Year End Review by Rukazu

I know this is a bit late, but Matt wanted me to write a review before ALA started and I've been really busy during the holidays, but that's another matter. I plan to keep this short and to the point. What matters right here and now is my review for this year's conventions.


Last year I went to six conventions and that really took a lot out of me. This year, I only did three conventions and two small socials. However, I want to say that this year was probably the most amazing con year I have ever had! Starting with Anime LA, I was able to do so much more this year than last year. I had more cosplays and was running several more gatherings including Touhou and Hetalia. I was also impressed by the skits that they had at Masquerade and was cool to see my anime club friends put together a skit. When I debuted my art book variation of Lelouch's Emperor cosplay, it was a smash hit! I was talking to another CLAMP cosplayer and I couldn't hold a conversation for three minutes before someone asked us for pictures. All in all, a very fun convention.

Next up is Fanime. Last year, Fanime was my favorite con I had gone to EVER because of FLOW. This year, I was even more impressed. I had about a dozen costumes this time, plus they had a combined FLOW and Yuya Matsushita concert. We also got an interview with an author of an anime book, the name eludes me right now, about where he talks about the evolution of how anime and characters are portrayed. We mentioned how since five year's ago, there has been an increase of the 'moe' genre and girls are increasingly portrayed as such instead of being the 'cool' type that, let's say, Major Kusanagi is portrayed. Also at this con, I probably ran more gatherings here than any other time. I ran Code Geass, helped to do CLAMP and Persona, Key, Tales of, Hetalia, Touhou, and a few others. But the concert, the Masquerade and the Black and White dance was amazing! I was lucky to be asked to go backstage and take photos of the groups before they went on stage and the skits were overall very impressive! I was thinking to myself there was no way that AX could beat out Fanime this year.

Last con up is the big one: Anime Expo. After what happened last year, I really was not expecting much out of this convention actually, but boy was I wrong. From the very first day I walked in to get my badge on Day 1, I had a great time. I was surprised at the lengths the staff and AX went to really turn it around from last year. The staff for instance was very polite and helpful, they finally added a cosplay repair station which I was very grateful for. They even added carpet on the floor of the Exhibit Hall! While that may not seen like much, when you're walking around in cosplay on concrete for a few hours, it feels really nice to know that there's carpet underneath your feet. Again there was so much going on, I did so many different costumes, gatherings, and events. My favorite though I think was the Miku concert and the Masquerade. It was my first time doing Masquerade and it was amazing, to be able to go on stage and perform, even as a stage ninja, was awesome. The last thing I did on Day 4, was the interview with Mario Bueno. It was arguably my best interview I did for the blog since I joined, and Matt was also really impressed.

All in all, I have to say that even though I didn't go to as many conventions, the ones that I did go to made it the best year of conventions I have been to. I look forward to the coming year and in a few days, Anime LA.

This is Rukazu signing out!