FanimeCon 2010 Report (Shiro Version): Day Zero

Hi everyone. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Tom Gifford, but I'm better known in the online community under one of two names: Zhane Masaki, or more recently, Shiro Kusanagi. I go by Shiro online, and I'm the friend Matt has so often mentioned in past FanimeCon entries.

I've been attending FanimeCon annually since 2001...a total of TEN YEARS. Since Matt and Ryu covered most of the main events of Fanime, I thought I'd shine a spotlight on the parts of the con they didn't cover in their video blog entries. Where better to start than Day Zero...a rainy Thursday.

I woke up around 8 or so, expecting Matt and Ryan to pick me up around 10. It was pouring outside, so I had to get my rain gear. I brought along some sushi for the group to share, and a little extra food for the trip: Chex Mix, Starburst, Raisin Bran, and a couple Diet Pepsis for myself (no one else wanted any.)

It took about ten minutes (and at least six false starts) to get Ryan's car down my steep driveway, but once we descended it, we were on the road. Our first stop was Japantown in San Francisco. Since Ryan and Lucas had never been there before, I took it upon myself to act as an impromptu tour guide of sorts as they looked around the Japan Center shopping mall.

Among other stops, we perused the anime selection at Japan Video, looked in a store (whose name escapes me) that had a ton of katanas in it, and checked out Japan Toys, which had lots of moe anime figurines. The main attraction, though, was the Kinokuniya Bookstore, where they checked out the JPop/JRock CD selection upstairs first. I took the opportunity to see if they had any music by momo-i (found none upstairs).

While they finished up there, I took the opportunity to head downstairs ahead of them. I stumbled upon a clearance sale-priced Star Ocean 4 strategy guide (not the BradyGames one, this one is in Japanese), so I decided to pick it up. (For those of you who don't know, all of the manga, anime and video game-related books are on the first floor of the bookstore in San Fran's Japantown.) I know I wasn't the only one who got something there, but I forget who got what.

After that, we hit the Nijiya grocery store to pick up some sake for the room, and then drove down to Fanime, with a slight detour to stop at Mythbusters HQ (YES they are in San Fran too). The whole trip from San Rafael to San Jose was in a VERY cramped car (four con-goers + cosplay costumes + luggage + food = two asleep feet LOL). Upon arrival at the Marriott, I went to attend to some personal matters while they went to check in.

After seeing that things had not turned out as I planned regarding a personal event I had planned that day, I went up to the room to rest and relax the remainder of the day. You see, out of the four of us, I was the only one who was unable to pre-reg, being the only one without a credit card for reasons I would care not to name. So yeah, that sums up Day Zero to a tee for me. Next time...Day 1!