Prinny Rights Movement at Shuto-Con - Lansing, MI - March 25th and 26th

I took a long vacation from March 18 - 28 to take a little trip up North. I visited a friend in Pennsylvania, went to Niagara Falls, CA, and then to Lansing, Michigan where I went to an anime convention and visit another friend.

Planning for this trip began almost a year ago last April when I happened to learn about this little start-up convention called Shuto-Con, and they had a very special guest that I could not pass up... Michelle Ruff. She is most notable for her role as the voice of Rukia from Bleach (a show I could care less about), but she also plays a role that is very significant to me... The voice of Demon Lord Master Etna from the video game series Disgaea, who mercilessly enslaves the Prinnies. And I happen to be the founder of the Prinny Rights Movement.

We knew we had to make this trip.

I've been going to anime and gaming conventions here in the south for about 5 years now. For the past two years, my wife, Kyra, and I have done a little something called the Prinny Rights Movement. If you are not familiar with the Disgaea series, then the joke is lost... But basically, the Prinnies are demonic penguins in the Netherworld who embody the souls of human who must work off their "debts" so that they can be reincarnated. The are at the bottom of the totem pole and are often mercilessly abused. Particularly by the character Master Etna. And in the American version, they say "Dood" all the time (in the Japanese they say "Desu.")

Prinny Rights Movement with Hero Prinny cosplayer - EXP Con 2010

After the first year we found the Prinny Rights Movement, we decided to take it a step further and try to hit more conventions. Around April 2010 I was googling prospective cons, mostly in the South, when I decided to look up the voice actress Michelle Ruff, thinking that a "confrontation" with the very person who gave voice to our "enemy" would be a lot of fun. As it turned out, she hadn't been to any conventions in years. However, a start-up convention called Shuto-Con had just announced that she would be their guest of honor... All the way up in Lansing, MI.

There was no question about it. Kyra and I immediately began planning the trip.

But this is a geek blog, not a travel blog. So let's get straight to the convention itself.

Disgaea is a fairly niche series, so I'm used to people not understanding what we are doing. But, whenever someone spots us who "gets it," we are often met with people yelling "Dood!" from across the room, and I'll always respond with a "Dood!" in kind.

So we show up to Michelle Ruff's panel, and I'm planning on treating it as if we are picketing the panel. I'm talking to another Prinny supporter, when we suddenly hear a "Dood!" from behind us. I turn around to respond... and come face to face with Michelle Ruff herself.

Talk about disarming. I was completely unprepared for this, and since she picked us out herself like that, I might have had a.... bit of a nerdgasm. It was a like a geeky dream come true.

So yeah. The whole "picketing" thing was off. She loved our signs and thought that what we were doing was hilarious. Again, I'm in geek bliss at this moment.

Michelle Ruff loved our signs. Oh, and if you know who the lady behind her is, you win 1,000 nerd points.

So, yeah, Michelle is definitely an awesome person. And I got a bunch of stuff signed, including my copy of Odin Sphere and a 10 inch figurine of Velvet (whom Michelle does the voice for). But that is where things get sad... Odin Sphere is an extremely obscure and niche title that came out four ago, and Michelle did NOT remember doing the character. Considering that Odin Sphere is one of the greatest games ever made, this made me a little sad... But she still signed my stuff.

While Michelle was certainly the main attraction for me, there were two other major guests: Tiffany Grant and Spike Spencer, who are most notable for their roles as Asuka Langley and Shinji Ikari from Neon Genesis Envangelion. I managed to get Tiffany to sign my copy of NGE: Platinum Edition, but failed to meet Spike (though I honestly didn't try that hard.)

All in all, the con was a lot of fun. I didn't experience much of the con itself, because I was also visiting a friend of mine, but I was able to get out of it what I wanted, and that was a "confrontation" with Michelle Ruff. And it was definitely worth the trip.