Messages

Here is the pic.

Turned out pretty nice, if I do say so myself.  ^.^`

Hume BLM AF2 here.  Sad to say, but I do not think I'll be making a return to Fanimé.  It is my first con, considered my home con, really, but it costs about $1k per trip the last three times I attended and I cannot justify spending that much again.  -,-`

And my male mithra friend, well, I think he is going to Anime Expo instead.  America's Largest Anime Convention, and all that.  Sorry, all.

Oh, I wanted to make a comment about the "Peace bonding = socialism" thing.

I think it is a little farfetched to try to claim that costume props are covered under "Right to bear arms."

Fanimé is a private organization, as in not government run, and so they have the option of curtailing such things as freedom of speech and right to bear arms.  If you disagree with their rules, then you can choose not to attend the con.  That is democracy in action.

The problem with weapon props is that some are so realistic as to pose a problem for the public and law enforcement.  That is the whole reason why airsoft have orange tips and all toy guns come in wild and crazy colors instead of standard gunmetal black/silver.  If some cosplayer is waving a prop weapon in a menacing fashion, then it puts any law enforcement present in a tough situation as to whether to react as if it was a toy or a real weapon.  If its not a toy but they do not react, the cop failed to respond.  If it is a toy and the cop blasts you in half, its excessive use of force.  Peacebonding is a simple way to avoid such serious issues.

Also, the local residents and businesses have a say in what goes on at the convention center.  If they do not like the idea of a bunch of teen through adults walking around town in costume wielding weapons that may or may not be seen as props, then they can complain and Fanimé can get booted from the venue.  In order to avoid such a situation, Fanimé puts rules in place to keep any disturbances to a minimum which in turn allows us to have our convention.  

And now a question for the staff:  I know last year there was the Sasuke Thief and the missing hotel sign letters incidents, so was there anything like that this year?  Were there any complaints from the town or hotels?

EternalMalachi : If the animé rooms could have a set up like the Live Action Asian Cinema rooms, with what show showing at what time w/ a brief little synopsis, that would be most helpful, I think.

Response : we wish we could do this but it would take up to much space since we have over 200+ tiltes showing during the con. But if u noticed we have all the info on the website. A lot of people printed out all the titles we were showing from there home computer. Just an idea.

I meant to have it set up room by room.  The live action rooms had individual schedules for each room and THOSE schedules had the synopsis.  Basically, whatever was in LA Room 1 was listed on a big board outside LA Room 1.  Why not have a set up like that for the rest of the video rooms?

Plus, since its not just a normal schedule, I don't think there will be as high a risk of people ripping it off.  Unless of course the Live Action rooms had that particular problem and I just haven't heard about it.

Stuff like that is hard to watch.  Funny, but at the same time, cringe inducing.

I don't remember where exactly, but I believe that Anime Improv was suggested.  I've seen it done at a smaller con and it was pulled off quite nicely, for the most part.  There was plenty of audience involvement as well, in the form of cheers and boos when the actors did not follow character.  At the con I went to it was put in its own room, but I could see this being a Stage Zero activity.

And I really didn't pay much attention to Stage Zero, aside from watching a few questions at the Quick Draw game show thing.

I think that if Stage Zero is to continue then there should be a schedule of events and a synopsis of shows in the Fanimé booklet.  And I don't mean to have full 24 hour schedules, but like key events every couple hours and random stuff in between, ya know?

BAD

-Moronic upper management, as usual.
-Failure of some panels to show up
-My singing when one panel failed to arrive
-Eberron in the Gaming room
-No place to sleep
-Air conditioning always on
-New host character for mAsquerade not as funny as Deiter.  No funny voices = no funny.
-Peace bonding. I still hold taht it is a socialist practice.
-food...
-As usual, held on the same weekend as Baycon and Kublacon.
-No enough anime music playing on loudspeaker
-TOO MUCH RAP MUSIC!

Suggestions:

-Add a communal sleeping area with 50 or so cots for roomless fanime atendees to sleep in. Always keep it darka nd turn the heater on.  Also, some sleepy music would be nice, like the Crystal Theme or Real Folk Blues.


-Improv comedy.

-Bring back Deiter or at least SOMEBODY with a funny accent.  California accent NOT funny.  English accent funny.  Australian accent funny. But NOT a "normal" accent.

-Hold it on a non kublacon weekend

-We're anime fans not hip hop loving, mysogynistic anarchist rapper types with no regard for culture whatsoever.  Hiphop and rap do NOT mix with anime, please get rid of all rap, hiphop and death metal.  Sorry if it sounds like a generalization, but most rap and hiphop is VERY mysogynistic, irreverant and violent.

-

Two things I need clarification on.
1- How did you determine that Upper Management are morons?
2- How exactly is peace bonding a "socialist practice?"

Also, when it comes to complaining about not having a place to sleep or any food, all I can say is "Get a job, hippie!"  I spent about $1000 total for the plane ticket over, the four nights at the hotel, food, cosplay, and gifts from the Dealers Room.  And I only came from MN.  There was a girl in the artist room who came from Ontario (if I recall correctly).  There are plenty of us who are willing to save up to come to Fanimé over the others.  If you are not willing, then go to some other con.  On the same token, do not come to Fanimé and complain that you couldn't go to another con.  Thats your choice to make.

I agree with you about how ill-placed the rap music was, but you comparing rap fans to rapists is idiotic and calls your own maturity level into question.

Oh, and Dieter will always be Dieter to me, whether he does the voice or not.  ^.^`  Great host.  ^.^

Yes yes, I know we aren't supposed to feed the trolls, but this person reminds me too much of manofcorn, so I had to comment.

Well ya the lighting guys didn't get it quite right but they got most of it right so I was happy.  As far as the noise goes it didn't make that noise when he did it in the last episode.  Oh and I'm a little curious what you meant by timing it with the music.  Thanks for the critique though

I meant, timing so that when your monologue ends and you put your hand on your chest, its right when the music is coming to a point where you have inserted a sound effect.  If that was something you wanted to do.

Don't forget about the girl who cosplayed Amano-style Rachel from Final Fantasy VI.  Her costume was really detailed and nobody has yet to (that I've seen) cosplay her character.  :)

Anyone have pictures of her?  She had a very lovely face and I was wow'd by how intricate her costume was.  Oh, and she had a very lovely face.  ^.~

Oh by the way I was wanting some brutally honest opinions on my performance this year.  I was the Ed Elric who did the monolougue shirtless with the symbols on me.  I couldn't watch myself so I need some feedback

Should have ended the skit w/ lights going out and the walk off the stage in darkness.

Also, perhaps have your spoken part timed to the music, and have the moment you place your hands on yourself have that big electric noice you hear whenever transmutation takes place.

So, I saw the winners at the Masquerade and there were a few I really enjoyed.  For those who actually attended the AMV events, what were your favorites?

Oh, and where would one go to find certain AMVs, say, the Princess Tutu AMV? ^.~

edit: Also, I'd like to say that these AMVs are a great way to advertise a series.  So much so that I'd buy Princess Tutu if my girlfriend wasn't already in the process of doing so.  ^,^`

Which was the skit that won for best comedy?

It was the "yaoi" Hughes x Mustang skit (from Fullmetal Alchemist).

You can see all the awards here:
http://forums.fanime.com/viewtopic.php?t=4984

Ah, well, then I definately agree with the Judges on this one.  I was helping out my friend with his rehearsal so I go to see a bunch of the skits early and that was definately one of the funniest skits.

In fact, I don't know if I liked the Maes x Roy skit more or less than the Gloomy's Clues as funniest skits of the show.  Behind them, however, are the Gainax Boy skit and the Black Mage Wrestlemania.

Wii are Ninjas was funny, but not so much as the ones listed above.

0813 and I got the coolest pic on it ^_^ my bestest<3 friend had to walk around with a girls' name on his. lmfao.

What was the pic?  And why did your friend have a girl's

How exactly is the badge number assigned?  I am curious because while I do not remember exactly when I prereg'd, I didn't think it was too much earlier than my friend, but our numbers were way far apart.

Not that I am complaining.  It was fun seeing the reactions of people who took notice of my badge number.  ^,^`  

0069   ^.~

Most of my complaints have been hit upon.

The one that pissed me off the most though was the winner of the Best Comedy. I was in the Wii are Ninjas group and I heard the audiance laughing hystaricly at our skit. The one that won I didn't hear to much laughing.

I was really satisfied with all of the marathons, though I missed some due to the fact that I didn't have a map till saturday night and the schedules where somewhat hard to read.

But this was my first fanime and I loved how it was orginized my expectations of it where blown away with the reality of it.

Which was the skit that won for best comedy?

[Masquerade:]

Masquerade:
Video Programming:
Not too thrilled this year.  There were a couple Asian Live Action shows I enjoyed, but no much in the way of animé.  I'm guessing something happened where fansub animé is no longer allowed to be played?  Two years ago I was running from room to room all day to catch new animé I wanted to check out.  Was much more laid back w/ only a couple shows I had to catch.  This year, however, there were only 2 shows I wanted to see: one was the Shadow Chronicles preview that I missed because I was feeling ill, and the second was a typo on the schedule.  -,-`  All the rest of the animé that played was basically stuff I can just borrow from friends.  *shrugs*
[

We had fansubs running from video 1-8 which is spread out in the hotels and convention center. It sounds like you only watched the videos in the Marriot instead of going out in the CC (specifically across the marriot) and the Hilton.

What is strange about your complaint is that you have allready seen fansubs from your friends but then saying oh we are not showing them at fanime? HUH?

LOL

Maybe I did miss it.  I spent a couple hours over the con looking through the schedule to find things to watch, but kept seeing shows that were already released out here.  Berserk, Bubblegum Crisis, Kenshin, Akira, Guyver, Gankutsuou, Jin Roh, Tetsujin 28.  I don't know, I guess the licensed stuff popped out more, though it may be that I couldn't actually read a lot of the names on the Sunday/Monday schedule....

Kim Sam Soon!  ^,^`  My friend and I were just wandering the halls and made our way down the Asian film area and were drawn in by a thrown cake and a steady beat.  ^.^  I wanted to watch more but my friend and I had to make our rounds to show of the costumes.  Maximum exposure!  ^.^`

5. Organization, I was able to find everything I was looking for due to the lovely signs and READY MADE schedule made available at registration.

Ah, that reminds me of another issue.  Aside from the Live Action rooms, the video rooms had no room schedule until Sunday, and then that was just a copy of the printed schedule w/ relevant bits highlighted.

If the animé rooms could have a set up like the Live Action Asian Cinema rooms, with what show showing at what time w/ a brief little synopsis, that would be most helpful, I think.

[Masquerade:]

Masquerade:
I really enjoyed it, except for the younger idiots in the back right (while facing the stage) of the downstairs seating.  They kept yelling and basically being immature little punks while the preshow guitarist was entertaining.  The couple behind me made a comment about how its better to be entertained than stare at a black screen while waiting for the show to start.

I really loved the Karaoke winner as well as the music performance played during the intermission.  That gal was soooo cute.  ^,^`

There were some really good skits this year.  I didn't like Gainax boy from last year and that stupid Mighty Mouse thing, but his song routine this year was fantastic.  Also, Gloomy's Clues was a riot, as well as the Black Mage World Wrestling.  Oh, and the FFXI Mithra video/skit, though as he's my best friend, I suppose I'm a teensy bit impartial.  Its a shame that so many people seemed to leave at the intermission because the Mithra skit was the first one after that.

The Stage Ninja thing was a little overplayed, but not worth complaining about, I think.  Brian was great as always and so quick w/ the insults and improv.  Loved it.

One suggestion would be to have a program guide.  I know that a printed one would not be feasible due to the short time between the registrations and the actual show, but maybe a scrolling list on the screens before hand during seating.  Something like "Entry # - Skit/WalkOn - Group Name - Skit Name."  That way people can get a feel for whats planned for the night.  Just an idea, ya?

Schedules:
Dissapointment.   It wasn't as bad as last year when it came to timing, but the printed schedule is all that was available for those of us who didn't bring printers to the con, and the one handed out on Saturday was barely legible.

There was supposed to be some Robot Rumble mecha versus mecha discussion that was announced Friday night at the Robotech Shadow Chronicles Preview, but none of the staff seemed to know anything about it, so I have no idea if it occurred or not because I had no idea where to go.  Also, there was a mistake on Saturday night that said "Geneon Presents Akira 2."  Got all excited for nothing.

My dissapointment stems from the fact that everyone knew it was a problem last year, and yet it wasn't fixed for this year.  I understand its a big con and there are a lot of things going on, but please do not tell me that its a lot of hard work for people who are donating their time and effort into this and we should be thankful that it didn't turn out worse.  We heard that excuse last year and accepted it.  That shouldn't make it a "Get out of Jail free" card.  I do not mean to sound bitter, but it was a problem last year that I was hoping would be remedied.

On the plus side, the free internet cafe and updated schedule online was helpful and kept us from being completely lost.

Panels:
Rooster Teeth was awesome.  Funny funny guys, though they seemed bored out of their minds hanging out in the dealer's room.

Gaia was fun, I hear.  I didn't attend, but I saw the line while leaving the Rooster Teeth panel and I could hear the cheers from down the hall.  Plus, the people I know who did attend said it was a blast.

Dealers' Room:
Air conditioning was wonderful.  ^.^`  My cosplay outfit doesn't breathe very well so the AC was a blessing.  There was so much there I wanted to buy but just didn't have the money for.  And to my regret, hardly anyone seemed to accept Credit Cards for under $100 purchases, if at all.  One booth accepted CC over $35, but since they didn't sell any Macross toys, I only managed a $37 purchase.

Also, I loved that first corner booth on the left side of the far right aisle from the entrance.  It was the one that allowed you to choose which Kingdom Hearts Trading Arts piece you wanted.  Saved me quite a bit of change to get the figure I wanted.  ^.^

Art Room:
At first I wasn't too thrilled, but by having its own room it helped keep the main walkways cleared, and so it was very worth it.  The Art Room itself was a little stuffy, but since it was the same set up as the Dealers' Room, it made browsing much easier.  I spent quite a bit of time in there, and I have a couple cards I need to check out for commisions.  ^.^`  A lot of the artists themselves are fun/interesting people and I had plenty of fun little conversations.

Video Programming:
Not too thrilled this year.  There were a couple Asian Live Action shows I enjoyed, but no much in the way of animé.  I'm guessing something happened where fansub animé is no longer allowed to be played?  Two years ago I was running from room to room all day to catch new animé I wanted to check out.  Was much more laid back w/ only a couple shows I had to catch.  This year, however, there were only 2 shows I wanted to see: one was the Shadow Chronicles preview that I missed because I was feeling ill, and the second was a typo on the schedule.  -,-`  All the rest of the animé that played was basically stuff I can just borrow from friends.  *shrugs*

E-Gaming:
Awesome.  Taiko again dominated the majority of the time I spent in that room.  I only tried a little Guitar Hero because the guitars were busted and were double strumming off of single strums, which kept screwing up my combos.  -,-`

I am all for having the E-Gaming in an exhibition hall.  Open area kept the room cool and having all the arcade in there as well meant for good variety for playing as well as watching.

My only complaint is about this one punk kid who was hogging half of the Time Crisis 3 machine while 6 people stood behind him trying to get on for doubles.

My only suggestion would be to spread the arcade machines out a bit more.  There were huge crowds around some of the Bemania machines, making it difficult to see/access others.  Other than that, great job.

Staff:
Overall, good people.  My friend and I had our props peace-bonded the first time we entered the Dealers' Room, which was also the first time we entered anything that required a badge check-in.  The staffer was real nice and apologized for the trouble, which of course he did not have to do since he was only doing his job, but the fact that he did showed the attitude of the staffer, which was helpful and courteous while enforcing con rules.  Helpful and courteous is probably a good way to describe all but one of the staffers I encountered.

Noticed how I said all but one?  The encounter I just described is a good foil to the FIRST encounter I had with a staffer this con.  On Thursday during the Pre-reg badge pickup there was some guy snapping at people in line, telling them to get away from certain walls and certain doors and the like.  Most of the people I saw in this line and the later line for the Masquerade respond quickly enough when spoken to in a polite manner, so this guy's behaviour just kind of surprised me.  There was an incident last year w/ a staffer in a little go cart and cowboy hat and some Naruto cosplayers taped to a pillar, but I understood that the staffer was running from one fire to the next, so to speak, and so his terse manner was understandable and his demands to enforce safety regulations reasonable.  The incident this year occured before the con even started and this guy already seemed to have a bad attitude.

So astounded I was by his behaviour that I wanted to tell my friends' who had yet to arrive about him, and so I got out my camera to take a picture.  Now, when I turn my digital camera on, the viewfinder screen displays a Kodak logo against a black background.  When that image cleared I saw the staffer looking at me w/ his hands together against his chest, so I snapped the picture.  Right away he came to me and while I do not remember his exact words it was in an "are you stupid?" tone and went something like: "Do you think that when a person tells you not to take his picture that you should do it anyways?"  I do not go out of my way to offend people so I apologized, saying that I did not hear him say no, nor even shake his head, nor did any of the people around me.  I told him I would delete the picture and was going to, but decided against it.  For one, this confrontation was even more reason to warn my friends about this seemingly arrogant staffer. For two, while it is generally rude to take a picture of a person w/out their consent, I do not know of any law/rule barring a person taking pictures in public places of anyone else in those public places, nor are there any lines in the Policies section in the Fanimécon 2006 book.  I do not plan on posting the image, but if anyone else had problems with a staffer and think it may be the same person, PM and I'll send it to you.

Stage Zero:
That was a fun little thing to check out and there were some fun games and vids.  The rap, however, seemed rather out of place.


I can't think of much else at the moment.  This year was the first Fanimé at which I cosplayed and that ate up most of my time and energy.  Cosplaying really made things so much more fun than just attending.  ^.^`  Not sure if I'll be back next year, since it is so expensive flying out from Minnesota and getting a hotel and all that, but we'll see.  Here's hoping, ya?

-Eternal Malachi

Aside from one company who has engineered them (in Japan, I believe), blue roses do not exist.  That is why blue roses represent mystery.  Your best bet would be trying to find if anyone has silk roses in blue, or painting roses.