This weekend was FanExpo 2008, a subdivision of which is CNAnime, an anime con which for reasons apparent in the picture above, has a notorious reputation as “The Sitting Con”. Unlike Anime North, this was my first time attending this con, and it was a rather interesting experience. With a larger attendance than Anime North (due largely to its gaming, sci fi, horror and comic subsections) and a dealers room nearly three times as large, FanExpo felt a tad grander than Anime North, which I suppose comes along with being an industry run convention, rather than fan run. But when it all boils down to it, FanExpo is just another congregation of likeminded and largely socially inept nerds, fun times.

Friday

After a morning of preparation, we departed and were on the 12:15 p.m. train downtown, on which we realized we forgot to print out the coupons which would have given us a glorious $4 off each entry pass. But oh well, such is the cruelty of life. We arrived to the con around an hour later and began the surprisingly short quest to get admission, about fifteen minutes later, approximately 1:30 p.m. we were sitting with our badges waiting for the con to start, which wasn’t for another two and a half hours.

At 3:00 p.m. we were moved from our sitting corner to sit in the line awaiting entrance to the dealer’s room, an hour later we stood up, made a quick check to see if our legs and asses were still attached to our bodies, and were herded inside. A copy of the critically acclaimed Watchmen was my only purchase on the Friday. Afterward, we headed out into the main hall to sit some more, and ended up taking an hour long nap on the floor. With the night coming to a close, we headed out to a nearby Korean BBQ place, ate dinner and then headed home.

Aside

Before I go any further, let me first take the time to bring to light a certain obsession I have…

Kyonko.

While I have a general apathy towards SHnY and the largely bandwagon fanbase, I love Kyonko for her awesome character design (DFC + ponytail) and the dry sarcasm she’s portrayed with in most pictures, doujins and fan comics.

Now that we’ve established that…

Saturday

FUCK YEAH KYONKO!

Upon my request, my waifu made a Kyonko cosplay and wore it on Saturday to the sounds of my giddish cries of joy.

This cosplay came as a complete surprise, as it was originally planned for Anime North 2009. However, in fear of the second season of Haruhi showing between now and then, and the accompanying fan backlash no doubt destroying what little enjoyment I have left in the franchise, it was bumped up to this year’s CNAnime. There are no words to describe how shocked I was when I found out about it, my jaw agape in awe as I stared at the North High uniform coming together before my eyes. Perhaps a picture of my dumbfounded expression would suffice, but I prefer to cower behind the anonymity of the internets, leaving my appearance up to the imagination of the masses instead.

We arrived at the con around 10:30 when I made a horrifying discovery, I had lost my con badge. Fuck.

Not about to shell out another $50 for a replacement (under no circumstances were replacement badges given, even with proof of purchase), an epic journey of counterfeit began. Beginning with a quick call from the waifu to her friend about a plan to make fake passes, a short while later I was in a Staples with a guy who I had just met, photocopying an original of the entrance badge. Two hours, multiple attempts, several roadblocks, an assload of cutting and a few instances of getting lost, we were on our way back to the con with numerous fake passes, which lacked a few key features when compared to the real thing, and a slightly increased heart rate. Thankfully, the people responsible for checking and stamping the badges weren’t paying much attention and gave no more than a passing look at the badge, we were in! Many thanks to mai waifu for once again saving me from an unnecessary financial hit, my passageway into Anime North having been free thanks to similar circumstances <3

Saturday’s trip to the dealer’s room was marked with a single volume of manga, Tokyopop’s ARIA vol. 1, the volume of ARIA I accidentally bought from ADV last time.

Suddenly. Zellers!

A random note, there was a Zellers inside the dealer’s room. An honest to god full sized, walled off Zellers, selling clothes, hygiene products and video games, among other things. I shit you not.

Anyway, I digress. The day continued with more walking, sitting, the occasional stop for photos, and a Kyonko photo shoot, until about 6:30 when we hunkered down in the line for the Masquerade. The Masquerade itself was pretty much what I expected given my experience with it at Anime North. Some win cosplays, some fail cosplays, some win skits, many more fail skits, and A LOT of newfaggotry.

Let me take this opportunity for a quick aside. Memefaggotry in real life is not funny. I don’t know where these kids get the impression that running into a crowd screaming “YOU JUST LOST THE GAME” is the slightest bit original and humorous, but it’s not. Acting like an Anonymous in real life just does not work, the time for trying to adapt memes into real life situations has long since come and gone, it fails, cut that shit out and lurk moar.

After the masquerade, we quickly dismissed the idea of going to the j-pop dance and headed home for some much needed rest instead.

Sunday

Suddenly my bias towards Ranka is making a whole lot more sense, isn’t it?

A small note on this cosplay, for those who are more critical, the wig looks kinda blue in pictures, but is much greener and truer to Ranka’s actual hair color when seen in person.

Also, to get a jump on it, I know of the RAEG worthy shit she pulled in episode 20, I’ll get to it, hold your comments until my Macross F 20 post. Talk about bad timing for this cosplay to surface, but oh well, whatever, even if she is a brat, Ranka’s still damn cute :3

Upon arrival we waited once more in the line for the dealer’s room, with waifu getting a noticeable increase in photo requests due to a more recognizable cosplay. The fake pass worked its charm once again, granting me safe passage into the haven of anime related goods, a heavier hit on the wallets this time, as I walked out with a Pita Ten poster and a Solid Works Shana fig, the latter being a gift from my girlfriend.

The rest of the day merits no mention aside from: LOL CON DRAMA

Loot

Paid stuff:

Watchmen: $15
ARIA Vol. 1: $10
Pita Ten Poster: $8
Shana Fig: $60

Here’s a shot of the Shana fig unboxed alongside my Alter Fate, which I got about a month ago. Sorry for the amateur shot, but I can’t be arsed to do proper fig posts on these things since I don’t know anything about photography and am much too lazy to learn.

CNAnime also has a reputation as the “Free Stuff Con”, as you can see from the above, which is the amount of free stuff that we acquired on the Friday alone. I had to stop my girlfriend from taking any more stuff because it was becoming too troublesome to carry all of it. Also, most of this stuff is completely useless and will most likely never see the light of day ever again. In fact, I’m pretty sure those daisies are dead.

Other Notable Cosplay

Blurry Schrodinger!

Mario riding Yoshi.

Cait Sith.

Really creepy/awesome Silent Hill cosplayers. Especially that thing on the far right ;_;

Impressions

The con was a fun experience, very different from what I got at this year’s Anime North. Prior to this year my experience with cons had been largely a manga dash and grab. FanExpo was my first exposition to the specifics of the world of cosplaying, a surrogate experience that I got through dating a cosplayer. The mixed stress and fun in the weeks preceding the con and the range of experiences you can have alongside a cosplayer during the actual con (random glomps, frequent photo requests, rabid fanboys/fangirls, creepers, etc.) was certainly interesting.

Some of the more notable events that transpired include: a fellow Kyonko fanboy who we met before we even got into the con area, whose mind was absolutely blown that someone cosplayed as her; another Kyonko fan, female this time, who took multiple pictures and proceeded to rant on about her love for the character, offering links to Kyonko image/doujin sources; some guy in the artist alley cursing us for reminding him of Nyanroll.

Lastly, while dating a cosplayer is mostly awesome, and the holy grail in terms of the dating pool, there is one thing that really sucks about it. My duty for the duration of the con is pretty much that of a mule. No character walks around carrying bags full of manga and posters, and someone has to watch over that stuff while pictures are being taken. My shoulders are rock solid ;_;

facepalm.jpg

Nowhere more than cons is it made clear that anime is a really REALLY messed up fandom. The people it attracts, the things that they’re driven to do when they meet in mass, and the massive amounts of drama, can be disturbing at times. However, that said, I wouldn’t think of giving it up for an instant, while the ratio of fail:win teeters heavily towards the former, it’s still worth it, all things considered.

~ Shirukii ~