So... my first anime convention (JTAF)
POSTED AT 11:34 PM in General
Hmm, a review of the different elements of today.
Cousin: Last minute notices (2 days actually) don't work out well =/
So my cousin said he was coming to visit a friend and see if we could meet up for a bit before he leaves for college next week.
In order to do that, I waited until 11 and was about to give up because he didn't call me and I couldn't reach him (cell phone crutch! It's only as good as your ability to notice it ringing!). Finally managed to get through. Decided let's just meet at Japantown instead at 2:30. Stuff happen, I leave what I was doing to look for them. Not there. Wait 20 minutes, call, no pick up (again with your cell phone people!). Wait another 20 minutes, call, finally picked up and they'd finally arrived. So the girl was one Jennifer who's I think the VP of the undergrad Taiwanese club here. She's also a Junior so I thought it was weird for him to know her. But apparently she'd also gone to ISB earlier, so that's where he'd known her from (but she's +3 years to him). That brings me to the other thing, but I think they were holding hands when I first saw them. Or maybe that was my imagination. But they were walking pretty closely the entire time. Anyway, the circumstances of today made it feel to both of us as if we were intruding on each others plans, so it was generally pretty awkward. So we actually ended up separating after about another 15 minutes. =/
My cousin wasn't the only person competing for my time either. The students I'm TAing actually also wanted me to go to Fisherman's Wharf with them today, well one of them anyway. But she was really interested in the "famous" soup in a bowl. I told her that Fisherman's Wharf wasn't the only location, and there was one close by (the same one I mentioned that I went to when I was sick and really wanting hot clam chowder in a bowl only to find it was closed). Apparently she contacted me again today anyway on IM, although it might've been to ask The TA some questions about homework.
Ok, so about the convention: After I arrived, I wasted about 15 minutes looking for the registration place because I didn't notice they'd changed the location in the 2nd confirmation email. So by the time I was nice and ready it was 12, 2 hours later than I had originally planned (aka 2 hours after it had started). Then it seems like right after I register, they place a sign pointing to the registration area. =/ Before this, their main website had disappeared for a week. I'm assuming that's just the way it is with smaller conventions that probably can't get a ton of volunteers.
Tabletop and Gaming Room: One of the first places I went to actually, and spent a significant chunk of the day here. Pretty much dominated by console gaming. Some guy tried to start a game of Munchkin at the beginning but I wasn't interested. Naruto looked interesting, and people were playing Melty Blood earlier which piqued my interest a bit. Didn't play anything in here though.
Live Music room: Where I spent most of the day by far. I heard Gen Taiko from outside the room when I first arrived. Caught the tale end of Shogunate which was pretty much hip-hop stuff. Akai Sky did covers, which was great when I knew the song. Left early and skipped Stephanie Yanez with SLY to meet my cousin. Random Ninjas is when I came back. They had a nice mock fight sequence with four people done to live Naruto BGM music. They had quite a bit of fans already. I ended up buying a demo CD. Not sure if it was worth it as it was only a demo CD, but I didn't notice it until later. Neko Punch was cute... sort of like Random Ninjas but more inexperienced. The vocalist tended to be drowned out by the music, so I couldn't tell what she was singing. I noticed earplugs and that's when I remembered that I could make them with some tissue so the rest of the day I was able to sit much closer. It would've really helped with Random Ninjas though as I did feel some hearing loss standing close to watch the fight sequence. Quarter Circle Jab was mainly game music, most of which I didn't recognize for some reason. They had... a lot of kinetic energy. Mari Iijima was the "big shot" of the day. She's the voice actress for the original Macross's Lynn Minmay. I dunno, only really liked her last song, and from what I overheard, some others felt the same. She felt really out of place though, as she gives off a somewhat "corporate" vibe. She was using recorded music for the missing band members (she was here by herself unlike all the other bands). She was also talking about videos of her on Youtube, how people were saying she talks too much (so she's trying to talk less), which was fine. But then she said her kids were saying high view count on Youtube = good so she's popular, but her reactions are more mixed and talking about the videos not being authorized. That word immediately conjured up thoughts of RIAA BS. Oh, and seems like all her songs are about love.
Dealer room: Small, crowded. $4 Fate/Stay Night playing cards was the only thing that grabbed my interest really. Didn't buy anything though.
Artist Alley/Swap Meet: Some of the artists did have really nice drawings, but... eh, it'll probably just get damaged with my messy nature, especially when I next need to move. Now, if they were in a book form, I might be more interested. I did buy a convention T-shirt though, as a sort of souvenir to state that I finally went to an anime convention.
Panel Room: Empty most of the day, will probably have more stuff tomorrow since the Hotel area is closed.
Video Room: Interesting, but never sat down long enough to really watch anything. Wanted to watch Death Trance but they couldn't get the dubbing off.
Cosplayers: Mostly Naruto and Bleach. Some look pretty good. There was also a cute Haruhi. Too bad there weren't any Rozen Maidens though.
Food: Andersen's Bakery for lunch, Pesto bread was nice, the bottle of water was overpriced as heck. Dinner I ate at Sophie's Crepes. The chicken salad crepe was tasty but I finished it too fast. Then I went to this Japanese convenience store that I've been to several times with Xia when we came to Japantown to get a cheap bottle of water.
Bus: Going there was fine. Coming back was nice. Xia made a comment in the past when we were on a crowded bus that they weren't nearly as crowded as the buses in China. They were today. Apparently the bus was the first bus in a very long time, so it was completely packed. I actually had to push a bit as the bus driver was refusing to take off until people were squeezed back enough.
Tomorrow's main event is the Cosplay Contest and it's only half as long as today. Makes me wish I had a good camera actually. Also, seeing all the groups of people together... remember what I said several days ago about not having friends who share my interests? To some extent, coming to the convention was for myself, and it's nice to have the freedom to do anything, but it's still sad that there's nobody to share the experience with. And of course, the whole hotel experience with friends. After a day of doing whatever, retiring to rooms to play some games and joke around for a while. Although the thing with that is that usually costs quite a bit (to need a hotel room means a lot of traveling).
Currently feeling tired but a little hyper
Cousin: Last minute notices (2 days actually) don't work out well =/
So my cousin said he was coming to visit a friend and see if we could meet up for a bit before he leaves for college next week.
In order to do that, I waited until 11 and was about to give up because he didn't call me and I couldn't reach him (cell phone crutch! It's only as good as your ability to notice it ringing!). Finally managed to get through. Decided let's just meet at Japantown instead at 2:30. Stuff happen, I leave what I was doing to look for them. Not there. Wait 20 minutes, call, no pick up (again with your cell phone people!). Wait another 20 minutes, call, finally picked up and they'd finally arrived. So the girl was one Jennifer who's I think the VP of the undergrad Taiwanese club here. She's also a Junior so I thought it was weird for him to know her. But apparently she'd also gone to ISB earlier, so that's where he'd known her from (but she's +3 years to him). That brings me to the other thing, but I think they were holding hands when I first saw them. Or maybe that was my imagination. But they were walking pretty closely the entire time. Anyway, the circumstances of today made it feel to both of us as if we were intruding on each others plans, so it was generally pretty awkward. So we actually ended up separating after about another 15 minutes. =/
My cousin wasn't the only person competing for my time either. The students I'm TAing actually also wanted me to go to Fisherman's Wharf with them today, well one of them anyway. But she was really interested in the "famous" soup in a bowl. I told her that Fisherman's Wharf wasn't the only location, and there was one close by (the same one I mentioned that I went to when I was sick and really wanting hot clam chowder in a bowl only to find it was closed). Apparently she contacted me again today anyway on IM, although it might've been to ask The TA some questions about homework.
Ok, so about the convention: After I arrived, I wasted about 15 minutes looking for the registration place because I didn't notice they'd changed the location in the 2nd confirmation email. So by the time I was nice and ready it was 12, 2 hours later than I had originally planned (aka 2 hours after it had started). Then it seems like right after I register, they place a sign pointing to the registration area. =/ Before this, their main website had disappeared for a week. I'm assuming that's just the way it is with smaller conventions that probably can't get a ton of volunteers.
Tabletop and Gaming Room: One of the first places I went to actually, and spent a significant chunk of the day here. Pretty much dominated by console gaming. Some guy tried to start a game of Munchkin at the beginning but I wasn't interested. Naruto looked interesting, and people were playing Melty Blood earlier which piqued my interest a bit. Didn't play anything in here though.
Live Music room: Where I spent most of the day by far. I heard Gen Taiko from outside the room when I first arrived. Caught the tale end of Shogunate which was pretty much hip-hop stuff. Akai Sky did covers, which was great when I knew the song. Left early and skipped Stephanie Yanez with SLY to meet my cousin. Random Ninjas is when I came back. They had a nice mock fight sequence with four people done to live Naruto BGM music. They had quite a bit of fans already. I ended up buying a demo CD. Not sure if it was worth it as it was only a demo CD, but I didn't notice it until later. Neko Punch was cute... sort of like Random Ninjas but more inexperienced. The vocalist tended to be drowned out by the music, so I couldn't tell what she was singing. I noticed earplugs and that's when I remembered that I could make them with some tissue so the rest of the day I was able to sit much closer. It would've really helped with Random Ninjas though as I did feel some hearing loss standing close to watch the fight sequence. Quarter Circle Jab was mainly game music, most of which I didn't recognize for some reason. They had... a lot of kinetic energy. Mari Iijima was the "big shot" of the day. She's the voice actress for the original Macross's Lynn Minmay. I dunno, only really liked her last song, and from what I overheard, some others felt the same. She felt really out of place though, as she gives off a somewhat "corporate" vibe. She was using recorded music for the missing band members (she was here by herself unlike all the other bands). She was also talking about videos of her on Youtube, how people were saying she talks too much (so she's trying to talk less), which was fine. But then she said her kids were saying high view count on Youtube = good so she's popular, but her reactions are more mixed and talking about the videos not being authorized. That word immediately conjured up thoughts of RIAA BS. Oh, and seems like all her songs are about love.
Dealer room: Small, crowded. $4 Fate/Stay Night playing cards was the only thing that grabbed my interest really. Didn't buy anything though.
Artist Alley/Swap Meet: Some of the artists did have really nice drawings, but... eh, it'll probably just get damaged with my messy nature, especially when I next need to move. Now, if they were in a book form, I might be more interested. I did buy a convention T-shirt though, as a sort of souvenir to state that I finally went to an anime convention.
Panel Room: Empty most of the day, will probably have more stuff tomorrow since the Hotel area is closed.
Video Room: Interesting, but never sat down long enough to really watch anything. Wanted to watch Death Trance but they couldn't get the dubbing off.
Cosplayers: Mostly Naruto and Bleach. Some look pretty good. There was also a cute Haruhi. Too bad there weren't any Rozen Maidens though.
Food: Andersen's Bakery for lunch, Pesto bread was nice, the bottle of water was overpriced as heck. Dinner I ate at Sophie's Crepes. The chicken salad crepe was tasty but I finished it too fast. Then I went to this Japanese convenience store that I've been to several times with Xia when we came to Japantown to get a cheap bottle of water.
Bus: Going there was fine. Coming back was nice. Xia made a comment in the past when we were on a crowded bus that they weren't nearly as crowded as the buses in China. They were today. Apparently the bus was the first bus in a very long time, so it was completely packed. I actually had to push a bit as the bus driver was refusing to take off until people were squeezed back enough.
Tomorrow's main event is the Cosplay Contest and it's only half as long as today. Makes me wish I had a good camera actually. Also, seeing all the groups of people together... remember what I said several days ago about not having friends who share my interests? To some extent, coming to the convention was for myself, and it's nice to have the freedom to do anything, but it's still sad that there's nobody to share the experience with. And of course, the whole hotel experience with friends. After a day of doing whatever, retiring to rooms to play some games and joke around for a while. Although the thing with that is that usually costs quite a bit (to need a hotel room means a lot of traveling).
Currently feeling tired but a little hyper
Give me a wai!
