As I mentioned on Friday, Fanime was this last weekend. I was able to carpool with some friends who were also headed out west, and as I realized last year having the car was a big help. Especially since I had 2 costumes this year, plus a tux for the Black & White Ball.
Overall it was an enjoyable time, but there was one HUGE GINORMOUS flaw: no schedules, EVER. Last year, they provided a PDF of the schedule before the con, which I printed at home and highlighted that which intrigued me. Part of the reason I did this was because I was under the impression that they wouldn’t provide me with one. However, when I picked up my registration packet (in 2010) there was a schedule inside, along with a color program and some adverts.
This year? Just the color program. WTF Fanime?
I get that y’all had more people than you were expecting, but anyone who pre-registered should have been given a schedule. Instead, the only physical schedules were the ones nailed down at the information desk.
The fact that y’all have a pseudo mobile site at m.fanime.com is beside the point (especially since the site, which was identical to last years, is not really mobile friendly). If y’all weren’t going to print schedules, you should have mentioned it on the website. Then I would have made other arrangements and printed it out before I came to town.
With that gripe out of the way, let’s talk about the all the fun stuff.
Friday was mostly spent driving, and that evening was the Swap Meet. I picked up a couple nifty things, definitely had fun with it again this year.
Saturday was Fate/stay night cosplay. I went as Archer while my girlfriend went as Saber. We started off by watching Unlimited Blade Works (Fate/stay night movie). As we left, a few people took our pictures (most of them having just seen our characters on screen). We wandered around the con and more pictures were taken, and while most knew who Saber was, not everyone knew Archer (which I found amusing).
Jon was unable to make it to the convention, but we did get to meet up for dinner at Benihana’s.
Sunday was Trigun cosplay. I went as Vash while my girlfriend dressed as Kuroneko-sama (aka the small black cat that would appear tangentially throughout the series). Vash was a bit more recognizable, as evidenced by the larger number of people asking for pictures. I even ran into a Wolfwood pretty quickly. He had me join him as part of a Photo Scavenger Hunt; for about an hour, we wandered about while other people looked for us. As we were nearing the end of our hour, we headed back to the Game Room and ran into Midvalley the Hornfreak (who had a plush Kuroneko-sama stuffed into his Saxophone) and we all posed for a battle, which got a ton of attention.
After we parted ways, it was lunch time and as we headed down the street, I had a Crowning Moment of Awesome: I suddenly heard someone yell: “This world is made of LOVE AND PEACE!!!” I turn and see Nathan (aka Black Vash) across the street; nice guy and I met him last year. I waved back to him, and ran into him the next day. In total, I saw 4 other Vashes: 2 Females, Nathan, and the leather Vash from last year (though I only saw him Monday).
Last year, I said that Monday wasn’t worth it and that leaving Sunday would be preferable, yet this year I didn’t leave early.
I picked up a commission I had done and some Reboot buttons in Artists Alley, along with some Pretz in the Dealer’s Hall, but I could have gotten all of these the night before. I did have a good reason for not leaving Sunday though, and that was the Black & White Ball (which was from 6 PM — Midnight, though we didn’t stay the entire time). So while Monday may not have been strictly necessary, it was nice to be able to have a close place to crash at after Sunday’s Ball.
All in all, Fanime was awesome once again (they just need to fix the issue with schedules for next year). I will likely be back next year, though maybe I will choose a cosplay that doesn’t require shaving my beard.