Anime Matsuri 2017
So what should have been a perfect weekend started off as a DISASTER. First of all it's April and there was a blizzard. The computers at customs were down so the airport lines for the US were crazy long.
It took an hour and a half just to get my boarding pass! And I actually cut past the line early because the airport worker let me.
So I missed the 8:30 am flight :(
And the next flight at 12 pm was full. I just sat at the airport drinking beer and being miserable.
I wasn't able to catch a flight to Houston until 4 pm. I arrived at the hotel at 8pm and was too tired to even do anything besides get my con badge and walk around a bit.
First impression was that there was a lot of Mexican fusion food. Had to try the Korean Mexican fusion bulgogi which was delicious!
On Saturday I was all hyped about meeting Megumi Han (as she was the main reason I even came to the con) when I arrived at the autograph tables and find out that SHE'S ALREADY LEFT!!! Anime Matsuri fucking changed their schedule every hour it was never clear what was going on. I thought she would do another autograph session on Saturday too.
I was so sad I left to go do sightseeing. Went to the Houston Museum of Science (the tour guide explaining the Egyptian facts was so interesting) and the Zoo. My Uber driver there used to live in Toronto and he still remembered all the subway stops. I should also mention that my Uber drivers around Houston were very nice and interesting. I had my first two female Uber drivers there too! Never had any female Uber drivers in Canada ever.
So afterwards I got back to my hotel room and changed into my Gon cosplay. I got asked for photos a lot which was nice. People were overall more forward? A bunch asked to do rock paper scissors with me and one guy said I was his dream come true lmao. A group of girls asked how much my whole costume cost and said I was rich. One girl asked about my boots, how I painted them and my whole outfit. Seeing 2 Gon sans was amazing and I got them both to carry me bridal style. I was carrying around Honey Butter chips hoping to get pics of Mystic Messenger cosplayers holding it. One girl even asked me where I got the chips I guess it's rare there? Unfortunately the Mystic Messenger panel was full so I couldn't get in.
I got pics with Misty, Aki and Joey and there were so friendly and cool. Misty even said he liked my cosplay and I told him I came from Toronto.
On Sunday the best part of the whole weekend was the Swallowtail butler cafe. Not because of the butlers but because of Kaname!
Highlights:
-KANAME WAS COSPLAYING LAVI
-SEEING LAVI IN PERSON WAS MAGICAL MY SOUL ASCENDED, MY SKIN CLEARED, MY CROPS GREW, ETC
-They picked out random tickets and whoever got chosen had to do rock paper scissors (Haha I was dressed up as GON) with Kaname and Reika
-The winners could get photos with them
-No I didn't win but a girl at my table did!
-Kaname and Reika answered questions and also asked questions to the audience
-They asked if anyone was out of state and I thought I was gonna be the furthest but no, there were people from Japan there!
-Reika called me Gon-chan and asked where in Canada I was from. When I said Toronto, Kaname said he lost his luggage in Toronto. I was like wow that's a nice memory from my city you should come back and I can give you nicer memories
-Kaname asked about fucking Trump and if it affected cosplay at all. They said no he hasn't been in office long enough.
-Kaname said he used to be a butler and if he does it again we don't have to be gentle with him. If the tea isn't hot enough we can just throw it on him
-Reika said she was surprised by all the men in the audience and that Kaname must be popular with men lol
-Reika and Kaname were the only good things, the butler cafe itself sucked. Our butler seemed nervous and spilled tea on me. They got the girl next to me the wrong tea. There was no Ciel Phantomhive experience here. Although one of the butlers afterwards said he liked my cosplay when they were greeting us goodbye.
After the butler cafe, they had the International cosplayers panel. It was interesting seeing the cosplayers from different countries. Kaname wasn't taking photos with people afterwards but I got a video of him talking to Stella Chuu. I showed him my Lavi keychain on my phone because I'm an awkward loser fan!
So overall, Anime Matsuri wasn't a total flop. I enjoyed myself and people liked my cosplay but if it wasn't for the flight delays it would have a been a perfect weekend.
Would I go again next year? Jesus himself could be a guest and I wouldn't set foot in that place. They have good guests and it's incredible they managed to get international ones but it's a pretty mediocre con. They don't even have rooms to show and watch anime in. So much extra empty space. And the dealer's room and artist alley was awful. I didn't want anything. But I have to admit that the anime cars were cool.
I was so tired by the end of it that I didn't even care to get Whataburger. Whataburger, whatever.
It took an hour and a half just to get my boarding pass! And I actually cut past the line early because the airport worker let me.
So I missed the 8:30 am flight :(
And the next flight at 12 pm was full. I just sat at the airport drinking beer and being miserable.
I wasn't able to catch a flight to Houston until 4 pm. I arrived at the hotel at 8pm and was too tired to even do anything besides get my con badge and walk around a bit.
First impression was that there was a lot of Mexican fusion food. Had to try the Korean Mexican fusion bulgogi which was delicious!
On Saturday I was all hyped about meeting Megumi Han (as she was the main reason I even came to the con) when I arrived at the autograph tables and find out that SHE'S ALREADY LEFT!!! Anime Matsuri fucking changed their schedule every hour it was never clear what was going on. I thought she would do another autograph session on Saturday too.
I was so sad I left to go do sightseeing. Went to the Houston Museum of Science (the tour guide explaining the Egyptian facts was so interesting) and the Zoo. My Uber driver there used to live in Toronto and he still remembered all the subway stops. I should also mention that my Uber drivers around Houston were very nice and interesting. I had my first two female Uber drivers there too! Never had any female Uber drivers in Canada ever.
So afterwards I got back to my hotel room and changed into my Gon cosplay. I got asked for photos a lot which was nice. People were overall more forward? A bunch asked to do rock paper scissors with me and one guy said I was his dream come true lmao. A group of girls asked how much my whole costume cost and said I was rich. One girl asked about my boots, how I painted them and my whole outfit. Seeing 2 Gon sans was amazing and I got them both to carry me bridal style. I was carrying around Honey Butter chips hoping to get pics of Mystic Messenger cosplayers holding it. One girl even asked me where I got the chips I guess it's rare there? Unfortunately the Mystic Messenger panel was full so I couldn't get in.
I got pics with Misty, Aki and Joey and there were so friendly and cool. Misty even said he liked my cosplay and I told him I came from Toronto.
On Sunday the best part of the whole weekend was the Swallowtail butler cafe. Not because of the butlers but because of Kaname!
Highlights:
-KANAME WAS COSPLAYING LAVI
-SEEING LAVI IN PERSON WAS MAGICAL MY SOUL ASCENDED, MY SKIN CLEARED, MY CROPS GREW, ETC
-They picked out random tickets and whoever got chosen had to do rock paper scissors (Haha I was dressed up as GON) with Kaname and Reika
-The winners could get photos with them
-No I didn't win but a girl at my table did!
-Kaname and Reika answered questions and also asked questions to the audience
-They asked if anyone was out of state and I thought I was gonna be the furthest but no, there were people from Japan there!
-Reika called me Gon-chan and asked where in Canada I was from. When I said Toronto, Kaname said he lost his luggage in Toronto. I was like wow that's a nice memory from my city you should come back and I can give you nicer memories
-Kaname asked about fucking Trump and if it affected cosplay at all. They said no he hasn't been in office long enough.
-Kaname said he used to be a butler and if he does it again we don't have to be gentle with him. If the tea isn't hot enough we can just throw it on him
-Reika said she was surprised by all the men in the audience and that Kaname must be popular with men lol
-Reika and Kaname were the only good things, the butler cafe itself sucked. Our butler seemed nervous and spilled tea on me. They got the girl next to me the wrong tea. There was no Ciel Phantomhive experience here. Although one of the butlers afterwards said he liked my cosplay when they were greeting us goodbye.
After the butler cafe, they had the International cosplayers panel. It was interesting seeing the cosplayers from different countries. Kaname wasn't taking photos with people afterwards but I got a video of him talking to Stella Chuu. I showed him my Lavi keychain on my phone because I'm an awkward loser fan!
So overall, Anime Matsuri wasn't a total flop. I enjoyed myself and people liked my cosplay but if it wasn't for the flight delays it would have a been a perfect weekend.
Would I go again next year? Jesus himself could be a guest and I wouldn't set foot in that place. They have good guests and it's incredible they managed to get international ones but it's a pretty mediocre con. They don't even have rooms to show and watch anime in. So much extra empty space. And the dealer's room and artist alley was awful. I didn't want anything. But I have to admit that the anime cars were cool.
I was so tired by the end of it that I didn't even care to get Whataburger. Whataburger, whatever.