... ...Click here for a SnapHappy gallery from this event.
Nerf guns were the weapon of choice at Krannert Center on Saturday, where Berry College Alternate Realities hosted its first convention.
BerryCon participants spent the day immersed in video games, anime and Manga movies and panel discussions ranging from Lord of the Rings trivia to World of Warcraft tips.
The two-day event continues from 9 a.m. to noon today and features a costume contest along with movies, game demonstrations and a photo shoot at Mountain Campus.
Carolina Fields came up from Atlanta on Saturday — her blond wig, blue blazer and stuffed pink rabbit unmistakably marking her as the anime hero Honey-sempai.
“It’s very easy to be in character because he likes sweets, he’s always perky, and I like my bunny,” she said, with a teasing smile.
Her friend Ridley Honeycutt, in from Chattanooga, dressed as Sora from
Kayleigh Dziweik (left), a Berry sophomore, and Rain Hopper, a Berry freshman, take time out from helping with BerryCon to play a game of Guitar Hero Two. By Denise Wright / RN-T |
the video game Kingdom Hearts 2.
“I do about seven different characters from the game,” she said, brandishing the giant key Sora uses to save the world from darkness.
Nikki Burns, one of the event organizers, said the convention gives people a chance to share their interests and pass along their skills in gaming, costume design and other facets of fanworld.
One issue that may never be resolved: whether Japanese anime is better with subtitles or dubbed in English. A heated debate took place Saturday, but Burns and Megan McKnight came down firmly on the side of subtitles.
“A lot of times the voices don’t match,” McKnight said. “There’s a series with itty, bitty chickens that have high-pitched voices in the Japanese but, in English, one has a Brooklyn accent.”
The convention is a fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity, and David Cooper from The Rabid Frog comic book store made the T-shirts proclaiming BerryCon’s aim to “alter the reality” of a homeless family in Rome.
Burns said most of the $15 admission fee and silent auction bids will go to Habitat, although some is destined as seed money for next year’s convention.
This year’s event was sparsely attended, with fewer than 50 attendees, but Burns was optimistic about the group’s future.
“We’re going to grow,” she promised.
