Blog | Zenkaikon, A Philadelphia Area Anime Convention

Whether you are a huge fan or someone looking to expand their knowledge of the franchise, the Final Fantasy 2.0 panel is the place to be if you were curious to the origins or looking to learn more of the series from the ground up. Hosted by Cosplay Comedian Joe, the panel started at the very origins of Squaresoft as a company for a thorough back story on how it came to be. Further detail would be given about the modest beginnings, the people that would become easily recognizable as pioneers to the series, and about the last ditch effort to release Final Fantasy as the company had been in financial straits at the time of conception.

From the ground up, every Final Fantasy would be discussed in detail and demoed in various videos that the host had ready to present. For those unfamiliar to the series it was very educating and interesting, while those that were familiar with the content were pleased to travel back in time to relive their love for the franchise; perhaps learning something new! Sequels and spin-offs were also included at the end of presentation and were equally as informative as the previous.

Final Fantasy 2.0 was a refreshing panel to unwind the day to from the excitement previous. For some others the excitement had yet to begin (considering the rave was still some time away), for fans like me that would be leaving the convention early found it to be an excellent closer for the day.

Early evening on Saturday, many anime and video game fans alike would gather for the viewing of “Ahh! Video Game Cartoons!” which proved to be a more laid back, fun panel where the four presenters would select two cartoons to watch while following up each episode with some quirky games. Candy was generously thrown to the crowd as some had more “colorful” commentary towards the clips in question, causing the crowd to laugh out in loud praise. Even to those that may not have spoken much outside of the panel, one could not help but feel their inner “troll” come out at the sight of the comical representation of video games in cartoon form.

The first episode shown was of the “Sonic the Hedgehog” television series that aired for two seasons on ABC from September 1993 until December 1994. Following the episode, one of the presenters arose up and selected a handful of people from the audience for a small game where the contestants would be presented with video game related questions. In order to “ring in” for an answer, the contestant had to perform a video game maneuver before the rest (for example, a Falcon Punch in the form of a punch motion was acceptable). When the presenter put on his shades, you knew the game was on (he looked much like the character known as “Muscles Glasses” from an internet series called “Epic Meal Time.” My inner “troll” felt the urge to come out and shout up on that, but I held back.) As the game passed on, many of the contestants would successfully answer the questions and given candy to keep score. A female contestant would prevail over all the rest and pick a wrapped up Gamecube game as her prize. The fun was finding out what she had picked and either is disappointed or satisfied with the choice (but with the humor of the presenters, the games were laughable choices.)

The next episode was an excerpt from “The Super Mario Bros. Super Show”, more specifically an episode within the series itself from “The Legend of Zelda”. The episode would follow the misadventures of Link having to clean the castle for Princess Zelda since, well, what else was he going to do with her not being in Ganon’s captivity? Soon a competition was made in the audience over how many times the main antagonist would utter the famous line “Well excuuuuuse me Princess!” in which four times were counted throughout the course of the 10 minute episode.

To end the panel, two more games were played. The first game was more of an improvisation segment where select contestants had to choose a reaction to a scenario (for example, how Tails might react to being drowned by Sonic for a millionth time.) The second game was also of the improvisation genre where two people were paired together, given two random characters and a scenario in which they were put in. They were given roughly 30 seconds to prepare, then they had to go for it! The winners of that competition had been the unlikely pair at the end who had Wario and Zelda as their choices and given a scenario that one contestant at first deemed “made no sense.” In the end, that very same contestant stole the show by stealing most of the cookies on the presenter table and throwing his hand into the air saying “I am Wario! Imma gonna win!” with some various other Wario lines before going to sit back in his seat.

“Ahh! Video Game Cartoons!” might have presented some laughable cartoon segments; but in the end proved fun just by hearing the audience get verbal with all aspects of the show. It was a fun escape from the convention while it lasted.

Nine hundred miles east of their Iowa City, Iowa hometown, Dan and Jillian Colgan brought the discipline and honor of their dojo, the Kojokan Samurai Dojo, to Zenkaikon VI. While a lengthy journey, it is nothing new to the husband-and-wife team. They travel the country demonstrating their techniques to conventions, schools, etc. and will be appearing in New Orleans and Dallas in the coming weeks. On Saturday afternoon, an audience filled the main events hall to bear witness to a demonstration of the techniques used by the Colgans in their teachings. Following this, I had the opportunity to talk with Dan about his life’s work and history.

“I started training in martial arts about 22 years ago and just…fell in love with the science behind it, behind the techniques,” Dan said. Coming from a teaching background, he discovered that the only way to realize his love of martial arts as a full-time career was to open a dojo.

His ultimate goal is simple: to pass the rich heritage of the ancient Japanese onto future generations. “I think there is great value in this, and I think it is important to keep that going in a world that is otherwise short-sighted and faddish.” A violent attack on a friend during his freshman year in college was what prompted him to place a high emphasis on the importance of self-defense. While such attacks are sadly not extinct, Colgan is proud to report that former students of his, when faced with them, are able to apply the techniques used in his class to defend themselves.

However, the disciplinary techniques are not limited to situations featuring violent combat. In fact, as Colgan’s own life proves, the techniques can be applied to almost any given life situation. “Having this systematic approach helps in every aspect,” he explains. “When my son was in college, he was the online editor of his campus paper. Helping him with that reminded me that I really enjoyed that sort of thing; I wanted to be an author ever since high school. By implementing plans, setting goals, and just plotting out everything, I was able to eventually release my own novel.”

This novel, The Pack, is the first of two planned novels of Colgan’s.

Dan and his wife agreed that their first Zenkaikon experience was pleasant and hope to return in 2013.