10 Years of the California Conventions Blog, Part 2 - FanimeCon 2007, Part 2

That feel when you arrived at the Gay Bar (Screencap: YouTube/acparadise)

DAY THREE

If you asked anyone who has gone to FanimeCon, or any four-day convention for that reason, they will tell you that the busiest day is always Day Three - Sunday. That's because all the remaining "major events" occur including Masquerade and the Gong Show as well as one last chance of displaying your cosplay since, to be honest, no one really cares about Monday. 

Like Saturday, my morning began at the Starbucks over at the Hilton. It's true that Starbucks located in hotels or convention centers (like SacAnime's Starbucks) are higher-priced than a standard Starbucks, but to not have to walk to one outweighs the extra costs.

My memory is a bit hazy until noon when I decided to attend/cover the Bleach, Haruhi Suzumiya, and the second Ouran High School Host Club gatherings while helping BSahpire, who I was getting to know from all the FanimeCons and SacAnimes I've been attending, with cosplay things.

For me, Sunday was my day because I was going to do my first ever professional photo shoot with a gentleman named Darkin. I paid him the $20 fee for the photo shoot, then we walked around the convention center and across the street to the Crowne Plaza. While this was years before I decided to actually cosplay as Mori and I was still in my phase of "OC cosplay," I liked the photos that came out and would prepare me for photo shoots with more cosplay down the road.

Back at the convention center I got a bite to eat at the Marriott before dipping my feet into the Charity Auction for the first time. For everything that I have bidded on over the years, I actually went home empty-handed, allowing a fully-signed hand-forged FanimeCon katana - the same one I bought that year - to get past me with the final bid of $200.

Me and Tom decided to check out the Masquerade, which was taking place at the Center for Performing Arts, the one and only time that I attended a Masquerade at that particular location as later years it would be over at the City National Civic. However, Tom left halfway through because his mom was picking him up back at the hotel. Unlike the Masquerades that I experienced up to this point, this was the first time of attending a big-time Masquerade, where everyone pulls out the stops to show off their cosplay, entertain the audience, and maybe win an award or two - or just have fun.

And this skit was no different.

And being that this was my first ever FanimeCon, I might as well make a good first impression, right?

Then the phrase that would define my legacy was uttered out of my mouth:

"I went there!"...to Ouran Private Academy, not the gay bar.

When the MC notices you for all the wrong reasons (Screencap: YouTube/acparadise)

I don't anyone knew in the immediate aftermath that it was me who had yelled that out, but eventually people found out...well, I told people that.

To round out the night, I ate over at Original Joe's, a Italian restaurant I then considered to be the spot to hit up during FanimeCon, before heading over to Yaoi Let's Make A Deal. By this point I was complete broke and didn't want to pay a credit card surcharge to buy tickets, but this couple was kind enough to buy two tickets for me although none of us won. Ironically, the one time that I decided to stop, sit for a bit, and watch anime in a viewing room, I was watching Ouran High School Host Club, if this convention wouldn't come full circle. I started with Ouran, defined my legacy through Ouran, and finished with Ouran.

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DAY FOUR

It is now Memorial Day and while I wished I could stay at FanimeCon forever, I had to pack up and head on home. I made one last stop to go shopping at the Dealer's Hall and pick up my katana pre-order. Usually I would stay around until the evening on Monday but I found myself back home around 12:30pm, approximately away for four days and one hour.

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CLOSING THOUGHTS

As we approach ten years since my first FanimeCon and writing for this blog, I mentioned a little bit about the early years of this convention in my perspectives piece for my 2014 report, about how prior to this convention I only knew about small conventions ran in a mall or at legion hall and it became a shocker when I set foot on the grounds of the San Jose Convention Center, that everything was bigger, more expansive, and more variety when it came to the cosplay.

I think at some point I would of went to FanimeCon since I started doing research on that convention since the days of its move to the San Jose Convention Center and had the convention on my list but how the convention played out over the course of those four days ten years ago, even with all my knowledge of conventions & cosplay I wouldn't have it either way.

I now leave you with a video of Sauske being arrested by Racoon City Police (from the Resident Evil franchise), which is actually a parody of an actual Sauske cosplayer being arrested for shoplifting the year before.