Oh what a strange and delightful con it was, folks.
I’m not even sure how to start telling you what it was like, what I did, what I saw. So many of the moments that occurred over the long, crazy weekend had to have been lived to really be understood.
Friday was mellow, almost quiet even. After having just experienced the crazy that was a packed convention center the weekend before at Emerald City Comicon, it was a bit of a relief to walk through halls without getting crushed by 70,000 other people. Lines for opening ceremonies, the Johnny Young Bosch Q&A (not musical as originally advertised but still fun), and even the bathroom seemed short in comparison to what I went through to see Stan Lee at ECCC. I toured the Dealer’s Hall, donated blood at the annual Sakuracon blood drive, and took lots of pictures of great costumes, all without getting crushed by an overly enthusiastic crowd. Even the late night panel I attended had a very minimal line (and those usually get quite the audience).
By the end of Friday I was wondering if it would just be a more mellow con altogether. Maybe being held so close to the same weekend as Emerald City cut down on the number of attendees for Sakuracon (even I can admit that two conventions less than a week apart is bit much).
But then Saturday happened.
Oh Saturday.
The crowd was bigger, the costumes were better, the panels were rowdier, and the adventure was kind of non-stop.
I learned how to do calligraphy at a booth in the Art Show. I’m not great at it but it turns out I’m naturally better than the con buddy who tried it with me. I met up with friends I only see once a year at Sakuracon. They were in fabulous costumes and full of their own fun con stories to share. We wandered around together for a bit until they had panels to attend and I had art to buy.
And later, when the sun had set, the Dealer’s Hall had closed, and the night time con festivities had begun, things really took a turn for the ridiculous. During a Loveline panel (people get up and ask dating advice from a group of costumed characters, much to the amusement of a large audience) I saw and heard many things and laughed quite a bit, but the craziest thing had to be when a guy dressed as a character from Inuyasha proposed to his girlfriend (also dressed as a character from Inuyasha) in front of Zapp Brannigan (Futurama), Vegeta (Dragon Ball Z), and Killi from The Hobbit. She said yes, we all cheered like mad, and THEN Luigi from Super Mario Bros got up from the audience and came over to announce that he was legally ordained and could marry them (license and all that pending). So he hopped up on a chair, asked them for their “I dos” and the audience went mad once again.
It was hilarious and sweet and completely surreal. Even Zapp Brannigan found himself speechless after it was done. Where do go you from there in a goofy panel about dating? Seriously, inquiring minds want to know. Over the years I’ve seen probably half a dozen people get engaged at conventions, usually in celebrity Q&A panels with the amused assistance of the couples’ fave celeb. But this has to be the first proposal AND wedding I’ve been in the audience before. I sure hope things work out for those wacky kids. They had several hundred friends and strangers rooting for them.
After Loveline I sat in on a AMV Hell (which takes AMVs – animated music videos – and goes full on parody/comedy/ridiculousness on them) showing, which is usually a great time but I found a bit lacking this time around. Usually AMV Hell is funny and sarcastic and silly and strange. This year it seemed kinda flat and a little mean spirited. It wasn’t terrible. Just … not as great as I hoped it would be. But the panel after that more than made up for it.
The queen of late night anime convention panels, Where The Fanfic Goes to Die, is a must-attend event for fans of fanfiction, fandom, terrible writing, bizarre romantic pairings, extreme dirtiness, and hilarious improvisation. I make sure to be in the audience every year for this panel and I am never disappointed in its ability to make me laugh so hard I cry (which probably says a lot about me as a person). Unfortunately that is about as much as I feel comfortable sharing about it in this blog post. There is a reason it takes place around midnight and is mature audiences only, folks.
As always, Sunday was a much quieter day than the first two. The crowd was smaller, the costumes were fewer, and the panels were less interesting to me. I took one final trip through the Dealer’s Hall, spent my last $10 in cash on a piece of great art, and then said my goodbyes to the con for another year. It was a great weekend but I was exhausted (seriously two conventions in two weekends was an insane idea and I don’t think I’ll be attempting that again anytime soon) and ready to go back to the real world for a good long rest.
