Daicon IV
Daicon IV was a sci-fi convention held in 1983, in Osaka, Japan; the 22nd sci-fi convention in japanese history.
Name
Daicon is a pun with the east asian giant radish called daikon in japanese, the word "convention", and the first kanji of the city in which it is held, which can be read either ō or dai, and means "big/great". Daicon, as well as most japanese sci-fi conventions, is always written in romaji (occidental alphabet).
Opening
The opening to Daicon IV, made by Gainax, is a 4:23 video of beautiful cel animation, comparable to that of the 1988 Akira or the 1985 Chōjiku yōsai macross movie. It is no surprise that the opening to a sci-fi convention was anime, as often, back then and still today, geeks in general often were into several "geek" fields of interest at once. Thus, the video has references to Gundam, as well as Star Wars, the 1979 Alien, Godzilla and Batman.
The video features Electric Light Orchestra's Twilight from the album Time as a background music, and the prologue lyrics from that same album as an introduction:
- Just on the border of your waking mind
- There lies another time
- Where darkness and light are one,
- And as you thread the halls of sanity,
- You feel so glad to be unable to go beyond.
- I have a message from another time...
Culture and references
This video, although short, clearly marked the otaku subculture for its state-of-the-art animation for 1983. There soon were merchandise and figures of the nameless "Daicon IV bunny-eared girl" who is seen surfing around on a flying sword in the video.
In Gainax's 1992 OVA Otaku no Video, a character shows another what are anime and animation techniques, and shows a part of the Daicon IV opening. Additionnally, Otaku no Video's very mascot, Misty May, is clearly a reference to the Daicon IV girl.
2005 japanese TV series Densha Otoko features an opening that is also a clear reference, featuring a girl with bunny ears surfing around on a train with the same background tune, Electric Light Orchestra's Twilight.