Yaoi-Con (sometimes YaoiCon) was an annual three-day

anime convention An anime and manga convention (often called just anime convention) is a fan convention with a primary focus on anime, manga and Japanese culture. Anime conventions are commonly multi-day events hosted at convention centers, hotels or college cam ...

, founded in 2001, aimed at fans of

yaoi , also known by its abbreviation , is a genre of fictional media originating in Japan that depicts homoerotic relationships between male characters. It is typically created by women for a female audience, distinguishing it from the equivale ...

-related

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

, and other aspects of Asian culture. It typically took place during the Fall in California. Since the 2012 edition, its organizer and main sponsor was

Digital Manga Publishing Digital Manga is a California-based publishing company that licenses and releases Japanese manga, anime, and related merchandise in the English language. Digital Manga also owns and operates eManga, a digital publishing site for manga and l ...

. It was known mostly for its unique events that use volunteers known as " bishounen". The bishounen were male volunteers who represented the attractive characters shown in

Yaoi , also known by its abbreviation , is a genre of fictional media originating in Japan that depicts homoerotic relationships between male characters. It is typically created by women for a female audience, distinguishing it from the equivale ...

manga, and ran many of the events.

Programming

As with other anime conventions, Yaoi-Con had panels and workshops (with a yaoi twist), a 24-hour video room, a manga library, swap meet, a Dealers' Room filled with merchandise, a

cosplay Cosplay, a blend word of "costume play", is an activity and performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and Fashion accessory, fashion accessories to represent a specific Character (arts), character. Cosplayers often i ...

Masquerade and an anime music video contest. In addition, Yaoi-Con held a

fan fiction Fan fiction or fanfiction, also known as fan fic, fanfic, fic or FF, is fiction typically written in an amateur capacity by fans as a form of fan labor, unauthorized by, but based on, an existing work of fiction. The author uses copyrighted ...

contest, Bishounen Bingo, and its extraordinarily popular Saturday night fundraising Bishounen Auction. At bingo, and the auction, the bishounen volunteers put on shows and stripped to entertain the convention goers. Each year Yaoi-Con sponsored at least one Japanese yaoi

manga artist A manga artist, also known as a mangaka (), is a Cartoonist, comic artist who writes and/or illustrates manga. Most manga artists study at an art college or manga school or take on an apprenticeship with another artist before entering the indus ...

as guest of honor. And, as yaoi publishing expanded in the U.S., the companies who attended Yaoi-Con became interested in bringing guests with them. Guests of honor usually participated in question and answer/autograph sessions as well as sketch sessions where they demonstrated to attendees how they produced their work. Because of the adult nature of its theme, Yaoi-Con required all attendees to be at least 18 and checked the legal ID of all attendees upon registration. As of 2003, 85% of Yaoi-Con membership were female, and mostly

heterosexual Heterosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between people of the opposite sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, heterosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions ...

Inactivity

In December 2017, DMP announced that Yaoi-Con was taking "a one-year break", expecting to return "stronger than ever in Fall 2019." A tweet in January 2019 indicated that a new, non-profit organization might take over the event, but this never materialized. While the Yaoi-Con website went offline at the beginning of 2020, a public facebook group page is still semi-active.

History

Event history

References

External links

*{{official website, https://web.archive.org/web/20190206030103/http://yaoicon.com/ (defunct, link via

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

)

Convention reports

"Yaoi-Con 2005: A Celebration of Female Fantasies," by K. Avila, ''Sequential Tart,'' Dec. 2005"Yaoi Con No. 5," by C.N. Scott, ''Sequential Tart,'' Dec. 2005
Defunct anime conventions Erotic events San Francisco Bay Area conventions Boys' love Recurring events established in 2001 Recurring events disestablished in 2017 2001 establishments in California LGBTQ events in California 2017 disestablishments in California