitled "How to Draw Manga With Ippongi Bang." Unfortunately, the appropriate machine used to project her drawing techniques was not provided for Bang, so the panel turned into "An Extended Q&A Session with Ippongi Bang." Her most illuminating claims were that there are more women manga-kas in Japan than men, and that the manga industry is relatively free of sexism. This goes a long way to explain the enthusiastic response to manga in the U. S. among girls and women, and why so many, such as the ones that dominated the artists alley, are now choosing to draw in the manga-style.

Quite a few girls reported that they buy their manga through bookstores, online and at conventions. When they must venture out to a retailer, they chose anime/manga shops over Direct Market ones, which one characterized as filled with "creepy old men." Steve Lin, co-owner of Anime Pavilion, explained why girls and women might feel more comfortable in his shop than in a typical comic shop; He estimated that his clientele is 55% men, 45% women of all ages (which is interestingly the statistics that Sakura-Con estimated for its attendees). He stated, "I don't want the store to be like the old days when girls didn't like to go in the store, because they were creeped out by it."

Sakura-Con has been movin' on up since it's Tukwila appearance eight years ago with 313 attendees; The 2006 convention will be held at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in Seattle with a 200 percent expansion in guests, events and exhibitors. It's interesting to note that Sakura-Con had done an effective outreach at the Emerald City via a well-attended booth, thronged by girls in gis handing out videogame promotions. By contrast, the ECCC had no booth at Sakura-Con at all.

Kristy L. Valenti is the Editorial Assistant at The Comics Journal.

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