Thursday, May 31, 2012

Fanime 2012 - May 24-28

Unfortunately I wasn't able to attend for the entire Fanime, however anyone interest in anime should go. I was only in San Jose where it was being held for May 25-27, when I first got to the convention center late Friday afternoon. This is where I found out that the waiting in line is the vary first event. That both the registered and unregistered are long and time consuming. Even though the registered line is longer, all you have to do there is show your proof of purchase with your ID. On the other hand even though the unregistered line doesn't wrap around the building like the registered line does, it feels as if you are standing still. The reason is that first thing is that you need to fill out this form online. Than after that you need to get in another line, which is a waiting line for a line. In the third line is where you pay for the type of pass you want, whether it be a one day pass or for the whole weekend. The Final line is where you get your badge and schedule for the Con.

Stage Zero

Is place in the center of the Fanime, to get to any of the other rooms you have to pass by here. During Fanime there are different thing going on here. When they have nothing to do they play some Japanese music videos here. Other times it works as an information booth where they tell what is going to be happen in the next couple hours. Also once the convention gets going they run some games here where you can win prizes. Some of the games that went on here is Jakenpo( Rock, Paper, Scissors) where once you win, the next thing is to hit the other person with a air-hammer to get a point. However the loser can prevent the winner from getting a point by putting the helmet on. There are other games such as quick-draw and dance-offs. Although the main attraction at Stage Zero is Fanimaid, where the maids from the Maid-Cafe come and dance at one O'clock before they open the cafe.

-Fanimaid Photo gallery-





Exhibit Halls

There are three Main locations at the convention the Artist Gallery, Market, and Game Center. In Hall one there where quite a few booths set-up for them to display there art. Also if you Like a piece it would cost between $5-$30 per piece, it seems the prices varied based on the size and detial. Hall two was where people where selling important anime goods from Japan. There where things like body pillows, models, anime, and manga. One of the most interesting things there was the Nekomimi, or cat-ear. Which were this robot ears that would read your brainwaves and move accordingly, however they were running a special deal at the con where you could order a pair for $100. The Final room was where they were running some Arcade style games, like dance-dance revolution. They even had a machines setup so that you could get some change if you forgot to bring some with you.

Special Rooms

In most of these special rooms, they were dedicated to watching anime. In each of these rooms there was a different theme of Anime going on. In the nostalgia room is was playing Classic anime like Dragonballs. In the Marathon room they were showing long series like Ronin Kenshin. They even had a special room to show Asia movies, and not just Japanese films. This was nice because watching anime is I find to be a mostly private experience. There where other room set off from the main group where they would teach you have to make cosplay armor and weapons cheaply. These other rooms where for timed events like speed dating or the black and white ball.

Cosplay

This was almost a secret event in it self, where you wanted to go around trying to find your favorite Characters. Also it wasn't limited to just anime but Japanese video games, it went even as far as including America pop culture as well. It appeared as if everyone could be divided into two groups ones there to take peoples pictures, and ones there to get there picture taken. An interesting thing is that on the surface these people at Fanime my appear to be very outgoing but in reality I feel that they are in truth vary shy. It just a special condition that only happens at these convention that allows for them to be more out going.

 -Cosplay photo Gallery-










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