"I envy you for what you do, but at the same time I don't envy you for having to do it."

Sunday Gallery

Thankfully my foresight to gather all of my luggage together save for today's costume, a toothbrush, and a shaver paid off since all I had to do when I woke up was scrape myself off the bed, shower, eat breakfast, and change into costume. About the only thing that could sidetrack me is figuring out whose bra wound up inside my luggage last night. Fortunately, that did not happen so everything was smooth sailing until the breakfast part of the plan.

The plan for breakfast with both video and gaming fell through again due to exhaustion from both departments. Only Yomi and I were conscious enough for the task, which I did not mind quite frankly. I already had enough plowing through crowds and juggling individual friends among a group. Finally being able to hang out with one person for about 10 minutes of quality time would replenish my socializing skills just as the eggs and fruit from the buffet would replenish my body. Dipshit popped in just as we were leaving, but by then I was ready for people. We set up the video room for the final day. There, we heard from a volunteer about a macing incident from the police during the rave to deal with a rowdy attendee. Apparently the mace dissipated into the air of the hotel. I guess the silver lining of video room away from the main hotel was a blessing in disguise. Nevertheless, the volunteer was unable to work further after that incident.

Had I have gone to Anime LA, I would have returned to SacAnime wearing Gin Ichimaru from Bleach. I was not sure if I would board the airplane wearing it or change into it mid-flight to save time. But since the issue was moot due to missing the flight, I could comfortably change into the slimy bastard for such a usually dead Sunday and final day of the convention.

Yes, the slow final day of SacAnime was slow. I ran into Hanako and Heidi early in the to see if they were still traumatized by my game of tag last night. Hanako would later join us for a Bleach trio. The Dealers Room was still selling stuff I did not want or need so I headed back into the panels hoping for some more information later. I visited the storyboard panel, which primarily consisted of saying they were good things to have.

SacAnime went all out putting Vic Mignogna, Laura Bailey, and Travis Willingham in one panel. Screams from the fans deafened the room as the trio answered questions and took requests. Eh, let the video speak for itself. I assisted in Jaimie, Heidi, and Trina in getting seats close enough to see Vic Mignogna's nose hairs and help me take notes. The highlight of the panel was Laura Bailey showing the audience the first dubbed episode of Soul Eater while Vic Mignogna--who said he has not seen it yet--sat among the fans and within an arm's reach of me in the front row. I must say this may affect an upcoming anime review of mine.

Dealers Room was the easiest place to catch cosplayers since they were trying to score last minute deals. Hanako and Heidi left and so did Ryu. Trina and Jaimie went off to score one more set of autographs in the ridiculously long line. I took a few potshots of them before returning to assist Yomi. I shadowed her to see how she worked between manning the video room, checking up on the volunteers, and talking shop with other department heads. It was impressive seeing her reward the good volunteers with incentives while firmly expelling the less productive ones. It takes a lot to be a good staff head during a convention. I like how they handle situations, but like it even more that THEY handle it instead of me. The stress, the painkillers, and the access to firearms would probably result in a newsworthy incident if I had to dole out some discipline.

Jaimie and Trina were working to get one last autograph from the trio of voice actors and maybe a photo. The recently departed Ryu made a surprising encore appearance. The hot chocolate was delicious. I bid farewell to Little Sister #3 to help close and clean up the video room. Packing all of that crap in and restoring the room to hotel standards was not exactly the closing ceremonies I wanted to end the convention, but all things end one way or another.

So I felt no fear and loathing at SacAnime as the 2010 season starts. With wonderful treatment of Press, good staff to work with, a mix of company to keep myself company, and enough material to write a few articles, it was quite productive. To all my friends at SacAnime, I look forward to meeting you again.