Anime fans drawn to Mizuumi-Con 3

The mall of Our Lady of the Lake University campus was taken over by food stalls and a henna painting table, and the campus was crowded with costumed anime fans Saturday for Mizuumi-Con 3, sponsored by the OLLU Mizuumi club.

Members of the Japanese club at this college helped set up at the event and then took advantage of the crowd to sell homemade Japanese food and raise money for club activities.

Many of their customers were wearing handmade costumes of anime or video game characters. Sarah Pichardo, club vice president and international studies sophomore, was wearing red cat ears and a collar as she served fans.

"They'll see someone dressed up and be like, hey, I'm dressed up, too. It kind of gets them comfortable," she said.

Japanese club members stood behind the counter dicing cabbage and ham for yakisoba, a fried noodle dish, rolling rice balls, and cooking miso soup with a coffee maker. A club member was sent on frequent trips to replenish supplies. By 12:30 p.m., their stock of rice balls was gone. "We started with two big trays; now there is nothing left," Pichardo said.

Club president and education sophomore Robert Vidal said, "One of the members had to sacrifice her own rice ball for a hungry, crying customer."

At the end of the day, Vidal was pleased with their profits. "We made well over $950, a new sales record," he said. "We were busy until the last second when we sold out of every single thing we had."

Panel discussions began in the afternoon, featuring special guests, voice actor Kyle Hebert, and anime artist and producer Samantha Inoue-Hart.

For those determined to be a voice actor, Hebert recommended they take acting lessons, invest in a demo tape and move to Los Angeles. "Another key thing with animation is you have to move where the work is," he said. "The work is not in San Antonio, unfortunately."

The rest of Hebert's speech focused on the difficulties of making a living as a voice actor. "Voice actors, we're vultures really. We want the work, we need the work, and a lot of us don't get to survive on voice work alone," he said.

At the end of the speech, one audience member commented that voice acting panels are always depressing and asked that the panel end on a more positive note. Hebert obliged and ended the panel by making voices for the audience.

Inoue-Hart kept her audience laughing through her panel discussion titled "How to Survive in Japan." She commented on the differences between American and Japanese fast food and explained the importance of murses, or male purses.

"Everywhere in Japan, you will see men walking around with murses. This is because there are no trashcans in Japan. They stuff their Kentucky Fried Chicken and Krispy Kreme wrappers into their Prada or Chanel bags," she said.

During her speech, she had two audience volunteers demonstrate the difficulties of using squatters, or Japanese toilets. Japanese toilets are traditionally sunk into the floor and have a low handle bar to grip for balance. "There's never a hook for your purse either," she said. "So you have to hold it while you squat."

Later in the afternoon, UTSA fine arts junior April Morgan won a costume contest for her Milly Thompson costume. Thompson is a character from the anime television show "Trigun." Morgan handmade her costume, which featured a giant gun made entirely of cardboard.

OLLU Mizuumi club sponsor Darrell Hoberer was pleased with the turnout for this year. "I haven't counted yet, but there are at least 1,700 people here. Last year, there were 1,416," he said Saturday.

A portion of the profits from the event will be donated to the Congregation of Divine Providence, the order of religious nuns that operates the university. The money will then be used to fund the order's work with orphanages in Acuña, Mexico.

"We haven't decided how much will be donated yet, but hopeful a large amount, like several hundred dollars," Hoberer said. The rest of the money from Mizuumi-Con 3 will be used to fund future Mizuumi cons and club activities.

For more information on this college's Japanese Club, e-mail sacjapaneseclub@yahoo.com.