2012 Anime Conventions

[AltruisticCrono]

Big List of Anime Cons

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Midwest Gaming Classic, Mar 24 Sat in Brookfield, WI
Kitsune Kon, March 30th - April 1 in Appleton, WI
Anime St. Louis, April 20-22 in Collinsville, IL
ACEN (Anime Central), April 27-29 in Rosemont, IL

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Select all options that apply, but only ones you'd consider attending. This is to gauge general interest to let us preregister and get hotels. You can retract/update your vote as well.

Midwest Gaming Classic is a trade show with limited panels/discussions and the dealer's room is the main draw with mostly vintage/collectible/rare electronics, media, and video games. We'll only be attending on Saturday and travel back the same day. Random boxes of SNES and Genesis games for $2 might interest some people.

I spent $100 last year with a respectable haul (ok, it was a CRAZY haul. You can bargin with people and I saved at least $20 asking to lower the price).

[ArchangelZero]

This will be a little tricky for me, since I'll be going back to college this spring. But should I have the time, I've voted above!

[Seority]

I've thought about it and money-wise, I can't do Anime Milwaukee, nor ACEN even though I really want to return. I want to spend my time and money at Kitsune since most people are going to that. Plans may change depending on what happens, (having school in the mix) but for now, I'm going to say my only vote, for now, is Kitsune. ^^ You all should go to the cons you want, obviously, but just know that the smaller amount of people go, the higher it will cost to be there (splitting rooms/car rides and what not).

Something I wanted to bring up is what to do before our next regular con Geek-Kon, which is in September? I have yet another list of cons we could go to during this summer down time. ^^
No-Brand Con - May 4-6, 2012
One of the sister cons to Daisho and Kitsune. It's held in Eau Claire so it's a quick drive. Being another small con won't be pushing our purses too much. Among the usuals of cons with screen rooms, vender rooms, and so on, there is apparently a No Mercy room, where hideous movies are played all con and are there for all to MST comment on. This is probably a highlight for us!
AniMinneapolis - Jun 29 - Jul 1, 2012
Apparently this is held in the same Ramada that Anime Detour used to be held in. We can come back to the hotel for nostalgia purposes but stay from the new adventures to be had! The website states nothing more then your usual run-of-the-mill con, aside from the fact that it's right next to the Mall of America. Guess that's pretty cool!
Wasusaubi Con - July 27-29, 2012
Another recently new con that is like our fellow Daisho and Kitsune cons being small and in our area. This will be it's second year up. We have had comments saying it was nothing special last year, but maybe having all of us there, we will rock the best out of it!

Again, this isn't like "You only pick one!" just pick what you think you could attend, since it's totally possible to attend all these!
Sorry if I'm going to forward with cons and what-not. I'm a big planner person. ^^;;

[AltruisticCrono]

Sounds like there might be a few going to NoBrand this year. And SK is heading to Anime Milwaukee, February 17-19.

In case anybody really wanted ACen, I did have an overflow hotel booked that shuttles to the convention center. If nobody decides to go, I'll simply just cancel it before any evil fees occur.

So anybody fancy the new cons? Vamos a muchos de grande gato de Taco Bell? Big con season? Little con season? ...Or just waiting to see who attends what? Coach?

[galvon]

WausaubiCon is advertising that Andrew Love and his wife Emily Neves (Love) will be there. They have been in several of my favorite animes together such as Angel Beats!, H.O.T.D., and Clannad. He has been in a lot more than she has being in more of my favorites such as Best Student Council, Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid, and Guyver: The Bio-boosted Armor. Sounds like one I would attend. Even though haven't seen it yet, for those interested, they are also both in Halo: Legends

[whicker]

Yeah I'm thinking that since Daishocon is again going to be at the Kalahari, that we should somehow make a presence at the con that is closest to DZX Headquarters and give it some support.

Although that Raccoon gives me nightmares... {{shudder}}


Oh and guys. Guys! (and gals). WOW WAS Midwest Gaming Classic awesome this year. (minus the Japanese guy with his rare wares from abroad who was supposed to be there but couldn't be and disappointed me). Some of the same vendors who run the anime con circuit were also there... Including the wonderful artist of my Mario 3 poster.

The hotel was Midwest Gaming Classic was the hotel. No seriously. This is the best scenario for all involved because it cuts down on annoyances like "keep that bleeping NES down, I'm trying to sleep" to be like "Wow, that bleeping NES you were blaring last night made me sleep with a smile". This is all hypothetical because I've never spent the night there, but maybe I should next year.

Insane. 2011 must have been a down year. I have never seen so many working arcade machines brought in for one weekend. Yes they cost a quarter. (one coin = one credit). But yes it was only a quarter like you remember, and quarters aren't worth so much now (maybe like the equivalent of 12 cents in 1990). Would you play double dragon in 1990 for 12 cents? I know I would.

$1 Playstation memory cards from a wonderful Canadian person who reminded me of John Candy. It was hilarious: "I know you guys came up here for video games, but I came down here to drink beer. Because beer is expensive in Canada... and f** ebay. I want you to buy this and that." I think david even mentioned shower curtain rings when we walked away.

Beer is cripplingly expensive in Canada. The more you know.

[Seority]

It's 2AM in the morning and I have finals to do, but instead I'll bring you a lovely review on NoBrand Con that Sephy and I attended.
(Guess I'll make a simple list.)

• Size
  For being a small con, it has a decent number of people. It was never too crowded (aside from the rave) nor was it ever barren. There was plenty of room at all the panels I attended, and it was never hard to get from place to place. The actual size of the con was probably a bit smaller then Daisho's last year for comparison.

• Layout
  The layout of the hotel, to me, was great for what they had to work with. Every thing was spaced out accordingly. They had the two most populated areas (the vendor room and the game room) on opposite ends to avoid overcrowding with everything else in-between. There were multiple paths to take to get to rooms which helped flow of hallway traffic. I enjoyed this more spread out layout. NoBrand is a lot like how Daisho was at Stevens Point, unlike how it was at the Kalahari. In the hotel, things were layout so there was decent space in-between rooms and things seemed more cozy. You could continually walk around the con and view things as you go. At the Kalahari, even though the place was bigger, things were more cluttered together and you couldn't really walk around the con, since the entire thing was in an L shape.

• Panels
  From the panels I went to, they were... so-so. In my own opinion, small con panels fall short to larger convention panels. This mainly because they let anyone run anything they wish really, so only the favored ones like the Cosplay Contest or AMV were really popular. To me, from the ones I went to, I believe I could of done a way better job of hosting the panel, even if I had no idea on the subject. Only one I can mildly object to was the Manly Men of Anime one, which the guy hosting was decent and knew of a lot of animes, which I don't. As usual, I didn't attend the Cosplay Contest, and since people leaving it where commenting Sephy on why he wasn't in it tells me exactly how little I missed. (No offense to Sephy and his Dante cosplay that I drool over, :X but I would only assume that people in those competitions would be a bit more professional with them, leaving the audience with a more "wow" factor then just simply walking out the door and complimenting someone else right away who wasn't even in the contest). Seph and I did attempt to view the AMV contest, but after 10mins we couldn't take it and had to leave. DZX Productions really needs to start showing these kids how to make a good AMV. *hint hint* One thing I'd like to point out was the No Mercy room. It's pretty much 24 hour "bad" movies panel room that played through out the night and it encouraged commenting just like Mystery Science Theater. I think it's a room built for us DZX people seeing as how that's a normal weekend for us anyway. This is where I experienced Hanzo, the Razor on laser disc (yes we had to flip) and if you ever want to chant "Beat that meat! F*** that rice!" with other people, then I suggest you visit it. It's a 18+ room so feel free to use any means of language you desire. I enjoyed staying up till 4 am tearing the crap out of generic anime that played.

• Vendors/Vendor Room
  The vendor room layout was quite odd comparing it to the usual con layout, but I actually really enjoyed it. Every vendor got their own little area that instead of only like one side, two tables long, they got a whole section to themselves, some even had 360 degrees of table space. Being a past vendor, this is an amazing thing to have, and to have all that space as a customer felt good as well. Nothing can touch ACENs vendor room, but for a small con, I'd say they have the best I've seen.

• Games/Game Room
  Game room was of decent size and they had games pre-loaded in most of their consoles. Lots more retro games+consoles compared to just a bunch of 360s and PS3s, which I really liked. They even had a smaller room devoted for old-school NES/Dreamcast/Atari games. Best thing they had there was a concession stand IN the room that sold 24 oz sodas for only a dollar. How cool right? On a personal note, I was sad that there was no Rock Band and they only had Guitar Hero on the tiniest TV they had, with the crappiest headsets I've seen. On the plus side, there was a good Pop N' Music setup that functioned correctly. Saw a few pro's play on it as well. Let's just say DDR pro's got nothing on using fingers, hands, arms AND elbows to hit all the necessary notes.

• Artists
  The layout for the artists was good but also bad. They were set up in the hallways throughout the con, which is not a bad idea because everyone has to walk by them to get to the big rooms, but this was bad because some of them had prime spots, like directly in front of the main rooms, while others where off in a separate hallway that no one really needed to go down. If I was an artist, that would upset me easily since I would have to pay a lot to be there. As for the actual selection of artist, it was about the same mass that goes to Daisho every year. There weren't any plushie or bead portrait artists there, which are the only ones I normally look at. There was a booth open that did fix ups for cosplays which I thought was interesting.

• Dance/Rave
  We have a funny story with the rave. Shortly after Seph and I arrived, there was a technical problem that stopped the rave. We left and came back after a bit, and as soon as we walked in, the rave started up again. It made us both chuckle a bit.
  We didn't stay at the rave for much longer then an hour. The actual rave itself wasn't bad. I've been to better (obviously) but I enjoy nitpicking everything I can. The DJ played more rave heavy songs rather then ones we know and gave them a rave beat. I didn't mind that much, but he put in his own "build-ups" too often and they ran for longer then I liked. Also something that couldn't be controlled, but the damn "conga trains" that happen annoy the hell out of me in general, and this one seemed to just go back and forth like Centipede right behind me. I was constantly getting pushed and almost fell over a few times. Other then those things, the room they had the rave in was decent sized, but really needed to be bigger. There was very little personal room to be had there. There was also NO ventilation. No fans going in nor out, and no water coolers near by. That meant extreme heat and smell. For the hour we were there, we got extremely sweaty and tired. The music was good, and we still enjoyed ourselves, even with the technical difficulties, but they should really improve it next year.

• Hotel/Surrounding Area
  The hotel itself was quite spacious and the con was hosted right underneath so it was very optimal to get to your room then back to the con in little time. There was also free breakfast buffet (yummy btw) and a lunch/dinner concession stand they had that sold pizza, hot dogs, soda, tacos, etc. and it was right near the main rooms. Don't forget the bar that was in the middle of the con as well. Seph and I never went, but it looked pretty decent. The pool area looked nice, and Seph and I attempted to go on multiple occasions, but the hot tub was always crowded and it closed at 11pm every night, so we never got a chance to try it out. There was a Walgreens right across the street as well as a Taco Bell, Wendys, and Starbucks near by. You could also order Toppers or Pizza Hut to be delievered to your room door if you felt lazy. The Walgreens and pizza alone make this hotel the best for cons.

• Extras
  Sephy and I got our cosplays photographed this year by these awesome people called the Enthusiasts. This was new for both of us and it was a lot of fun to do. The photographer there was a really awesome guy, and I want to get pics with them again just because of how friendly and professional they were.

Some photos they took for us:


Overall experience?
Good! No where near perfect, but what is really? For a small con, I'd say it was one of the better ones, and definitively worth the small amount we paid to be there. The hotel wasn't crowed and affordable as well. Will I visit again? I would say if more of us would go, then it surely could be! I suggest that if we host our own panels, partake in the AMV and/or cosplay competition, and frequently visit the No Mercy room, it would be one of the best cons of the year. Seeing as how Daisho is sticking the the Kalahari (not a good move in my book, but what do I know?) NoBrand may be a decent replacement. Sadly it's no where near when Daisho con is, and is around Kitsune's more.

A list of best to not-so-best for cons in the past few years for me.

[/b]
[4]Daisho Con 2011
[5]Kitsune Kon 2011
[/ul]

There is still AniMinneapolis coming up in July that we might attend, so that list may change.[/font][/size]

[AltruisticCrono]

AniMinneapolis and/or Wasusaubi Con does sound appealing.

Impressive convention review. That would of taken me a day to write. And action photo shoots for ultimate unlosing victory!

May 6, 2012 1:54:21 GMT -5 whicker said:

WOW WAS Midwest Gaming Classic awesome this year.

Truth! People must come next year. VIDEO GAMES took up an entire HOTEL... with basement!

[galvon]

I only made it to saturday. My main reason for going was to see the voice actors. I woke up early and got up there before registration had even opened not knowing what to expect. Also made sure I went to where autographs were being signed early, being a Trek Convention goer for years where there were HUGE lines all the time figuring might be the same. Sorry and elated to say there were no lines...matter of fact only myself and 5 others got autographs. Sorry because I felt bad at first that this being their first Anime Con to have such a small turn out. But elated because My daughter and I basically got to spend the entire day with them. During the autograph signing I had gotten mine first and then sat in the front row chairs and hit it off the bat with them. They were very friendly and great people and talking to them was as if we were a lot more than just stars/fans relation like you get with some of the bigger stars. Didn't end there though. It was outside having a cigarette, lunch, at their Q&A, more cigarettes, during a panel with them and others, in the lounge waiting for the cosplay contest to start, and then hugs on the way out the door after the contest as had to get my daughter home. They had me add them as friends on Facebook. Emily's B-Day was Sunday, so wished her one and then told them to have a safe trip home.
Basically only a couple hours of shopping and wandering around getting pics, so didn't get as many as I would have liked.
It seemed pretty small, not very many dealers to choose from. My daughter and I had gotten our "Anime" self portraits drawn by Studio O.N.Y. Also hung out with Ben Schultz a lot of the day. This guy is Hysterical.
I thought that it was fairly small, especially to Cons I was used to...until the cosplay contest started....then I was like...where were all these people? Most I guess were in the showing rooms which we didn't really go into because I had seen most all the animes they had on the list. It was still only around 700 people.

Winner of the cosplay contest...a Stormtrooper dancing dirty to I'm Sexy and I Know It.

Andrew and Emily actually enjoyed it being smaller for their first Anime Con (they have been to several Comicons) so they could see what to expect on a toned down level.

I was talking with the con runners as well....next year will not be at The Plaza...They said The Plaza doesn't really want them there and the feeling is kind of mutual, since most attendees want all nighters, especially the Rave Dancing and such that the hotel will not allow, so they are looking for somewhere to move to.

They are also looking for help pre-con and during con, which I thought I would mention here as how cool would it be for DZXProductions to be sponsors/co-runners/helpers whatever for a local convention, whether small or large.

So for myself I give the Con a thumbs up, because not only did I did I get want I mainly wanted which was to meet and get autographs of voice actors to some of my favorite animes, but spent almost the whole day with them talking about their work, weather, showing each others tattoos, comic books, movies, food, and even showing battle scars like how Emily and I both have scars from close encounters to losing an eye, and whatever else came to mind...but if I had just gone, got autographs and then tried to do other stuff, maybe if there were more friends, but otherwise the game room all good games were taken over, not much for dealers and way over priced for a lot of the stuff, and too many of the best attractions seemed to all be scheduled at the same time due to a last minute schedule made up because of lack of help pre-con. If it had more help, and more dealers and the less restrictions they are looking for in a different locale, it could be a much better con.

[whicker]

me, X, and Seority had also visited Wausaubicon the same day as you, galvon. (Saturday afternoon until 10 PM).

I'm probably guessing on who Andrew was, but we have a funny story if it was him: basically he had entered into the Brawl contest and confided to (Seority) while playing Mario Party with her that "he was hoping to get into 5th place". Anyways, it was really quite cute, because for once it was an attainable goal. (What I'm saying is that the brawl contests seem to always take the longest because that's what everyone signs up for).

so yeah, I guess since we've never been formally introduced galvon, I probably walked by you a bunch of times.

As for the gaming room, that's what actually drew us there, sponsored by Kitsunekon staff, with TV's donated from the other cons, and all that. I still can't believe X won the Mole Patrol contest, on the first try, having never played it before. Me, I might've gotten it, if not for those blasted pink ones... Basically my finger was already committed to the trigger even though I already screamed out not to do it milliseconds ahead of time. ~Trigger Control~.

Yeah the vendor room was sparse and overpriced... I can kind of understand why (they have to make it worth their while), but at the same time it was just too much.

Having missed the opening ceremonies, I didn't really notice the voice actors walking around.

The dance was kind of meh, but that's only because PEOPLE, you MUST SHARE THE GLOW. It feels so wrong to flail around without a glow stick.

Sorry to hear about the Cosplay Contest. The Portal 2 woman I saw in the gameroom was my pick to win (but was she even in the contest?) As a rule, I guess our "group" doesn't really get excited about Cosplay Contests, because it's like a beauty pageant. The results are pretty arbitrary. (not graded on effort put into costume, too much applause, brown-nosing to please the judges, the groaners, takes so much time, and preparation takes so much time away from the rest of the convention).

As for the Table Top gaming room, it also made the trip there worthwhile. Me and X had an epic game of "Battleship", and I learned a little bit more about Seority and her playing card skills. In the future such a room would be appealing to me, as before I thought it was completely Pokemon, Chess, and Magic: The Gathering. Didn't know about the other options.