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So long as this isn't during the Ghibli gathering, expect a Laputa robot.  ;D

Awesome!

That's the great thing about this gathering, it can be a quick stop by or "in addition to" gathering meet up for many people.

Hideo Kojima panel submitted, this one will be a doosy. 2 Hours!

That sounds outstanding.  Toward the end of the Q&A last year, after I asked about preference between Snatcher and Policenauts, I was hoping that you would return and elaborate on your views about the games.

thank you so much, ill definitely forward that info to my team :)

No problem.  Keep in mind I'm NOT staff or anything, that's just the way I'm interpreting the information in the hotels e-mail and the earlier conformation receipt e-mail.

It looks like all that is needed to book the room is the attendee's last name and their registration number. You can access this info for your group by logging into the registration website. I imagine everyone in the group has the same booking window.

Yeah, was just about to post this.  In the Fanime Hotels e-mail it states:

"If you have registered any guests, it is your responsibility to inform them of this booking window. If they reserve a room separately from you, their Confirmation Code and Last Name will be required to complete their reservation."

Sounds like everyone in a group will have the same window as the group leader and it is the responsibility of the group leader to distribute the information to their group.  It also sounds like each person who would like to book a room will use THEIR individual confirmation code and THEIR last name.

Of course no one will know for sure until that first window opens up.

Additionally your original Confirmation of Registration e-mail / receipt should list the confirmation number of each person in your group in the section after your "Profile" in an area titled "Registration Summary" - there should be one for each person.  It should say -

"Registration Summary -- (CONFIRMATION CODE) (NAME ON BADGE)" (Group Leader)
(List of leader's membership and rest of group along with badge cost for each)
(Table with Fees, Payments, and Payment Date / Type)

"Registration Summary -- (CONFIRMATION CODE) (NAME ON BADGE)" (Second Member)
(Their membership and registration fees)

"Registration Summary -- (CONFIRMATION CODE) (NAME ON BADGE)" (Third Member)
(Their membership and registration fees)

etc.

Now that Discotek has picked it up and officially re-released it, I'll quote my post from 2014:

Really close to con but let's slide Robot Carnival in there this year if possible!  The Japanese R2 anniversary DVD release actually included the old English Streamline dub for "Presence" and "Strange Tales of Meiji Machine Culture: Westerner's Invasion" and the transfer is pretty damn stunning.

The Discotek release is essentially the R2 release, including the nostalgic Streamline dub for those two shorts.

I think it's cool when the Nostalgia Room runs titles that have been out of print for a long time but have recently re-released or are slated for re-release (or first release) soon.  Cat's Eye last year is a good example of this as was Cutey Honey and Mazinger Z two years ago.

For something fansubbed to toss into the mix, how about Armor Hunter Mellowlink?  Armored Troopers VOTOMS has been featured in the Nostalgia Room and Mellowlink is an outstanding stand alone prequel (timeline wise) set in the same universe.

Since Final Fantasy VIII came out in 1999, then would Rinoa be ok?? ^^

Absolutely!

Oooh...this is a gathering that always interests me, but that I never have a chance to go to.

If it's on Friday again, it'll depend heavily on my cosplay and photoshoot schedule. If I end up going, at this point, Ultimecia (FFVIII), Lady Oscar (Rose of Versailles), Angela (Seiken Densetsu 3), and Utena Tenjou (Adolescene of Utena) are all potential options, depending on my shoot schedule, when the other gatherings are, and what I actually end up making (since two of those are "maybe" costumes).

I know it makes it a difficult one for some to attend but I really want to push for Friday.  I see this gathering as a good "psyche up" for the weekend and there's generally not a whole lot to do for most on Friday evening before Swap Meet.  Last year there was both a Friday and Saturday Old School Gathering and while Friday had a huge turnout, Saturday's attendance was about 1/6th of that.

Either way, all of the costumes you have listed sound outstanding!

Excluding films and one-shot OVAs -

Armored Trooper VOTOMS
Galaxy Express 999
Mobile Police Patlabor
Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon S
Super Dimension Century Orguss

Five is really hard though, so honorable mentions as rather than a finite number, I keep a small group in consideration as my "favorite" -

Cat's Eye
Cutey Honey
Dai-Guard
Future GPX Cyber Formula Zero
Marmalade Boy

Hold space.

[Thank you so much for attending the 2016 FanimeCon Old School Cosplay Gathering!]

Thank you so much for attending the 2016 FanimeCon Old School Cosplay Gathering!

See You In 2017!

2017 OSG Thread: http://forums.fanime.com/index.php/topic,20867.0.html

I plan on happily returning to host this gathering once again 2017!  We'll probably move it an hour later next year to allow more people to attend due to hotel check-ins and the Friday workday.  I will also have a much larger list for the photography shoot order.  THANK YOU to gathering attendees who suggested some outstanding photography groupings!!

Pictures of the gathering taken by my co-host, Captain Shinobu Nagumo, can be viewed here at our cosplay page - https://www.facebook.com/mokkoricosplay/photos/?tab=album&album_id=512071695648644 - this is an updated link with high resolution images.  Sorry for the earlier low-res album!

We've now moved the gallery to Facebook as a more permanent home.  Please feel free to tag and share!

Mobius Photography OSG photo album - https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1027743667302832.1073741840.819812181429316&type=3

Studio Stormfalcon has OSG pictures here, starting on page 9 - https://stormfalcon.smugmug.com/CosplayPhotography/FanimeCon-2016-05-27/ - he also has good shots of the Macross gathering and pictures of many others who attended the OSG that he encountered throughout the day. Check it out!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Greetings old school cosplayers!  BSaphire stated at the conclusion of 2015's Old School Cosplay Gathering that she hoped the tradition of an old school gathering would continue.  The 2014 Old School Cosplay Gathering is what got my girlfriend and I into cosplay and I see no signs of us stopping.

With that, I want to announce the Fanime 2016 Old School Cosplay Gathering!

Come celebrate the rich history of Japanese entertainment culture!

This is a hugely open gathering for those of you / us who cosplay as characters from the previous century.  Essentially if your cosplay character appears in Anime, Manga, Video Games or Live Action (resident beings of Nebula M78 are welcome) pre-2001 on back, then this is the gathering for you!

Please post who your character is, what title it is from and what year you are representing!



Day : Friday, May 27th
Time : 5pm - 6pm
Meeting Place (MP) : Same as Location.
Location (L) : G4 = "The Hub" (alcove area 1st floor)



Cosplayers :
InsaneDavid - Captain Kiichi Goto (Mobile Police Patlabor - 1989)
InsaneDavid's SO - Captain Shinobu Nagumo (Mobile Police Patlabor - 1989)
Angelx624 - Kagura Sohma (Fruits Basket - 1998)
Red_Eye - Moonlight Knight (Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon R - 1993)

...and more as people pop in to this gathering - it's always a surprising mix!



Legal Statement : Fanime will be taking group pictures during the Gathering/Event this year. If you do not want to be included in those pictures please step aside for those photos. By remaining with the group when the pictures are being taken you give your consent to be photographed.



Photography Order :
Group shot.
By era - 1960's (or earlier).
By era - 1970's.
By era - 1980's.
By era - 1990's (to 2000).
Timeline group shot by era (dependent on gathering size).
Pairings.
Requests.



Facebook Event Link : https://www.facebook.com/events/1155421784469122/



This is an excellent gathering to psyche you up for the convention weekend.  If you're an old school cosplayer, stop by and join us!



Thank you so very much.  Let's have a great turnout and continue this wonderful Fanime tradition!

Congratulations and thank you for the update.

^ Well I'm only 33 but if I could say something it would be to enjoy every moment you can experience, even the ones that suck ass. That's what makes people who they are.  Life's about opportunities and choices - everything else should just be enjoyed.  :)
< Is making some decisions.
> In response to above, yeah I've been really starting to get new cosplay underway.  I've been "location scouting" off and on for a couple months (which basically means taking screen captures and building design sheets).  My girlfriend and I have been deconstructing and redrafting patterns and coming up with some construction gameplans.  No big props this time, which I'm thankful because I don't have the space in my apartment for something like another bullet train.
V Are you in the midst of a heat wave right now like I am?

^ Ride out this last year at my current job, essentially finishing up a 15 year unit of my working life.
< Made the last post here over 3 months ago!
> Spent the evening getting caught up around here.
V Planning for 2016 or taking a break and relaxing?

Still keeping this updated. ACParadise community gallery had 20 or so pages of new images over the past couple weeks.

• Restrooms over by Peet's on the upper floor should be open.  It's a long trek to the nearest lower level restroom or even to the nearest restrooms in Gaming.  I get that during a dance or something taking place in those rooms you'd need to restrict access but there needs to be easily accessible facilities on that side of the convention center otherwise.

For Safety and Security reasons this hallway was supposed to remain closed during the day.  These bathrooms were reserved for use by Convention Center Staff only during the day.  The closer restrooms to Peete's would have been on the 2nd floor of the Hilton right inside the doors from the convention center.

First Aid was marked with the traditional plus on the map.

I figured it was something like that for those restrooms. Thanks for clarifying!  However the First Aid stations are not marked anywhere on the map.  I have both the pocket guide and program guide in front of me, no First Aid marked on either map of the Convention Center.  An oversight?  Not knowing before hand where they would specifically be when the maps were drafted?  This didn't turn out to be a huge problem as I know there's a permanent First Aid station in the Gaming Hall but they should be marked.

[Registration:]

Getting this thread back on topic....

General: Had an outstanding time this year.  Although attendance was more than ever, the entire convention still had a low-key and relaxed feel.  Any issues that I had would disappear from memory shortly thereafter.  Any event like this is what you make of it - plain and simple.  Inconsiderate people are inconsiderate people - nothing the convention can really do about that. (I'm looking at you, woman with the wallscroll in your backpack at Thursday swap meet who nearly took one of my eyes out a dozen times, even after I politely mentioned such many times)  Big crowds? Step to the side and let them pass, there are plenty of different routes to get around the Convention Center and attached facilities.

Registration:

• Excellent as with last year, plenty of room to host a line backup if there IS a system issue.
• No complaints about walking through the queue maze - after all, it's a weekend of walking.
• As has been mentioned, online registration should use passwords as e-mail / zip code is in no way secure.
• PROTIP: If you're uncomfortable with your real name on your badge, cut out a little piece of duct tape that will cover it on your badge and stick it over your real name after registration.  If ConOps or anyone else needs to check the validity of your badge you can always lift the tape up but otherwise your privacy will be maintained.

Artist Alley:

• Funky vinyl smell from the new window shades has dissipated over the past year - hurray!
• Nice call on the side entrance keep the exhibit level of the convention center from getting backed up with people walking in. Also got rid of a bottleneck inside as it started everyone in the middle of the room.  Smart move, don't change this.
• Two exits, again, smart move.  More exits than entrances keep the room flowing and once more prevent massive stagnant blobs of people from choking up the exhibit level walkway.
• Never encountered a line getting into AA this year.  If it was too crowded inside we would just loop back around later.
• Eliminate the "hang out" area in AA.  With the smaller size compared to other halls, any spare space should be utilized for traffic flow.  Plenty of places to kick back in other halls or out in the hallways.

Dealer's Hall:

• Outstanding layout and plenty of space to get around.
• Great assortment of vendors including those who I look forward to seeing every year.
• Nice kick back / recharge food court area with plenty of space to relax without choking up traffic flow.
• If there was a line to get in, it was generally always moving if the hall was open.  As long as lines are MOVING (which they always were) anyone griping in a moving line is just griping to gripe.
• Love that there's so much to see here, and as I said in point one - plenty of space to breathe around the entrances, exits, restrooms, and of course the food court.  Don't change a thing.

Video Rooms:

• Nice assortment of programming.  Nostalgia Room had a great lineup of stuff you can currently purchase, just like last year, which is awesome.  Promoting old school is great, doubly when many of these titles are finally starting to be re-released.
• Staff in Video Main should maybe think about easing up on their volunteers.  I don't know how many times I heard "Don't do that, I told you not to do that, you're going to piss everyone off." between program changes.  I understand you have to run what you say you're going to run and when but obviously no malice was intended, just inexperience.  Even if the intention wasn't there, it came across as very grating toward those running the playlists.
• Badge checks, or lack thereof.  I've heard conflicting things from staff here and there but video rooms should be badged.  I had always assumed they were badged.  If over the past four years they were not badged then why for 2012-2014 was my badge always checked.  It is unsafe for attendees if unbadged people can get into the video rooms.  Video rooms are one of my favorite parts of conventions, having them be unbadged is a waste of value.
• Staff running Nostalgia Room were excellent as usual, very welcoming and polite between program changes.
• Strangely warm in most video rooms other than Video Main.  Smaller rooms need more air circulation.
• GameCenter CX marathon next year guys, come on!  Way more in line with what Fanime should be than Nostalgia Critic or the AVGN.

Swap Meet:

• Outstanding venue.  This is the perfect thing to have in South Hall as you have room to grow.
• No complaints about the "walk" to South Hall.  It's part of the Convention Center and it literally takes 30 seconds to get to the door from the Mariott side Convention Center entrance.  Less than the span of the Dealer's Hall!
• I would remove one row of sellers and then spread everyone out with that new space.  There's plenty of long ways room to expand so I would like to see more space in between each row.
• Again, line always moving.  Sure you could line up before it opened if you wanted but there was no need.  The venue has the capacity to take everyone inside.  Lining up was a choice not a requirement and most seemed to be cool with this.
• Rovers on Thursday were straight up honest about what was going on.  Big kudos for this!  There was something like a 15 minute proposed delay to get all the sellers inside on Thursday night and the Rovers staff made this clear to all of us.  I can recall only one person in the entire line complaining about it, definitely the minority.  Once the line did start moving it didn't stop - everyone made it inside.
• Got stiffed on inclusion into the Pocket Guide - pretty big oversight.
• Now that registration is fixed, this should be badged even on Day Zero - it should be another special perk for registering early and picking up on Thursday.
• Found a localization prototype video game at Thursday swap! Type of things you only find at places like this.

Peacebonding / Cosplay Hangout:

• Having the Cosplay Hangout away from both peacebonding stations wasn't a great idea but it feels like it was something that got shifted around at the last moment, no big deal.
• Hilton peacebonding station - keep this!  A lot of people enter the convention from the Hilton side and having peacebonding kind of away from the massive crowds in a quieter area does wonders for when you're just setting up a cosplay for the day.  Automatic doors at the Hilton entrance FTW!
• Soft peacebonding tags yet again - THANK YOU!  I already mentioned this in the peacebonding thread but the soft tags are so much nicer than zip ties as they don't hurt the hand when on a handle and are much less prone to damaging props - also highly visible.
• Cut and dry props and weapons policy.  Rules and restrictions were clear as crystal.  Lots of help in the peacebonding thread to get props ready prior to the con.
• All and all, outstanding job by peacebonding staff.  Yours is a thankless job but is critical to the safety and enjoyment of all con-goers.  May common sense always prevail.

Casino Night:

• Great idea, nice to see something themed to the anniversary of the convention!
• The only line of the convention for me!  No one's fault though, ended up being way more popular than expected.
• Thank you for checking badges!

Gaming Hall:

• Finally some diversity in the arcade lineup.  For the first time in a long time it was actually what you would expect from an Anime convention!  Lots of Bemani, nice assortment of games, machines were actually serviced.
• Need one more change machine.  For the amount of attendees and the cost / game ratio, there should be at least three, stacked against one another in a triangle, in the middle of the arcade area.  The easier it is to get change, the more money will be spent on games.  I'm guessing this is a 50/50 revenue split between you and the operator - if not, get someone new.
• More space to sit down - I've already seen this addressed by staff, thanks for that!

Guide:

• First Aid was NOT mentioned anywhere in the maps!  What gives guys?  Flying Hands Massage gets pointed out but not the First Aid stations?
• Personally I don't have any issues with the scheduling or how it's written in the pocket guide.  I see that as another "complain to complain" point but the shaded print could be lightened, I understand that.  My girlfriend and I sit down for a few minutes on Thursday with a highlighter and mark things we want to see or that look interesting.  Then we write in any gatherings we're going to.  Boom, fast, easy, done.
• Getting it out earlier would be helpful - sure you've heard it over and over but yeah, would be nice.

Stage Zero:

• Fix the audio mix, it's WAY too loud.  Near impossible to enjoy anything if you're actually sitting at Stage Zero and nothing but a nuisance if you're in the surrounding area.  We shouldn't have to scream down at The Hub during a gathering to talk due to the reverberation from above.  Acceptable volume should be loud but MAN was it way too loud and distorted this year.
• More should be done here to promote the convention, including pushing events in Gaming, upcoming panels, announcements about gatherings, mentioning if / when halls are going to be opening and closing - in between regular Stage Zero programming.

General:

• Badge checks extremely lax compared to previous years - this is bad and the one big step back from last year.
• Police and security presence - nice to see this in the Convention Center and in the surrounding areas.
• Guests: old school people such as myself would like to see more old school guests, a nice diverse mix over all, if you would.
• As I said at the start, no matter how many people were at the convention, never did it seem overcrowded.  The Street Level is your friend, utilize it if you want to get from point A to B quickly.
• Free flyer tables need to go away.  This makes a choke point for foot traffic.  Also way more tables than are actually needed for the amount of different flyers being left.
• Restrooms over by Peet's on the upper floor should be open.  It's a long trek to the nearest lower level restroom or even to the nearest restrooms in Gaming.  I get that during a dance or something taking place in those rooms you'd need to restrict access but there needs to be easily accessible facilities on that side of the convention center otherwise.
• Speaking of restrooms - they were serviced much more frequently this year - EXCELLENT!
• Tony's thread comprised of stories about his years of FanimeCon experiences - really exemplified what the spirit of a convention like this is and was the best hype up for the convention possible.

Thanks for taking time to hear feedback!  Fanime was outrageously enjoyable this year and I cannot wait until the next.  Thank you to all staff and volunteers for your efforts to put forth a great convention!

All caught up again.  Also did another massive swing through Facebook.

Thanks once more everyone!  Keep the links coming!  Also if you know of a gallery not in the index, post it up as well!

Just a thought:
Props might be important for your cosplay, but with the increased police presence and the wider distribution of con sites, I would hope every cosplayer is more aware (especially walking between sites) that your "prop" might be mistaken as "real" and you could get dropped by mistake.  These rules and laws are set in place to protect you not annoy you.

Absolutely.  My issue with how the law is worded has nothing to do with anything cosplay related.

I've been kicking around plans (for a year or so) for a future cosplay where a realistic firearm would be the character's signature prop but really didn't want to carry around a fake gun so I put it on hold until we could figure out some fully safe alternatives.  Happily my girlfriend and I were able to figure out outstanding alternatives.

[Might be a problem.]

Sec. 12550: "Imitation firearm" means any BB device, toy gun, replica of a firearm, or other device that is so substantially similar in coloration and overall appearance to an existing firearm as to lead a reasonable person to perceive that the device is a firearm." So if it looks like a gun...


Might be a problem.

Well, that one's obvious. What I'm wondering about (more out of curiousity than anything) is where something like this might fall:

Another problem with this law.

"The entire exterior surface of the imitation firearm is white,
bright red, bright orange, bright yellow, bright green, bright blue,
bright pink, or bright purple, either singly or as the predominant
color in combination with other colors in any pattern, or the entire
device is constructed of transparent or translucent material that
permits unmistakable observation of the device's complete contents.
Merely having an orange tip as provided in federal law and
regulations does not satisfy this requirement. The entire surface
must be colored or transparent or translucent."

A lot of it boils down to black is bad and everything else is up to individual discretion.  What is bright?  White, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, pink, purple - again, everything but black.  "Singly or as the predominant color in combination with other colors in any pattern."  So you can have blacks and greys but they have to be secondary in combination to another color and cannot be the predominant color.  Blazing orange tips are still required in addition to all of this due to federal mandate.

Really I don't think a whole lot for FanimeCon approved stuff will change.  More or less it's the same type of thing that has always been enforced: no realistic looking firearms.  There's now a (somewhat poorly written) law that enforces that.

This whole upcoming law is a big mess in my opinion but that stretches outside of being FanimeCon peacebonding specific.

One thing this will open up is those who hang out in the areas surrounding the convention center with FanimeCon non-approved weapon props (airsoft firearms with or without orange tips for example) will now be violating California law.  No more "I'm not badged and I'm not inside so it doesn't matter."  I'm sure staff will make this absolutely clear in the policies information for 2016.