Just before the end of the year, we're going for a throwback at one of my favorite events of this year! The weekend 5-6 October 2024 was held in AnimeCon: RUN Thessaloniki VI John Vellid Conference Center. For another year, the Mangatellers invited us to this celebration of Japanese Pop Culture, Art and Tradition with new things and with surprises.
Differences from last year's Con
Double Space
As you may have understood, I have loved this event. And this year I got my ticket with the help of my good friend from Cosmic Realms in natural form, because I wanted it for a souvenir. A positive impression made me that the site was better organized. Unfortunately, the list did not contain the program in detail for activities such as the organization's website.
As we were Promise last year the organizers, the venue was double and the event from a single day became a two-day event. Needless to say, that made things better, because you could move pleasantly into space with comfort. I think compared to last year he had at least the same world and maybe more.
Cosplay had more honorary this year and there were several points either with stand with characters or something else like the anime car. In the MangaTellers Booth there was a wonderful machine with two very nice cosplayers who made characters from their new manga, Wifi Wars: Afterburner. In general, the whole atmosphere is very nice.
New additions and changes
Very interesting was the fact that there were several new things, such as Anime Marathon films, Workshops, Q&A, presentations, competitions, beyond the typical round in the shops. For the most part they were held in Stage (right to exploit the site) Conference Room. I have to say that the programme was so complete that some of the above I did not have time to follow them. Unfortunately, I haven't been through Movie Hall at all, although I'd like to watch fan film Legend: A Dragon Ball Tale and the QnA of the streaming guest Kenji Itoso.
Gallery Honor Tax on Akira Toriyama
I put it at a separate point in the article, because I would like to give a tribute to Akira Toriyama and DragonBall. From the photos below, we see Super Saiyan Goku raised and surrounded by works of creators. I found it very positive that we had plans regarding several DragonBall series (original, Z, Super) or some plan with Toriyama-sensei, who died last March. In our country we are many fans of this particular anime.
Panel: «Should & Can» – The life of Akira Toriyama
Fun fact!
The panel began at 10:30 in the morning, as did the time DragonBall played on Greek television.
Beyond the very nice boom, on Sunday we had an equally nice panel that was, in general, the life of the great mangaka. Excerpts from his old interviews, his old efforts and work before Dragonball were some of the things the children who organized it showed us. It became a wonderful job and time passed very quickly but I personally learned things I didn't know. The success of the panel was seen by the attendance of the world, as the hall was almost full, even though it was 10:30 in the morning.
The artists
Eldo Yoshimizu
Below we'll talk about the designers who were invited this year. Of course, we generally had other nice guests, such as voice actors Stelios Kalathas and Emmy Stylianidou, the animator Chris Thoenes and cosplayer Maid Mimi.
I'll start with the Japanese guest. How glad I am that we finally had one but two mangaka guests in the country! THE Shintaro Kago in Chaniartoon and Eldo Yoshimizu in AnimeCon. That gives me the feeling that we are in the right direction and we may see big names in the future. I was surprised how extrovert Eldo was, unlike the Kago I had met in Chania.
We watched Eldo's panel and the corresponding Q&A. Unfortunately, the latter was not very successful. This is because the dear interpreter did not speak loudly or near the microphone, resulting in a lack of hearing.
My long favorite moments were when my friend helped by saying the name of a film they were looking for in question to a respondents, but also when he asked his own question in Japanese.
As you may have seen above, I bought the manga Gamma Draconis And maybe I was the only one who gave him a signature list. I liked how he wrote your name in Japanese at the manga you gave him.
Senchiro
French Senchiro was my favorite guest this year. Personally, it had the best panel apart from what I watched and answered in detail, without getting tired, in Q&A which was well tuned.
Besides prints, he had his one-shot manga to buy. «Running to your heart» 10 euros. By buying it he made me a bruised head skate on the last page.
I was so impressed by his kindness and design style that I also took print and will now attend his work. Very clever I found where the manga he was selling was without text and balloons. That means that each of us can enjoy it regardless of language.
I also kept what he told me in our debate that he wants to show European everyday life and not what the Japanese do. I found it particularly interesting because that is how we feel more familiar. I think he had the most impressive plan on the list of the event. In general, as you can see, he left me the best impressions.
Elena Vitagliano
The Italian guest also had a good plan and much to say. I couldn't keep track of her panels, except one for a few minutes. She was very debatable and when we spoke with her on her bench, she asked us about the festival and if we were from Thessaloniki etc.
In general, I liked that, like Senchiro, she had her own special style and was happy to report it to her. Personally, I got some print, signed on the list and myself on manga head skate that charged it 20 euros. I found the result beautiful and very honest.
Manos Rabbit
Manos Laward is an accusation on his own and I believe we all know that. The well-known Greek artist gave the event once again. For this Con I had asked him in advance 2 commissions (Taro Sakamoto – Sakamoto Days & Sakura Haruka – Wind Breaker) and grew big.
One interesting thing they told me was that Eldo Yoshimizu passed through all the artists' stalls and when he saw Mano design him Tanjiro Kamado from Demon Slayer He bowed to him. I think that says everything and further words are unnecessary.
The shops and so on
Shops were the usual for the most part, with some new additions, such as MangaDistrict, which had some terrible swords of which several have been recovered from the first day. Of course, beyond that, space was better shaped, as there was a classification among the Manga Artist Alley, Cosplay Alley and Hobbyist. Another positive one compared to last year. Here, however, I would like to mention that again, like last year, I did not see many manga self-publishings at Manga Artist Alley. Surely there were more, but it still greatly prevailed on the print, which I hope will change in the future.
Music
I would also like to thank DJ for his choice of songs, because he played a lot to listen to. Special reference to «Lost in Paradise» (Jujutsu Kaisen Ending 1) and «Absolute Zero» (Wind Breaker OP 1 by Natori) that I love.
General Impressions
We had a great time at this year's AnimeCon and I'll give it once more. My congratulations to the organizers for all the effort and improvements. The next Con, I was told, will be even better, because that is their goal. I found it very positive that we had another Japanese in our country and we await the next surprises. For me, it's one of the events I can't wait to attend every year.
