New anime convention hopes visitors feel excited and accepted

The first time she heard of a dragon, Lilah Cray was 17 years old.

While being religiously homeschooled in an insular Christian community in west Michigan, she was allowed to read one book, the Bible, and watch one cartoon, “Veggie Tales.”

But enrolling at Lake Michigan College in Benton Harbor “changed everything,” she said. Early on during her time there, she met a guy named Cody who was playing Magic: The Gathering.

Cody showed her that dragon — and then the ropes of Magic: The Gathering, Dungeons & Dragons and other games.

Soon, Cray joined the anime club. It opened her up to realms of fantasy and imagination that had been banished from her childhood. It opened her up culturally, too: She got her first taste of ramen.

“I think (anime club) was the most communication I’d ever had with people,” Cray said. “And if I needed a breather from social interaction, I could just watch the anime.” 

Now, Cray is the founder and board president of Shoufu-Con, a new anime convention running Friday (Oct. 20) through Sunday (Oct. 22) at the Causeway Bay Hotel and Convention Center.  

While Lansing has held a comic convention, Capital City Comic Con, since 2017, it hasn’t held its own anime convention since prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The difference? Comic conventions generally celebrate American comic book culture, Cray said. Anime conventions, on the other hand, are dedicated to the celebration of the art and storytelling of anime, manga, card games and video games made in Japan.

Cray thinks anime storytelling has a lot to teach Americans about delayed gratification and tolerating conflict.

“Marvel tends to tie things up more neatly, and its universes can be very black-and-white,” she said. But for the manga series “Hellsing,” Japanese artist Kouta Hirano imagined two radically different endings in two anime series before finishing the books.

Shoufu-Con’s six-person organizing team met as students in the Fab Lab makerspace at Lake Michigan College. Now several of them, including Cray, are employees there. They help students use 3D printers, lasers and other technology.

“In the Fab Lab, our goal is to help you make something. Or, if not, to fail so wonderfully that you know what to do next time,” Cray said.

Shoufu-Con is also a bit of a family affair. Cray’s husband, Samuel, will serve as emcee for the event. His brother Will is vice president of hospitality and guest relations.

The group also got help with the event’s name from Cray’s sister, Rose Summer, who works in Japan for six months of the year as a translator for the Japanese government.

“Shoufu” is a Japanese compound word meaning “entertainment district,” Cray said.

“We’re a group of people who just want to make the perfect convention,” the website states.

Each organizer has a clear niche of interest within anime and gaming culture. So, for year one, each will run a room reflecting their area of interest.

Matthew Mowell bills himself as Shoufu-Con’s “SHIT,” or Senior Head of Information Technology. He “likes robots.” Will Cray “is into 1980s Japanese live-action TV shows.” Riley Freeman will head security.

Neil Boreczky, vice president of entertainment and amusement, “likes arcades.” So much so that he purchased several vintage arcade machines at auction for the convention. His room will feature seven games, including “Colorama.” Players will have the chance to compete for prizes such as figurines and rare Japanese candies.

Cray’s thing is cosplay. She specializes in “women who kick butt,” like Lady Dimitrescu from “Resident Evil” or Camilla the axe-slayer from “Fire Emblem.”

One thing that keeps fans hooked on anime culture is the amount of creative license it allows them to become creators through fan art, fan fiction and cosplay. To make costumes, Cray combines sewing skills learned during her childhood with technology from the Fab Lab. She’s even 3D printed her own axe.

In addition to these rooms, there will be gaming for all skill levels. Festival partners Streaming for a Cause will host a “Super Smash Bros.” tournament on Saturday, and proceeds will be split between the first-place winner and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

In Cray’s religious community, there was only one card game: Dutch Blitz. She described it as “like Uno but with hand-slapping” and “the most passive-aggressive card game ever.”

But visitors to Shoufu-Con will have the opportunity to play a multitude of card games, including Pokémon, Magic: The Gathering and Yu-Gi-Oh!

In the Artists’ Alley, guests can meet artists offering custom commissions or purchase Pokémon cards, clothing, plushies, collectors’ items and more.

So, what makes for the perfect convention? In a word, community.

The organizers have had some of their best experiences at conventions, including the time someone chased Cray down the hall to make sure she was reunited with a lost valuable. The worst experiences include the time her wig was ripped off by another fan in an Artists’ Alley.

Cray thinks that cultivating community ahead of the convention is the best way to avoid such problems. To that end, she has been asking the community questions on social media.

“We feel like talking and open communication can really change how a convention goes,” she said.

Shoufu-Con organizers also plan to be involved and present. Cray will serve as the convention’s operations director, “which means I take care of people,” she said. She expects to be in “gentle cosplay,” with “multiple costume changes.”

While the focus is anime, at the end of day, the group is enthusiastic about enthusiasts.

“If you want to share your hobby, bring it. If you want to bring an old Halloween costume and just walk around with the nerds, that’s perfectly fine,” Cray said. (And “Harry Potter,” although hailing from the United Kingdom, seems to always be welcome.)

In year one, organizers are starting with “small goals of excitement.”

“We’re hoping to create a sense of community and fascination in conventions again,” Cray said.

Conventions take a long time to build, so they’re starting now. Just as Pokémon evolve, so will Shoufu-Con.

“Every year, we will take our feedback so we can evolve to better fit our clientele,” Cray said.