ToraCon!
This past Saturday was ToraCon. A convention run at RIT by the RIT Anime Club every year in the spring. This year was my first year at RIT, and thus, my first time at ToraCon. However... It was fucking amazing. I was a go-fer, as the t-shirt read, for the RIT anime club, and as such, I helped by running some of the showings and helping out when needed at a couple panels. Most of my showings were fairly empty, starting with Sailor Moon at 8:00 AM, which was pretty slow, because overall, I think a total of 6 different people showed up at various points throughout the 4 episode long showing. Most of the time however, I was the only person there. Still, it was the original uncut Sailor Moon, so I enjoyed myself none the less. I ended up making fun of Usagi most of the time that nobody was around, especially during the fourth episode where she decides to go on a diet.
After that, I had to run over to building 8 to show Escaflowne, where a total of 6 people showed up as the showing went on. Now, I'm not a huge Escaflowne fan, but I do enjoy the movie, although the ending is... Well, watch it and you'll probably figure out what I'm talking about. I was hoping it would be the first four episodes of the TV anime so I could remember why I despise it so much. After that, I was supposed to help out at the Voice Acting panel, but when I got there, it was already over and Sonny Strait was signing things, so in the end, my assistance wasn't needed, so I ended up looking around the con, and ran into a Yuko (xxxHolic) cosplayer, who, immediately after finding out I was cosplaying Kimihiro Watanuki (again, xxxHolic), glomped me and then followed me around as I bought some cool stuff, and then ran off to run the Pet Shop of Horrors showing, where a few people showed up, but still not a whole lot.
After getting a replacement (Thank you very much for that, Dan), I was able to take a break for around an hour and (sort of) get food, mainly Pocky, and I ended up buying more stuff, including a very cool sign shaped like a speech bubble that works as a dry erase board. With that sign in hand (and a blue dry erase marker), I was able to let people know that I was actually in cosplay and didn't just have weird hair, and because of that, many people took pictures, and a few people glomped me. I also bought a very, very nice wallet for pretty cheap, the tie from Ouran Koukou Host Club, all 7 volumes of Pita Ten (at a very good price), the first Prince of Tennis box set, a Pokemon plushie (of Gregguru, otherwise known as Croagunk), and some really good japanese cookie things. After that I was supposed to help out at the Crack Cosplay panel, but that seemed to be under control. I did hang around for most of it anyways because it happened to have been what I wanted to do at the time. After that, I was done working for the day and went on to look for interesting things to do, first of which being the Cosplay Contest, which, while I was allowed to enter, I couldn't win. I wouldn't have won anyways, but it was still fun.
After everyone did their walk on/ skit, the judges needed some time to decide, and various people took over the stage to sing. Looking back now, I should have gone up and sung something, but I couldn't think of anything at the time. After the cosplay contest, I wandered around for a little while, bought a few more things, including Strawberry Marshmallow Gashpon, which is totally awesome, and then I ended up getting more money and some free cupcakes. After getting the money and cupcakes, I proceeded to look for something interesting to do, and then I realized what time it was, and headed over to WEBB to see the Geek Comedy Tour 3000, which was amazing. After this, we were kicked out of WEBB for about 10 to 15 minutes, and I talked to some people, and then we went back in to sit and wait for the Stephanie Yanez concert to start, which was SOOOO AWESOME. The entire time I decided to freestyle Para Para to her music, which is a lot harder than it sounds because it uses a lot of energy, and even I needed a drink after three consecutive songs. After getting something to drink, I continued my para para until the end of the concert.
After the concert, I found a place to leave my stuff for a few minutes, and I went down to the stage, where Yanez-san was signing autographs and selling CDs, so I bought a CD, got it signed, and got a signed picture. She is a very, very cool person, and is very down to earth, even complimenting my (somewhat limited) knowledge of the Japanese Language and my freestyle Para Para-ing. It was awesome. After waiting for Steve, I headed back to Clubspace to "clock out" so to speak, and got my refund for the pre-reg fee. Shortly after leaving Clubspace, me and Steve headed to the dorms, stopping at his dorm to drop stuff and then running to the Co Ho for food, and ended up hanging out with John and Oliver in Gracies Lounge for another hour or so. Shortly after leaving the lounge I just crashed. It was some of the best sleep I have had in months, probably because I was about 300% more active at Toracon than I usually am. Also, for some reason I now have a nice pair of black cat ears, which match my black hair. :D
Anyways, all in all, ToraCon was an amazing event, with a MASSIVE amount of people who showed up, and in the end, was an enormous success. It was by far the most fun I've had since the Music Night near the end of Fall Quarter, and that's saying something, considering how awesome the Death Note Dance Off was. ^_^
After that, I had to run over to building 8 to show Escaflowne, where a total of 6 people showed up as the showing went on. Now, I'm not a huge Escaflowne fan, but I do enjoy the movie, although the ending is... Well, watch it and you'll probably figure out what I'm talking about. I was hoping it would be the first four episodes of the TV anime so I could remember why I despise it so much. After that, I was supposed to help out at the Voice Acting panel, but when I got there, it was already over and Sonny Strait was signing things, so in the end, my assistance wasn't needed, so I ended up looking around the con, and ran into a Yuko (xxxHolic) cosplayer, who, immediately after finding out I was cosplaying Kimihiro Watanuki (again, xxxHolic), glomped me and then followed me around as I bought some cool stuff, and then ran off to run the Pet Shop of Horrors showing, where a few people showed up, but still not a whole lot.
After getting a replacement (Thank you very much for that, Dan), I was able to take a break for around an hour and (sort of) get food, mainly Pocky, and I ended up buying more stuff, including a very cool sign shaped like a speech bubble that works as a dry erase board. With that sign in hand (and a blue dry erase marker), I was able to let people know that I was actually in cosplay and didn't just have weird hair, and because of that, many people took pictures, and a few people glomped me. I also bought a very, very nice wallet for pretty cheap, the tie from Ouran Koukou Host Club, all 7 volumes of Pita Ten (at a very good price), the first Prince of Tennis box set, a Pokemon plushie (of Gregguru, otherwise known as Croagunk), and some really good japanese cookie things. After that I was supposed to help out at the Crack Cosplay panel, but that seemed to be under control. I did hang around for most of it anyways because it happened to have been what I wanted to do at the time. After that, I was done working for the day and went on to look for interesting things to do, first of which being the Cosplay Contest, which, while I was allowed to enter, I couldn't win. I wouldn't have won anyways, but it was still fun.
After everyone did their walk on/ skit, the judges needed some time to decide, and various people took over the stage to sing. Looking back now, I should have gone up and sung something, but I couldn't think of anything at the time. After the cosplay contest, I wandered around for a little while, bought a few more things, including Strawberry Marshmallow Gashpon, which is totally awesome, and then I ended up getting more money and some free cupcakes. After getting the money and cupcakes, I proceeded to look for something interesting to do, and then I realized what time it was, and headed over to WEBB to see the Geek Comedy Tour 3000, which was amazing. After this, we were kicked out of WEBB for about 10 to 15 minutes, and I talked to some people, and then we went back in to sit and wait for the Stephanie Yanez concert to start, which was SOOOO AWESOME. The entire time I decided to freestyle Para Para to her music, which is a lot harder than it sounds because it uses a lot of energy, and even I needed a drink after three consecutive songs. After getting something to drink, I continued my para para until the end of the concert.
After the concert, I found a place to leave my stuff for a few minutes, and I went down to the stage, where Yanez-san was signing autographs and selling CDs, so I bought a CD, got it signed, and got a signed picture. She is a very, very cool person, and is very down to earth, even complimenting my (somewhat limited) knowledge of the Japanese Language and my freestyle Para Para-ing. It was awesome. After waiting for Steve, I headed back to Clubspace to "clock out" so to speak, and got my refund for the pre-reg fee. Shortly after leaving Clubspace, me and Steve headed to the dorms, stopping at his dorm to drop stuff and then running to the Co Ho for food, and ended up hanging out with John and Oliver in Gracies Lounge for another hour or so. Shortly after leaving the lounge I just crashed. It was some of the best sleep I have had in months, probably because I was about 300% more active at Toracon than I usually am. Also, for some reason I now have a nice pair of black cat ears, which match my black hair. :D
Anyways, all in all, ToraCon was an amazing event, with a MASSIVE amount of people who showed up, and in the end, was an enormous success. It was by far the most fun I've had since the Music Night near the end of Fall Quarter, and that's saying something, considering how awesome the Death Note Dance Off was. ^_^