Hello fellow readers!
This is Kurosaki. Here at nipponmedia.net we care about our fans and are very interested in anything japanese/media/pop culture.
I present you an interview with Carlos/Fanto which is one of the members in the crew who administrate and make possible Kaisen expo (the biggest anime con/pop culture con in Puerto Rico) to take place.
I hope you enjoy it!
I sure did!
Please read this interesting interview with the people who make possible my favorite anime con in the island!

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Hello!
First of all I want to thank Carlos/Fanto and the crew of Paquines for giving us a little of your time. I know is a busy time for you guys now that Kaisen 6 is approaching.

Indeed, it has been a hectic time! Lots to do before December 13!

It has been some time since I’ve known about the paquines.com website. But for the readers out there would you explain how did paquines begin to exist?
Paquines was the idea of my friend for over 20 years, Emilio Torres, who thought that we needed a message board for the comic book readers of Puerto Rico.  At the time podcast technology was getting cheaper and easier to implement, so we also created a podcast called Paquines Son Comics (Paquines is a Spanish term for comics).  So in March 2006 the Paquines message board and podcast was born.  As more people joined we started to do small activities for our members and now we are the biggest group of Puerto Rico for fans of comics, anime and science fiction.
What would you say is the most notable difference in back when you began Paquines and nowadays?
Wow, the field has really changed in a few years!  In the comics field there have been good and bad news.  Printing technology has cheapened the production of local comic books, which have produced the emergence of lots of writers and artists. In the bad news, there are fewer comic book stores and prices have risen dramatically.
The number of conventions has also been on the rise, we almost have an event each month compared to one or two a year.  The main motor that has powered this has been the surge of the cosplay scene, which is so dramatic that in Kaisen we have to limit the number of participants so we can finish the cosplay contest on time!
And last, the impact of the Internet cannot be underestimated in terms of connecting the fans of all hobbies together.
Specifically about Paquines, it has really been a big enterprise, at first it was all about the message board and the podcast, then we started doing small activities and now we have expanded to do conventions.  All of that have been possible thanks to the members of Paquines that have challenged us to try bigger things.

Kaisen today is not only the biggest convention in PR, but its size rivals top conventions in the U.S.A.Could you tell us a bit about the story of Kaisen? Where it began? How it was then?
Thanks for the kind words, I don’t think we are the biggest, but we try to be the most enjoyable!  Kaisen first started as an idea of Ricardo Carrion, who runs the Puerto Rico Comic Con, known in 2007 as the Pop Culture Expo.  Ricardo wanted to do an event focused on the anime and cosplay culture which he called Kaisen, a Japanese term which means constant improvement.  The economic realities at the time made Ricardo reconsider his plans and he later thought of doing a series of small events, in which he partnered with the Red Goblin Hobby Store and Paquines.com.  We at Paquines thought that there was room for an event that feature more than vending tables, but without guests and other things that could increase costs too much.  We also wanted to have the features of big cons such as cosplay contests, live music and prizes. Because at the time the Kaisen name was unused but the event had been announced at the 2007 Pop Culture Expo, I proposed to use that name for the event.  And lo and behold Kaisen was born on July 7, 2007.  A small convention that started at the aisle in front of the Red Goblin store of Cupey !  After the first Kaisen Ricardo and we parted ways and Paquines took charge of the event as a non profit organization with the help of the folks from the Last Bunker store.  In latter days we have tried to diversify the event to include more activities for the comics and videogame fandom, but I recognize that Kaisen is mainly known for its anime content and its cosplay contest.
What are some of the most underlined differences between the first Kaisen and the last one?
Size and costs!  We started at a small aisle of a very small shopping mall and the size of the convention has risen dramatically so we have been getting bigger places so that more fans can enjoy Kaisen.  The flip side is that the costs of running the convention have risen dramatically as well and the current economic climate has made very difficult to find sponsors, especially for an event that few companies understand.  Companies know sports and car shows, anime conventions, not so much!   But thanks to the thousands that go to Kaisen we can continue.
How do you compare the pop culture scene (comics, anime, cosplay, cartoon fans, etc etc) in those days and how it is right now?
There is more awareness by the general public of the comic book and anime culture.  Big movie hits such as the Spider-Man and Batman movies have been greatly accepted by not only comic book fans, but cinema enthusiasts as well.  The anime culture is very popular in Puerto Rico’s youth thanks to the Internet and the multiple events that are celebrated on the island.  What I am disappointed is in the TV front, every day there is less anime in cable, which is a shame as not everyone wants to buy anime based only on reviews.  TV exposure is important!  Hopefully some day that will improve.

Would you want anything to be different in the pop culture scene in P.R. (like organization, assistance, support etc etc)?
Many say that there are too many events now that cause overexposure; I say that we need more good events, not conventions that only feature vendors and little else.  And we need to go beyond the Metro Area.  We need to do events in Mayaguez, Fajardo and Arecibo, big cities that I’m sure that could host a small event at first and a bigger one later on.  It is great that the public is receptive to these kinds of events in Ponce and Cidra.  Hopefully this trend will continue.
Others say that all events are in competition with each other, and while technically it’s true I would say that it is like an avalanche effect that benefits all.  This has been proven by the rise in attendance in all the events.  I like to use the phrase that the high tide raises all boats and truly believe that the success of any fandom event benefits all conventions.
Sadly the pop culture phenomenon has not been accepted by some in the government and private sector.  It has been an uphill battle to convince government officials of the purpose and benefits of this event.  To this day we have not received a cent from any sponsor.  It has been a big challenge to manage Kaisen when costs have risen so dramatically.  If we had sponsorships we could have a bigger Kaisen, but on the other hand, we have learned to do more with less and I am pretty proud of the fact that Kaisen has no debts.
This is the sixth Kaisen convention. What are new additions and changes to the program to add the variety of activities included in Kaisen?
Kaisen 6 will be our biggest event and we have many new features!  We have for the first time in Puerto Rico a fan fic contest with prizes for the first 3 places.  I’m very proud of the educational aspect of Kaisen, and we have four workshops: one about copyright law so that creators can protect their characters, another about plastic modeling, a third one about comic book drawing and the fourth is about learning Japanese phrases.
We will have an anime cover band making its debut in Kaisen called NAMP, the rock band Neolucion and the Camerata Filarmonica orchestra playing videogame music, closing with Death Arrangement and their tribute to the greatest death metal band of all, Deathklok from the Adult Swim series Metalocalypse !
Dancing is also an important part of our show, we will have fusion dance from the Moonlight Dance crew, Anime dance from the Naylimie group and bellydancing with Jeniffer Yahvit.
A new event is the Medieval Cup, which is a tournament between the medieval combat clubs in Puerto Rico.  That part is organized by the Medieval Battle Society of Puerto Rico.
Gaming is also represented in Kaisen with a card tournament organized by the friends from Gaming Zone, a tournament of the Monsterpocalypose game by the Last Bunker crew and videogames free play thanks to the Mechahumano website.
Of course, we have the Cosplay Contest, with prizes for 18 cosplayers in 3 categories, Anime, Comics/Movies/TV and Videogames.  Inscription has already started and we have a capacity for a maximum of 210 cosplayers so send your inscription ASAP.  Details about how to do it can be found at the cosplay contest section of our website http://kaisen.paquines.com
A very important part of Kaisen is the vendor area, where you can satisfy all your cravings for geek merchandise.  It is very important that the Kaisen visitors support the vendors, without them Kaisen could not be done!
Where is Kaisen heading in the future? What plans do you have for the near and not so near future for the convention?
Hopefully in the future we can bring guests and maybe extend the time of the event.  I would love to give airplane tickets to our cosplayers so they can enjoy a big convention in the U.S..  But that depends on how many sponsors can help us and how many people visit Kaisen 6 and our future events.  Our compromise is to make Kaisen affordable for the fans and if we can make it better at a reasonable price we will do it.  We have no rush to expand Kaisen beyond we can manage.  Doing Kaisen twice a year has worked out for us so far and we plan to continue the same rhythm.
A question submitted by a Kaisen fan:
Do you feel satisfied with this achievements and activities that you are holding? Any regrets or something you wish you could have changed?
Looking back, I think that we at Team Kaisen can be very proud of how much Kaisen has grown at so fast a rate.  No one could have predicted that in two years we would be going from an aisle without air conditioning to the freakin’ Ruben Rodriguez Coliseum.  There have been many hurdles along the way, but thankfully we have overcome them with the help of many people, too numerous to mention.
Regrets, I have few.  No event is perfect and we at Team Kaisen are brutal in criticizing ourselves after each convention.  But thanks to the comments from the Kaisen fans the event has matured and gotten better, or so I hope! We are always looking for ways to improve Kaisen and welcome your feedback. Join us at http://foro.paquines.com and let’s talk.
Finally, Anything you want to add? Any comment or message for the thousands of NM readers and Kaisen fans out there?
Kaisen is really a team effort and all of you can help.  If you can, go to Kaisen!   It is cheap, easy to go using the train, lots of parking space, air conditioning and it is the most fun you will have in December without Santa Claus.
You can help us spread the word!  Go to this link [Click here to go to Paquines Facebook Group] and join the Paquines Facebook group so you can learn all our activities during the year.  Here is the link for Kaisen 6 on Facebook, [Kaisen 6 @ facebook] copy it and send it to your friends so they can join.  If you have a contact that can sponsor us, I really, really, really want to talk to you!  Contact us at kaisenconvention@gmail.com If you want to be up to the minute with what’s going on at Kaisen, join over 1,800 fans at our message board at http://foro.paquines.com
Let me thank Antonio, Emilio, Luis and Marcos of Team Kaisen for all their work and the Kaisen cosplay contest judges and volunteers that have donated their time each year.  Thanks to Kurosaki for the interview and the NM readers for reading it! See you at Kaisen !
Personally I want to Thank Carlos and the group of Paquines for this chance and giving me a bit of their time. I hope everything goes well and we’ll see each other in December 13 2009 @ kaisen6. Be sure to go too!

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Kaisen, paquines and the picture and videos are copyrighted to paquines.com. Anything else used in this interview is copyrighted to their respective owners.

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