Sakura-Con 2008 - Sat, Sun
Forgot to include these pics in Friday's report.
Our disaster-area hotel room. >)
The convention center main entrance, as seen from the block the Sheraton is on. It was less than half a block from the hotel. :)
The Artist's Alley, which was up in the walkway crossing the road. Disappointingly small. Apparently the facility has limits on how much of the space can be used. :\
Main escalators going up... This section of the convention center had three floors, and there were a further three floors in another area. A big Sakura-Con banner was hanging at the top.
Hallway leading to a large area in front of the dealer's room where a lot of cosplayers would hang out for pictures. At the left you can see the giant Schedule board, where they had printed out a large copy of the entire convention schedule. Great idea, IMO, especially since the pocket guide book was pretty confusing and bulky to carry around.
Moving on...
Saturday
By Saturday I was death warmed over. Miserable to the point of tears. I didn't want to get out of bed, let alone cosplay. But I hadn't dragged all that crap all the way out to the West Coast to wimp out. I stayed in the room while killyoudead and vayleen went to eat, however.
Eventually I dragged myself upright and got my costume on. killyoudead came back partway through the Plutoifying and helped me get my train on. I can do the snaps by myself, but the hooks turned out to be trickier; I'll have to remember to attach them before putting the dress on from now on. I was too tired to make bento that day, which is unfortunate. I'd really hoped to do it more than once. :\
I didn't do much of anything on Saturday; I was just too unwell to care. vayleen was already in line for the Ali Project concert by the time I left the hotel room, so I went to visit her in line, since she'd really wanted to see me in costume. I had really wanted to go to the concert, but it would've been too uncomfortable in cosplay, not to mention being sick. :\ So I pretty much just wandered around for a while taking pictures and having pictures taken of me. There weren't many, which was fine by me. I wouldn't want to be one of those gorgeous cosplayers who can't move due to constant photography. I have a comfortable balance with the Princess Pluto costume.
Somewhere in there I went back to the hotel room for a while, and ran into killyoudead again, as well as a couple of Chrono Trigger cosplayers. Awesome! :D
Apparently there was almost a complete cast at the con, by total coincidence, and they had arranged to meet up for a group photo at 5. That's all that motivated me to get up and out of the hotel room again, after I dozed for a while. I was late getting to the meetup area, but they were still there getting pictures taken. :D
On the way I ran into a nice Haruka and Michiru pair who asked for a picture with me before I got one of them. :)
vayleen met up with me after she got out of the concert, and we went to Subway, which had a reasonable line for once. There was a friendly Ouran cosplayer in line with us. ^^
Then we went back over to the lobby by the dealer's room and basically hung around there until the Sailormoon panel. killyoudead joined us there when she had time. They were nice enough to take some cosplay pictures for me. I went a bit lighter on the eye makeup at this con.
And I got a picture of them! :D
Finally it was time for the Sailormoon panel. When we got there, I finally ran into the Sailor Saturn cosplayer I'd been hearing about.
We got some pictures taken of us together, too, but I don't have one of those.
The panel was... okay. I always have a harsh opinion of Sailormoon panels, because Anime Boston has the above-all best one anywhere, and I don't only say that because I'm on it. It's just an awesome presentation. But the Sakura-Con one was all right. I believe it was being run by the Luna and Artemis I photographed on Friday, but it was hard to be sure. They essentially went over the basics of the series, the differences between the versions, the origins of their interest in the fandom, and things like that. Kinda flat, but not bad. I did have to resist the urge to examine the guy's artbook collection for bootlegs, though. Bursting bubbles is mean... >3
After that... I can't remember what we did next. I think that's when we wandered around for a while trying to decide what to do. We tried the gaming area, but everything was too busy, or there were events going on. Eventually killyoudead split off again for a while, and we decided to meet up again for AMV Hell 4 at 10:30. vayleen and I went down to the AMV room to wait, but it ended up being moved to Main Events. killyoudead joined us there.
I've never been a huge fan of the AMV Hell series, but 4 was pretty funny. Definitely enough funny moments to make it worth watching, although it had its usual share of "meh." It was really heavy on the Haruhi and Death Note, as well as some key others. vayleen had to keep covering her eyes at the Death Note bits to avoid spoilers. xD Personally, I'm glad AMV Hell 4 is the last of the series ("Yes, it really is" was plastered all over the thing). IMO it's a smart move to end it before it gets too old and tired. (I'm sure there will be plenty of ripoffs, though, ugh.)
After the AMV contest and AMV Hell 4, I must admit to a strange desire to watch "Gunslinger Girl." Even despite the weird chest-storage gimmick. I'm curious and intrigued.
By the end of AMV Hell, I was in pretty rough shape, thanks to the shaky floor once again and having stalled on taking my medication. >.> So it was back to the room for me, where I finally got out of my cosplay. The annoyance of doing cosplay cannot be overstated. I really need to get a corset made, because OW. The hooks for the train were a huge success, though. I got stepped on a lot, and it never ripped, and the side hooks only popped off once or twice. MUCH better. ^^
There was another random burst of craziness while I was combing out my wig... vayleen and killyoudead got into a wild pillow fight. xDD They're so entertaining. Hee.
Pictures from Saturday!
^ This group couldn't move from this pose for at least 10 minutes. People wouldn't stop taking pictures. xD
^ One of killyoudead's friends, of the type who could barely move due to all the photography. xD
Sunday
Sunday was extremely brief, since I had to do the thing I never ever do, which is leave early on Sunday. I hate when people leave early on Sunday. But with the time zone difference, even leaving at noon I wasn't going to be home until after 8 PM, and I had work the next morning. :(
So I got up, packed up my stuff, and rushed over to the con for a quick spin through the Artist's Alley and dealer's room. I didn't have time to examine every booth fully, but I made it through most of both, and picked up some good stuff. Only a few things this time, though. Just a couple of prints and some Death Note figures. Not much else was particularly catching my eye.
Then we had to rush back to the hotel to get checked out by noon. Fortunately they had express checkout options, so I just signed the form and dropped it in the dropbox with the keys. In other words, we were able to check out a little late without penalty. :3
I stuck around a little while to go with vayleen and killyoudead to store their stuff at the bag check in the hotel. I missed the initial shuttle bus I was planning on taking, but I had some extra time, and as it turned out that bus never showed, so it was just as well I didn't try to take it. xD
At the bag check, we had the GREAT SODA GIVEAWAY BONANZA! I had bought three 12-packs of soda since it had been on sale at Target, and we had half of it left by the end of the weekend. So killyoudead made a sign, and they were going to give it away in the convention center, but instead they just started yelling "FREE SODA!" in the bag check line. It took a little while, but soon it was bye-bye soda. People were freaking out with excitement over the free soda. It was awesomely hilarious. xDD
After that, killyoudead and vayleen waited for the airport shuttle bus with me, and waved goodbye like lunatics when I left. My biggest regret about the whole con is not taking a picture of them doing so. It was so sweet. I'm tearing up just remembering it. But I fail at capturing special moments. ;_;
I slept the whole flight home, met my dad and my sister for dinner when I got there, and that was the end of that.
A few more pictures from Sunday.
Hey, it just occurred to me that I accomplished something impressive: I had a drama-free experience at Sakura-Con! xD From a lot of stuff I've read over the years, Sakura tends to be dramatastic. I certainly overheard a lot of drama going on. ^^; But besides the sickness, no drama for me! VICTOLY! :D
Now I have a blessed couple of days until Detour, and after that a nice break before Anime North. :)
Our disaster-area hotel room. >)
The convention center main entrance, as seen from the block the Sheraton is on. It was less than half a block from the hotel. :)
The Artist's Alley, which was up in the walkway crossing the road. Disappointingly small. Apparently the facility has limits on how much of the space can be used. :\
Main escalators going up... This section of the convention center had three floors, and there were a further three floors in another area. A big Sakura-Con banner was hanging at the top.
Hallway leading to a large area in front of the dealer's room where a lot of cosplayers would hang out for pictures. At the left you can see the giant Schedule board, where they had printed out a large copy of the entire convention schedule. Great idea, IMO, especially since the pocket guide book was pretty confusing and bulky to carry around.
Moving on...
Saturday
By Saturday I was death warmed over. Miserable to the point of tears. I didn't want to get out of bed, let alone cosplay. But I hadn't dragged all that crap all the way out to the West Coast to wimp out. I stayed in the room while killyoudead and vayleen went to eat, however.
Eventually I dragged myself upright and got my costume on. killyoudead came back partway through the Plutoifying and helped me get my train on. I can do the snaps by myself, but the hooks turned out to be trickier; I'll have to remember to attach them before putting the dress on from now on. I was too tired to make bento that day, which is unfortunate. I'd really hoped to do it more than once. :\
I didn't do much of anything on Saturday; I was just too unwell to care. vayleen was already in line for the Ali Project concert by the time I left the hotel room, so I went to visit her in line, since she'd really wanted to see me in costume. I had really wanted to go to the concert, but it would've been too uncomfortable in cosplay, not to mention being sick. :\ So I pretty much just wandered around for a while taking pictures and having pictures taken of me. There weren't many, which was fine by me. I wouldn't want to be one of those gorgeous cosplayers who can't move due to constant photography. I have a comfortable balance with the Princess Pluto costume.
Somewhere in there I went back to the hotel room for a while, and ran into killyoudead again, as well as a couple of Chrono Trigger cosplayers. Awesome! :D
Apparently there was almost a complete cast at the con, by total coincidence, and they had arranged to meet up for a group photo at 5. That's all that motivated me to get up and out of the hotel room again, after I dozed for a while. I was late getting to the meetup area, but they were still there getting pictures taken. :D
On the way I ran into a nice Haruka and Michiru pair who asked for a picture with me before I got one of them. :)
vayleen met up with me after she got out of the concert, and we went to Subway, which had a reasonable line for once. There was a friendly Ouran cosplayer in line with us. ^^
Then we went back over to the lobby by the dealer's room and basically hung around there until the Sailormoon panel. killyoudead joined us there when she had time. They were nice enough to take some cosplay pictures for me. I went a bit lighter on the eye makeup at this con.
And I got a picture of them! :D
Finally it was time for the Sailormoon panel. When we got there, I finally ran into the Sailor Saturn cosplayer I'd been hearing about.
We got some pictures taken of us together, too, but I don't have one of those.
The panel was... okay. I always have a harsh opinion of Sailormoon panels, because Anime Boston has the above-all best one anywhere, and I don't only say that because I'm on it. It's just an awesome presentation. But the Sakura-Con one was all right. I believe it was being run by the Luna and Artemis I photographed on Friday, but it was hard to be sure. They essentially went over the basics of the series, the differences between the versions, the origins of their interest in the fandom, and things like that. Kinda flat, but not bad. I did have to resist the urge to examine the guy's artbook collection for bootlegs, though. Bursting bubbles is mean... >3
After that... I can't remember what we did next. I think that's when we wandered around for a while trying to decide what to do. We tried the gaming area, but everything was too busy, or there were events going on. Eventually killyoudead split off again for a while, and we decided to meet up again for AMV Hell 4 at 10:30. vayleen and I went down to the AMV room to wait, but it ended up being moved to Main Events. killyoudead joined us there.
I've never been a huge fan of the AMV Hell series, but 4 was pretty funny. Definitely enough funny moments to make it worth watching, although it had its usual share of "meh." It was really heavy on the Haruhi and Death Note, as well as some key others. vayleen had to keep covering her eyes at the Death Note bits to avoid spoilers. xD Personally, I'm glad AMV Hell 4 is the last of the series ("Yes, it really is" was plastered all over the thing). IMO it's a smart move to end it before it gets too old and tired. (I'm sure there will be plenty of ripoffs, though, ugh.)
After the AMV contest and AMV Hell 4, I must admit to a strange desire to watch "Gunslinger Girl." Even despite the weird chest-storage gimmick. I'm curious and intrigued.
By the end of AMV Hell, I was in pretty rough shape, thanks to the shaky floor once again and having stalled on taking my medication. >.> So it was back to the room for me, where I finally got out of my cosplay. The annoyance of doing cosplay cannot be overstated. I really need to get a corset made, because OW. The hooks for the train were a huge success, though. I got stepped on a lot, and it never ripped, and the side hooks only popped off once or twice. MUCH better. ^^
There was another random burst of craziness while I was combing out my wig... vayleen and killyoudead got into a wild pillow fight. xDD They're so entertaining. Hee.
Pictures from Saturday!
^ This group couldn't move from this pose for at least 10 minutes. People wouldn't stop taking pictures. xD
^ One of killyoudead's friends, of the type who could barely move due to all the photography. xD
Sunday
Sunday was extremely brief, since I had to do the thing I never ever do, which is leave early on Sunday. I hate when people leave early on Sunday. But with the time zone difference, even leaving at noon I wasn't going to be home until after 8 PM, and I had work the next morning. :(
So I got up, packed up my stuff, and rushed over to the con for a quick spin through the Artist's Alley and dealer's room. I didn't have time to examine every booth fully, but I made it through most of both, and picked up some good stuff. Only a few things this time, though. Just a couple of prints and some Death Note figures. Not much else was particularly catching my eye.
Then we had to rush back to the hotel to get checked out by noon. Fortunately they had express checkout options, so I just signed the form and dropped it in the dropbox with the keys. In other words, we were able to check out a little late without penalty. :3
I stuck around a little while to go with vayleen and killyoudead to store their stuff at the bag check in the hotel. I missed the initial shuttle bus I was planning on taking, but I had some extra time, and as it turned out that bus never showed, so it was just as well I didn't try to take it. xD
At the bag check, we had the GREAT SODA GIVEAWAY BONANZA! I had bought three 12-packs of soda since it had been on sale at Target, and we had half of it left by the end of the weekend. So killyoudead made a sign, and they were going to give it away in the convention center, but instead they just started yelling "FREE SODA!" in the bag check line. It took a little while, but soon it was bye-bye soda. People were freaking out with excitement over the free soda. It was awesomely hilarious. xDD
After that, killyoudead and vayleen waited for the airport shuttle bus with me, and waved goodbye like lunatics when I left. My biggest regret about the whole con is not taking a picture of them doing so. It was so sweet. I'm tearing up just remembering it. But I fail at capturing special moments. ;_;
I slept the whole flight home, met my dad and my sister for dinner when I got there, and that was the end of that.
A few more pictures from Sunday.
Hey, it just occurred to me that I accomplished something impressive: I had a drama-free experience at Sakura-Con! xD From a lot of stuff I've read over the years, Sakura tends to be dramatastic. I certainly overheard a lot of drama going on. ^^; But besides the sickness, no drama for me! VICTOLY! :D
Now I have a blessed couple of days until Detour, and after that a nice break before Anime North. :)