Hanami is anime spelled sideways
At around this time last year, I commented on my surprise at seeing so many otaku at the annual Brooklyn Botanic Garden Sakura Matsuri. This year, I was no longer surprised, though I did notice that their numbers seemed to be on the increase. I didn’t bother counting, but there were definitely a sizable number of teens and twenty-somethings who clearly weren’t there at the behest of their high school horticulture club. The event has apparently gained so much cred among the local animerati that the Metro Anime club moved its monthly get-together to avoid a conflict with the festival. Good thing. Given the fact that the hanami was scheduled poorly this year (most of the blossoms had yet to peak), the kids—some in basic black, some in formal kimonos (or loose interpretations of such) and some kitted out as their favorite anime or game characters—were among the most colorful things there. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu, dudes.
