If you walked around Tampere today, you probably saw a lot of strangely dressed people. Yep, they're all anime/jrock cosplayers dressed for the 2008 animecon. I've always wanted to go to an anime convention, but I don't know anyone who would be interested in going with me, and I always seem to find out that they're being held only after they're already over. But today I finally got to go to my first ever anime convention.

I only went with the intention of checking it out, but I immediately regretted that I wasn't prepared to spend the whole day there. There would have been so much to do there, but I only stuck around for a couple of hours because I had other things to do and all the merchandise looked way too tempting... I settled for buying two volumes of manga and two pins that say "Otaku; stay away" (in Finnish) and "Sex is good but anime lasts longer". There was also one that reminded me of a certain someone (I know you'll recognize yourself ;D) that said in Finnish "Otaku do it with tentacles". I nearly burst out laughing.

The whole place was filled with cosplayers. It was really fun trying to see how many of the characters I could recognize. I probably saw the whole cast of Naruto (times many, there were so many Akatsuki members that I lost count), many characters from Bleach, D.Gray-man, Inuyasha and Rurouni Kenshin, to mention just a few. I also saw characters from many series that I never thought were even popular in Finland (I didn't think anyone knew Meine Liebe!). For some reason I nearly burst out laughing when I walked by three cosplayers who were portraying Echizen, Kaidoh and Tezuka from Prince of Tennis (and they really looked the part too!). I know I've always been priding myself on the fact that I'm familiar with most of the popular animes, but today I saw a lot of costumes that I couldn't recognize. Shock. Well, I've finally seen proof that I'm not the most dedicated animanga fan in Finland. I'm definitely interested in trying cosplay myself, but first I'd have to figure out which of my many favorite characters I'd like to portray and I'd have to find someone to go with me, as I probably wouldn't dare to go alone. I've been talking on Facebook with one of the other future exchange students at WWU and he said he's interested in going if there's an anime convention close enough to Washington. I certainly hope there will be.

I stayed around for the first half of the cosplay competition (why did I have to leave my shiny new camera at home? Grr.) and a panel where Finnish manga translators discussed their work. Imagine my surprise when I recognized one of the translators there as a girl who has been sitting next to me in Japanese class for the past year! I've even talked to her every once in a while but she never mentioned that she actually translates manga! It was mentioned during the panel that she translates Oh! My goddess and NANA, to mention some. And I was even more shocked to learn that she (and one other translator there) has only studied Japanese by herself for around four years and she's never even been to Japan. Is that really how little it takes to get to translate manga? As a translator-in-training I'm a bit disappointed that the Finnish translators of manga don't have better training. They said their work is always proofread by this other translator (he's currently translating One Piece) who has spent most of his childhood in Japan. But still, I wonder about the quality... Well, at least it sounds like I also have a chance to become a manga translator after a few more years of study. I saw some other manga-translator wannabes there too so there is competition...

After leaving the convention, I did some clothes shopping for my uncle's wedding that's taking place next Saturday. I've been on a diet this whole summer and it's finally beginning to show. It felt awesome to go buy clothes when they actually look good on me! Most of my old clothes are getting too big for me and I'd like to buy a whole new wardrobe but alas, I have no money to spare. Then again, I heard that buying clothes should be a lot cheaper in the US... I did get my visa, by the way. Still 53 days to go.

Phew, maybe that's enough for today.