Manifest 2007 Report
Well, here it comes. The massive Hoowee Con Report as it has become sort've traditional for me to do.
Before I dive right into it, can I say that in the two years that I missed going to Manifest it has grown HUGE. There were so many people everywhere doing things, it was almost mind-boggling. The only thing I missed was that there didn't seem to be a large amount of panels that I wanted to see. [At the last AI-con, I think I was setting myself up to spend three hours straight in the panel room for different panels that followed on from one another.] But... but... HUGE! I really hadn't expected it to have grown so large. @_@
On the whole, I enjoyed it greatly. I ran around fangirlishly, spent far too much money, cosplayed, attended panels/events and just generally had a wonderful time.
PANELS
Fanfiction
The one panel that caught my eye in the program and made me really want to attend. Unfortunately, no-one else wanted to see it with me which sort of bummed me out early on Saturday, but I can understand it. So I attended it by myself and re-affirmed that yes, the female population does tend to make up the majority of fanfic enthusiasts and writers as the entire room seemed to be of the feminine persuasion. [I don't deny there are guys who write it, just that they're rather rare.]
The panelist was great and had an obvious enthusiasm for the topic alongside a history with the topic giving her experience in what she was talking about, which lead to an enjoyable panel with some rather interesting insights from a different perspective.
The general terms and ratings were covered, which I somewhat expected, but what made me hold back a snortle of glee was the rating SFW and NSFW. Oh, I've seen the terms they stand for used on peoples live journals when they post fanfiction and art, but I hadn't seen it acronymed before... which I quite like in a 'that makes me smile evilly' way. Heh, I must be reading the wrong journals for the acronym not to be more familiar for me. For those of you like me who didn't get it until told, they stand for 'safe for work' and 'not safe for work'. >:D
Also covered were the different styles authors use to portray their ideas, why people want to write fanfiction and other oddbods. I particularly liked the 'why' of fanfiction that the panel covered. Is fanfiction a product of people that 'have nothing better to do' or is it more an 'artistic' endevour?
The panel finished up with a short game held amongst the attendees as we were split into small groups and asked to continue a sentence on a piece of paper. Our group of four was more like a group of two but we managed to write our part, which is kind've hard when you have no idea about the person you're trying to write with, whether you're talking too much about your own ideas and not enough about theirs, or if they want you to stop asking them questions and write something yourself. Anyway, the pieces of paper linked into what other groups had written and turned out to be a rather funny round-robin experience which made me laugh and leave the panel feeling good.
Pros: Fun. Good groundwork information. Different perspectives offered.
Cons: Fanfiction has no cons.
Living In Japan
Held Sunday afternoon, Resie and I caught the very end of this panel as we crept in to wait for the drama panel. [and spotted Cassu and Rowan for the first time since Friday.] Sitting through the last ten minutes or so of it, I'm dissappointed in myself for not going for all of it.
The two presenters were speaking from first-hand knowledge and were bringing up a lot of information that I would have liked to hear more about, such as were to find what, tips on how to get around and explanation of a few quirks. Damn me and not getting myself to good panels/events as they happen.
Non speaker wise, I love the Manifest panel room. It's small enough to be navigatable, yet not so large that giant empty spaces glare at you, not to mention that the atmosphere is warm and comfy. It's also a plus that the computer and lighting is all easily accessable to the panelists up the front. Yay!
Pros: Informative, first hand experience. Good visuals.
Cons: I didn't get to see it all! ;_ ;
Japanese Dorama
This was held at the very odd timeslot of 6pm on Sunday, directly opposing the closing ceremony, which ment a lot of waiting around in a very empty area while we waited for it to start. Still, it's something Resie in particular wanted to see and I confess to being interested myself due to some of the dramas that I've previously watched and as a comparison to the panel we held earlier this year at AI-con on pretty much the same topic. [Which may be why this part of the report is a little opinionated. >_<; ]
My one tiny gripe is the beginning of the panel started out with a lot of squee-ing that didn't really settle down until after the two presenters started their powerpoint production and showed off the drama's that had caused their addictions. I'm not sure what purpose they had for that other then to squee happily and showcase some of their old favourites. I know that sounds snarky and it's not ment to be. >_<. I liked seeing what they liked, but thought that for a panel, perhaps it could have been more informative to title them under "good shows we recomend you start your addiction with" without the virtual doubling up of powerpoint slides so that each presenter could show their first-time dramas and say 'I love these'.
The part of the panel that I adored was the 'how drama is playing a part in japan today' section. This I gluttoned onto and soaked up. >:D The cultural impact of differing dramas and how they're shaping views on other countries [eg. Korea] is really quite interesting. [We are shaped in some form or another by what we watch on tv, don't deny it.] Not to mention some of the history that popped up during the talk to try and understand the cultural psyche behind what's created.
In addition, I enjoyed seeing the comparisons between what happens in manga and anime also happening in drama, which looked much nicer then the comparison of differences Resie and I had for ours. I think ours were just as informative, but could have looked much better. [Me, embed a working video into powerpoint that won't stuff up on the day? Realise that no one will be able to see that manga page on the screen when in the panel room? Ha! I laugh at your jest good sir.]
Finally the panel finished with us all watching the first episode of a series called [from my memory of a goldfish] "Stand Up", which I didn't mind watching with the group, but if had been setting out to watch by myself would not have bothered with, despite all the pretty boys. The plot of the series isn't quite the sort that I like. Still, I did like the group feeling of watching it after the panel and hope that the toe-dipping experience starts more drama addicts out on their way. >:D
Pros: Fun, relaxed, informative and happy to see drama addicted people.
Cons: A little fan-ish at points, but only randomly after it started and it was fun sharing the squee. ^_^
EVENTS
Fruits Fashion
Manifest had a Fruits Fashion day as well, which I'd planned for by putting together all my skull styled/inspired clothing. But I, not paying any attention and having been indoctrinated AI-con style, had mine put together for the Sunday, rather then the Friday that Manifest held it on. Woops! This wasn't highly bad though as I hadn't actually entered the competition, so nothing was thrown out of whack and I still wore what I wanted, when I wanted.
After attending the actual competition as part of the audience in the comfy/spacious theatre room where people showed their 'Fruits' fashion sense... I have to say, and it seemed the general concensus of our group, that AI-con entrants do fruits fashion better. [Even with the lower attendence and smaller space.]
Manifest certainly had a larger attendance in both entrants and audience with decent technical support plus a comfy, large theatre... and I couldn't say that any of the entrants were terrible, but it just seemed to be, and please excuse the term, a lolita-fest.
I like lolita. I want to wear lolita one day [that hopefully doesn't make other lolita's eyes bleed] ... but there were just so MANY of them. It was almost as if the other styles for fruits were engulfed by a wave of lolita. All of the lolitas have actually merged in my head with only one or two stand outs. [Cassu, the steam-punk lolita and the girl who had sewn wings to her back to give herself courage.] Of the others, I just couldn't tell you any who's, what's or wherefore's. It's just a blur of floofy skirts and lace. @_@
While I don't want the lolitas to stop being lolitas, I hope very much that next time there's a larger amount of entrants showcasing other styles as well.
Pros: Good entry and audience levels.
Cons: Lolita-wave
Cosplay
Cosplay is great fun and I not only cosplayed [see this post for pictures] but stalked other cosplayers for photos to my hearts content.
I will admit to being grouchy for the first half of the day on saturday and not taking too many photos, but after watching the actual cosplay competition I perked up and started stalking in earnest. I was grabbing people in the traders hall, the fantraders hall, the courtyard, posing in the gardens and en route between any of these places... nowhere was sacred! Muwahaha. I have so much fun stalking cosplayers and not one of them was a cosplay-snob which I had the displeasure of encountering way back in 2004.
Around about midday Shihaf, Keh, Resie and I had started to wander towards the theatre where the cosplay competition was going to be held on Saturday, only to be stopped by a helpful volunteer who pointed us in the direction of the line. We looked at the line [which was absolutely enormous] and decided to go to a different theatre that would be screening a live feed. I would have loved to have seen it in the first theatre rather then via a feed in the second, but with the line as it was, it just wasn't possilbe. I've heard stories of people queuing two hours plus and still not getting into that theatre. Ouch.
So the group of us watched the feed, which had small technical upsets randomly blue-screen-of-death'ing through no fault of our rooms techie. While a little frustrating, it never lasted longer then a few seconds before being fixed. A big downside of watching via a feed was sound. I'm not sure if they had a boomstick mic. or not but if they didn't, it might have helped as we couldn't hear much once the cosplayer moved to their 'X' mark on the floor. If they did have someone on boomstick... O.o;.
The major downsides of the competition really started outweighing the upsides as it continued on. The sheer number or entrants was astounding with very large groups and many skits appearing during the competition. By the time Pantsu finally showed her cosplay [entry 78?] the cosplay had run around an hour overtime and hadn't yet finished, so the group of us left our seats to stretch our legs and find food, foregoing the last entrants. The news I got back from Pantsu was that while the theatre the cosplay actually took place in had not even a seat spare when it started, by the time the last third of participants got a chance to show their costumes many people had already left. I would have been peeved to not have the same chance to show off my costume to a packed room as the first third of cosplayers had, but as an audience member... I wanted to get up and go much earlier then we did! If we hadn't been waiting to see Pantsu, we would have left a good half hour or more before. It just dragged on so! We didn't even bother attending it on Sunday.
I think this is a bit sad, and reading through the Manifest forums, there's been a lot of constructive critisicm in regards to the cosplay comp. Not only from audience members and entrants, but people from other areas that were affected by how long the cosplay ran overtime [on both days apparently] and the fair amount of rescheduling that had to occur, which ment people missed things that had been advertised differently.
As for myself, I think I'd prefer it if the skits were shown at a completely different time; seperate from the the cosplay comp. which would be nicer if it was treated more like a fashion show. Walk up, twirl, answer a question or two and get off. Yes, I did laugh at some of the skits and find them enjoyable when put together nicely, but some of them were just BAD and what I really wanted to see was the costumes, not people who forget their lines and act like fifth graders.
One idea I liked that I saw on the manifest forums was for a much stricter time limit imposed upon the skits with a good old gong to get them off so they don't drag on and on and on. If they can't be seperated out, then keeping them on track time-wise is all for the win. [I do realise that this might be daunting for some skit-ers with stage fright... but please remember the audience who have to sit through the mumbling, line forgetting and random chaos. ;_; ]
Pros: Gorgeous costumes everywhere.
Cons: Competition ran overtime badly, inconviniencing a lot of people and dragging on so that not even the most brilliant costume about to appear could have kept me in my seat any longer.
My 6 Cents Worth
I wish I'd managed to see more of this band that played at Manifest now. I only managed to catch them briefly on a walk by, but they looked like they were having fun belting out anime and j-rock tunes and the audience was enjoying it too. What little I heard from the singer didn't singe my eardrums and I was pleasantly surprised that they managed to pull it off decently without looking tacky as all hell as my original thought upon reading about them in the program had lead me to believe.
Honestly, I hadn't planned to see them at all, it was only after they'd finished that I thought more about it and started kicking myself. >_<;
I can't say much else, because I just didn't see/hear enough to comment more.
Pros: Live music!
Cons: I didn't see enough! Hope to see them next year/time.
AMVs
I only managed to catch bits and pieces of this as I disappeared for the fanfiction panel not long after it started and only stopped back in for an amv or two before heading out to the traders with both Resie and Keh for my guides. [as I am le stupid and couldn't find them.]
I didn't see any, bar one, that actually made me sit up and take notice and truthfully I think my appreciation of AMVs has dwindled. Unless I know the series or it makes me laugh then it bores me. I find this kind of sad. I need to get around to asking shihaf if there were any good ones. >_>;
The one that I saw [and I think I read later that it won something] that actually stuck in my head rather then dissappearing into the vapid swirls of my brain was an amv for an anime I didn't know. [Seemed like a fanboi show. Young girls in school doing not much.] It showed how to put together an amv with head bobbing, lip-synching, action etc. but done in a very humerous way with the comments/instructions innocently [or not] highlighting the giggle. I'm hoping to be able to find it so I can watch it again. >:D
Pros: Good visuals and sound. Large theatre for good attendence.
Cons: Bored. Theatre so big and dark that once friends are hidden in seats I can't find them again without being rude to a LOT of people.
TRADERS
Pro-Traders
Ahhh, my love. I spent far too much money here and there was a gorgeous plethora of merchandise to choose from and deplete my bank account.
My true love of buying/owning shitajiki bloomed and I came back with about fourteen of them. >_>! I will never regret it though, especially not the rare Escaflowne movie shitajiki or the Yamato Nadeshiko Shichihenge shitajiki. [Or the Akachan to Boku one, or the Please Save My Earth one, or the...]
Anyway, there was clothing, dvds, manga, shitajiki, models, artbooks, nick-nacks, games, plushies, wallscrolls etc etc. and all from a wide genre of anime/manga so all fanbois and fangirls had something to internally [or externally as some were] squee about.
The room/hall it took place it was always full whenever I dared defy my inner-scrooge, but didn't seem to be overcrowded to the point of not being able to breath or never being able to see what the traders where offering. [Although I'm sure the train of Resie, myself and Pantsu each holding onto each others bag straps was somewhat amusing to others.]
Pros: Merchandise for even the least anime loving people. Warm, spacious, airy hall in use.
Cons: Many stairs to navigate. Hoowee-proof in being found... possibly because I was running off of years old knowledge of it being in the main area rather then a completely different hall and didn't even try to check the map in the program. >_<;
Fan-Traders
I hadn't ever really paid any attention to fan-traders before, much preferring to go to where all the official stuff was for sale. This year however, the fan-traders were one of the first places that I stumbled onto
Pantsu and I stopped to get a quick portrait done manga style which was fun and while mine was being finished, Resie and Pantsu randomly disappeared and reappered with pretty baubles. One that caught my attention were some bookmarks that Resie got that had artwork on them that looked familiar to me. Pantsu pranced back with some fanmade pins and one of Goku from Saiyuki that she'd bought as a present for me. [Tis so cute. It gets a squee of love.]
Found a table that was selling the things they'd bought and finally remembered that the art is created by snowbunnyluv. Dai shoku! She's one of the few DevArt artists that I remember and check back on to see what she's doing. [Albiet in super lurker mode as I just feel stupid randomly popping up.] I'm assuming she was there somewhere, but I couldn't tell who and didn't want to annoy someone by asking. ^^;
I ended up buying her fanmade Ouran Calander for next year [ this shows one of the pages] and a couple of other odds and ends. I didn't buy much else, but I think I'm still a n00b when it comes to fan-trader art and didn't really know how or where to poke. Perhaps by next year I'll be better at it?
Pros: Pretty-ness for sale. Easy to find.
Cons: Not that interesting for me. I shall have to build up my knowledge more.
COMPETITION
Fanfiction
Well yes, I entered my Weiß fic into the Manifest competition interested to see how I went. I got the results back finally and I did well on most categories of judging, scoring 4 out of 5 until I hit a massive slump that really stopped any chance of me writing a winning fanfiction with a total of only 14 points out of a possible 20. My plot and originality was scored at 2/5. ;_ ;
I'm not saying that this is undeserved, because looking at the constructive critisism I recieved [which was lovely to have, I need to thank the person that gave it] the judge/s were absolutely right. Go me for picking the cliched plot to try and write. >_< I feel all sorts of stupid and bad for it. Still, maybe I can salvage it somehow. And if not, then I really have to put more thought into my next attempt. Perhaps next year I can enter something that will clear my name?
Pros: More fanfiction for the masses. Constructive Crit.
Cons: More bad fanfiction for the masses courtesy of me.
And that about finishes it. Other things occured in the week we were Melbourne other then Manifest, but I wanted to get this report done first before I rambled about them in posts that will look NOTHING like this one. One excessivly long report is enough thankyou.
Before I dive right into it, can I say that in the two years that I missed going to Manifest it has grown HUGE. There were so many people everywhere doing things, it was almost mind-boggling. The only thing I missed was that there didn't seem to be a large amount of panels that I wanted to see. [At the last AI-con, I think I was setting myself up to spend three hours straight in the panel room for different panels that followed on from one another.] But... but... HUGE! I really hadn't expected it to have grown so large. @_@
On the whole, I enjoyed it greatly. I ran around fangirlishly, spent far too much money, cosplayed, attended panels/events and just generally had a wonderful time.
PANELS
Fanfiction
The one panel that caught my eye in the program and made me really want to attend. Unfortunately, no-one else wanted to see it with me which sort of bummed me out early on Saturday, but I can understand it. So I attended it by myself and re-affirmed that yes, the female population does tend to make up the majority of fanfic enthusiasts and writers as the entire room seemed to be of the feminine persuasion. [I don't deny there are guys who write it, just that they're rather rare.]
The panelist was great and had an obvious enthusiasm for the topic alongside a history with the topic giving her experience in what she was talking about, which lead to an enjoyable panel with some rather interesting insights from a different perspective.
The general terms and ratings were covered, which I somewhat expected, but what made me hold back a snortle of glee was the rating SFW and NSFW. Oh, I've seen the terms they stand for used on peoples live journals when they post fanfiction and art, but I hadn't seen it acronymed before... which I quite like in a 'that makes me smile evilly' way. Heh, I must be reading the wrong journals for the acronym not to be more familiar for me. For those of you like me who didn't get it until told, they stand for 'safe for work' and 'not safe for work'. >:D
Also covered were the different styles authors use to portray their ideas, why people want to write fanfiction and other oddbods. I particularly liked the 'why' of fanfiction that the panel covered. Is fanfiction a product of people that 'have nothing better to do' or is it more an 'artistic' endevour?
The panel finished up with a short game held amongst the attendees as we were split into small groups and asked to continue a sentence on a piece of paper. Our group of four was more like a group of two but we managed to write our part, which is kind've hard when you have no idea about the person you're trying to write with, whether you're talking too much about your own ideas and not enough about theirs, or if they want you to stop asking them questions and write something yourself. Anyway, the pieces of paper linked into what other groups had written and turned out to be a rather funny round-robin experience which made me laugh and leave the panel feeling good.
Pros: Fun. Good groundwork information. Different perspectives offered.
Cons: Fanfiction has no cons.
Living In Japan
Held Sunday afternoon, Resie and I caught the very end of this panel as we crept in to wait for the drama panel. [and spotted Cassu and Rowan for the first time since Friday.] Sitting through the last ten minutes or so of it, I'm dissappointed in myself for not going for all of it.
The two presenters were speaking from first-hand knowledge and were bringing up a lot of information that I would have liked to hear more about, such as were to find what, tips on how to get around and explanation of a few quirks. Damn me and not getting myself to good panels/events as they happen.
Non speaker wise, I love the Manifest panel room. It's small enough to be navigatable, yet not so large that giant empty spaces glare at you, not to mention that the atmosphere is warm and comfy. It's also a plus that the computer and lighting is all easily accessable to the panelists up the front. Yay!
Pros: Informative, first hand experience. Good visuals.
Cons: I didn't get to see it all! ;_ ;
Japanese Dorama
This was held at the very odd timeslot of 6pm on Sunday, directly opposing the closing ceremony, which ment a lot of waiting around in a very empty area while we waited for it to start. Still, it's something Resie in particular wanted to see and I confess to being interested myself due to some of the dramas that I've previously watched and as a comparison to the panel we held earlier this year at AI-con on pretty much the same topic. [Which may be why this part of the report is a little opinionated. >_<; ]
My one tiny gripe is the beginning of the panel started out with a lot of squee-ing that didn't really settle down until after the two presenters started their powerpoint production and showed off the drama's that had caused their addictions. I'm not sure what purpose they had for that other then to squee happily and showcase some of their old favourites. I know that sounds snarky and it's not ment to be. >_<. I liked seeing what they liked, but thought that for a panel, perhaps it could have been more informative to title them under "good shows we recomend you start your addiction with" without the virtual doubling up of powerpoint slides so that each presenter could show their first-time dramas and say 'I love these'.
The part of the panel that I adored was the 'how drama is playing a part in japan today' section. This I gluttoned onto and soaked up. >:D The cultural impact of differing dramas and how they're shaping views on other countries [eg. Korea] is really quite interesting. [We are shaped in some form or another by what we watch on tv, don't deny it.] Not to mention some of the history that popped up during the talk to try and understand the cultural psyche behind what's created.
In addition, I enjoyed seeing the comparisons between what happens in manga and anime also happening in drama, which looked much nicer then the comparison of differences Resie and I had for ours. I think ours were just as informative, but could have looked much better. [Me, embed a working video into powerpoint that won't stuff up on the day? Realise that no one will be able to see that manga page on the screen when in the panel room? Ha! I laugh at your jest good sir.]
Finally the panel finished with us all watching the first episode of a series called [from my memory of a goldfish] "Stand Up", which I didn't mind watching with the group, but if had been setting out to watch by myself would not have bothered with, despite all the pretty boys. The plot of the series isn't quite the sort that I like. Still, I did like the group feeling of watching it after the panel and hope that the toe-dipping experience starts more drama addicts out on their way. >:D
Pros: Fun, relaxed, informative and happy to see drama addicted people.
Cons: A little fan-ish at points, but only randomly after it started and it was fun sharing the squee. ^_^
EVENTS
Fruits Fashion
Manifest had a Fruits Fashion day as well, which I'd planned for by putting together all my skull styled/inspired clothing. But I, not paying any attention and having been indoctrinated AI-con style, had mine put together for the Sunday, rather then the Friday that Manifest held it on. Woops! This wasn't highly bad though as I hadn't actually entered the competition, so nothing was thrown out of whack and I still wore what I wanted, when I wanted.
After attending the actual competition as part of the audience in the comfy/spacious theatre room where people showed their 'Fruits' fashion sense... I have to say, and it seemed the general concensus of our group, that AI-con entrants do fruits fashion better. [Even with the lower attendence and smaller space.]
Manifest certainly had a larger attendance in both entrants and audience with decent technical support plus a comfy, large theatre... and I couldn't say that any of the entrants were terrible, but it just seemed to be, and please excuse the term, a lolita-fest.
I like lolita. I want to wear lolita one day [that hopefully doesn't make other lolita's eyes bleed] ... but there were just so MANY of them. It was almost as if the other styles for fruits were engulfed by a wave of lolita. All of the lolitas have actually merged in my head with only one or two stand outs. [Cassu, the steam-punk lolita and the girl who had sewn wings to her back to give herself courage.] Of the others, I just couldn't tell you any who's, what's or wherefore's. It's just a blur of floofy skirts and lace. @_@
While I don't want the lolitas to stop being lolitas, I hope very much that next time there's a larger amount of entrants showcasing other styles as well.
Pros: Good entry and audience levels.
Cons: Lolita-wave
Cosplay
Cosplay is great fun and I not only cosplayed [see this post for pictures] but stalked other cosplayers for photos to my hearts content.
I will admit to being grouchy for the first half of the day on saturday and not taking too many photos, but after watching the actual cosplay competition I perked up and started stalking in earnest. I was grabbing people in the traders hall, the fantraders hall, the courtyard, posing in the gardens and en route between any of these places... nowhere was sacred! Muwahaha. I have so much fun stalking cosplayers and not one of them was a cosplay-snob which I had the displeasure of encountering way back in 2004.
Around about midday Shihaf, Keh, Resie and I had started to wander towards the theatre where the cosplay competition was going to be held on Saturday, only to be stopped by a helpful volunteer who pointed us in the direction of the line. We looked at the line [which was absolutely enormous] and decided to go to a different theatre that would be screening a live feed. I would have loved to have seen it in the first theatre rather then via a feed in the second, but with the line as it was, it just wasn't possilbe. I've heard stories of people queuing two hours plus and still not getting into that theatre. Ouch.
So the group of us watched the feed, which had small technical upsets randomly blue-screen-of-death'ing through no fault of our rooms techie. While a little frustrating, it never lasted longer then a few seconds before being fixed. A big downside of watching via a feed was sound. I'm not sure if they had a boomstick mic. or not but if they didn't, it might have helped as we couldn't hear much once the cosplayer moved to their 'X' mark on the floor. If they did have someone on boomstick... O.o;.
The major downsides of the competition really started outweighing the upsides as it continued on. The sheer number or entrants was astounding with very large groups and many skits appearing during the competition. By the time Pantsu finally showed her cosplay [entry 78?] the cosplay had run around an hour overtime and hadn't yet finished, so the group of us left our seats to stretch our legs and find food, foregoing the last entrants. The news I got back from Pantsu was that while the theatre the cosplay actually took place in had not even a seat spare when it started, by the time the last third of participants got a chance to show their costumes many people had already left. I would have been peeved to not have the same chance to show off my costume to a packed room as the first third of cosplayers had, but as an audience member... I wanted to get up and go much earlier then we did! If we hadn't been waiting to see Pantsu, we would have left a good half hour or more before. It just dragged on so! We didn't even bother attending it on Sunday.
I think this is a bit sad, and reading through the Manifest forums, there's been a lot of constructive critisicm in regards to the cosplay comp. Not only from audience members and entrants, but people from other areas that were affected by how long the cosplay ran overtime [on both days apparently] and the fair amount of rescheduling that had to occur, which ment people missed things that had been advertised differently.
As for myself, I think I'd prefer it if the skits were shown at a completely different time; seperate from the the cosplay comp. which would be nicer if it was treated more like a fashion show. Walk up, twirl, answer a question or two and get off. Yes, I did laugh at some of the skits and find them enjoyable when put together nicely, but some of them were just BAD and what I really wanted to see was the costumes, not people who forget their lines and act like fifth graders.
One idea I liked that I saw on the manifest forums was for a much stricter time limit imposed upon the skits with a good old gong to get them off so they don't drag on and on and on. If they can't be seperated out, then keeping them on track time-wise is all for the win. [I do realise that this might be daunting for some skit-ers with stage fright... but please remember the audience who have to sit through the mumbling, line forgetting and random chaos. ;_; ]
Pros: Gorgeous costumes everywhere.
Cons: Competition ran overtime badly, inconviniencing a lot of people and dragging on so that not even the most brilliant costume about to appear could have kept me in my seat any longer.
My 6 Cents Worth
I wish I'd managed to see more of this band that played at Manifest now. I only managed to catch them briefly on a walk by, but they looked like they were having fun belting out anime and j-rock tunes and the audience was enjoying it too. What little I heard from the singer didn't singe my eardrums and I was pleasantly surprised that they managed to pull it off decently without looking tacky as all hell as my original thought upon reading about them in the program had lead me to believe.
Honestly, I hadn't planned to see them at all, it was only after they'd finished that I thought more about it and started kicking myself. >_<;
I can't say much else, because I just didn't see/hear enough to comment more.
Pros: Live music!
Cons: I didn't see enough! Hope to see them next year/time.
AMVs
I only managed to catch bits and pieces of this as I disappeared for the fanfiction panel not long after it started and only stopped back in for an amv or two before heading out to the traders with both Resie and Keh for my guides. [as I am le stupid and couldn't find them.]
I didn't see any, bar one, that actually made me sit up and take notice and truthfully I think my appreciation of AMVs has dwindled. Unless I know the series or it makes me laugh then it bores me. I find this kind of sad. I need to get around to asking shihaf if there were any good ones. >_>;
The one that I saw [and I think I read later that it won something] that actually stuck in my head rather then dissappearing into the vapid swirls of my brain was an amv for an anime I didn't know. [Seemed like a fanboi show. Young girls in school doing not much.] It showed how to put together an amv with head bobbing, lip-synching, action etc. but done in a very humerous way with the comments/instructions innocently [or not] highlighting the giggle. I'm hoping to be able to find it so I can watch it again. >:D
Pros: Good visuals and sound. Large theatre for good attendence.
Cons: Bored. Theatre so big and dark that once friends are hidden in seats I can't find them again without being rude to a LOT of people.
TRADERS
Pro-Traders
Ahhh, my love. I spent far too much money here and there was a gorgeous plethora of merchandise to choose from and deplete my bank account.
My true love of buying/owning shitajiki bloomed and I came back with about fourteen of them. >_>! I will never regret it though, especially not the rare Escaflowne movie shitajiki or the Yamato Nadeshiko Shichihenge shitajiki. [Or the Akachan to Boku one, or the Please Save My Earth one, or the...]
Anyway, there was clothing, dvds, manga, shitajiki, models, artbooks, nick-nacks, games, plushies, wallscrolls etc etc. and all from a wide genre of anime/manga so all fanbois and fangirls had something to internally [or externally as some were] squee about.
The room/hall it took place it was always full whenever I dared defy my inner-scrooge, but didn't seem to be overcrowded to the point of not being able to breath or never being able to see what the traders where offering. [Although I'm sure the train of Resie, myself and Pantsu each holding onto each others bag straps was somewhat amusing to others.]
Pros: Merchandise for even the least anime loving people. Warm, spacious, airy hall in use.
Cons: Many stairs to navigate. Hoowee-proof in being found... possibly because I was running off of years old knowledge of it being in the main area rather then a completely different hall and didn't even try to check the map in the program. >_<;
Fan-Traders
I hadn't ever really paid any attention to fan-traders before, much preferring to go to where all the official stuff was for sale. This year however, the fan-traders were one of the first places that I stumbled onto
Pantsu and I stopped to get a quick portrait done manga style which was fun and while mine was being finished, Resie and Pantsu randomly disappeared and reappered with pretty baubles. One that caught my attention were some bookmarks that Resie got that had artwork on them that looked familiar to me. Pantsu pranced back with some fanmade pins and one of Goku from Saiyuki that she'd bought as a present for me. [Tis so cute. It gets a squee of love.]
Found a table that was selling the things they'd bought and finally remembered that the art is created by snowbunnyluv. Dai shoku! She's one of the few DevArt artists that I remember and check back on to see what she's doing. [Albiet in super lurker mode as I just feel stupid randomly popping up.] I'm assuming she was there somewhere, but I couldn't tell who and didn't want to annoy someone by asking. ^^;
I ended up buying her fanmade Ouran Calander for next year [ this shows one of the pages] and a couple of other odds and ends. I didn't buy much else, but I think I'm still a n00b when it comes to fan-trader art and didn't really know how or where to poke. Perhaps by next year I'll be better at it?
Pros: Pretty-ness for sale. Easy to find.
Cons: Not that interesting for me. I shall have to build up my knowledge more.
COMPETITION
Fanfiction
Well yes, I entered my Weiß fic into the Manifest competition interested to see how I went. I got the results back finally and I did well on most categories of judging, scoring 4 out of 5 until I hit a massive slump that really stopped any chance of me writing a winning fanfiction with a total of only 14 points out of a possible 20. My plot and originality was scored at 2/5. ;_ ;
I'm not saying that this is undeserved, because looking at the constructive critisism I recieved [which was lovely to have, I need to thank the person that gave it] the judge/s were absolutely right. Go me for picking the cliched plot to try and write. >_< I feel all sorts of stupid and bad for it. Still, maybe I can salvage it somehow. And if not, then I really have to put more thought into my next attempt. Perhaps next year I can enter something that will clear my name?
Pros: More fanfiction for the masses. Constructive Crit.
Cons: More bad fanfiction for the masses courtesy of me.
And that about finishes it. Other things occured in the week we were Melbourne other then Manifest, but I wanted to get this report done first before I rambled about them in posts that will look NOTHING like this one. One excessivly long report is enough thankyou.