Fanime 2012 report

[lucathia]

Friday

I had work, so I didn't get to head to the convention center until 5 PM. I threw on my cosplay and went to the convention with a raging headache from lack of sleep the previous night and from work. I also started feeling nauseous... all in all, Friday was terrible. I was so glad for it to be over.

My wig was very hard to put on and kept feeling like it was about to slip off. I realized later that I didn't wear it correctly. The bangs should've been shorter and more in the front. Good thing I tried the entire outfit on Fri so that I could fix it for the rest of the weekend! I was hoping it wasn't the wig that was giving me a raging headache (and thankfully it wasn't. It was the lack of sleep that did it) or else I didn't feel I would be able to wear my cosplay for the rest of the con...

When I got to the con, I thought it wouldn't take long for me to get my badge. It never took long on the first day in past years (it's Day 0 that has the longest wait, it seems, not Day 1), but OMG. This year. This year was terrible. There was a power outage on Thursday (day 0) when a lot of attendees were supposed to get their badges, but because of the power outage, everything got pushed back and the registration people had to work all the way until midnight, doing things by hand... By Friday, Day 1, the registration line was still impossible.

Basically, all I got accomplished on Friday was waiting in line for my badge. I waited in line for three hours. By the time I got my badge, everything had already closed. OTL. I didn't even get to see gem2niki's table in the artist alley!


Here, have a photo of part of the line.


And more of the lines. This was when we were already inside. The line started outside and wrapped around the building. By the time we got inside, I was feeling terrible and felt like I wasn't getting enough air. D:


I was feeling so terrible that I barely felt like asking anyone for their photos. I only snapped this one because someone had stopped them, but I didn't manage to get a very good shot because I needed to scurry back in line. First shot isn't even anime! ^^;; Dress was very cool though! Little Mermaid~


Finally, I got my badge after more than three hours of waiting and everything closed. Went upstairs. Saw Thor, lol. (still not anime) He was having a hard time leaving because everyone just kept stopping him. He was a very awesome Thor. :)

Aaaand that's all the pics I have for Friday. 0____0;; I dropped to the floor by the side out of exhaustion and waited for gem2niki and her sister to show up to collect me. XDDD;;; We went to the swap meet to buy stuff. It was across the street in a new location. Very pretty hotel, but... I totally thought swap meet was only in one room. I suspected that it couldn't be that small. OTL. We left after walking around just the one room and did not even make our way to the second (larger?) room because we didn't even know there was another room. OTL. REGRET. DID NOT SEE jen_kat and yoshikochan at Swap Meet because of this!!!

I was dead on my feet though, so I guess it was good for my health that I left early. =x I went home and slept for like, ten hours. XD; Felt very rejuvenated the next day.



Saturday

So, remember how I said my wig was kind of... not right? I discovered that... the bangs were way too long.


So I spent Saturday morning getting a haircut. This is how the wig looked on me (when put on correctly) before the haircut. what a monster No wonder it didn't look or feel quite right!!


Now with the wig on correctly, Lucathia is off to Fanime! Here's how the back looks.


Tadah, my finished cosplay of Maya Fay from Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney! Most people who took pics of me knew who I was, but some were unsure. One girl asked, "Are you from ???" I couldn't hear her clearly, so I said, "Oh, I'm from Phoenix Wright." Then she said, "Sorry, guess I got it wrong." I asked her where she thought I was from, and she replied, "Ace Attorney?" Oops. I quickly said that they were one and the same. I just keep calling it Phoenix Wright...


Can you spot where I am? XD


Got to the convention way late in the afternoon. Got there around the time of a Madoka gathering, so I snapped a few random pics.


They were just about done with the gathering, I think.


There were quite a few Portal cosplayers this year. Here's one. (There was also one behind me when I was waiting in line on Friday) It must not be very comfortable walking on that...


Assassin's Creed, yeah? The hoods looked cool and atmospheric. XD; But I really have no idea who's who. XDDD


Tsukimi from Kuragehime~


This was still me making my way inside. Spotted a Fire Emblem cosplayer! Ranulf~ The potted plants made a perfect backdrop.

There was a Homestuck gathering going on just then, but I didn't manage to get a good shot of that. Hands were too shaky. :3;;


Someone gave me a raffle ticket and told me there would be a raffle later in the day. When I asked her where the raffle would be and what it was for, she said she had no idea and that I should ask inside... so I went in and asked. Apparently it was some raffle for cosplayers, to be held in the Cosplay Repair Station. I never did find the Cosplay Repair Station despite going to look for it. OTL. Anyway, this was at the info desk. Loki drawing! XD


I went and looked after gem2niki's table in the Artist Alley for a bit. I haven't watched Mawaru Penguindrum, but this cosplayer was cute~


AND I loved her penguin. (homemade!!)


So I asked if she could take a photo of me with it too. XDDD


I spent the rest of Saturday wandering around and buying stuff in the Artist Alley. It was really all I accomplished that day. OTL Here was a cosplayer of America (er, America, right?) who was selling in the Artist Alley~. She was fixing her glasses when I walked by her table. I really liked how she had her hair done! I can never style wigs like that with a strand sticking out correctly...


Gintama cosplayers~.


Here's a Lady Loki with some awesome horns.


Hoods all around. XD


This looks really familiar but I can't seem to remember where this is from. Just thought the cosplayer looked really cool.


Hm, I seem to have taken a lot of pics of series I don't actually follow. XD;; I was just taking pics of cool cosplayers! :3;; This is a character from Fairy Tail, yeah? I don't actually know the character though, but look at those hair curls and that cute umbrella!


I also spotted a Natsume in his god outfit! :D I'd wondered if someone would cosplay this version! :3


Another character I don't know. But very cool looking.


Touhou Project, I think? The blossoms and her outfit were both so pretty~


RAWR. XD


At this time, I was wandering around, trying to find where the Cosplay Repair Station was. I never did find it. OTL. Thought this cosplay was really cool, but again, I don't know where she's from...


Black Rock Shooter! The outfit and hair remind me a lot of Lenalee from D.Gray-man.


I didn't find the Cosplay Repair Station, but I did come across the Dojo. I didn't even know there was a Dojo? There were demonstrations being done inside. Sounded pretty cool.


Anyway, after failing on locating the Cosplay Repair Station, I started making my way back to the Artist Alley. Saw a Rockman.EXE cosplayer on the way back~.


Apparently, there was still quite a line on Saturday. This was for At Con registration though.


Don't know what they're cosplaying, but very cool looking. And cool poses! (I suck at posing)


...I really like taking pics of lines, huh?


I saw a Kuja walking around. I missed my chance to ask for a pic, but then I saw the cosplayer again later, yay. XD


Sengoku Basara~


Pocky. :3;; (My parents are always amused by pics like these.)


FFXIII. They posed very well together. :3


This Vash was SUPER tall.


Inazuma Eleven. I haven't watched the series, but I remember the...director? Character designer? Someone? Er, whose panel I went to at another convention talking about how he designed the characters so that their hairstyles would be very stylistic and representative of the character. I always remembered that part a lot! So I pay special attention to Inazuma Eleven hairstyles. :3 And this one looks so good on the cosplayer~

After this, gem2niki and I packed up. We went to the music fest late and missed Aizawa Mai's opening act. Igaguri Chiba was already performing, and it was so...weird.

Gem2niki's sister texting me: Is he any good?
Me: Very strange. Three half naked guys and he's dressed as pikachu

That pretty much summed up my opinion about the music fest. XD;; They had pretty good coordination, him and his two dancers, and the singer's voice wasn't bad... but it was just really, really strange.

After the music fest, we wandered around the arcade a bit.


Before that, we saw a cute Shiemi from Ao no Exorcist.


I took a picture with this thing from Spirited Away. So tall... XDDD


I still don't remember who they are. gem2niki wanted a photo. =P This was when we got to the arcade. There were tabletop games, arcade games, and other games going on.


After g2n and her sis left, I wandered around by myself feeling pretty bored. Here's a cool cosplay from Avatar though.


And a bird.


Glowing lights. XD


Very cool wings. (Is this Madoka?)

I went home after that!

Conclusion about Saturday: Only thing I managed to do was wander the Arist Alley. OTL.


Sunday


I went bright and early to help gem2niki sell stuff. She went off to some autograph session (and failed in getting her stuff signed, aw) so I stayed behind to watch the table. A Lelouch dropped by to buy a World God Only Knows print. I was very amused by this because Lelouch and Keima are the same character type.


A very cool Scar cosplayer. He gave me a card of Ed and said "If you ever see this kid, let me know." LOL. I don't know if he meant to leave the card or not, but he left it on my table.


After gem2niki returned, I went off to the Dealer's Room to shop. On my way there, I saw a Shizuo and an Izaya...carrying around a vending machine, lol! Truly perfect cosplay.


I er, spotted this Kurapika cosplayer in the Artist Alley but didn't get a pic then, so I was happy to spot her again in the Dealer's... I feel like a stalker. XD;;; She was eating a lollipop here. XDD


Nurarihyon no Mago. Very cool hair.


I ran into a few Ace Attorney cosplayers. I mean, I ran into two Gumshoes. XDDD I didn't think to take a pic with the first one. But both of them asked me if I'd seen any Edgeworths around. I did see one the day before, but that was the day before. They asked me if I had a Phoenix (I did not). Oh, us poor side characters... (people kept asking me if I had a Phoenix! I don't! ;____; )


Haha, took this pic for my parents.


From Princess Mononoke!


:D (So glad I got to see you~! ♥) She was dressed up from Magi. I read through all the chapters in one day and then didn't keep up with the manga... I wish I could've seen their photoshoot! She mentioned just getting back from a Magi photoshoot. I want to see pics! especially of Alibaba Apparently no one cosplayed as the main character Aladdin. XD


Some 999 cosplayers wandered by. When I stopped them to take their photo, they were all like, "Aha! Of course an Ace Attorney cosplayer would recognize us!" XDDD;; (I actually still haven't played 999 even though I bought it a while back...)


Not sure where she's from, but she looked very cool~


Another Natsume cosplayer. There were quite a few actually! I was pleasantly surprised. :)


Castle Crashers. I've only played a little of this (I use the poison guy~)


gem2niki and I finally got some time to wander around together when her sister came. I met a Phoenix (finally!) on our way to the Dealer's Room together. :D


We went to the Dealer's to try on the necomimi ears. They're so cool. :O There are sensors that sense your brainwaves (the sensor is placed against your forehead and earlobe). Depending on your mood (if you're feeling tense or relaxed), the ears move. They flatten, perk up, twitch, or turn... I saw quite a lot of people buy these, and I was watching in fascination as their ears twitched. Very expensive though. Around $100. I don't think I'm quite willing to spend that much on some ears.

Here's the website: http://www.neurosky.com/Necomimi/


Again, I don't know where they're from, but very cool cosplay. :3;;


As gem2niki and I made our way over to see the Cosplay Spectacular, we saw some cute Sailor Scouts! But too bad the sun was shining in a horrible way...


Cowboy Bebop. They totally look their parts.


We spotted a black Nyanko-sensei! And a white Nyanko-sensei! And then we spotted the Natsume Yuujinchou cosplayers. XD;; There was a Tanuma and a Matoba even!

The Cosplay Spectacular
We got there an hour or so late but at the perfect time, because skit 1 was just starting! Apparently we missed all the walk ons, which we're not all that entertained by normally anyway. There were some fantastic skits. My favorite one was the Ranma 1/2 one where a Ranma cosplayer was walking in front of a mirror and singing about how he doesn't know if he's a boy or a girl, and then another Ranma cosplayer (girl version) was inside, beyond the mirror, and also singing. Ryoga did the same with a cosplayer of P-chan. It was so cute. ♥

I also greatly enjoyed the Sailor Moon skit (very epic), the Record of Lodoss one (even though I don't know the series), and the Summer Wars one (it was a great reenacting of the movie). The Princess Tutu solo ballet dancer danced very beautifully as well~.

There were two Kuroshitsuji skits. The first Kuroshitsuji one that involved the circus people. They brought in a tent and everything, and had various circus acts like popping balloons, tap dancing, hoops, and all that. It was very intricate and must've taken a lot of practice! A few skits later, there was another Kuroshitsuji skit that also involved the circus people (I thought that was a little awkward...). The first one won craftsmanship and the second one won overall best of show (the 2nd one reenacted quite a bit of the plot, but I'm not all that familiar with the plot. I know enough that there were a lot of spoilers in that skit though!)

The Yu-Gi-Oh skit was also very good (and I loved their hair).

Hm, I wonder if there are any links to these up yet...

Oh, someone does have videos up! (they show up as green for me though...I wonder why...)

♥ Princess Tutu
♥ Yu-Gi-Oh protagonists forming a boyband
♥ Ranma 1/2 skit
♥ Kuroshitsuji circus skit
♥ Record of Lodoss War
♥ Summer Wars
♥ D.Gray-man versus No.6 (I was just really amused because I'd always thought Shion and Nezumi looked a lot like Allen and Kanda...
♥ Sailor Moon skit

After that, we went home! I wanted to see the gameshows, but the scheduling never worked out for me.



Monday


Monday, I again helped gem2niki sell stuff. Got there, set up, yadda yadda. Here were the room keys with her art on it! (She's one of the staff artists for the con). Even though the theme for Fanime this year was sports, I don't feel like I saw a bunch of people cosplaying sports. I guess I did see quite a bit of Inazuma Eleven. Only a few Prince of Tennis and Oofuri though. Sadness. I love sports series. ): Should've gone to the sports series panel.


There were a few Minecraft cosplayers around. Amused me quite a bit.


A guy cosplaying Madoka, hahahaha. So many guy crossplayers now!


So sparkly!!!!


This guy, whoa, he had a working speaker system in his chest area and was blasting music.

Haha, anyway, that ends my sad amount of pics for Monday! I got to see jen_kat on Sunday (finally), yoshikochan and dyaoka on Monday (finally). All in the Artist Alley. XDD Since I was there half the time anyway...

Monday, all I did was look after the table. And buy more stuff. And wigs! gem2niki and I decided on cosplaying SKET Dance for Anime Expo, whoot. Gonna pull my brother in and have him cosplay Switch. It'll be such an easy cosplay for him since he already looks the part and can easily find the clothes (he just needs a green vest... kinda out of season now...anyone know where I can buy a green vest?). I went around the Dealer's Room looking at all the wig places. Decided to buy wigs there to save myself some trouble of having to hunt down wigs later. Got both a wig for Bossun for myself and a wig for Himeko for gem2niki, so we're half done! XD; After the Artist Alley closed, we packed and went home. And so ended Fanime. Very quickly! I didn't even do much!


So I went home and tried out the wig. XDD And tossed on some clothes that were Bossun-like. XDDD look, my cosplay is half done, lol I'll be scavenging around for the rest of Bossun's outfit~. Need to make pins and buy a pair of goggles. I'd like to have a change of clothes, so I might do more than one of his outfits. I like the t-shirt ones that say SKET and DANCING! It's been a while since I've cosplayed a guy. XDDD Last time I coslayed a guy (Soren from Fire Emblem) my parents didn't even know I was cosplaying a guy... XDDD


Merchandise

Stuff I bought over the four days!

From left to right, top row:
-black wig for Bossun
-COSMODE (it was only $4! Will be useful reference for cosplay)
-a Kuroko no Basket print from Kurot
-a King of Bandit Jing print (I asked for it from gem2niki =P )
-a Detective Conan print (hm, I really like my thieves, huh...both gem2niki and her sister laughed at me when I came back with this print. It just means I'm predictable. =P)
-squishy bread

next row:
-Detective Conan v75 (I didn't want this... I just wanted the figure that came with the special edition! I buy my DC in Chinese, so having this random Japanese volume kind of sucks... but I really wanted the Conan figure. :3;;;;)
-Conan figure (so cute~)


Small figures~
-Fantastic Four keychain...? I wanted Thor. XD;;; I don't even know who this guy is. I didn't try my luck again because there are so many different ones (but no Loki) so it's doubtful I'd ever get Thor out of blind luck... They're so cute though!
-Yukimura keychain (I was also tempted to get Ryoma, but they're all so expensive! There was even one of Keith from the Tenipuri movie, whoa. I guess these were the movie versions)
-Fukuda and Hiramaru from Bakuman. :D I only bought them and skipped the rest of the characters because I have all the other characters (just from a different set)
-Elsie from the World God Only Knows. I showed my parents when I came home and said, "Look, it's me!" Because I cosplayed her last year. XD;; They recognized her, haha. Elsie's color scheme and Maya's color scheme are so similar! Elsie's normal outfit is purple too.
-Bossun from SKET Dance (the version drawn by Switch)


Conan figure!!! I bought the manga just for this, OTL. It's rare to have such a cute Conan figure, so...


-Fishbone stamp. I saw one artist who was carving stamps. She was doing commissions for them, so I asked if I could commission her for a fishbone stamp. SO WORTH IT. I LOVE IT.
-Seta Soujirou keychain. So expensive but so cute. I will always love Soujirou.
-Light figure (Death Note). I only bought him because he was cheap. XDDD ($3) This is the tennis version. I'm amused that Conan and Light are both playing sports (totally fits the Fanime theme this year) even though neither are from sports series...
-Kimi to Boku post its ♥ (so cute!)
-Yuuki keychain from Kimi to Boku. So expensive, or else I would've bought all the characters. They were all so cute.
-Loki and Thor keychains (from Artist Alley). I was looking for cute Loki stuff and am not too big a fan of prints and don't like laminated keychains all that much, so these were perfect. Just what I wanted.


I almost can't believe these are from the Artist Alley. They look even more professional than the keychains I bought from the Dealer's Room!
-pokemon phone straps (soooo cute!)
-dragon phone strap
-rainbow raccoon phone strap


-Pollo (from Nemu Nemu)
-Crow from Bakuman. I wanted the Detective Trap one, but this was a random box. Thankfully, I got my 2nd choice! (I didn't want the Kiyoshi figure and especially not the Tanto figure. There was also an Otters figure, which I wouldn't have minded too much. But what I really wanted was the Detective Trap figure!!). I already have a small figure of Crow, but a more SD version than this one. Still, this one does look cool. But not as cool as Detective Trap. =P


Have some more pics of my cool stamp. :DDDD


I'm so pleeeaaaased with it. ^____^

Thiiiis concludes my con report! Until AX! Which is next month. Very soon, haha. It was pretty nice cosplaying as Maya. Easily recognizable mostly, but still not as fun not cosplaying as a group. I was a lone Maya! People kept asking me if I had a Phoenix. =P I didn't see all that many Ace Attorney cosplayers this year. Guess it's been too long since the last game...

Comments

[lucathia]

I had fun though I don't feel like I got much done there!