I have been coming to the Expo for 13 years (although I’ve only been four times), but I am only vaguely aware of the costs. I decided to see how much it would actually cost a person to come to this shindig. I will be basing a lot on what it costs me, but your mileage may vary. Also, I am pro-rating things, as I do this for three people, which is a better way to go, as the costs are spread further around. Doing this as a solo is a costly proposition. Let’s do the math. Grasp your calculator. (more…)

I once made the comment that one of the most worthless jobs in the world was Rock Concert Reviewer. By the time your review gets into the paper, the show, which the reader potentially did not see, has already moved on to the next venue and, possibly, the one after that. And just because they had a fabulous show in Kankakee is not a guarantee that they will have a fabulous show in Kokomo. Such is the nature of these live events.

And let’s say you and a pal can go see the show at the same time. You thought it was marvelous and you wet your pants. He thought it was too loud and too boring and he will wet YOUR pants. What does this all mean?

Overall, this was a pretty good con and certainly better than the last time I went, despite the rocky start and some on-going glitches. There were a few panels that I would have liked to have gone to and there were some things I missed altogether. They had a Steampunk Convention going on at the same time, but I had my hands full with anime, so I could never take it in. Also, the hotel was way the puddings out there, so it was bypassed. (more…)

Well, I did have plans to take in something on the last day, like an Adventure Time panel or Manga as Literature: Naruto (what?) but I just could not get my keester out of bed in a timely manner and the daughter was even worse than I. Since the viewing options were all shows I had seen or, if I hadn’t seen it, they were doing a 4 am presentation for it, I decided to take in both the Vendor’s Room and Artist Alley. You do need to bring home trinkets or souvenirs of your little sojourn to prove you were actually there and not pretending to be elsewhere and someone did the work for you. Also, I never had a genuine opportunity to really check it out on any other day. Yes, I was hoping for Going-Home Bargains. They had them, but either not what I wanted or not in quantities I could obtain.

I had to check out from my digs, but that was a great advantage. Since our hotel was well beyond beyond, I did not have that mad, chaotic, end-of-the-world crush that usually accompanies conventions and Get Away Day. Mine was reasoned, disciplined and mannered and I had free coffee. Also, with my car outside the room (yeah, I know, hotel vs motel), I could pack it right up and not have to wait for the Bell Captain to bring up the luggage dolly or fight with the elevators going down (as I knew two of the hotels had troubles with that). And I found an all-day lot for a good price to stow the car really close by. Now, with that part of the logistics taken care of, let’s go buy…something! (more…)

Whew! That was a really hard Saturday night/Sunday morning. The daughter really wanted to hit up the gaming room, so she got in at 3 am. Now, our hotel is about a block-plus away from the shuttle point, but I did not want her walking in a relatively safe area at that time, so she wakes me up to come retrieve her. That’s what a father does, even though it rumples my sleep. Well, she got in so late that I went to my early Sunday panels alone, permitting her to sleep….until noon!??!

I ventured out early, as I really wanted to grab that Admiral’s Guide to KanColle (Kantei Collection). Now, I am working on a review for this series, but it’s basically girls as battleships. I thought they would be taking about the series, but they talked about the online game. Well……..This was an odd panel, as the person who knew about the game was trapped in Phoenix AZ, so we communicated by Bluetooth. Too bad that it was a bit of a snoozer, as the person did not really explain how the game really worked. He was more focused on how you get in to play this game, even though it is Japan only, and not what steps you need to defeat your enemy. I ended up bailing on the end of it. (more…)

Saturday is usually the busiest day for an anime convention. Not all of the venues can take advantage of a Monday holiday (like Fanime! can), and since some folks can’t take off the whole run of it, they usually invest it all in one day. And if you have a Sunday to recover before heading back to the grind on Monday, there you have it. It’s just that EVERYONE showed up.

We had protesters. The first ones were the Religionists. They come to these venues to complain long and loud how these people are engaged in idolatry, as they dress up like Luffy or Edward Elric or Sailor Moon and have forsaken the Lord. The problem is they are not going to get a lot of folks on their side when they stand on their soapbox, waggling a sign at me and bray (and I quote) “If you have ever lied, stolen or looked with lust at someone, God sees you as a lying, thieving, adulterer-at-heart and hell is just because God is holy!” So I’m going to hell because I sold my immortal soul to Naruto? Like that idiot would know what to do with it? (more…)

OK, so I got myself ready for Fanime! They had a schedule up and ready at the site! Oh, boy! All I have to do is print it off……all I have to do is print it off…..all I have to do is…what the hell is wrong with this damn thing? They had a pocket schedule, so you knew when was when, but I could not get the flarping thing to print! I needed a special program, at a special website to print it off, but I kept blowing it. Why won’t you damn print? Am I that big of a Luddite? Or am I an anime dad and needing the daughter to do this? Uh…I had to have the daughter do this.

The plan was very simple: we’d leave here at 7 am or so for the 45 minute drive, getting to the venue at 8 am, as that is when the Registration Line opened. Now, since the first events didn’t start until 10 am, in case things took longer, we’d be prepared for that. The first part went well, as the daughter got her badge in about 30 minutes. Perhaps it was a madhouse on Day #0, as I could see the huge set-up for folks, and we avoided all that, even though there was a large amount of people. They fed through tidily; good job. Mine did not go as well. Aside from coming in as Press, I had the devil’s time finding the ProReg (Professional Registration) room. When I did find it, I was rather curtly told that they wouldn’t be open until 10 am. As Press, I do not expect to be treated better than regular people, but I should’t be treated worse. (more…)

As I have mentioned once before, if you are into anime, even just slightly, you should go to at least one convention, just to see what it is like. There is a calendar of events on the internet that you can get to, showcasing all the cons around the nation (and Canada! Yes, they like anime in Canada, eh?) both big and small, although I do recommend trying out the smaller ones first, so you get a better understanding as to what they are like. Don’t want to jump into the deep end too quickly. The lifeguard might not notice and you could sink to the bottom pretty fast.

In my neck of the woods, we have Fanime!, which is a problem when you type it in too fast. It can easily come up as ‘famine’, so instead of getting snaps of people cosplaying as Dragon Ball Z, you see photos of starving people and cracked lands and many degrees of unpleasantness. (Curse you, SpellCheck!) Now, this one is run by fans, for fans, and that is nice, in one sense, as you certainly get a huge amount of zeal and enthusiasm that is sometimes lacking from the larger venues. But that can work against you as well, for no amount of passion can make up for a non-understanding of logistics. (more…)