FanimeCon 2011 Report: Part 3 - Saturday (Day Two)

With Gilles Poitras' interview in the morning, we were up bright and early for Day Two. Again, I check up on the registration line, knowing that Saturday is going to be much busier than it was on Friday.

Again, I asked the people up in front how long they had been waiting for the Saturday portion of registration to open and they said they got in line around 3-4am.

By the time we got to our assigned interview time window for Mr. Poitras, we actually started a bit early and ran a bit late over our assigned time window, giving us about 45 minutes of great insight into the anime and cosplay communities.

It was my mistake to think that our next interview was in a couple of hours when it was the following day. So once again we find ourselves with a lot of free time before the Shin Megami Tensei/Persona Gathering.

At this point we swung on over to the Hilton to check out the Cosplay Hangout, a room designed by the Cosplay Department to be a place to relax and fix your cosplay. For what they were offering, it was a great idea in theory but didn't execute as well as they thought it would; I think a couple of staffers were citing a low amount of visitors, probably due to the room they were given in relation to the rest of the con. I heard though that Hilton staff were redirecting cosplayers to this area, so at least the room wasn't totally invisible.

Now it was time to once again check out the Dealer's Hall.

Back out in the hallways, I run into a familiar group.

After a quick run to Subway for lunch, it was time for myself, Ryan, and Lucas to head down to the Shin Megami Tensei/Persona Gathering.

We tried not to exhaust all our shots since we had the Midnight Gathering.

Outside, the Fanime tradition of religious protesters lives on in 2011.

  

I take the scenic route back to the hotel room, walking past the line that was forming for Music Fest. I talked to those who were in the front, and they had been waiting since 10am. Now that's what I call dedicated fans.

Back up in the room, I change into Dotachin for the Durarara!! Gathering.

With a bit a breathing room before the Crunchyroll Durarara!! event over at their booth, me and Ryan head back to eGaming.

At the Crunchyroll booth, only six cosplayers including myself showed up to said event despite representatives from Aniplex showing up to help judge, and five of them where either Izaya or Shizuo - I was the only Dotachin non-Izaya/Shizuo cosplayer. Both myself and the Aniplex reps were very disappointed with the turnout. If you want to watch the event, click here and go to about 82 minutes in.

I picked up an extended trial to Crunchyroll alongside some exclusive Aniplex merchandise. I've been using my extended trial to watch The World God Only Knows.

It was now time for us to head on over to Music Fest. As press, we squeezed in with the front of the line, which got us front row seating for better viewing and observation. We found out later that even though Lucas ran late because he was hosting the Code Geass Gathering that he still got in, although he wasn't in the front row.

Myself, Ryan, and Tom - who left halfway through Music Fest because he was feeling faint - knew what to expect from FLOW. We didn't know what to expect from Yuya Matsushita, who went up first. But in that short time he performed, he turned us in believers and really sold us when broke out the Kuroshitsuji/Black Butler "I'm one hell of a butler" line. As one fangirl would put it, "I think I died and ended up here."

As for FLOW, well that part of show was energetic and exciting from beginning to end. As we filed out of the Civic Center, FLOW Nation was rocking hard, as we were chanting and singing all the way back to the hotel. And much like last year, we were hoarse and ready to do our full Music Fest review a half hour later.





And we still had the Midnight Gathering to do.

-Day Two (Saturday) End-