Que dis-tu, Hikaru? De tous temps, les femmes ont joué au go, même à l'époque Heian.
What are you talking about, Hikaru? Women have always played go, even during the Heian era.
~Fujiwara no Sai, volume two of the French version.
All right! So it's been two days since the final day of Animethon (haha, I just wrote "animethong" by accident... ;) ), and I'm still pumped about it. I mean, much of the organizing was of questionable quality (and sense), but the people who were attended more than made up for that. :3 I kept running into people I knew, and awesome cosplayers that I didn't know before but now know, and it generally an awesomely fun time was had by all.
Also, I managed to avoid my stalker from the Bellerose con, although I did spot her at a distance several times. Scary stuff.
I wore my Fujiwara no Sai outfit (as seen here: http://beboots.deviantart.com/art/Crooked-hat-91400338 ), although I lost my hair ribbon at the dance Saturday evening, so I was without it all Sunday. Oh, well, I could have lost my hat! There was also another Fujiwara no Sai (I was no longer unique. ;_; ). Her hat was much taller than mine, and she did her belt area much more nicely than me... but I liked my sleeves more. :3 Also, she's an awesome person, really nice.
I found that I didn't get as many photograph requests, proportionately, here in Canada as I did at the Japan Expo in Paris. I think that it's because the Hikaru no Go manga is really difficult to find, here, and that the anime actually isn't liscenced, so only the true fan knows of the series. You know I'm cool.
I also didn't find much Hikago merchandise; I did buy two soundtrack CDs, and a really adorable plus Sai doll, but not much else. I actually didn't spend much money - other than that stuff, I bought one Hikago DVD for 24$, several brand new single Inuyasha DVDs for $4 (yes, $4 - awesome deal!), and Sting, Frodo's sword, for $40. It comes with a sheath, and is very badass. :3
Remind me, guys, to choose a costume that doesn't involve five or six layers (plus felt hat) for the cons next summer... Although I actually have my heart set on doing a Sesshoumaru costume (from Inuyasha). I mean, I already know how to do the traditional Japanese clothing from my experience sewing my Sai costume, so the real challenge would be the armour and other assessories (like that fluff). I've been asking cosplayers at the Animethon for tips on how to make the armour, and I got some good suggestions, but if anybody else has any thoughts, please share them! I could use all the help I can possibly yet...
The weapons check people were apparently much more strict this year. My brother, Ian, (who went as Link, from Legend of Zelda) was told to glue his sword (which was delibrately made of soft wood, and very blunted) into his sheathe if he was to come with it next year! Ironically, he's a blackbelt in Karate, and is taking Kobudo, and so he really doesn't need a blunted decorative sword to kill people... I told my brother that he should really just get a weapon's check sticker for himself; his whole body is a weapon. ;)
I was hanging out with my friend Ashley all weekend (despite the fact that we grated on each other's nerves after a while), and she was dressed in an awesome Seras Victoria (from Hellsing) outfit. She made it by hand, people! She's so much more hardcore than me, who uses a machine... Although, my outfit was mostly huge swathes of hemming, so it would have taken me forever had I not used my awesome 60s sewing machine...
Highlights of the cosplayers include: Seras Victoria, of course, baby Tuxedo Mask, two epic Dragonball Z characters (Goku and Vegeta, I believe), Master Chief, complete with full suit of Halo armour and glowing gun, Vash the Stampede (he even wore a tie around his head at the dance, as in the scenes were the character is drunk in canon!), the Predator (from Alien versus Predator), complete with fully functioning mouth (very creepy), the Joker's "Why so serious?" speech at the cosplay contest, and Yvonne as Hello Kitty. Yvonne actually had to leave early on Sunday because she was continually harassed by glomping fans.
Here be a video for everyone, with Seras Victoria showing off the accomodations: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOCgQ5LqwfQ I filmed it! :D
...Aaaand I suppose I should go and clean my room for a bit... or answer some of my facebook replies on my photos. To view the photographs, go here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=144162&l=89f7b&id=839240415
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=144588&l=f7916&id=839240415