This Fanime season was a bit special for me. I got the opportunity to have my own panel and also present alongside the Nakama Podcast too.
Last year, I shared a panel stage with the Nakama Podcast. We talked about webtoons and romantic relationships in anime. The romance one was based on an article I wrote for CBR, and so I felt happy that they wanted to elaborate on my ideas.
This year, the Nakama Podcast asked if I would be interested in doing two panels with them again on Saturday. The first panel was entitled, “Modern Romance.” It was pretty unexpected towards the number of people in the audience. The panel staff said that there were 100+ people in line but we couldn’t fit everyone in. I thought that was pretty cool. I like romance anime so it was easy for me to talk about how modern romance is crafted.
The second panel we had to do was called “The Isekai Renaissance.” To be honest, I do not watch many isekai series, but luckily my panel partners do so I let them do most of the work. It was a fun panel, but I think I made headlines for my opinion on Farming in Another World. I kind of convinced the audience that the series is basically about colonization or a utopia led by a cult leader.
My one-woman show panel was on Sunday. I was already prepared with a Powerpoint slide deck from the first time I presented this panel, which was during the virtual Fanime convention in 2021.
My panel is entitled, “Romantic Values in Shojo.” In this panel, I discussed some Japanese aesthetics and values found in literature and apply them to modern anime, specifically shojo. I had three specific topic points: kabedon, amae, and Giri vs Ninjo. I lectured on these aesthetics, showcasing literary media texts and anime examples.
In addition, I had a few teaching activities so that I can interact with my audiences. The first thing I did was created a Padlet and have the audience answer the question: “What do they value when it comes to a relationship?” Some of the answers were serious and others were pure jokes. People went from stating they want communication to stating they want to marry a wealthy person. There were some pretty funny responses and everyone had a good kick from it.
Furthermore, I also included a kabedon contest that the audience really enjoyed. I put a lot of thought into it and made sure I hand out a prize which was two $25 gift cards from Target. I was worried that no one wanted to participate in it, but some people did which was great!
I got a lot of praise for my panels and it felt good to hear the positive feedback. It’s a lot more challenging than you think when planning out a panel. You have to do your research on the topic you are interested in and also think about how you want to present it. I definitely didn’t want to just lecture in front of a crowd. I really wanted to interact with the audience. And so, it felt great that my teaching skills got to shine once again. I’m definitely going to do paneling again at Fanime, and maybe I’ll have someone join me in sharing the stage too. 🙂
Just Something About LynLyn 
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