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Blaaah... I've been misinterpreted. sweatdrop
I absolutely do not think that there are no people who truly love things like Naruto. I know some who do. And I don't think that it's fans of only older series who are devoted, my personal fandom of choice is a newer one.
I'll try to explain myself better... Narutards still tend to be the best representative of the group that really is only interested in "ZOMG ANIME!" and not specifics of it. They're the ones who basically only take what's readily available, and are most interested in whatever is the flavor of the month. They're less mature fans (I don't mean younger here, age and maturity don't correlate) who are probably very new to anime, haven't even encountered older or "better" series, and just don't know there's more than the latest stuff on Cartoon Network or whatever other channels may be airing it. They obsess over whatever's big now, but they're fickle, and when something else comes around, it won't take long for them to forget about their prior obsession and move on to the new one instead. Their main interest at a con is to find boatloads of overpriced stuff at the dealer's room, get a bunch of autographs, and act truly obnoxious for about three days.
I'm sure you know which ones I'm talking about by now. smile They make the occasional appearance in the Alley, but often with the attitude of, "This place is stupid, they don't have any manga or DVDs!"
Those who are dedicated to the "oldies" tend to be a more mature fan overall, who are interested in specific series and specific elements of anime and/or culture. They've matured from that "ZOMG ANIME!" stage, encountered more, learned to seek things out, learned their favorite series might not be all that popular, and learned that there's more to anime than what's on Cartoon Network, and there's more to life than anime. They've usually but not always been to more than one con, and they're less obnoxious and better behaved while attending. They'll visit the Dealer's room, too, of course, but they'll spend longer in the Alley, with a better idea of what it offers, and are more likely to get excited over something older or more unusual than "yet another pinup of Naruto and Sasuke." They'll probably like newer stuff, too. Some of them may even like Naruto, but they're generally not going to be the ones dressed like goth!Sasuke letting their friend dressed as catgirl!Naruto drag them around on a chain while making "nya" sounds.
(This is just kind of an overall look at things, there's way more groups than this, but these are two major types of people I tend to see at conventions, and how interaction with them tends to go; the older and more experienced congoers tend to approach the tables more readily than those who are younger and/or at their first convention. The first group also tends to be more familiar with series beyond what aired last week.)
And the group I'm classing as "Narutards" is very much an overlapping group of the "it sucks if it's not 100% Japanese" group. They're also the ones who, when they do their own comics, will do one about a "totally original ninja school" and do it "manga style" by which they mean "bass ackwards right to left" because that's "authentic" and there's some magical property to that layout that makes comics better. Eventually they grow up and start to figure it out. (Oh, and as for the dealer's room? They're in there buying imported doujinshi and bootleg DVDs when they hate the official stuff, too. Yes, even now you can still find bootleg DVDs in the Dealer's Room.)
Additionally, I don't see AA and DR as competition for one another, there's different audiences, but those who are new to a con are more likely to dismiss the AA or not even know it's there. (And, as noted before, they're more likely to be in the group I'm calling "Narutards." wink
I'm still not sure if what I mean is clear, or if it's now just lost in a tl;dr clustereff... sweatdrop
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