Thousands of anime fans gathered in Querétaro to be part of the Expo Anime Comics Convention that takes place every year at the Congress Center.
As described in their social networks, this event in which manga, dubbing, video games and science fiction activities converge has been held since 1997 in Querétaro, attracting not only local fans, but also neighboring entities such as Guanajuato, Michoacán, State of Mexico. , among others.
The 2023 edition of the convention was attended by important voice actors such as Nycolle González, Miguel Ángel Leal, René García, Uraz Huerta, Iván Bastidas, Carlos Segundo, Marisol Hemed, Erika Langarica, and Marc Winslow, who went crazy to his followers and followers by interpreting musical themes and dialogues of his most successful characters, such as Giyu Tomioka in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no YaibaLouis in Duck adventureszed in zombie and Gerald Johanssen in Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie.
For anime fans, this convention is an opportunity to get up close and personal with the most famous voice actors of the moment, who also perform live performances and sign autographs. In addition, the families and groups of friends who attend the event have at their disposal an endless number of collector’s items, which they would hardly find at another time of the year.
And for otakus –people who are fans of anime and manga– and lovers of cosplay –an activity in which they represent a specific character– there is a contest in which not only the best characterized character is chosen, but also the dedication of the other cosplayers.
Although Japanese culture currently has a strong influence on young and adolescent audiences (although several adults also attend the convention), this was not always the case.
Milton Becerra Machado, Axel Mancera, Jesús Medina and Luis Estrada, are a group of young Queretans who attended the convention and who have been waiting in line for four hours for the dubbing actress Marisol Hamed to sign some of the articles that they have purchased during the event.
They remember that a few years ago saying they were anime fans made them the object of ridicule.
“Between 2012 and 2019 it was the worst moment, where it was even a reason for ridicule, in high school I couldn’t talk about my taste in anime because I was teased, they bullied me, and the fact that all this was globalized helped for people who already had this taste to express it and begin to enjoy this type of environment”, says Milton.
Young people consider that social networks were decisive for anime to become fashionable and stop being a “reason for bullying”, in addition, they perceive that during the pandemic new audiences were created because platforms such as Netflix added this type of content to their catalogs. cultural.
“Social networks had a lot of influence, and something we noticed is that in the pandemic many people looked for other hobbies inside their homes, this made young adults resume their taste for anime; For example, my dad used to watch Mazinger Z when he was young and during the pandemic he started to watch it again, many things came back as a result of the pandemic. Netflix also added products from the eastern market to its content and a new audience was created”, says Milton.
In addition, young people celebrate that this type of convention is held with which the anime community in the country grows and consolidates, and they recognize the growth that Querétaro has had on the subject, pointing out the Friki Plaza (inside the Plaza de Technology) as one of the biggest meeting points for lovers of anime and cosplay.