AnimeRoot

Hangover city… I think I went to sleep at 6:00AM Sunday morning and was up for check-out at 10:00ish. It was a crazy morning, but we managed to get it done somehow. The check-out process was fast and painless, no questions asked.

Radish feels like us

Leeks

We decided to follow the schedule to a few more events, do some browsing of the artist alley, and troll the dealer’s room for any last minute purchases. I found some must-buy stationary, a bento, and a really weird looking plush radish.

As things go we stumbled into the end of Uncle Yo’s late morning panel and then a few of us stuck around for Choices-presented by SHOE. Uncle Yo is always great, laughter is the best medicine. The SHOE show was fantastic as well, this show was slightly different then the improv show but still had a similar feel.

Some of the staff members were pretty tired and not feeling so hot from the long night of partying, and thus we packed up and left shortly after 4:00pm. I really wanted to stay till closing ceremony but the eyes of my fellows said I’m leaving you if you don’t go now. So I packed up and called it day, plenty of writing to catch up on later.

Not much to say but wow what an interesting and good Wasabi. I or one of the other staff of AnimeRoot will be writing a general review of the con as a whole. Also, I will be posting my favorite cosplays.

:)

Looking forward to next year’s AnimeLand Wasabi.

Zion Article, Conventions, Wasabi 2010

After a long Friday night full of song, dance, and maybe one too many to drink it was quite hard to peel myself out of bed, but the show must go on. Grab a shower and Red Bull and its back to into the fray we go. The convention is going much like the rock star life; stay up way too late partying, pass out, and then wake up and do it again. Super fun, but it makes a dent in your well being after a while.

Our first stop was the artist alley and the dealer’s room where there was lots of good stuff to buy. Import items alongside fan made items of every kind were abundant. A wide selection of DVD’s, books, figures, posters, music, and more could be had from many of the merchants within the main room so we did our share of purchasing and browsing. The selection is big, but nothing compared to the majestic whale of a dealers room at Anime Expo. To put this in perspective the entire Red Lion Hotel could have easily fit into the dealer’s room at AX.

Busy Hallways

If the convention could have a mood I’d say it would be swinging wild on Saturday. People dancing, talking, and showing off their cosplay, pictures being taken and connections being made, social networking at its best. Words can’t describe the lobby of this hotel, so we took some photos instead.

The AnimeLand Wasabi AMV Contest was short but good. I was not expecting a huge production as this is a very small local convention. I was not disappointed with the AMV’s, but the order in which they were played could have used some shuffling. It is great that this show is primarily local editors; this format gives the locals a chance to compete with similar editors on a level playing field. This sort of environment also gives editors feedback and helps with their growth, learning from mistakes, and improving. We must all learn to crawl before we can walk.

Phone in your Vote

The voting system at first was very basic, raise your hand for your favorite video, out of three presented to you choose one. Then those top videos with the most votes moved to the finals where a cell phone vote was used. This was a really cool system, but I’m not sure it will work with a multi category audience vote if that is ever needed. Still a very cool system and I like the idea.

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Zion Anime, Article, Conventions, Wasabi 2010

Friday night dance

It has been a very busy day, lots of hustle and bustle all over the hotel. Parking is bad;  to say there is not enough spots does not do justice. This will get worse by tomorrow rest assured. The Red Lion is a decent hotel, and though it is a bit pressed for space lets just call it comfortable for now. Check in went fairly smooth with events starting at 3:00 and check in at the same time. One of us made it to opening ceremonies though just barely. We are looking forward to the coming events. We call this con the grass roots con, most people are on a first name basis.

The visitors of this con are all a little odd in a good way, but there are a few that creep me out. The stuffed hallways full of goods and art for sale made it feel like a mad market in a distant land. I could only imagine the thoughts passing through the minds of the poor souls staying at this hotel that are not going to the con. “What the hell is going on here?” is the first set of words that comes to mind. I don’t blame them as they were not expecting this anime convention since it sort of fell on them. I was very disappointed that Rock Band presented by the Death of the Arcade folks got canceled last minute because it was a smash hit last year, and regular karaoke is just so dry.

Happy hardcore on day one is radical, and a few us really like it.  Some of us think less of it; as for me I can handle it in small doses. After the happy hardcore some good trance set in for a change in pace.

Unfortunately our female member is not present.  As a result I have no one to send to the yaoi panels so I will not be writing about those. The group of us wandered over to The Shoe Show, Super Happy Otaku Entertainment, and the Late Shoe. The Shoe show was entertaining; taking 1 part anime, 1 part hentai, and several audience members to partake in the improv. We did group skits, dubbing, and questions to random people games, and a few funny songs were played. Overall it was a fun experience.

Late Night SHOE!

The B21+ lounge is what we wandered to next after a few drinks, we arrived at about 12:15 am to the promise of beer, dancing, and a large party. What we got was no beer, a couple of groups of people, and a really good DJ. This was disappointing as we were told by several staff that there was to be beverage on hand, but there weren’t even cups to serve people with. So we decided to do our own thing.  We found some people, broke out some drinks, and got a little loopy.

The Stale Song

Zion Article, Conventions, Wasabi 2010

Better late than never, Animeland Wasabi has been confirmed for March 5th through the 7th. As usual, you can expect us to be there on the floor getting pictures and doing our thing. See you all in March, hopefully there won’t be any snow or weddings this year!

Byron Wasabi 2010