Konichi-Blah
Nov. 18th, 2007 10:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jkcarrierSugoiCon ended up being kind of a let-down. It was a pretty tiny show and there just wasn't much going on that I was interested in. Alarm bells probably should've gone off when the website didn't list any events, or even tell you what hours the show was open. Once you got there, the program guide listed events, but not where or when they would be held. The only way to know what was actually going on when was to read the whiteboards outside the various meeting rooms. I didn't notice until after the fact that there were going to be panels on webcomics and self-publishing, or I might've tried to hit one of those.
(I was also a little put off by the fact that you had to fill out a registration form -- name, address, phone #, etc. -- just to get in the door. What was up with that? Or maybe I was just irritated because the check-off boxes for "age" ended at "41+". Way to make me feel old, SugoiCon. :P )
The dealers' room was small -- one dealer had several tables of manga volumes and anime DVDs, plus there were a number of smaller dealers selling toys and knickknacks (and yes, Pocky). Karen found a couple of Final Fantasy figures she liked, and a few manga volumes she was missing (though she pointed out that it wasn't anything she couldn't have gotten at Border's). John grabbed a copy of something called My Dead Girlfriend, just because he liked the title (I worry about that boy sometimes). I picked up a copy of Dramacon (something I've been meaning to try since the first volume came out, but kept forgetting to look for *hangs head in shame*), and a copy of the Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children movie (ditto).
Artists' Alley was a real disappointment. I see so many manga-influenced artists on the web, I figured this section would be packed, and I was looking forward to seeing what kind of homegrown minicoimcs/doujinshi they were doing. But there were maybe 5 people there (plus 1 or 2 others who had set up in the dealers' section instead), and most of them were doing either pin-up drawings, or artsy-craftsy things like crocheted dolls. Dirk Tiede had copies of Jane Irwin's new Vogelein book, so I snagged that and a volume of his Paradigm Shift.
The cosplayers were out in force, with efforts ranging from "pretty darn good" to "well, points for enthusiasm". Didn't get any pictures, but there was a trio of FLCL characters that I thought were really well-done. Luckily, I didn't see a lot of the "Holy cow, I can't believe her parents let her leave the house dressed like that" type of outfits, but I admit my eyes probably lingered longer than was proper at one attractive lady's Winry Rockbell costume.
We ducked into one of the video rooms at random, and ended up watching most of an InuYasha movie, which was pretty good. I'd seen bits and pieces of the show on Cartoon Network, but Karen and John had never seen it; Karen was impressed by the way InuYasha would just haul off and slug anyone who gave him any lip. And of course, she dug Sesshomaru because he was evil and pretty and had long hair.
After a couple of hours of wandering around, we all pretty much said "bored now" and decided to call it a day. To be fair, a show like this seems to be aimed at people who are really enamoured of the whole "anime culture", and are happy just to be able to hang out with a bunch of fellow fans. If you were there the entire weekend, you probably could see and do some fun stuff (concerts, costume contest, etc.), but just doing a one-day "drive-by" like we did, it wasn't really worth the trip.
(I was also a little put off by the fact that you had to fill out a registration form -- name, address, phone #, etc. -- just to get in the door. What was up with that? Or maybe I was just irritated because the check-off boxes for "age" ended at "41+". Way to make me feel old, SugoiCon. :P )
The dealers' room was small -- one dealer had several tables of manga volumes and anime DVDs, plus there were a number of smaller dealers selling toys and knickknacks (and yes, Pocky). Karen found a couple of Final Fantasy figures she liked, and a few manga volumes she was missing (though she pointed out that it wasn't anything she couldn't have gotten at Border's). John grabbed a copy of something called My Dead Girlfriend, just because he liked the title (I worry about that boy sometimes). I picked up a copy of Dramacon (something I've been meaning to try since the first volume came out, but kept forgetting to look for *hangs head in shame*), and a copy of the Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children movie (ditto).
Artists' Alley was a real disappointment. I see so many manga-influenced artists on the web, I figured this section would be packed, and I was looking forward to seeing what kind of homegrown minicoimcs/doujinshi they were doing. But there were maybe 5 people there (plus 1 or 2 others who had set up in the dealers' section instead), and most of them were doing either pin-up drawings, or artsy-craftsy things like crocheted dolls. Dirk Tiede had copies of Jane Irwin's new Vogelein book, so I snagged that and a volume of his Paradigm Shift.
The cosplayers were out in force, with efforts ranging from "pretty darn good" to "well, points for enthusiasm". Didn't get any pictures, but there was a trio of FLCL characters that I thought were really well-done. Luckily, I didn't see a lot of the "Holy cow, I can't believe her parents let her leave the house dressed like that" type of outfits, but I admit my eyes probably lingered longer than was proper at one attractive lady's Winry Rockbell costume.
We ducked into one of the video rooms at random, and ended up watching most of an InuYasha movie, which was pretty good. I'd seen bits and pieces of the show on Cartoon Network, but Karen and John had never seen it; Karen was impressed by the way InuYasha would just haul off and slug anyone who gave him any lip. And of course, she dug Sesshomaru because he was evil and pretty and had long hair.
After a couple of hours of wandering around, we all pretty much said "bored now" and decided to call it a day. To be fair, a show like this seems to be aimed at people who are really enamoured of the whole "anime culture", and are happy just to be able to hang out with a bunch of fellow fans. If you were there the entire weekend, you probably could see and do some fun stuff (concerts, costume contest, etc.), but just doing a one-day "drive-by" like we did, it wasn't really worth the trip.
