California Conventions Blog: FanimeCon 2011 Report: Part 4

The Shin Megami Tensei/Persona Midnight/Dark Hour Gathering was a unique event because most of us don't know that many conventions that are truly open from start to finish and there's something always happening at every hour - even the Dark Hour.

We did run into some problems. The person who organized the gathering showed up to the Daytime Gathering but not the Midnight Gathering, which myself and a couple of gathering veterans took over on short notice. Then the only staff member there to take photos for the Cosplay Department, citing "disorganization," took off halfway through. And finally the rovers, doing their job, came over to investigate improper usage of a megaphone at such an hour. By the time we got everything squared away, the gathering was over and it was time to enjoy the Sunday morning nightlife.

Eventually I caught up to Ryan and some people from the gathering playing the King's Game with playing cards instead of chopsticks.

Out of the 11 turns I played, I drew the King twice. The first time I had a girl kiss my cheek, and the second time I made Minato and Souji change jackets (pictured above).

I didn't stay up all night though, because I still had a Sunday to do, which started bright and early with the Axis Powers: Hetalia Gathering. Ryan and I went as the Philippines while Lucas went as Austria.

Ryan left a bit early to get a model kit of the RX-78-2 Gundam signed by Tohru Furuya so that he can get back in time for the Ric Meyers interview. In the meantime, I heard that Hiroyuki Yamaga couldn't make it to this year's FanimeCon due to a family emergency. Over at the Charity Auction booth, they had a street banner for the attendees to sign.

Ryan, with the help of Tom, got what he wanted just in time to return for the Ric Meyers interview.

We had half an hour until the GASHICON interview, so we grabbed a quick bite before the interview.

Around 2pm, we run into our first conflict of interest. While both of us wanted to cover the FLOW Q&A Panel, Ryan had to do the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Gathering. We both split ways to reunite shortly after Charity Auction.

I had the opportunity to ask FLOW a question, and I asked them if they were ever contacted to do the ending theme to the Eureka Seven movie since iLL was the band who eventually did the ending. Their response: "It's a secret." (Editor's Note: Their secret was that they performed the 2nd OP to the "direct" sequel, Eureka Seven: AO.)

At the Charity Auction, I'm the one who's gotten the ball rolling on bidding. This year however, the items were a bit scarce and uninteresting, except for the Music Fest gold record signed by the artists themselves plus items from last night's performance.

But that didn't stop a couple of people from taking the bidding to a whole new level. We're talking $6,600 for a Rei Ayanami sketch exclusive to this year's FanimeCon.

I heard that there was a "secret auction" during the end of the convention in which there was crazy money being spent, with the top item selling for $15,000.

I have some time to rest up before the Masquerade, so since I didn't win anything I pick up a convention t-shirt and head on over to the Save Point Inn for a well needed massage. The lady servicing me did a wonderful job, and she did a number on me especially around my calves and shoulders. I highly recommend the Save Point Inn located conveniently near Stage Zero during the convention, or at the Flying Hands Massage in Sunnyvale.

I meet up with Ryan and Lucas again to discuss how to approach the Masquerade. After another Subway run, we head on back to the Civic Center where me and Ryan sit up front while Lucas is in the Green Room taking photos of the cosplayers to be featured in the Masquerade.

But first we were treated to the short version of Hideo, a musical performance of anime and video game music.

I liked the short version that they showed, and it leaves me wanting to see the whole performance.

Now we were ready to get the real show started.

But halfway through the performances, all three of us were noticing an alarming trend: there were less "quality" skits and again we were seeing dance skits to characters that don't traditionally fit their profile. I'm not saying to stop all dance skits, but there's a negative trend that needs to be curved down so that these type of skits don't water down the Masquerade as a whole and don't leave people with that feeling of disappointment. It reminded me of the 2008 Masquerade with the five skits featuring the Hare Hare Yukai, but instead of the Hare Hare Yukai we have [insert popular K-Pop song with that nice choreography here].

So for the finale of FanimeCon 2011, we have the Gong Show! After my "performance" of Burn My Dread, it was time for me to follow it up with my "performance" of Mass Destruction.