Hot Time
in the Old Town
Sac-Anime in the summer
has and always will be associated with a burning hotbed
of fire. But you cannot blame a convention set in a
city that "imports its heat from Hell itself"
for causing the bad weather. But you can blame the convention
for cramped venue space, congested traffic flow, and
immature attendees roaming the hotel. But the convention
goes on and we make the best of what it has and what
we have to say about the experience.
The Friday night packing
and lodging preparations facilitated the early morning
Saturday departure. With Ten as shotgun and Michael
as bullet shield, the 2-hour drive to Sacramento felt
like 120 minutes. The Radisson hotel reminded me of
the old Ani-Magic location in Lancaster. While both
hotels were small, at least the Radisson was within
walking distance to off-site restaurants.
Crowds were the most
prevalent scene of Sac-Anime. As soon as we parked and
headed inside the hotel, we spotted them huddled together
waiting in line for registration, waiting in line for
the game room, waiting in line for the Dealer Room,
or waiting in line for the next panel. The Artist Alley
tables situated in the hotel halls only added to the
congestion. Because of this arrangement, attempting
to attend a panel was an exercise in frustration and
futility. Everyone was already in line for something
and there was no way to move through the hallway to
the desired line. Traffic flow did not flow, so attendees
were usually stuck or violently shoving their way through
the crowds. When Jean-Paul Sartre stated "Hell
is other people," he was thinking this.
Finding Michael White
and his hotel room, we unloaded our gear and got our
Press badges. Ten headed for her photoshoot with Oscar
C. On the way, we ran into Cosplayers
for a few snaps and quick catching up. Oscar shot
Ten as Kurumu of Rosario Vampire. I stood in
as Tsukune for a few shots. I never officially planned
a Tsukune costume because I lack the ego to officially
plan my costume schedule and expect the general public
to give a damn. BSapphire interviewed me regarding the
old times of Fanime and the organizing of cosplay gatherings.
Much luck towards your future convention projects.
Ten caught up with several
familiar faces from the Okage-Sama De~ August tea. As
an impromptu cosplay group known as One Shot Cosplay--consisting
of several cosplayers from other cosplay groups--asked
her to join in their sketch that night in one of their
costumes after the intended cosplayer fell ill. Somehow
I ended up being the replacement actor in the sketch.
I rarely hire myself out to perform in sketches since
it takes me away from covering the convention. But with
extra eyes that I trust covering the convention and
a chance to try something completely different, I gave
it a go.
As predicted, Masquerade
preparations killed most of my chances to see what was
going on at the convention. Time simply flew between
rehearsal, navigating through crowds while looking for
enough space to wait for costume judging, costume judging
from the likes of ACP and other veteran cosplayers I
knew throughout the years, more rehearsals, checking
into the Masquerade stage area, waiting for people to
sit down for the show, waiting for our turn to perform,
performing, and finally waiting for the results. Further
details are noted in the Masquerade
gallery.
I reunited with Ten and
Michael for a mild debriefing. Searching for food, we
found Oscar C. doing the same and together we fled the
convention in favor of Applebee's and fireworks. Mr.
Grant and several lady friends happened to follow us
but took their respective table. While fielding questions
from the Applebee's staff, the four of us reflected
on the first day of Sac-Anime. It was a pity to see
Imari quit Masquerade activities after putting much
time into them.
After dinner Oscar C.
continued his photoshoot with Ten's Kurumu now that
the crowds died down and the gazebo was free. While
they was shooting, I was busy teasing my little sister
Hanako and her little friends.
Ten and
I visited the rave or whatever they call the dances
with the glow sticks and techno music nowadays to reduce
the need for liability insurance. Sometimes it is nice
to return to the classic anime dances of swaying to
the music, lights and sweat when that newfangled ballroom
dancing trend is making dancers move gracefully and
wear trousers. We left the rave for a quick shot of
151 with Wendell before calling Saturday a night.
---
Sunday was
primarily spent packing for home. Ricky had become my
fourth passenger for the ride home despite my initial
protests. After loading the car and remaining glued
to the James Bond marathon, we abandoned room 157 for
one last hurrah at Sac-Anime.
The last
hurrah at Sac-Anime was more a hmph since the main hallway
of the convention was still crammed with attendees.
We did manage to watch Imari's final cosplay event the
Fashion Show before heading
to lunch with Dan, Matt, and Oscar C. We walked to Extreme
Pizza. That restaurant became the primary hang out for
hungry Sac-Anime attendees or people wanting to flee
the con funk.
I ended
my Sac-Anime experience with one scout of the Dealer
Room--I finally waded past the crowds--and waited for
Ricky so we could drive home.
The aforementioned
heat and crowded traffic flow contributed to most of
my gripes with Sac-Anime's faults. Plowing through both
disproved the cliche that "getting there is half
the fun." The generally young age of the average
attendee gave me the impression that the convention
was more a training ground for the young attendees before
they hit the larger conventions like Fanime or Anime
Expo. The problem there is that a group of immature
attendees doing their immature antics encourages them
to continue that behavior at other conventions. It does
grow irritating.
Despite
the problems, I still had fun at Sac-Anime. I enjoyed
the company of friends I made at other conventions and
probably left an odd impression to those who saw Masquerade
or the coquettish figure running away from most people.
I admit I am no longer young enough to enjoy the random
fun of yelling "I LOST THE GAME!" and am now
a grizzled convention veteran. But one benefit of being
a grizzled convention veteran is being old enough to
enjoy the company of fellow grizzled convention veterans,
even if we have to go off-site to have our reminiscing.
It was great to see Michael get in some wet work at
this convention. Hopefully this dip in the convention
coverage pool will give him the needed experience to
cover the more intensive conventions lined up for 2010.
I give my
thanks to Michael
White for the continued use of crash space, the
Secret Cosplay group for dragging me into their sketch,
Matthew Miranda of California
Conventions Blog for the company, my little sister
Hanako for her jail bait cuteness, and the rest of Traveling
Valentine for their hard work. See you at the next event.
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