Animazement

[rhaevyn_cw]

Oy, I'm tired! But I want to post up something about Animazement while it's still fresh in my mind. Remember, this is my first con ever, and it's obviously quite different from the Ren Faire scene. But I had a good time.

Friday:

• Parking. For many reasons, it's great to be local, but finding parking sucks.
• So many people in costume during the day. I didn't expect that. I don't know why, but I didn't.
• A headband does NOT make you a ninja!
• Great thunderstorm.
• They need a wider variety of stuff in the dealer room, but that's just my opinion.
• Great panels. Wish I had had time to sit in on more of them. I missed several that I wanted to see.
• AMV contest was awesome. But WAY too many used Final Fantasy: Advent Children.
• See Above: This was also the year for System of a Down.
• See Above: Totoro...Shaft...Totoro...Shaft.... It was BEAUTIFUL!
• I had seen Evangelion Re: Death at kalachandra's before, but it was even better on a bigger screen and in a crowd. "It's Gendo! Ohhh, baby!"
• Anime Hell really WAS. Especially the North Korean propaganda cartoons. What was up with the duck?
• The American propaganda was just as bad. ("Super President"...I shit you not.)
• The Canadian "Conception and Contraception" was even worse.
• Sleep is good.

Saturday:

• Sleep is VERY good. Too bad I didn't get enough of it.
• We got Group #2 stickers for the line up for the Cosplay contest. kalachandra and her husband got #3. So to sit together, we ALL were #3's. *pokes mercilessly at them* Ah well...better than no number at all!
• Craftsmanship Contest: I want to enter this in the future. Just need to figure out the best way to construct the costume idea I have in my head. (Huzzah for "Novice" categories!)
• Child Link was too damn cute. He managed to get his own cult following throughout the con.
• I hope in the future I have a little boy and a little girl. When they're about 9-ish, I will SO totally dress them up as Radical Edward and Little Slugger and let them cause havoc (okay, within reason...a controlled chaos) at the con.
• .hack//Roots -- Holy crap, I can't wait until more of this is out. It's going back to the style of .hack//Sign which we credit for getting us to play EQ ("again," in Ktok's case) a few years ago. (We just couldn't get into Legends of the Twilight. Couldn't stand the characters.)
• Momo sat between my boobs for most of the day.
• Fanboy Bebop for teh WIN!
• Finally got a Trigun soundtrack, and I just had to have a Kurineko-Sama (Lord Black Cat) hat. But unlike all the other con attendees, I didn't wear mine around all day. It was too hot for that, plus I think it's rude to people sitting behind you when you wear a hat that might block their view.
• Speaking of situational awareness, one thing I've noticed that the con lacked was that participants in costume with weapons or other large props who knew how to wear/carry/wield them in such a way that they didn't bump/block/poke/bludgeon other attendees who were trying to walk around them. At least at Faire, people are usually more aware of where their rapiers or claymores were sticking (ie, not into other people). Ah well, can't win 'em all, and being inside a hotel does have its disadvantages in that respect. But again, just a little more awareness where they were sticking those things would have gone a LONG way. And saying "Excuse me" or "I'm sorry" would have been great too. /Rant mode off
• I shouldn't be all too surprised that the Sailor Moon/Sailor Mars bondage artwork got over 5 bids and is going to be auctioned tomorrow. It's well done, but I just can't imagine getting it framed, hanging it on my wall, and then having family come visit. But again, I'm not at all surprised.
• How do they lose chairs from the ballroom?
• It was comfortable outside as we waited for them to find the chairs. We had water and snacks. I don't know what that woman was harping on about going back inside and into the crowds to wait there.
• I don't quite understand what a Trekkie in an original cast officer uniform was doing there...nor do I understand the few Harry Potter characters, the Captain Jack Sparrow, the Rennie wench, or the people dressed up as their World of Warcraft characters. Then again, I HAVE seen Xena rip-offs as well as more Victorian and Modern Goths than I can count at Ren Faire. Takes all kinds, I guess, and I figure it's just another venue where people get to fly their freak flags proudly without others asking why they're dressed up for Halloween too early. Hey, I felt kinda out of place in jeans, sneakers, and my Pucci-print shirt Friday, and a plain black shirt today. I'll probably be in SOME kind of costume next year, though.
• AT ONE POINT, THE BOOTH RAN OUT OF POCKY!!! We should have gotten some from World Market or one of the local Asian stores and sold it in the parking lot like crack dealers. We'd be rich by now.
• Cosplay contest was pretty neat. Although some of the skits looked like the people stumbled into each other in the halls last night while they were drunk out of their minds and said, "Hey...you have a costume? Wanna do a skit together? By the way, what's your name?"
• I snarked a lot. And often about the perky emcee who really had no stage presence. There was a TON of dead time while we waited for her to bounce on and off stage between the entries. And God, I wanted to tell her to shut up with the "Thank you SOOO MUCH!" when announcing awards. ME-YOW! (Yes, I'm bitchier than normal. I'm also on the rag. Deal with that TMI moment.)
• BUT, I was totally impressed by some of the other presentations. I'm SO glad that Wolfwood won the Novice category. And the winners who took home both the Best Advanced Category and Best Overall deserved it.
• AMV winners...I would have chosen them in reverse order. Major Tom was very well done and technically pleasing, and I would keep "Asuka is Teh SUCK" as Second Place, but I wanted the Totoro/Shaft one to be first. It was just hilarious and WRONG in that right way. I'm also glad the Naruto/Save the Rainforests PSA got an honorary award.
• Ah, the lingering smell of clove cigarettes outside.... I DO wish, however, people would have been more considerate about disposing of the butts in proper places. Other trash too. I can't imagine Ramune bottles are a good thing to run over with your car. But I admit to being anal about littering like that. It annoys the piss outta me.
• My butt hurts from those chairs we sat in all the time. They are NOT made for sitting in for hours on end.
  

All in all, a great weekend. We want to go tomorrow to catch the Lone Wolf and Cub showing, but really are in no big rush to catch anything else. I saved money getting the 3-day passes anyway, so tomorrow is like getting a free day. Might as well use it. I can't think of anything else we want to get, and we will still be asleep when they have the Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Panel. I'm just glad we get to sleep in our own beds.

Which is where I'm headed now.