Yaoi-Con 2014

Written by Rin Dunois (Azurin)

A convention focusing on mature content and restricts attendance to those of 18 years or older. That is Yaoi-Con. Having taken a break for the year of 2013 after having moved to Long Beach in 2012, this event based on the fan favorite genre known as boys' love has returned to the San Francisco Bay Area once more at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport in Burlingame, CA on September 12-14 of this year. Having spent a bit of time in Southern California and taken the year-long hiatus, was this con able to provide the entertainment fix that one can find at such a suggestive event? Let us find out!

Held at a hotel a good distance south of the San Francisco International Airport (SFO), Yaoi-Con 2014 is not in as convenient of a location as other hotel conventions I have reviewed. Any food options outside of the hotel are a good walk away, leaving the hotel's cafes and restaurants as the only real options without having to take the effort to walk so far off from the convention venue. Stores for last minute supplies and such are not readily available, neither, so if you were to return to an event at this venue, be sure to have everything you need assuming you cannot get much else without some traveling! Having gone only one day myself (due to schedule conflicts on Friday and Sunday), I cannot say much regarding the hotel itself, but I would assume that they are more than sufficient for people coming from a distance especially if they're out of state or even out of the country for a particular guest that I will bring up later on in this review. 

Within Yaoi-Con's selection of attractions are the convention staples of the Masquerade and the Exhibit Hall. Similar to Anime Expo, Yaoi-Con combines the Dealer's Hall and the Artist's Alley in one large room. However, maybe it's just me, but I felt the area was a bit disorganized with artist's tables and dealer's booths being a bit too intermeshed for my tastes. The selection is all right for a convention of this size with some specializing in goods related to the genre that the convention is based around. A swap meet was also held on the first day of the convention for people to browse the unwanted goods of various attendees. The selection of panels and other forms of programming was pretty small compared to other conventions held at hotels I have gone to, but then again, this convention did return from a year-long break due to financial reasons, so I'll let it go for the time being. The total area that the convention took up is also smaller than average with a handful of ballrooms being allocated for the event use. Of course, we all know size is not important and that it's quality over quantity, and did Yaoi-Con choose to uphold such idioms when setting up for its 2014 event. With their famous Bishonen Auction and other similarly themed events, Yaoi-Con manages to deliver quite well on keeping with their theme. The Masquerade also features a wide variety of performances ranging from those featuring people cosplaying as the bishonen characters we all know and love as well as non-anime and non-manga characters utilizing homoerotic content to be able to stick with the mature themes of the convention.

On top of these grand events comes a pair of special guests that Yaoi-Con managed to bring in from overseas. The first is boys' love mangaka Takaku Shoko and the other is internationally renowned cosplayer Reika. The announcement of the latter making an appearance at this relatively small convention brought people coming from out of state and even out of the country to behold the famous cosplayer in her physical form. Both of these guests held panels that attracted quite the crowd to be able to fill the rooms to full capacity, and these panels along with the various fan panels were ran pretty smoothly albeit starting a bit later than originally scheduled. The amount of panels might seem small for a 3-day convention, but the quality of them was definitely retained. Alongside the panels is a Yaoi-Con exclusive: the Bishonen Auction. I did not attend it myself, but from what I know, it is such a well-received event and has served as a staple of the convention for so many years, attracting cosplayers of bishonen characters to come on stage and strut their stuff to get the attention of fellow attendees with money in their pockets to spend and get to make any demands as long as they were within personal bounds from said "items" should they win (Actually, the convention has begun taking credit and debit cards as a form of payment.). 

Something that people might have noticed from this year's event is the lack of a gaming room, a long time convention staple. We all know those few friends who like to get their fill of video or tabletop games while at a convention, so surely a room where one can do that is to be expected in this day and age, right? Unfortuntely, Yaoi-Con chose not to have such a room, perhaps due to financial and spatial constraints. I suppose for a convention for adults only, a library containing a vast amount of volumes of manga and similar media containing explicit content was more appropriate, which did garner some notable attention throughout the event as far as I know. Screening rooms were also in the area, showing off homoerotic and bishonen material throughout the duration of the event.

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If you're looking for a convention that aims to be unique, Yaoi-Con might just be the one you're looking for! With an age restriction and hosting programming featuring homoerotic content, Yaoi-Con sets itself apart from the competition by attracting a niche audience for a niche subgenre of anime and manga. However, this is not a convention that I would recommend to someone who is new or unfamiliar with the convention scene. For veteran con attendees, this would be quite the convention to check out and take a nice break from conventions with a wider range of content.

(More photos can be found in our gallery.)