Convention Report: Again like last year, I thought about dressing up as a certain character, but ended up in usual fanboy attire... though slightly better dressed at times. Anyway, I had a good time at Animazement, though there were several dry spells. And even so I was placed next to the Judges during Cosplay (Thanks Beck) and hanged with my homeboys; I still think the Convention could have been better. And even though Animazement sort of started on Thursday, I left early Friday anyway because usually nothing exciting ever happens the day before. The Good: The convention was in a much nicer hotel than the one they were in for the first three years. The Dealer's room was much bigger, and I spent a good deal of money in there too. The Animazement Staff were super friendly and allowed me to do things and be at places where most people couldn't have (it's all in who you know). They continue to have Japanese Guest, unlike some other Anime Conventions. Dormitory Iron Chef! And of course, hanging with cute girls in skimpy outfits. ^_- The Bad: Not many events or panels at this year's convention. Some of the ones they did had also just sucked, like "Japan on 1000 Yen a Day" (That's about ten dollars, can you live where you are at just $10 a day?) and "Doing Business in Japan" (Should I learn Japanese first?). The Hotel's highly priced/limited selection buffet line (what a mistake). Too much damn Utena (wannabe lesbians)! And not able to haggle on prices in the Dealer's room; because most of them would just carry the stock they didn't sell to A-kon the following week (Damn!). The Ugly: Having to watch Yoai, which made me gouge my eyes out. Sheraton Security busting all the cool room parties. And there was little else to do, if you were not in the dealer's room, taking pictures/giving pictures, or volunteering (like some of my friends did)... then you got bored out of your freaking mind. Also during this con, I was able to get good sleep and did several things away from the con... something I shouldn't have done if the con was more exciting. And lastly having the local WB network running a short news report on the convention with a story about sex and violence in cartoons; it was no surprise they interviewed they skimpiest clothed people at the con. ^^; Now the most exciting/embarrassing moment for me was at the Cosplay itself. Because of my special plea with the staff, I was able to get a last minute addition for the Cosplay. The first ever Tenchi Award, presented by Washu.org. To win this special award, the cosplayer needed to be a Tenchi character (either Tenchi Muyo or Pretty Sammy). They amazingly agreed to this and so I was positioned right next to the judges up front (sat next to Tony Schnur... yea, whatever). With the best seat in the house, I had nooo problem watching the cosplay in action, even got tips from Kevin Lillard for better picture taking. The only think I wasn't thrilled about is since it was a last minute addition, I had to go up on stage and present the award myself... I hate bright light! So in the end, there was only one person at the cosplay who dressed in a Tenchi character... so she automatically one the award I had. My hope that I can continue this award on to next year, hopefully making it a permanent award to win; and the odds of winning depends solely on how many show at Cosplay dressed as a Tenchi character (bonus points on Washu). Other points of interest were the Music Videos, which as always were very well done. Major winners at the music video awards tended to be either Cowboy Bebop or FLCL. The Knights of the Wire, I think they stole the show for most fun. The Bomberman Tournament, which I kept killing myself over and over again. Giving out my silly Washu.org Business Card to people... what a way to advertise a website! And lastly, watching Clerks on the floor of the Con with 30 other people... it was a bonding moment!
And now are feature presentation, the pictures! With my trusty Minolta Freedom Zoom 90 (film, never digital), I took a total of 170 pictures at the convention. However, I couldn't put every picture on the site, so I narrowed them down to 101 pictures for your viewing pleasure. If you haven't already, go checkout the pictures:
Shoutouts! Next Convention will probably be Anime Weekend Atlanta 7 in Atlanta, Georgia. If you would like to email me, you can reach me at washu@yahoo.com, via ICQ #4284509, or AOL IM: "MarkClifton007." Thank you for checking out Little Washu's Cosplay Report on Animazement, I hope to do another again next year! Back to Cosplay Central |
