Sakura Con 2010: Saturday

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We were originally hoping to bring you all 3 days of Sakura Con, but there was a bit of a wind storm which makes getting into Seattle a nightmare from here.  It was a very exiting trip to get there, on a Saterday when the convention was jam packed.  After finally arriving, we were directed to a line that wasn’t all that long (nothing compared to PAX, which is held in the same convention center). However, much to our surprise and dismay, the wait lasted 4 hours total in that line which killed off much of the morning. Lesson learned: pre-registration is the best money you’ll spend for a convention. Of course Storm got to run around scoping things out early since he landed a press  badge. Lucky dog.

By the time we got out of the line, we were famished. The closest place to eat was in the convention center where they had catering set up, although the food was hit and miss. Mine tasted like airplane food. So for next year I’ll write up a little insider’s guide on the best places to eat before the convention starts. Regardless of all this however, it was still worth it. The cosplayers were great, the crowd was energetic, and it wasn’t too cramped. We got to take a TON of pictures, so be sure to check them out. Outside of the convention center there was a glomp group going on. Glomp is a game where a group of people stand in a circle and kick a bottle, and whoever the bottle is pointing at everyone runs to and hugs. By the end of the day it got shut down because apparently the group eventually went through a glass case.

After spending a few hours milling around and taking pictures, we headed over to the concert hall. The opening act was Dazzle Vision. Think like… pink little dress, sweet faced Japanese girl, who looks like she sings pop music, but instead just starts busting out death metal. That’s what the lead singer is like. We snagged a little tidbit of the concert, then our camera died. Overall they were actually quite good. We chose to skip out on High & Mighty Color but if you want footage of their concert you can probably search Youtube for them.

Later on we decided to go to a panel called “Anime That Scarred Me For Life”. I have to say, there were some amazing people in there. The panel mostly consisted of audience members coming up and talking about horrible anime that had left terrible imprints on their life. They had to keep it family friendly though which made the descriptions very funny. If you follow wrestling, I want you to imagine Santino… his voice… the Italian accent, a little how he looks… that”s what this man in line was like. He kept heckling the first few audience speakers (in a funny way) and we thought to ourselves “Damn I can’t wait to see what he has to say.” So he comes up to the front and (I’ll have to paraphrase here since I couldn’t record it) gave us this speech:

“Let me tell you, I’ve seen everything. Blood and violence sure, mass murder no problem. However, there is one anime in all my years that stands out to me. I want you to imagine the most beautiful place in the world. Then the most beautiful woman in the world, and she will give you ANYTHING you want. Then you both climb to the highest place together, you stand at the ledge, and… she pushes you off. That woman was an anime… and it was SCHOOL RUMBLE”

Then he goes on about how it’s his kind of anime, and there is a love triangle… it’s suspenseful trying to figure out who ends up with who. You know, romance comedy. Then he closes it out with…

“I watch the 1st season, then I watch the 2nd season… and you know what happen? NOBODY ENDS UP WITH ANYBODY! The last episode was even worse. After they leave high school they all come together again, and they say “…I will remember you” WHAT KIND OF ENDING IS THIS!?”

Even though we only got a day at the convention, we got so much enjoyment out of just being around everyone.  Cons like these are all about the people around you, and you can really meet some great people out there.  So don’t be shy!