FanimeCon 2013 Review

It's that time again, dear readers.
Yes, that's right. Another con review.

Let's get started, shall we?

I will apologize now for my tardiness arriving to the convention, as well as posting my review.

Originally, I was supposed to leave on day zero, but given the complication of original outfits I designed for a (not so secret) cosplay (now), it took my 'twin' a while to sew four cosplays together, by herself. So, I arrived evening of day one. 

I wasn't there for the registration fiasco, if it could be called that, this year. However, I was aware of the time changes for badge pick-up, specifically on day zero. Instead of mid day, usually starting at 3 pm, it started at seven at night, ending at ten pm. It was regular hours for the rest of con, except for the last day. 

Shuttles were provided by the city of San Jose. As much as con goers are grateful for this generous service, there were minimal problems this year. One, in particular, I experienced first hand. Now, I won't exactly blame San Jose itself, but this problem should be fixed before next year's con. There was a specific gathering I was hoping to attend. It started at one in the afternoon. I had to hurry dressing after arriving back from a panel. The Hetalia All Ages panel. To cut the story short, I missed the gathering because of the shuttle driver. She had taken the long way, not using the freeway. She was a trainee, and when she was asked why she didn't take the free way, she replied that she didn't know to take the free way to get to the convention faster. It was believed she was not driving anymore shuttles after this little incident, that I know of.
As stated in the previous paragraph, I hope the city of San Jose fixes this before the next con. We do not need a repeat of this. This, for me, was one of the many dislikes I've had for this convention. 

Entertainment was planned well. This included live games to karaoke, and even panels. Everything we organized well, as it usually is. However, even if there were problems, they'd be corrected as best as possible in a short amount of time. 

This should have been the last year for the the Hetalia 18+ panel. However, there was a somewhat large turnout, more audience members than expected, the panel may return for another year. This year, it was a bit more inappropriate, with more sexual questions from the audience and provocative attire from the panelists. A new rule was added. If a panelist refused a truth or dare, they had to either eat a black liquorice (salty) fish, or remove an article of clothing. An effective rule that made the audience laugh. Kelsey Chesnut (on Facebook) recorded and uploaded the panel videos on Youtube. You can find the video here: Hetalia 18+ Panel Part 1. Also, I have permission to post the link, via Facebook. 

Earlier that day, the Hetalia All Ages panel took place at ten in the morning. It was just as enertaining as the 18+ panel, just a bit more cleaner. The removal of clothing rule did not apply to this panel. However, panelists still had to eat the the nasty little black and salty fish candy. Footage of this panel can also be found Youtube. Just look up Fanime 2013 Hetalia All Ages panel for footage. 

With Fanime, comes the various cosplays. This year, it seemed as though more elaborate costumes were shown off. There were some impressive cosplays, more popular series like Adventure Time, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, and the combination of Supernatural, Dr. Who and Sherlock -- SuperWhoLock. Final Fantasy was pretty big this year. However, the biggest fandom that attended the con was Homestuck, the popular web comic by Andrew Hussie. Currently on hiatus, the fans are keeping themselves busy for a while until the game comes out, or Mr. Hussie updates again.

There are always pros and cons to everything. Conventions, included. One of the good things, I believe, was at con registration at the hotels. Where I stayed at, we could register there, instead of waiting in a line. This was an improvement, compared to last year. Also, the shuttles required no badge check. Another good thing. However, this could also be seen as a bad thing, as well. A place of rest and food was placed in, as it replaced where artist alley once was. The con was organized very well, as if there was a problem, it was fixed as soon as possible. The downside, I found that it was inconvenient that artist alley was moved to down the street. I honestly didn't know where it was until the shuttle incident. Also, the construction was extremely inconvenient. The space, if it wasn't there, could have been used for gathering space. More of it, if I were to be honest. However, according to the city of San Jose, the construction is to be completed before con next year.

In all honesty, I believe last year's con was better, but everyone is entitled to their own opinion. On a scale of one to five, five being the highest, I'd give it a four, at best. 

I cannot wait for next year's con. Hopefully, the problems that occurred this year are fixed, and improvements are  made. 

Until next convention.