Home from a really lovely time in Montreal with the folks at Yurithon. I give the event two thumbs up. Because Yurithon and Yaoithon are programming tracks under the auspices of the larger general Otakuthon, you get all the intimacy and camaraderie of a smaller event, while enjoying all the perqs of a large event!

This meant I got to really speak with a lot of the Yuri fans AND got to talk to vendors I had never met before. It was a genuine pleasure to meet Marc who has written guest reviews for us in the past and Shannon C. and a bunch of folks who were kind enough to let me know Okazu was and is an important resource to them. 

I wanted to also tell you about the stupid idea I had that totally worked. ^_^

One night while not sleeping I came up with an idea for a con game. I called it “Yuri Court”. A person would come up in front of a panel of judges and “present a case” for a series being a Good Yuri  (innocent) or a Bad Yuri (guilty) series. We’d give prizes for participation and have some fun. I literally had no idea how it would go, but we had so much fun! My wife came up with the inspired idea of calling witnesses to testify for the the claim the plaintiff was making…or against. It was hysterical and we laughed ourselves silly for an hour, and gave away a pile of prizes and candy and wtf stuff I had. The participants were fantastically entertaining. I would be happy to play that again anytime. And if you were one of the participants, thank you! You were wonderful! You really made our day.

And with that, our time at Yurithon came to an end. We threw a little more money at the DR, then at Montreal proper…then it was time to go home.

I want to thank Serge, Donna and my wife, let Bruce and Kelli know that they were there in spirit and once again thank Meggie and Kim and the folks at Yurithon for such a great time. 

They always need volunteers, so next year, step up and help them out and be part of a terrific Yuri-focused event.

Next up for me, Flamecon!

Saturday at Yurithon was lovely.

We started our day with a purpose – get as much time in the Dealer’s Room as possible. It’s been a while since I’ve been at an anime and manga con (as opposed to cons focused on comics and manga) and I wanted to see what was in these days. Otakuthon has a pretty darn huge DR and we had a chance to see a lot of cool derivative and original work in a variety of media and genre. Lots of fun original t-shirt art.

I picked up a copy of Shi-lin’s next artbook, Tocatta II. She’s also got all the volumes of her comic Carciphona here. Her art is all that and a bag of chips and she’s a strong storyteller, go take a look. We also had bought the most adorable items from a webcomic called Ponto about an orange traffic cone that leaves home (a road in front of a farm) to go to Montreal. It’s killer cute and is drawn with such love for the city of Montreal. The charm and cute are quite overwhelming. ^_^

Our panels went well, questions were pretty excellent in the Yuri manga anime panel and many books were handed out. ^_^

We wrapped up with delicious dinner again with Meggie and Kim in Chinatown, then we wandered our way back to the hotel after buying delicious pastry for the morning. It’s a good thing we’re going home soon, the pastries here are too delicious for my own good.

One more day, one more panel, undoubtedly more buying, to come!

I’m just going to start today’s post off with a repeat of something I said yesterday – get out and see the place you’re in.

We began our day with a visit to the Museum of Contemporary Art in Montreal. It was wonderful. The sound installation by, I think, the Ritters in the Expo ’67 exhibit was top-notch.

And so is Yurithon! Today I had one presentation, to a full room of enthusiastic people. We didn’t get to do many questions, and that’s my fault, sorry. But there’s two panels today Must-Read / Must-Watch Yuri from 1-3 and A Yuri Otaku in Japan from 7-8.Things will be given away. ^_^

Right after my panel, Shannon C. led an excellent panel on recommended Yuri anime. We enjoyed listening to her and her panelist talk about so many great series. I hope to see her today to tell her in person.

See you tomorrow!

It is said that first impressions are important. In that regard, both Montreal and Yurithon have been excellent.

I really hope to meet a lot of Okazu friends here at Yurithon, but we’ve already made two new friend, Yuthon’s chair Meggie and her partner Kim. Wonderfully fun people.

Today my first presentation will be at 5PM, where I’ll be talking about the “Secret” History of Yaoi and Yuri…by which I mean, we’ll be talking the literary and historical references that inform the two genres.

But first, we’re doing something that is the most important thing you can do for yourself in a new city…see it. Yesterday we wandered around, ate in Montreal’s Gay Village, walked through Old Montreal and this morning, as thousands of people head to the Palais de Congres for Otakuthon, we’re going to the Museum of Contemporary Art. It’s not that I don’t love conventions, but where else can I see Montreal’s Museum of Contemporary Art other than Montreal?

Write a note to yourself next time you’re at a con, rather than wander the Dealer’s Room for the 87th time not seeing anything new, consider leaving the convention center and seeing the city you’re in.