https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/screens/2011-01-02/puttin-on-the-ikkicon/

Puttin' on the Ikkicon

By Richard Whittaker, January 2, 2011, 12:31pm, Picture in Picture

The nerd world has been ablaze with debate about Patton Oswalt's editorial for Wired, mourning the death of Western geek. He compares old-school geekery to Otaku: The Japanese term for obsessive collectors who immerse themselves in a particular sub-genre. One potential local solution? Otaku immersion at Ikkicon.

Austin's annual Japanese animation and pop culture convention has been running over the New Year's weekend, and it's the kind of event that might restore Oswalt's faith. His argument was that, in an age when Boba Fett t-shirts are gym wear or you can buy a sexy Optimus Prime Halloween costume, geek doesn't mean much any more. But when you walk into a room and there's two fans in homemade costumes as Monkey D. Luffy from One Piece while Trigun's Vash the Stampede shops for Bishoujo figures, there's still something proudly geeky going on.

Much like last year's Ikkicon IV, cosplay – the art/sport of dressing as anime and pop culture characters – was a big part of the weekend. This year, it proved that there's still something to call geek chic. Hard to say that learning to work leather or causing a run on Manic Panic hairdye in Atomic Turquoise doesn't show the kind of dedication that Oswalt seeks.

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