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Anime News

Nashville goes anime
Date: 3/28/2005
By Wil Moss, wmoss@nashvillecitypaper.com
Get ready to dress up like your favorite anime character, ?cause it?s Cosplay time, baby. The Middle Tennessee Anime Convention (MTAC) hosts its fifth annual convention, MTAC Go!, this weekend, April 1-3, at the Millennium Maxwell House Hotel, 2025 MetroCenter Blvd. ?
Conventions like this are growing by the year as more and more people, especially teenagers, are pulled into the world of Japanese cartoons, comics, toys, you name it ? all of which inspires a rabid fanbase. The convention itself is being put on by fans, a nonprofit board of seven members who plan the convention year-round strictly on a volunteer basis. Last year?s attendance was estimated at 1,100, forcing a change of venue this year to the bigger Maxwell House, where even more people are expected.
?I think the appeal for the teen to college-age group is that it?s not a patronizing form of entertainment,? said Lucas Leverett, an art director for a computer company by day, and MTAC chairman by night. ?There?s so much American entertainment that?s neutered or homogenized ? anime is more realistic. Themes that are glossed over in American entertainment like death are more fact-of-life in some forms of anime. Plus there?s stuff for kids, all the way up to adults.?
The family-friendly convention has enough programming to keep even the most ADD-riddled fan busy for three days straight. In addition to dealers tables who will offer for sale every fake sword and bootleg DVD you could think of, the convention has all kinds of events lined up such as a Ramen noodle eating contest, Cosplay, volleyball, staged samurai battles, a kimono fashion show, and an epic computer game LAN party. Plus there will be three screening rooms showing various movies and TV shows, one of which will be running 24 hours a day.
Among the guests expected at the con include various anime voice actors, singer Lisa Furukawa Ray, and illustrator Robert DeJesus from Studio Capsule. There will also be an appreciation of the classic anime Robotech throughout the weekend.
If you are one of the 850 people who pre-registered, you can check in early on Thursday from 7-9 p.m. Everyone else (since pre-registration is now closed) will need to register at the convention starting Friday at 9 a.m. Three-day passes are $35, two-day passes $25; Friday admission is $15, Saturday $20, and Sunday $10. Children under 5 get in free. For more information, visit www.mtac.net.
The MTAC Go! promises to be a serious and big time convention, so if you?re into this sort of thing (and even if you?re not, but love people watching), suit up and head on down.
Source: Nashville City Paper