Sorry that I haven’t been around much gang. I’ve been backlogged and my day job has taken quite the toll on my schedule, not to mention we were revamping our website at www.otakunoyen.com. Now that the re-launch is out of the way and I’m a bit more stable in my schedule other than house hunting (wish us luck by the way! TOTALLY nervous), I should have some more time to post here at theOtaku.com. I missed you guys. =)

Now, on to today’s topic, and I will ask as usual that all comments left are respectful, non-catty, and intelligent.

Over the years, I've had the privilege to meet, and occasionally befriend, several people who work very closely in the Anime related industry. Now, first of all, let me say that when I mention ‘the Anime industry’, I make no differentiation between the American and Japanese markets. It’s all one big industry to me after getting some clarification from a few friends of mine who do work for one of the larger companies here in America that distribute, translate, and dub anime. Some of these people are infamous, with very outward opinions on the state of the industry and what can be done to fix it. Others are just random folk like you and me who love to celebrate the fandom for what it is. But I’ve noticed something more important to me than everything else; every single one of them is just like you and I, struggling to get by. Starving artists, starving actors…it’s all the same, just a different flavor of bread, so to speak.

This past weekend, my husband and I were invited for the second year in a row to attend Anime Iowa, a wonderful convention in the Cedar Rapids, Coralville area. Before I say anything else, I want to give a shout out to all the staff, family, and friends that we have out there who have been digging out from the hellish flooding of that area from earlier this year. I can say that I drove through parts of Coralville and the destruction was truly frightening. Kudos to Clarine Harp, Carrie Savage, and the rest of the VA’s in attendance for their excellent work on the charity auction, which raised over $5,000 dollars for the Iowa flood relief effort, and massive hugs and kudos to those of you who put your hard earned money into that auction. Otaku are wonderful people, and I have always thought that. We are a community of caring, outspoken, and kind hearted people who are not afraid to pitch in when the time is needed. =)

One of the things about Anime Iowa I’ve always loved was that it is a smaller convention compared to some of them that we attend, and thus, we get a lot more time to spend with friends, visitors, and fans. Many of the voice actors who attend continually return to AI because of its family-like nature, with the bonus of being able to simply sit outside and have a chat with one of the Ayres brothers, or just chill after a panel with any of the other guests. This is a con where friendship, and a mutual respect for fan and industry alike take precedence over what I like to call “Oh my god this is the best con EVAR” syndrome. Translation: You get to actually MEET the people you idolize and adore, and there is no security guard shoving you out of the way every two minutes. Trust me, before we ever got G.O.H. invites to cons, I was one of those girls shuffling my feet in the hallway, trying to get up the nerve to go ask a V.A. to sign my hoodie or DVD, and cons like AI were a breath of fresh air to me even then.

Now, because this convention is so people-based, I get a lot of time at my table to talk at length with several staffers, visiting friends, occasional family member, and reader of our web comic, V.A., or just random convention-goer. For many years, we were actively involved in the Artist’s Alley at AI, and we’ve attended every AI since 2001. Because of that, I’ve also forged some long-standing friendships with small-press or Indy-press comic creators and artists that frequent many of the Midwest shows, like Studio Antithesis http://www.studioantithesis.com/, Rainarc Rhapsody , Jen Brazas http://www.mysticrev.com, Brion Foulke http://www.flipsidecomics.com/, Dirk Tiede http://www.dynamanga.net/, and many others. Nowadays we’re usually wherever the con puts us, which this year was up front at the dealer hall next to our good friend Steve Bennett http://www.stevebennettart.com/ (who is a wonderful friend of ours and is leaving soon for Japan. Go show him some love and tell him we sent ya.)

Throughout the weekend, people were coming to our table to ask our opinion on a new ‘no fan art’ rule that the parent company from AI implemented, with some controversy, for 2008. It was…well, very surreal. First off, I can’t imagine anyone coming to me for advice other than if those pants make their ass look huge or hey, is the orange chocolate pocky worth spending money on (the answer to the pocky question is yes, by the way; ohmigawd YUM). But at the same time, I was horribly flattered that people even wanted my opinion, let alone took it to heart. We were invited to appear on the convention’s new pod cast, and there will be a long discussion there about the situation of fan art and how it is affecting the industry. I’ll be sure to post a link once it gets posted and I encourage you, regardless of if you agree or not, to listen.

The one time that this topic did make me really, truly think very hard was Sunday afternoon. One of the artists from the alley that I truly didn’t know, came to my table and in a very polite manner, and just as conversation, asked what I thought in regard to any no-fan art rules being implemented at cons.

My answer was as follows.

I find nothing wrong with fan art, in concept. The Anime industry was founded by fans, for fans, and I think that to a degree, that fandom needs to be celebrated. As artists, we all have to learn somewhere. Creating a one of a kind piece of a character, even if it is fan art, to me is not wrong or immoral, even if it is a purchasable piece so long as the original creator and or company who own that series are credited, and you only make it a one time thing. However, mass producing and mass merchandising a fan art piece is not only wrong, but immoral and illegal no matter how much you attempt to justify it.

Translation: Fan art is fine on a one-shot basis, because this industry was based on that sort of thing in the first place. Fan art is wrong when, let’s say, an artist creates a Naruto piece and then makes 500 prints, or clocks, or t-shirts, or bookmarks, or buttons with that image if the characters depicted belong to another individual. That is mass merchandising, and no matter how you try to cover it up, is illegal…parody laws not withstanding. If you draw Sailor Moon in a Gundam beating Tokyo Mew Mew upside the head and blowing her to smithereens, that’s different. But if you’re just drawing Ed because you think he looks badass and then stamp that image on eight hundred prints or other pieces of merchandise, that is wrong.

AGAIN: I am NOT against fan art in all situations. Hell, there’s an awesome fan art gallery here on theOtaku.com, and if you haven’t been to look at it, you really should. There’s some great stuff out there.

And here’s the kicker kids; I found out that several companies now have secret shoppers that go to cons, or lawyers who do so, take people’s contact info, and then come down on them later. Guess what? It’s happening. And no, that is not BS.

I shared this opinion with the young man, who nodded and thanked me for my time. I don’t know if it was the answer he was hoping for, or even if he agreed or disagreed with me. But I did something after that; I also made my opinions known to the staff, and expressed the hope that some of the rules and laws will change in the future. I also encouraged a few wonderful fan artists in the Alley to create some original work, because some of them have AMAZING talent and I for one would love to see what they can come up with on their own. Maybe the next CLAMP is right here in the states, and we don’t even know it because they’re too busy doing CLAMP fan art materials.

I remember what it was like getting my foot in the door, but I have never made my money, or my living, mass producing other people’s characters and selling them on my products. This is a hard living, being an artist, and often times it is a horribly frustrating one. There’s a reason I work a day job, and a reason I run myself ragged trying to hold up two very full time careers at the same time as well as now have two interns who volunteered to help me out. The basic rule, as I think I’ve said before, is that you have ten long years, bare minimum, of shoveling crap before you get somewhere. But if you want it badly enough, you can get there. I think some people are impatient and simply want instantaneous gratification, and they see mass produced fan art and mass produced fan art merchandise as a quick solution to that. To those people, I say I am very sorry and I hope that they can learn to develop their own creative properties instead of just wanting to make a quick buck, because that is despicable, illegal, and not to mention immoral. Yes, this industry was founded by fans and for fans, but it was also founded together with folks who had their own ideas, their own creations, and some of those creations are now celebrated series that have spawned whole generations of fans and helped to popularize Anime into the phenom it has become.

People cannot deny that the state of this industry is changing, and sadly every time that I talk about this in some public forum, be it at a lecture, convention, or school, the status has grown a little bit worse. I know every industry goes through this; Hollywood suffers a rollercoaster slope, as has the American comics industry, but Anime is something I don’t know will bounce back with even remotely the same amount of strength, if it bounces back at all. Things are happening that we don’t always hear about; The Japanese time slots that have been revered for years as a staple have stopped being a tradition. Saturday afternoon, early evening slots that were reserved for powerhouse anime shows like FMA are now a thing of the past. Things are changing, and they are not changing for the better. We can’t ignore it, when companies who bring the anime to us have begun to fold, when voice actors are begging their fan base to support the industry…when Nabeshin himself, who has an amazing worldwide fan base with shows like Excel Saga, Nerima Daikon Brothers, Wallflower and Puni Puni Poemy, can’t get his new show picked up in his own hometown and has to scrape to buy diapers for his child…there is a problem, and we can’t turn from it. We have to recognize it, on both the professional and fandom side, and we have to fix it.

I hope and pray that this industry can turn itself around. I will be the first to admit that many companies need to pay more attention to their fans, and many fan arguments are very well noted and not only true, but completely justified. But at the same time, it is our job and our duty as fans, to support this industry before it disappears altogether and becomes nothing more than a thing of our pasts. I love this industry more than anything in the world. I scrape together money to pick up a show here and there, if nothing else because it makes me happy, and I make sure to put my money where my mouth is, even when I don’t necessarily have money to spend. Why?

Because I love what I do, and I want this industry to stick around. Think about that the next time you support an illegal activity involving the Anime Industry. And please remember. As fans, it’s our job to make sure this stuff is still here years from now.