This past weekend I packed up the van and took my crew to Anime Reactor in Rosemont, a Chicago suburb. In short, this late thirty-something guy had a lot of fun! I got a lot of cosplayer pics, attended a good number of panels, and even got up the nerve to sing Shell during Friday night karaoke! Call me strange, but I love the cosplayers and artists, and I love singing Japanese anime songs. The main reason I like Japanese anime though, is because the stories are so much better than most of the crap on tv right now.
It didn’t surprise me that the kids had a good time too. They love anime, buying stuff, and pocky! What did surprise me a bit was that my wife was a bit flipped out by the fact that we’re significantly older than most of the con attendees. We were both resident heads at the University of Chicago years ago, and spent a lot of time with young people, so I was doubly surprised by her reaction. But I guess that was because the relationship was different then. At a con we only have to be parents to our own children. She finally loosened up and had a pretty good time too. The age thing didn’t really bother me, I was having too much fun to worry about that anyway!
After an initial mix up with the kids’ registrations, mostly my fault, and a big argument, I had thought that maybe this would be the last con I dragged the family to. But in the end, we all had a good time and I think I learned something more about myself and the family I love so much. This old dog still has a lot of tricks left in him.