Comic-Con/Anime Conventions

[Pandabear 414]

A thread for discussing comic/anime conventions.

I”ll be going to this year’s Comic-con. The NYC one not the San Diego one. I’m going with some friends and one of them is entering the cosplay contest. It’s my first time going so I’m excited. It seems like it’s a lot of fun and it's a good chance to try out my photography skills. According to the site this year big guests are the actors from Conan the Barbarian. Plus they got they seiyuu from Naruto, other voice actors from the Fairy tale anime and Makoto shinkai of 5 centimeters per second And there’s a ton of more cool guests and comic artists.

Don’t know who this year’s musical guests are, but I still can’t believe I didn’t go when they had Boom Boom Satellites and T.M Revolution.

So has anybody else gone to an event like this or is planning to go on one? Right now my only worry is waiting in line for hours.

[whitegrey 115]

Japan Expo in Paris is pretty nice - also when it comes to (live-)music…

As for the smaller con's in other countries - it depends…

Good for promoting my music-stuff at least.

[Peace Heavy mk II 7200]

We have one at my school every year. It's pretty lame, and you have to pay money to go to it even though most of it is outside and they don't check I.D. . Also, the venders sell a lot of crap that isn't even rare or interesting, especially the local anime store who sells the same stuff they have at their actual store.

The obscene amount of cosplayers on campus also grosses me out a bit. So much 35+ year olds cosplaying as Pokemon characters.

[fitear1590 2414]

I've only ever been to Anime USA in Washington DC to see Versailles. The overall con experience was both better AND worse than I could have imagined. There was a big sales room with a great selection of lots of hard-to-obtain (that is, without the help of the internet) anime/ other Japanese goods. It was pretty spectacular and you don't have to be a "weaboo" to find at least something cool you like. Other than buying souvenirs (and seeing Versailles!), however, the place was a jungle. Seeing people's childish behavior and the way they interacted with each other was... quite an experience.

Unless a band I likes comes to another con, I don't think I'd go to one again.

[Ito 2438]

I have only been to Acen, but seriously, it is some of the most fun I have all year. I have the same feeling every year...I initially get there and I am like "wow, so many freaking nerds..." But if you get past that and let your inner nerd come out, it is a freaking blast. I go with a few good friends each year and we stay at a hotel for the entire con. So far I have gone 5 years: 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011 and I have no plan on stopping.

Also, I try to run a jrock/MH panel every year. I have only done it three time though, but each time it has been awesome and the crowd has enjoyed it. If any of you guys ever find yourself in Illinois for it, be sure to swing by my panel!

[TheBistroButcher666 228]

I've gone to PAX Prime every year for the past five years, I love it! This year the turn out was huge and it was really noticeable than any other year I've gone. Tickets sold out so quickly that we had to scrounge because we're not use to it selling out so fast. Apparently they had problems with counterfeits and there was random badge checks this year. Lines to play games where pretty much unbearable, this is the first year that lines had wait time of at least a minimum of two hours. Really sucks :-\ Luckly I won a fast pass at the Mass Effect trivia contest (I'm so nerdy hurhur). So I was able to try the ME3 demo. I played ME1 and 2 on PC (PC MASTER RACE) so I sucked pretty hard since the demo was on an Xbox. Anyway, good time! Aside from the expo hall, panels and game rooms are always fun to hang around in.

I also go to ECCC (Emerald City Comic Con) here in Seattle. It's pretty small and nothing like the New York or San Deigo one. However I prefer it that way, you can meet artists easier especially the more obscure web comic artists and it's also great to meet local artists as well. Usually you can see and do everything in one day so I normally just go on a Saturday. We also get "celebrities" usually people from Sci-Fi channel series like some of the cast from Battlestar, we always seem to get Wil Wheaton (He also goes to PAX), last year William Shatner and the prior year Leonard Nimoy. I've never bother to get in line to pay to meet any of these people but I've stood off in the foreground and stared like a creeper.

[Peace Heavy mk II 7200]

I have only been to Acen, but seriously, it is some of the most fun I have all year. I have the same feeling every year...I initially get there and I am like "wow, so many freaking nerds..." But if you get past that and let your inner nerd come out, it is a freaking blast. I go with a few good friends each year and we stay at a hotel for the entire con. So far I have gone 5 years: 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011 and I have no plan on stopping.

Also, I try to run a jrock/MH panel every year. I have only done it three time though, but each time it has been awesome and the crowd has enjoyed it. If any of you guys ever find yourself in Illinois for it, be sure to swing by my panel!

My roommate actually goes to that religiously, but mostly for the Cosplay / Gunpla events. He actually won some contest for the Gunpla table last year, but I don't exactly remember what it was for.

The only REAL reason I know about ACEN is because it's always the week I have to move out and it causes leaving plan conflicts, namely I don't want him to leave in the middle of the week and leave everything for me to take care of . That hasn't happened yet, but there's always the ominous possibility that it will.

[Ito 2438]

You should go with him and help me with my Jrock panel xD

[Peace Heavy mk II 7200]

I live in New York though . If you made a table for an NYC convention I'd help out.

[TheBistroButcher666 228]

I know this one chick from High School that is always broke because she travels the country and goes to anime cons all over the place. I'm too lazy for that.

Blizzcon (when I played WoW) I would of probably traveled for and maybe some of the other bigger cons out there but she goes to a lot of obscure hunky dory ones that don't seem all that impressive to ones that might be worth traveling for. (She ain't the most stable person in the world though).

[Ito 2438]

I would never travel more than a state or two for a convention. Sure, they are blast, but they are expensive, exhausting, time consuming, and did I mention expensive?

We have several cons here is Wisconsin that are pretty small (geekcon, nobrand con, and anime Milwaukee) and I haven't bothered to go to any of them yet xD

[TheBistroButcher666 228]

The chick I know is not the most stable person but I always thought it was ridiculous how much she travels for cons, I don't have that kind of interest or motivation.

Washington has a ton of conventions as well, now that I am thinking about it's pretty ridiculous. Also added bonus, if you're in my location it's a quick two hour drive to either Vancouver or Portland for their yearly conventions but I only go to PAX and ECCC for the most part. This year a new convention called Geek Girl Con is next weekend that I will attend. It kinda screams feminist rally in some of the info I read but my lady friends want to go. I wonder how many men will come? It doesn't say anything about no boys allowed but it seems kinda implied.

[daintypersnicketydingo 38]

Hello thread from a million years ago. Went in search of a conventions thread since it is something I'm really getting back into. I went to a bunch during high school then stopped for awhile. Lately I've been coming back to them for guests and seeing people I know plus the nifty cosplay. Next up for me, Bookcon (which has a strong focus on YA books and sci-fi/fantasy novels) and then Wizard World Philly. Both ones I haven't been to so largely going as a matter of curiosity. Probably also going to Otakon which is one of the regular ones I go to throughout the years. Usually I just dip by for a day since I get tired of not being home.

[Gesu 1537]

I went to the Norwich Anime/Gaming Con in November last year, and it was awesome! I don't really watch anime anymore, but I've been a gamer ever since I was about four and I love the anime art style, plus I play anime games/visual novels and the like, so I thought why not? I went there, bought some stuff, talked to a few cosplayers, watched a girl in a really impressive Levi crossplay dancing her arse off onstage (she rightfully won the dance-off), then caught up with my friend who gave me a lift home so I didn't have to pay for a taxi back. Everyone was just so cool and friendly the only part about it I disliked was the fact that my day-to-day life is never really like that... I felt more confident there, y'know? Like I could just talk to people really easily. Ah, well, it was fun while it lasted. Besides, I live in the arse-end of England (we call Norwich the "arse-end" because it looks kind of like the UK's arse), so occurrences like these are fairly rare. Gotta just take the opportunity while it's there

[suji 8317]

I've always wanted to go to a con~ I would really love to go to A-kon or Tokyo in Tulsa at some point, especially since I wanna dress in lolita and travel more often....if only I had friends who could take me ;w; not to mention that i'm basically a brick wall when i come into contact with other humans.