Today Judith and visited Animania Sydney at the Sydney Townhall. It is a long weekend and the weather is gloriously sunny with expansive blue skies as the cold is giving way to spring. The event brings to Sydney-siders Cosplay, Karaoke, Art and Games Rooms as well as anime screenings. Discussions and previews appeared in a range of panels, workshops and costume and drawing competitions, swordsmanship display, as well as the food fair on the terrace outside with takoyaki, yakisoba, karaage, etc.
The insight talks exploring the East meets West theme included:
Fandom: Cultures of flattery and expression or disrespect and theft?
When the West was Spirited Away: Anime and its Changing Status in Western Culture
Boy’s Love, East and West
Beyond Entertainment: Cross-cultural Communication and Education Through Anime*
Mickey Mouse and Astro Boy: The differences and similarities in animation east and west*
Fan Community: Otaku-dom in Australia
(*the ones we watched) The expert panelists included: Katherine Buljan; Dr Mio Bryce (Head of Japanese Studies, Macquarie University); Queenie Chan (Author and artist of 'The Dreaming' manga series); Dr Catherine Driscoll (Chair of Gender Studies, University of Sydney); Travis Edwards (Club President, Japanese Animation UWS); Ben Hawkes (Writer for Mania Magazine); Sylvester Ip (Assistant Anime Brand Manager, Madman Entertainment); James Kelly; Dean Prenc; Komala Singh.
