Inside Anime Matsuri with Theresa Ku

Earlier today I got to speak with Anime Matsuri’s registration director, Theresa Ku.  She gave us the lowdown on what is planned for this year’s convention-fan-faire.  This premiere Anime event will take place April 10th-12th in The Woodlands, Texas and is one of the largest conventions in southern part of the US.

Q: First can you introduce yourself to our Readers and tell me your staff title?
A: My name is Theresa and I’ve been a huge anime fan since my sophomore year in highschool waaayy back in the mid 90’s.  My ‘day job’ is an accountant which actually works out quite well since I’m also the Registration Director for AM 2009.

Q: Can you give me a brief history of what you do for Anime Matsuri?
A: Well, lets see, I started out 3 years ago as the Marketing Director for Anime Matsuri and I only helped out with registration on the day of the convention.  I was pretty happy with my position since marketing is something that I enjoyed doing.  Last year our registration director had to step down due to real life commitments so we were actually without a registration director for awhile.  Deneice (the con chair) approached me and asked if I would step into the Registration Director’s shoes, so I figured, hey…why not!  Its definitely a lot of work, but its all worth it when it all comes together.

Q: Various people come to Anime conventions… Otaku, People raised on Anime who bring their kids, Japanese music fans, industry buffs….So what kind of people do you see registering for Anime Matsuri?
A: Actually, its been quite eclectic.  Anime Matsuri tries to bring a little bit of everything for everyone so no matter what people are interested in theres something for them to do.  There’s Showdown Championship and the PZ Arcade for gaming enthusiasts, Import Reactor for all the import car fans, a great lineup of voice actors (some of which have never been to Texas) for all the otaku’s, partnered with Viz, Bandai, and Funimation for all the industry buffs, Japanese culture panels and of course our main events for all the Japanese music fans.

Q: We see that Anime Matsuri’s attendance grown over the years? How many people do you speculate are coming so far?
A: Attendance has been growing at a pretty phenomenal rate.  Our first year was just completely unexpected and I think it took us completely by surprise and admittedly we were pretty ill prepared.  But the second year, attendance went up but we were better equipped to handle the rush.  So, this year, I can’t even begin to speculate what we expect at the door, but my rough estimate is maybe 6500-7000 attendees.

Q: Since you are the premiere southern Anime con…Are most of your attendees are locals?
A: I think for the most part the attendees are local to Texas, however, we have had people come out from as far as new york and California to attend AM.  But essentially we are doing this for the local fan base to bring something unique and exciting to this part of the country.

Q: What is the best part of working on Anime Matsuri?
A: I personally feel that the best part about working with AM is the camaraderie between the staff members and of course the excitement of all the con goers.  Its really awesome to see all the people who come to the convention appreciate all the work that you’ve put into it.

Q: Do you consider yourself an Anime connoisseur?
A: I wouldn’t really say that I am much of a connoisseur, probably more of an old school’er though.  I still remember watching Ranma ½ when new episodes were coming out….geez I feel old!

Q: What was your first experience with Japanese Animation and how did it change you?
A: My first experience with Anime was being dragged to a local anime shop by a friend of mine from highschool.  She was a huuuuge anime fan and my experience had been limited to watching doraemon when I was little.  We walked in and for some reason I zeroed in on a series called IRIA: The Zeiram Chronicles.  To this day, I’m not sure why I picked it out, but I decided to rent it.  The rest as they say is history!

Q: What are the current Anime/Manga titles that keep your interest?
A: Currently I’m a bit enthralled with Naruto Shippuden.  I came into the Naruto series rather late and actually spent an entire week catching up on all the old episodes and then about two weeks later I saw my first episode of shippuden and I’ve been hooked ever since.  I’m also a huge fan of Death Note, I know it’s not really recent and it’s pretty macabre but something about it just drew me in.  I think that’s how it happens to be honest, its just something that catches me and once that happens its over, I’m a devoted fan for life, haha.

Q: Do you see this part of imported Japanese popculture continuing to influence the Amerian market?
A: As cliché as it sounds, I think that the world is getting smaller.  With the advent of all the different sites on the internet and all the new ways of exchanging digital information and images, we can get up to date information on just about anything.  Cultures are melding together and I definitely see the beginnings of a melting pot.  It went from staying up until un-Godly hours of the night to catch one or two episodes of an anime on cartoon network to having anime hit the mainstream with Toonami and entire channels dedicated to nothing but anime

Q: Could you give us a little bit more on what we can all to look forward to at the Anime Matsuri? like what should we look out for?
A: Lets see…one thing that you should definitely check out is the outdoor anime theater we have this year.  It’s something brand new that we rolled out for 2009, and basically theres a large wall on the outside of the convention center and a grassy area right next to it.  We decided to project selected screening materials onto that wall so that our attendees can experience anime under the stars.   Also, be sure to catch the traditional Japanese festival game booths setup right near the waterway.  Of course, be sure you get in early to see the Miyavi concert cause you know that’s going to be packed!

I think that overall, our main goal this year as it is every year is to bring a fun experience to all of our attendees.  We do it for them and for the overall community as a whole.  It’s kind of like that old Hair Club for Men commercial “We’re not only the convention staff, we’re also fans” :D