Karakuri Babble is a daily column by the editors of i360.com, usually on topics tangentially related to anime and cosplay.

In the past we have endorsed many things; in the future we shall support many others.

So Jhonen Vasquez, who is, as all humans know, a funny and tasteful dude, is using twitter. Check his status.

And I'm reading along and laughing at the good bits, which are about 70% of the entire thing, and I note that he's complaining about the hygiene of the anime convention attendees. This makes me pause and think for a bit.

Remember that Agent Smith speech To Morpheus about how the smell of humans just turns his stomach. He's recalling being at a convention.

I mean, certainly it's an easy target. I've complained myself, and I barely have any functioning sensorium to speak of. (One might recall Wells' Martians, whose evolution had brought them to the state of brains in heavily-armed jars -- a near-total physical incapacity is the idea I'm trying to convey.) But really, I think that the answer is simpler than that:

They're kids, in the main. Teenagers. Thousands of them in an inadequately-cooled space. What are you expecting, roses and lavender? In other words, I don't think the problem is unique to anime fans. Sure, it's bad, but that's just how it goes, and eventually they get better.

words from chris, 2009-04-07 23:57:08, los angeles