Fanime 2012
10/2/2012
This report will probably be a bit shorter than the rest, largely because I'm writing this more than 4 months after the con. Oops. Honestly, part of the delay was intentional. I didn't have a very good time at Fanime this year, and it makes me sad to admit it. In the past, Fanime has been THE con. The con where everything is laid back and everyone has a good time no matter what. This year though, a lot seemed to go wrong. Lets start with the bad: One of the major sources of frustration stemmed from the construction that was being done to a massive portion of the convention center and the surrounding area. This forced Fanime's huge attendance into an even smaller space, causing insane crowding. "Wandering" was no longer an option, as you couldn't walk more than 3 steps without bumping into someone. This also affected photoshoots because, with so many people around, it was difficult to find an open area to shoot. We walked away with VERY few photos from the con, which is unheard of at Fanime because it is always swimming with talented photographers. Similarly, our hotel room was equally crowded. We were unable to book a suite this year (they were sold out immediately) and were forced to stuff too many people into our small rooms. People inside, people outside - it seemed like there was no room to breathe! We also had some cosplay-related stress. We planned a big Kuroshitsuji cosplay group for the con, which proved to be a big challenge for all of us especially Kayla, who was responsible for making 4 of the costumes. They were difficult designs to execute and I think that the large amount of stress leading up to the con put unnecessary pressure on everyone involved. We struggled a lot at the con, especially when it came to getting into costume. Even though we allowed ourselves hours to get into costume, we were still very late for judging, which was unprofessional and put us all on edge. After that, we only had a very short amount of time to get photos together before the masquerade. It was very disappointing to walk away with so few photos of our group, knowing how much work went into all of the costumes and the fact that we would never have the full group together again. That seemed to be a common theme at Fanime: RUSHING RUSHING RUSHING and trying our best but coming away feeling largely unsatisfied, with very little to show for our efforts. There were definitely some good parts of Fanime though. For one, I got to be part of a full Madoka Magica group! Madoka is one of my favorite series and it was so amazing to get to cosplay with so many talented girls, even though our time together was relatively short. That group reminded me how much more fulfilling it is to cosplay a character that I love, from a series that I love. To be able to do that with a group that feels the same way is fantastic. We make a brief appearance in Ackson's video here at 1:18: Also, despite the hardships leading up to the skit, performing the circus skit was basically a dream come true for me. I have always wanted to do something big and flashy, similar to a musical number, and we found that ideal blended well with a circus theme. We put a LOT of hours into this skit. In the end, we walked away with nothing (though Kayla and I won craftsmanship awards) and later found out that the judges disliked literally EVERYTHING about it, from the set to the choreography. HOWEVER - I still love this skit. Even though it required a ton of work, we had so much fun rehearsing and pulling it all together. I love that we stepped outside our comfort zone and attempted something different. In the end, I wouldn't change a thing. Lesson learnt: Here's a quick look at some of the behind the scenes footage: I also wore Chell, Rue and (briefly) Jessie, though, much like the rest of the con, the events just sort of passed in a daze, without any real high or low points. In general, I think the bad outweighed the good this year, though only by a margin. I have to say that if construction at Fanime continues through 2013, I may not attend next year and just use the money to visit my friends outside of the con. We will see what 2013 brings!
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Photos from the Con
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