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So - Sunday.  The final day of Kitacon.  After another gorgeous Park Inn breakfast, another visit to the dealers room and also one to the bring & buy, it was time to check out the events of the day.  First up was the Live Anime Dub event, which took part in the main events hall.  This allowed for people to take a stage whilst dubbing an anime with their own dialogue, which worked well as the volunteers were essentially performing.  Amongst the anime dubbed was Rurouni Kenshin (a.k.a. Samurai X). 
 

 One of the final panels Animetion attended was the Anime In Europe panel, which had to be the most interesting panel of the weekend.  Presented by teacher Ivan, he stated at the beginning the panel was actually about Anime In France rather then Europe as a whole.  This was not a disappointment though since France was the first country to import anime and still remains one of the largest.  Ivan had a real passion for the subject and took the audience through the history of anime in France, plus its decline and rebirth.  Its roots were surprising to say the least, as it was basically a group of French guys who got hold of some VHS, dubbed them and them stuck them on air.   

As the TV companies treated anime thought anime was just family cartoons, this meant that Ranma 1/2, City Hunter and even Fist Of The North Star all got shown uncut at prime time!  Ivan also shown us clips of such as classics as Gigi and Nicky Larson (the French name for City Hunter), in order to show us how hilariously bad the French dub was (he translated it as it was playing).  The voice actors were saying any old nonsense in some case, since the only did one take and TV networks never checked as they thought 'its just a cartoon'.  Eventually the shows got taken off the air, when parents actually saw what their kids were seeing, but they were on for years despite that.  Anime suffered a bit of a slump, but came back in a huge way when that generation grew up and bought those series on DVD. 

Without doubt, the anime in France panel had to be the most interesting and different panel of Kitacon.  Without the success of anime of France, it is perfectly possible it may not have been released in other European countries.  Hearing about its charted success was definitely a fun history lesson for all.  

Sadly, after the Anime In France panel, Animetion had to leave due to work commitments.  A real shame as there was still plenty left to do!  As well as a BJD (Ball Jointed Doll) panel, there was also the charity auction, more anime screenings and the closing party.  There was also 'The J-Factor', basically an event where people perform omake (skits) and the Fan Choice Awards.  These awards allowed people to represent the winner of a category (be anime, manga, etc.) and collect a rather snazzy award on its behalf.  It was a good bit of fun since the winner were voted, and collected, by con-goers. 

In conclusion, Kitacon was hugely impressive for a first-time con.  Animetion saw very little in way of delays and technical issues, plus the staff were also around, friendly and helpful.  The venue was excellent and, being spacious, all the events were on a single floor.  The Park Inn staff were also helpful and polite every time Animetion dealt with them. 

It is no wonder that Kitacon will be running again next year (26th-28th March 2010) and Animetion will certainly be going again!  The staff promises it will be even better next year so, consider how good this one was, it should be something very special. 
 


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