Anime Iowa Con Report -- Friday 08 15 08
Thursday's Report
Friday, I donned my Sanzo costume (again... I didn't know I could go to AI until pretty last minute so I had no time to make anything new), Jamie put on her awesome Tear from Tales of the... something. Abyss, I think. And Erin wore Xellos from Slayers.
Friday we woke up earlyish to ensure that we could get down to registration by 9am, which is when it started. We stood in line for a whole frickin' hour, homg. It went really really quick for us, considering Jamie and I had sat in line for over 7 hours at Line Con Anime Central. Pretty well set-up, though I wish they had put the line in a place that had a little more room, instead of down a hallway, but that's a small complaint and it was generally set up better than Acen could ever hope for.
During the stay in line, Erin spotted a House cosplayer and flipped out. He was awesome because he stayed in character the entire time xD
After registering, Vicky and Erin went somewhere (where?) and Jamie and I headed outside to do... yet more photoshoots. Yay wheat?
Vicky and Erin would later join us for more pictures, yay!
First panel we went to that day was "Name that Anime Opening." We all thought it had sounded like it would be fun, and we were indeed correct! The host was hilarious in this incredibly geeky way which just added to the fun. Two teams at a time competed against each other to grab a roll of yellow duct tape so that they could give an answer to the anime opening theme that was playing. There were a few individuals who knew a LOT of anime openings (GET A LIFE, PEOPLE! >o), which made it even more hilarious when NONE OF THEM could get One Piece from "We Are!" IT HAS THE NAME OF THE ANIME IN THE SONG!!! Maybe they would have gotten it if it was the hideously terrible rap theme from 4Kids. The host related a story from Anime Detour where a Prince of Tennis cosplayer didn't know the PoT opening theme.
After that, we headed to the Dealer's Room for a bit and then went back up to the room to order some pizza. Erin made sure to request "lots and lots and lots and lots of crushed red pepper" and some paper plates and utensils but we just got the pizza. The pizza boy with an aesthetically pleasing facial structure promised to come back with the missing items, which he did... and he also talked the pizza place into refunding $10, so yay.
Opening Ceremony was next. The host was outrageously funny and it was fun to watch. Afterwards, Erin and Vicky headed out for a few of the panels they wanted to see that Jamie and I had no interest in (like Who's Boobs and How to Talk with Women) and Jamie and I walked around trying to get our pictures taken xD. We headed to karaoke for a bit and I worked up the determination to sing the next day. We also met our awesome new friends, Caleb and Heather. Say hello to them, everybody!
Jamie and I decided to start looking for Vicky and Erin, so we peeked into the How to Talk panel (we had to convince them to let us since they were at capacity) and then just started roaming around. There wasn't many people out at the time, which was so odd for us coming from Chicago cons. We went out on the patio at one point, and one guy stopped us to ask if the Rave was still going on. We said it was, an dhe asked if the cops were still there and what they were up to. We said, "Yes, they're there" and explained that they just seemed to be keeping an eye on things. Cops at a con is nothing new to us, considering Acen had the ENTIRE Rosemont police force there at one point. The guy proceeded to explain that there were rumors that there was (and he spoke this part in a whisper) "underaged drinking." ZOMG.
We roamed some more and I got my Sanzo costume complimented by Zach's butterfly babe, as Erin puts it a member of the Lime Barb crew, which was awesome.
Jamie and I eventually headed up to the room to wait for Erin and Vicky and then went night night.
Friday, I donned my Sanzo costume (again... I didn't know I could go to AI until pretty last minute so I had no time to make anything new), Jamie put on her awesome Tear from Tales of the... something. Abyss, I think. And Erin wore Xellos from Slayers.
Friday we woke up earlyish to ensure that we could get down to registration by 9am, which is when it started. We stood in line for a whole frickin' hour, homg. It went really really quick for us, considering Jamie and I had sat in line for over 7 hours at Line Con Anime Central. Pretty well set-up, though I wish they had put the line in a place that had a little more room, instead of down a hallway, but that's a small complaint and it was generally set up better than Acen could ever hope for.
During the stay in line, Erin spotted a House cosplayer and flipped out. He was awesome because he stayed in character the entire time xD
After registering, Vicky and Erin went somewhere (where?) and Jamie and I headed outside to do... yet more photoshoots. Yay wheat?
Vicky and Erin would later join us for more pictures, yay!
First panel we went to that day was "Name that Anime Opening." We all thought it had sounded like it would be fun, and we were indeed correct! The host was hilarious in this incredibly geeky way which just added to the fun. Two teams at a time competed against each other to grab a roll of yellow duct tape so that they could give an answer to the anime opening theme that was playing. There were a few individuals who knew a LOT of anime openings (GET A LIFE, PEOPLE! >o), which made it even more hilarious when NONE OF THEM could get One Piece from "We Are!" IT HAS THE NAME OF THE ANIME IN THE SONG!!! Maybe they would have gotten it if it was the hideously terrible rap theme from 4Kids. The host related a story from Anime Detour where a Prince of Tennis cosplayer didn't know the PoT opening theme.
After that, we headed to the Dealer's Room for a bit and then went back up to the room to order some pizza. Erin made sure to request "lots and lots and lots and lots of crushed red pepper" and some paper plates and utensils but we just got the pizza. The pizza boy with an aesthetically pleasing facial structure promised to come back with the missing items, which he did... and he also talked the pizza place into refunding $10, so yay.
Opening Ceremony was next. The host was outrageously funny and it was fun to watch. Afterwards, Erin and Vicky headed out for a few of the panels they wanted to see that Jamie and I had no interest in (like Who's Boobs and How to Talk with Women) and Jamie and I walked around trying to get our pictures taken xD. We headed to karaoke for a bit and I worked up the determination to sing the next day. We also met our awesome new friends, Caleb and Heather. Say hello to them, everybody!
Jamie and I decided to start looking for Vicky and Erin, so we peeked into the How to Talk panel (we had to convince them to let us since they were at capacity) and then just started roaming around. There wasn't many people out at the time, which was so odd for us coming from Chicago cons. We went out on the patio at one point, and one guy stopped us to ask if the Rave was still going on. We said it was, an dhe asked if the cops were still there and what they were up to. We said, "Yes, they're there" and explained that they just seemed to be keeping an eye on things. Cops at a con is nothing new to us, considering Acen had the ENTIRE Rosemont police force there at one point. The guy proceeded to explain that there were rumors that there was (and he spoke this part in a whisper) "underaged drinking." ZOMG.
We roamed some more and I got my Sanzo costume complimented by Zach's butterfly babe, as Erin puts it a member of the Lime Barb crew, which was awesome.
Jamie and I eventually headed up to the room to wait for Erin and Vicky and then went night night.