Sakuracon 2011
6/16/2012
As usual, I had a great time at Sakuracon this year. Sakuracon has been my home-away-from-home con for the past 5 years but I'm sad to say I won’t be returning next year. It’s a fun con but I’m ready to branch out and try something new, namely Katsucon. However, this was a great way to say goodbye, as everything went smoothly, the weather was gorgeous and we finally made it to the Cheesecake Factory! The con started exceptionally early this year because I flew to Portland before the con to visit Kayla, Mandy and Krystal. I had never been to Oregon and was excited to see everyone and their new apartments! I’m glad I was able to experience it because Oregon is really gorgeous. The trees and hills go on for days, which is borderline trippy for someone like me, who is not used to seeing hills, period. Portland was really cool though not quite what I was expecting. I think this is largely due to the fact that we just drove through the city and didn’t experience the “culture”, which is what it’s known for. I’ll definitely have to go back again. Hanging out pre-con was really nice, especially since Kayla and I were essentially done with our costumes (though we didn’t see much of Krystal, who was still working). We watched Megamind and ran lots of errands, including going to ROSS, which was definitely a highlight. The day before the con, Chris, Rey and Alicia stayed at Kayla’s as well and we ate donuts and played Dance Central. For some reason, my allergies were horrible and I was doped up on Benadryl and taking shots of my inhaler every hour. Chris’ allergies were acting up as well so we suffered together - hoooray! Thursday We woke up, packed the car, and went to get bagels. We went to the grocery store and puttered around for a bit, waiting for Krystal to finish packing. In the end, the car was crowded but we all managed to fit, which was nothing less than a miracle. However, I had a bad headache (I call it my allergy hangover) so the drive wasn’t too pleasant. To make things worse, we had to turn around half an hour into our drive because one of the costume pieces was left at home. Once we were finally on the road though, I started to feel better and the rest of the ride was fine. Burgerville helped. We got to the con later than expected (obviously) but quickly met up with Morten, who is one of the photographers/representatives of the WCS Danish team. It was really cool to see him again! We all dropped our stuff off in the room and went to get our badges. Afterward, we went to Gameworks and played games and hung out for a large portion of the night. Friday Krystal and I wore our Princess Tutu costumes on Friday morning. It was a weird experience wearing the costumes again, since they FELT like new costumes, though most of the “new costume excitement” had already worn off. However, it was wonderful wearing the dress again, especially since it wasn’t 100 degrees like it was in Nagoya. We got some really beautiful photos from Morten and took about a million more from various photographers so I think I’m set for life. After a few hours, I had to change because the weight of my skirt started to hurt my back. I give major props to people like Cupcake Cosplay who make/wear many large dresses often because it’s definitely not easy! Then Krystal and I changed into Lizzie and Ciel from Kuroshitsuji. We were originally hoping to finish these costumes for Anime Matsuri, though they got pushed back when we couldn’t finish in time. We both put a lot of work into these costumes but in the end, there are things that bother us about both of our costumes. I am unhappy with the fit of my bodice, which is nicely made but just doesn’t FIT. Also, several of the pearls on my bow cookie fell off almost immediately so that will have to be repaired in the future. However, there are certain parts I love about the costume – the cake hat, the wig, the skirt, the bizarre prints, etc. We changed out of costume and went to a Thai restaurant for dinner. After that was skit rehearsal. This year we decided to practice in the large open space on the 2nd floor of the hotel instead of dragging all of our stuff over to the convention center. Somehow, in 5 years this thought had never occurred to us but it was a perfect space to practice! As usual, practice was hilarious and we finished earlier than usual. Saturday We woke up early for the skit contest and made it to the holding area ON TIME! The skit went really well and we got a great response, so we were pleased. However, I want to take a moment to talk about the competition in general. Now, you guys know I don't complain about this kind of stuff very often. In the 5 years I’ve performed at Sakuracon, the experience has been mostly positive. The masquerade has matured for the better over time (despite its crummy Saturday morning timeslot) but this year the whole structure was thrown aside as the new coordinators attempted to reinvent the wheel. First, the cosplay competition was split into 2 parts: skit and craftsmanship. Cosplayers were permitted to compete in both on the condition that they were willing to give up their entire Saturday to compete in 2 separate contests. We decided to compete in the skit portion only, which is significantly more enjoyable for us anyway. This was a good choice, as the craftsmanship contest was weighed down with RIDICULOUS rules, including (but not limited to) “the cosplayer must bring their costume to judging on a hanger” and “each cosplayer must provide 10 reference images”. Also, the judges were reportedly horrific; they were patronizing, insulting, and (as a friend reported) flung delicate costume pieces aside without caution.
Unfortunately, the skit contest was not spared from the crazy rule revisions and the category qualifiers became extremely skewed. By Sakuracon’s logic, we should have competed as novices. We didn’t, though at the end of the day, there were at least 20 Novice groups, 10-12 Intermediates, and a whopping 4 Master groups. The contest was extremely long and slow paced (with NO half-time show) and at the end of the day, 4 awards were distributed – no judges awards, honorable mentions, etc. I feel like the new department has taken the contest(s) 10 convoluted steps backwards. I appreciate that they wanted to try something new but don’t fix something that isn’t broken. I express caution to anyone planning to enter, especially the craftsmanship contest. Anyway, after the skits, we went outside for some fun Hetalia times. I was shocked that LOTS of people seemed to love Sealand. For those of you are unfamiliar with Hetalia, he is a one-episode character. (PS: Hetalia episodes are 5 minutes long.) I've watched Hetalia and even I don’t understand why he is so popular! Anyway, we took some photos and walked around for a bit before going back to the hotel to change for the Cheesecake Factory! Instead of making us sleepy, the onslaught of heavy food gave us boundless energy and we (Mandy and I especially) turned into loud, giggly morons. We all hung out in the hotel for a while then changed into our Dance Central costumes. We walked over to the convention center and stood in the lobby and danced awkwardly in place while we waited for Mandy to join us. The “dancing” somehow drew a crowd and we pathetically tried to replicate the Dance Central moves we knew. We finally found Mandy and just walked around. I was so surprised that people recognized us! We were all bummed that they didn’t have Dance Central in the game room though. We wanted to go to the rave but, once we found out that no photos were allowed in the rave, went back to the room to change. We never made it back to the con though and just hung out in the room instead. The room is a death trap for us, seriously – I don’t think we are capable of going back to the room without sitting around for 1+ hour(s). When I first started cosplaying, I didn’t want to waste a single MOMENT in the room but now I cherish the downtime. I think I’m getting old. Sunday Sunday was the usual – wake up, get dressed, bring luggage downstairs, dealers’ room, take the shuttle to the airport, fly home. Thanks for the years of great memories, Sakuracon!
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