Since I had gotten into anime it was always a dream of mine to go to an anime con and for awhile it was always talked about between me and my best friend, sadly though the friendship fell through and we were unable to achieve that goal. My first con I ever went to was with my boyfriend and was fairly local (only an hr or so away) called Kamecon. Kamecon was a one day only convention that was held at a high school; I honestly didn't know what to expect really when I had gone. I knew about cosplay and that they would have merchandise, but that would be the extent of my knowledge of it. This convention was rather entertaining, if only because of the people I had gone with. My boyfriend, myself and a few others went as volunteers for another friend who was running a business table, so we got into the con for free. When I first set out to go, like I do with every con now, I tend to think of what I want to look for and at this convention it was volume 4 of Card Captor Sakura: Masters of the Clow, since my boyfriend bought me all the volumes except for that one (because they were sold out). After setting up the table I went into the Dealer's Room and I was so excited; I found the book rather quickly. After that my BF and a friend went to the gaming area. I watched them play Marvel vs Capcom 2 for a bit then wondered back into the Dealer's Room. Apparently when I had done that my BF had asked our friend where I had gone to and I had come back with something else in my hand that I had bought. I did that about 3 or 4 times through out the day lol. It may have been small, but it was still fun.
The 2nd con I had ever gone to was Bakuretsu Con in Vermont with my friend Patrick. We had only gone for one day (it was a weekend con). We saw some anime DVDs and browsed the Dealer's Room of course. This time around my goal was to find a figure of Riku from Kingdom Hearts; sadly though I didn't find one. They had the KH figures, but not Riku's. That con was okay, but nothing really stood out for me; probably because I didn't sleep at all before I had gone to it.
At this point the person who was my best friend and I had started talking again and we actually were able to go to a con together; Anime Boston 2008 aka LineCon. Why LineCon? Because something went screwy and the line for pre-reg was ridiculous. And for being my first big convention it wasn't the best of memories. So to get this out of the way, here's the bad for me from that year; I didn't get my badge till 10pm the first night of the convention, I had a nasty fall on the sidewalk due to tripping over an uplifted brick and banged myself up pretty good and then 2 of the friends I had gone with snapped at me pretty much back to back. But the line thing aside, the con itself was fun. For me that year, I was looking for something from Disgaea. I didn't care what, I just wanted something from it since at the time it was my obsession. I lucked out and found two pictures in Artist Alley as well as 2 sealed figurines and one of them turned out to be my favorite character, Flonne. It was that con that made me understand why people paid for fan art and I am grateful for that.
I wouldn't go to another Anime Boston until 2010. This time around it was just me and one friend going, but we had an entertaining time. That year was a fantastic year for guests as the legendary Nobuo Uematsu was there and we got to see him jam with VGO (Video Game Orchestra). The Dealer's Room didn't fail me either as my goal was the DVD set for Slayers Revolution, but I got quite a nice surprise as I found a few things of Sailor Moon as well. The reason that's surprising is because most things Sailor Moon are very rare now due to it being an old series, even with the world revival. It was also the year that I discovered how entertaining cosplay chess was as my friend and I stumbled upon it while wondering the convention hall.
And then this year the same friend and I went along with another friend of ours; which was entertaining to watch cause it was his first con. The Dealer's Room once again made me grin from ear to ear as I wanted something of Kamen Rider and I found a model kit for Kamen Rider W, Fang Joker form. We hit the AMV contest, the Masquerade, and the cosplay chess as normal, but this year I actually made it to a panel. I had actually never gone to a full one before and I have to say, the one we went to was kind of a let down. It was a Final Fantasy panel, basically talking about the history of the series; but it really fell flat as it seemed like the guy didn't do any research until 2hrs before the panel. (that's how it felt, don't know if it's true or not) The panel was only an hour long, but I felt it could have been so much more. We also saw the end of the STEREOPONY concert, that was a lot of fun.
I know it doesn't sound like much, but that's just a quick overview. If you look at the con schedule (I am mainly referring to Anime Boston) you'll notice most of it consists of panels. And yes, that is mostly what the convention is; a place where the otaku can gather together and talk about a number of subjects. Think of it like lectures. And where as I do enjoy discussing my opinions on series or topics pertaining to it (this blog is case in point lol), the panels really aren't my thing. There was one panel this year called "Chu-Chu Died for Our Sins" which was to discuss the themes in all of the Xeno games, but I was unable to go since it started during the seating for the Masquerade. It's the scheduling conflicts that make me not want to hit panels as I would feel really lost going in part way through (whether I knew the series/topic or not). So for me conventions are a big shopping trip lol. I love the Dealer's Room and Artist Alley, but that's not to say I don't love the event as a whole either.
When I was around 16 or 17 my best friend and I started watching AMVs (Anime Music Videos) and we absolutely loved them. I even got to the point of wanting to make some myself, which I did. So going to AB the first year and participating in the contest (the voting) was a real treat. But seeing these videos really makes me want to get better at making the videos so I can hopefully one day maybe compete and possibly win. Here are two of the videos from this year's contest;
Best Romance:
Best in Show:
I didn't have this feeling the first year going to AB, but the end of last year's convention I really wanted to cosplay. So when my friend said he was going to AB this year, I put the idea and everything in motion to try and make a cosplay costume of Sailor Venus from Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (the live action series) and with it I was going to have a closet cosplay of her civilian form, Minako. I was really fired up to learn how to sew to make these costumes, but unfortunately it wasn't in my favor this time around as many things came up and none of it got finished. But that didn't mean I wasn't gonna attempt to get into the spirit of things and cosplay somewhat; even if no one knew I was lol. I have cosplayed in the past, but never at a convention. One day I will have a costume to show off and have people stopping me in the halls to take my picture lol.
As I mentioned before; it was my first year at Anime Boston that made me appreciate and understand why people would pay for fan art. There really are only some things only a fan can do. The original artwork can only go so far, but a fan can take it to beyond it's limits. A lot of official artwork is just the run of the mill bust shot or standard pose for the most part; especially for video games. But with fan art anything is possible and because of this realization I had commissioned a few artists on Deviantart to create some images for me, using my FFXI character and her Adventuring Fellow. Without fan art, I would not be able to look at these images and say; "These are my characters" Where as before it would be "oh it's that hume model and elvaan model." And to make something special even more special, I had the first commission I have had done made into a wall scroll.
Watching the Masquerades and cosplay chess matches makes me want to participate in them one day. I don't think I ever will, but it's fun to imagine. I'm sure my friends and I could make an entertaining/epic skit to do, even though it would most likely be a cross-over disaster lol. But, some cross-over skits can be lol-epic-win. This is a skit from AB 2010 entitled; Don't Get Mad, Get Glad-os.
As for the cosplay chess it would be fun I think, but I really don't remember how to play chess and even if it is just me following the directions of "move so many spaces to the right or left" chances are I will move the wrong way as I have no sense of direction lol.
Other than these things that I realized within my years of attending anime conventions, the thing that really amazed me were the people. I never expected people to be so nice, ever. For some reason the great gathering of otaku makes us less bitchy (somewhat) and we all get along rather well. Save for one nitpicker that yelled at a friend of mine cause his costume wasn't 100% accurate, but I don't fault my friend for not wearing his sandals that day as it was raining.
Overall I love anime conventions and I hope I continue to get to go to more of them, even if it is only Anime Boston once a year. And with that I leave you with this; Ode to Final Fantasy from Anime Boston 2010.
See you all next time. ^^/
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