On the weekend of April 17-19 at the Frisco Conference Center, Anime Dallas drew in nerds from across Texas and beyond to celebrate the convention’s return after a two-year hiatus.
Anime Dallas is a notable part of the convention scene in North Texas, and has been going on for at least six years. It is an all-ages con with an artist alley, cosplay contest and idol fest, easily the main attraction. At an idol fest, multiple well-known performers cover songs with their own twists or perform their own original music. Nani, also known as Idol ♡ Nani, was the lead organizer for Ani-Idol, the idol fest at Anime Dallas.
Nani performed at the official talent show, her own panel performance, and the cosplay contest. Her routine varies depending on her audience and performances, with her panel performances taking the most out of her.
“My idol festival performance setlists are usually between two to three songs, and panel performances can be up to three different dance performances,” Nani said. “The prep usually starts with that series or theme I would like to perform, create a setlist, edit my video and audio, choose a character [and] outfit, practice the dances and keep on top of everything.”
Idol festival performances, and performances in general, widely vary and don’t necessarily follow a theme. At Ani-Idol, the lineup included covers of Babymetal, one of the most popular J-Metal idol groups with the infamous song “Gimme Chocolate!!” Vocaloid — best-known for digital singer Hatsune Miku — Love Live and more. Love Live is a multimedia schoolgirl idol project that is popular in the idol community for its legacy and is the main media Nani covers.
“I usually perform as a character from Aqours, but recently things have changed,” Nani said. “I have been focusing on my personal project, that being my idolsona/VTuber.”
The fun does not stop at idol fest; fans look forward to the meet-and-greet right after the show. With idols selling merchandise to fund their future endeavors, fans have an opportunity to see and share a moment with their favorites. Lennie, also known as LenniePeach, an Utaite idol who covers songs, adores these moments with her fans.
“It was one of my first cons, and I am so happy to see it come back, my [favorite] part [being] the meet and greets after shows,” Lennie said. “It warms my heart to hear how people enjoy what I have to do and that it inspires them to be their own idols in their everyday lives.
Kaigai idols are idols influenced by Japanese idol culture outside Japan. Lennie, a soloist kaigai idol, has been performing for about 10 years in total, including over a year as an idol. Lennie’s original music focused on a hamster theme, just like the idol, and with all those years of experience comes her own version of pre-show routine, which differs a bit from Nani’s.
“Because I am a singing idol, I also make sure to take care of my pipes,” Lennie said. “I also like to eat potato chips before vocal performances because I heard long ago it helps, and now it’s just a weird luck thing I do.”
Performances aren’t the only place you find these idols. Peeking into the Vocaloid, Love Live, and K-pop random dance play events will help you spot them having fun right before putting on their own show. The convention’s size helps make the community feel more tight-knit at these panels, with even me being able to speak to almost everyone in the idol community at the convention.
“Now that I have graduated, I am able to be a lot more active and see what everyone is up to,” Nani said.
The next DFW convention to host an idol festival will be Otaku Odyssey May 8-10. With the same feel as the pre-Covid era, fans can catch Nani performing there, as well as MetalPetal, a duo idol group, and Musabelle, another soloist who performs original music.
“I love the DFW idol community,” Nani said. “The community keeps growing and expanding, and it is so exciting!”
One Comment
Yeah utd losers love this kinda thing