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Weather is still looking good! They're predicting mostly mid to upper 70s and lower 80s on Sunday.

Though, this is just my luck -- I set my cosplay lineup, and it turns out that the coolest day of con is bikini armor day, and the warmest day of con is a zoot suit and an 18th century French military uniform. Oh well.

I got a confirmation email from the con about registration, and it told me that I needed to confirm that my fan name is correct before picking up my badge, and that I can change it in the online system. The fan name written in the email is horribly incorrect ("@@UDF1" is what they gave me, and I don't want to sound like some prisoner or android in a bad sci-fi film), but it is correct in the online system when I went to go change it.

Which should I trust, the online system, or the email I got? Should I email Reg to confirm? I don't want an incident like last year where they printed my real name twice instead of my fan name.

Hey Tommy! Glad to know that you're alive and nothing horribly tragic has happened to the karaoke staff :D (Well, besides a mysteriously missing forums account)

Are you doing song database requests this year? I really have more of a question than a request -- is the website up to date with what's in there, and if not, are you up to date with JJBA OPs? Really all I'm looking for is if you have Great Days. If there isn't enough time to add it, that's cool, since I can bring my own lyrics, but it would obviously be better if it were in the database so the lyrics can be projected, which is why I'm asking.

Thanks!

In my roughly decade and a half of attending this con, I can't remember a year that a contest was cancelled. I think they're probably just unusually late this year.

Worst-case scenario, if online signups never happen, it'll be at-con signups only. Which would be intense for a larger contest like this one (they use that method at SacAnime where it's usually much smaller), but I'd say that in the karaoke doomsday scenario of not hearing anything at all pre-con, showing up at the karaoke room right when it opens for check-in and warmups on Friday (or a little before, in case there's a line) would be the best course of action.

Still hoping for online signups to open soon, though, for all your sakes, and because I'm still waiting for this year's song request thread!

If you're still looking for a photographer, send me a PM. I should have some availability still depending on the day :D

After posting that the offers started pouring in, so I'm pretty booked, but thanks for the offer! :D



I can't believe con is only two and a half weeks out. Gotta finish my cosplay(s), get my older cosplays repaired where needed, and of course finish those panels.

I, uh, hope I didn't miss the signups or something... is the official thread really not here yet?

No announcements here, on the website, or on their Twitter. It is safe to say signups are not up yet, meaning that it's the officially sanctioned time to worry, at least according to my last post in this thread.

These usually start at the beginning of May(ish). If we get past the first week of May and there's no info, I'd start to worry, but you still have a couple of weeks.

Karaoke staff are probably busy with all sorts of other things, and I understand, but still, I hope the info goes up soon for those entering the contest!
(and that the database song request thread goes up soon for people like me who aren't entering the contest but have requests >:D)

Hello everyone!

I'll be giving two cosplay help panels this year. The first is Bunnysuit Boot Camp, and the second is Sewing with Knits.

Bunnysuit Boot Camp:

With the continued popularity of bunny girls in anime and popular culture, have you ever wondered how to make your own bunnysuit cosplay, but were befuddled by creating such a heavily structured garment? Join cosplayer fabrickind to learn the basics of patterning and sewing Playboy-inspired costumes and other corset-like but non-reducing garments.

This will be Friday, May 26th from 3 - 4 PM in Panels 3

Sewing with Knits:

Knit fabrics are comfortable, versatile, stretchy, and essential for form-fitting garments like bodysuits, but many sewists can find such stretch fabrics daunting. Come learn from cosplayer fabrickind special fabric choice, sewing, and patterning considerations when working with knit materials.

This will be Friday, May 26th from 6 - 7 PM in Panels 3

Hope to see some of you there! :]

I'm pretty hype!! Gonna be a good con :D

I'm not freaking out about my cosplays as much (though I probably should be, considering the state they're in LOL), but rather the fact that it's getting ever closer to con and I haven't been able to find photographers. I've contacted maybe a dozen people about an Ultimecia shoot and everyone's either booked, not attending the con, or not booking shoots. :| I'll probably just wear it and then do an off-con shoot at some point.


Pretty excited about con generally, though! I've fallen face-first into a new fandom, so I'm pretty excited to attend the gathering for that and debut my first cosplay from it. Probably the first of many, since I'm not even caught up yet and have at least 5 different cosplays (including the one I'm debuting) on my "to do" list, haaa

Oh right, and I need to finish writing my panels. I can do that.

Anyone know when online sign ups are open? :)

These usually start at the beginning of May(ish). If we get past the first week of May and there's no info, I'd start to worry, but you still have a couple of weeks.


No contest for me this year (giving a panel right around the same time as the contest, and I have a shoot directly after, so even if I went 'as late as possible' it's not gonna happen), but I'll be glued to open mic, as usual. :] already have a few songs in mind

That doesn't seem terrible for a show like AX where we know what's going to be there (if not in specifics then at least roughly in terms of types of content), but for a first-year show, it does seem pretty pricey. The regular (non-VIP) tickets are $65 for the weekend, so that's not terrible, but only if we know that there's going to be good content. (Those VIP Plus tickets are expensive regardless of content though!)

I'm actually pretty hopeful about this con. I think that Crunchyroll has the industry connections to really pull out a good show, and we all know that NorCal is a bit lacking in the large con department. It seems like it might be a bit ambitious for a first con, but hey, I guess we'll find out how it is when it happens. I think this might be a good counterpoint to AX, which has gotten far too large for its own good.

Now, which cosplay help panels should I submit...?

Yeah, I'm happy that my panels got approved! I'm doing "Bunnysuit Boot Camp" and "Sewing with Knits" this year, and they're both brand-new panels, so it should be good :D

I won't be able to do the karaoke contest, but thankfully open mic tends to start much later at night on Friday, so that's not an issue. I'll be sure to sing plenty of old school songs (as usual)!

I sadly won't be able to make the gathering this year because I'm giving a panel at the exact same time. I'll see if I can swing by right after and say hello if there's still people around, though. :D

So I got into all this craziness literally less than a week ago, and I'm already planning my first cosplay from it.

As long as this doesn't conflict with anything else (panels I'm giving, changing out of my rather difficult costume for the Final Fantasy gathering on Saturday morning), I should be there as Lisa Lisa. Probably doing her red zoot suit when she's in the gondolier disguise.

Saturday afternoon would be easier for me than Sunday, but I can probably work around it either way.

Well, I finished Evangelion. Haven't bothered with End of Evangelion yet (I suddenly got myself into The Jojos and have been bingeing a little), so I'm not sure how much it'll change my opinion on the show, though considering that it replaces the last two episodes, it might improve my opinion a bit.

I have thoughts. And they aren't good ones.

I honestly think that this show is generally good, and that it's important (if it resonates with someone or as a historical artifact), but I don't think it held up, and I think that it's WAY overrated. The fandom side of things and how much it's been held up in the anime community over the years as an example of ~weird deep philosophical anime~ really doesn't seem to mesh with the show itself for me, and without that, I may have enjoyed it more. Though, the last two episodes and how it feels the need to explain itself to me really rubs me the wrong way, fandom or no. Still has one of the best OPs of all time, though. I'll give it that. I've always loved that song.

Wow, I can't believe I'm on internet forums talking about '90s anime with people. This brings me back!


Update to my schedule: I have a panel from 3 - 4 on Friday, though I'm not sure if they've set all of the panels times yet (last year my two acceptances were staggered by about a week), but at least so far, I'll still be able to attend the gathering. Yay! It's looking more likely that I'll be doing Mink from Dragon Half, since I started making her sword and I'm not sure if I want to risk overheating in Juri again, but we'll see.

I was on the edge of the VHS fansub era outside of some episodes of the later Sailor Moon seasons.  However I did buy many, many artbooks from "some random guy" in the back of many comic stores - including the absolute doppelganger for Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons in a tiny town in the central valley.  "Which book I like least I will allow you the privilege of purchasing from me."  I swear he said that!

I've never been able to really get into Chrono Cross.  I've tried a few times over the years, since the day it was released actually, but it just doesn't click with me.  It's just too different from what I expected it to be and I've never been able to get over that I suppose.  The only Final Fantasy game I've ever really liked was IX but I've never been able to definitively explain why.  I mean to swing around and play VII (I know, I know) and VIII but as with anime, there are always fan translation efforts coming out that pull my attention.  The fan translation of Lagrange Point is next on my list and that's been out for over two years at this point.

For Evangelion, after finishing the original run completely, I think I went back and then watched the director's cut revised episodes 21 - 24, and then The End of Evangelion as if I'm remembering correctly that's how the new continuity ties together.  It didn't improve or diminish my feelings concerning the show, but there are some really nicely animated sequences.  If anything, I don't feel like it was a waste of my time to do so.  Then again, Kaji is my favorite character in Evangelion, so no one cares about my opinions on the series anyway. haha

I just barely remember the days of only being able to get anime and manga from comic book shops, and I think that it helped that I have an older sister (two years older), since I'm only in my late 20s and would have been in my tweens during the tail end of that era. I think my sister got some sort of weird promotional set of Ranma VHS tapes from a guy in a comic book shop. I do remember in my tweens or early teens when Tokyopop became a thing and then the local bookstores got manga sections and it was the /best/ thing ever. Whether luckily or unluckily for me, the right age for weebishness happened to perfectly coincide with the era of anime just beginning to expand into the mainstream and become available. These younger weebs have it so easy. :P (Oh god and I was an obnoxious weeaboo...)

I avoided Chrono Cross for a LONG time because I was mad that it wasn't Chrono Trigger, but then actually at last year's Fanime someone convinced me to play it, and I'm glad I did, since I ended up really enjoying it. I can see why it's the kind of game that wouldn't click with someone, though, especially if you are someone who played Chrono Trigger heavily (like I did), since it really is very different.

I think I might like FFIX. Never got into VII (the blasphemy!), or, really, any other FF game except VIII. That one's kind of an odd one, and I think that's what I liked it. Wouldn't mind trying VI at some point.

I got to I think episode 22 of NGE, and I'm pretty sure it gave me a migraine, so I need to lay off the old school anime for a bit haha (too many flashing lights.) It seems to pick up around episode 20 or so, but still seems like it's overrated and still is not at all what I expected. I would have taken the pretentious, convoluted, obscure anime that all the detractors say it is over what I've actually watched so far. It's not bad at all, but it's still not the masterpiece it's been built up to be. Well, I suppose I'll reserve judgment until after my migraine gets better and I can finish out the series. (I was hoping to hold off on replying until I finished, but who knows when that will be now.)

I can see why someone would like Kaji. Honestly, Misato, Kaji, and Ritsuko are the only characters I actually like in this show. I can understand the motivations for characters like Shinji, Rei, and Asuka, but I don't really feel any connection to them, and certainly don't feel anything resembling moe for them (especially the girls). We'll see once I finish. Still tempted by Misato cosplay, but probably not for Fanime. I think I'd also make a good Ritsuko, though.


Speaking of cosplaying characters voiced by Kotono Mitsuishi, whether I can attend this gathering depends on panels scheduling first and foremost, since I put down the timeslot that includes 6PM on Friday as one of my available times. My plans are up in the air, but my current plan (depending on things like weather and if I can rustle up other Utena cosplayers) is to wear either Juri Arisugawa from Utena (if it isn't too hot out) or Mink from Dragon Half (if it is too hot out).

Saturday at 10AM, huh?

My Fanime schedule is currently more question marks than anything, but that's a favorable time for wearing Ultimecia, so I might be persuaded to attend in that. Either that or Harle from Chrono Cross, depending on how hard mode I want to go.

Reg last year was in the Marriott. This is in the convention center.

You know the "hub" area when you walk into the front doors of the convention center and walk straight back towards the wall rather than going up the stairs or down the hallways underneath the concourse level (that run the length of the convention center)? Where there's historically (since the renovation at least) been a stage and chairs set up? It's going to be there.

The area marked "The Hub" on this map (page 2 of the pdf, Parkway level):
http://www.sanjose.org/media/608743/sanjoseconventioncenterv6.pdf

This is where registration was originally (since Fanime moved to San Jose that is), and was last there in 2012. 2013 saw the disastrous move to the Fairmont, 2014 - 2015 was the refreshing move to the area under where the AA is located (ground floor of the new wing once that opened), and 2016 saw the disastrous move to the Marriott. Now it's back where it used to be. There were some traffic issues and line issues the last couple of years it was there, so I hope those things get solved.

Interesting! Moving back to the original location. I wonder how traffic flows will be set up now that there are no longer stairs under there going to the concourse level (since that was the exit back when reg was down there before)?

Hopefully this won't be Linecon again.

No one is going to think your costume is ugly because you don't have large breasts. :] Don't worry.

I have fairly small breasts myself (the equivalent volume of a 34A or 34B but in a smaller band size -- 28D or 28DD) and have had no problems doing bunnysuit cosplays.

Though, I have to wonder how getting cleavage hurts your chest. What method are you using? If you are doing something like the drag queen tape method or pushing your breasts together with your hands, you may be pushing too far. Your breasts may be too small, dense, or far apart for that "buttcrack" style cleavage you usually see. If that's the case, I'd recommend doing a bit of contour shading with makeup, still wearing pushup padding, and going with it. Padding in and of itself shouldn't hurt you in any way.

I'd recommend adding a bit of padding to the suit, mostly just to keep it smooth in front and to create the illusion of a bit more curve. You don't have to make the bust larger than your actual bust and pad out to get overtly larger breasts, but just those molded foam push-up bra cups from the fabric store should suffice. This will also help prevent the ends of your boning from poking you, if you choose to end the boning underneath the bust (I usually do for the center and side front seams -- side seam boning will NEED to go above bust level). Adding bra cups to the structure of the suit will keep the structure of the suit in place and smooth better than if you were to go without any sort of cup in there (and just the fabric).

Here's a good shot of how a bunnysuit looks on me: http://68.media.tumblr.com/5127b0a38b635fe825e40e7765a1215f/tumblr_ohut3amOJA1s5pg8ho1_1280.jpg

If you need any tips on how to make the suit, let me know. I've done two so far, and they get easier each time.

I totally agree! There's something about the old hand-drawn cels that seem to have more...life, maybe? The imperfections tend to give it a bit of character and it seems more lively somehow. I think it helps that I tend to prefer the aesthetics of older anime over newer anime.

I was lucky in my youth that I just barely missed the days of sketchy 12th generation VHS fansubs copied off of some guy in the back of a comic store. DVDs were super expensive and streaming wasn't a thing yet, so we pretty much took what we could get. Anime fans getting into it now have it so easy. :P

We has a small anime selection at the local Hollywood Video, but nothing really groundbreaking. Of course, it was all stuff way too mature for a preteen/young teen to be watching, like Ninja Scroll, Akira, Devil Hunter Yoko, Vampire Hunter D, and Ghost in the Shell (which I hated the first time I saw it when I was like...10 or 11, maybe), and then some Sailor Moon movies, but the selection did expand some over the years. I'm sad that video rental stores are no longer really a thing, for many reasons. :|

The JRPG I played most recently was Chrono Cross. I know, I know, I'm late to the party, but I avoided it for many years because of my love of Trigger. I'm currently working hard on a Harle cosplay, if that means anything about how I felt about it after avoiding it for so long. :P It's actually quite a good game. Not perfect, but what is, really? I've mostly avoided Final Fantasy because none of them have held my attention other than 8. Legend of Mana is my favorite game of all time, and that's...really something. Such a strange game.

The newest JRPG I've played was one that came out maybe 5 years ago or so called Radiant Historia. FANTASTIC game. Highly recommended if you have a DS and like JRPGs and haven't played it. Really underrated little game. It really hearkens back to the glory days of the genre, and has fantastic Yoko Shimomura music to boot.

So far, I'm maybe...18 or 19 episodes into Evangelion? I'm pretty disappointed with it, actually. I know that I still have 7 episodes or so remaining, plus End of Evangelion (should I bother with all the subsequent releases? where do I even start with those?), but it's been built up so much as this masterpiece, and I really don't see it. It's good, don't get me wrong, it's just not as good as I expected it to be. It's also not all that weird so far. Everyone talks about how it's weird and kind of out there and heavily symbolic, but it seems relatively straightforward to me so far. I know the ending is supposed to go off the rails, and that End of Evangelion is supposed to go off the rails in a totally different way, but still, not really impressed so far.

Also, this week's song is one of my go-to karaoke songs. :D That's the best version of it, too.