Day 1
On the weekend of June 20-22, 2003, I went to my first anime convention: Fanime Con
at Santa Clara, California. This was an event I was looking forward to not just because it was my first anime convention
but to see some of my friends again. The first day was very overwhelming because a lot of people were there and quite a
lot was going on from waiting in the long registration line to browsing the dealer's tables, attending various events,
and so forth. I have read about details like this in various anime convention reports but to be actually be there
and experience that event just blew my mind.
After registering at the door, I waited with my friends Alan and Alexis in line for the dealers room to open at noon.
It was about 9AM by that time and to pass the time, we talked, took pictures of con goers in their anime costumes, and
played poker. It was probably during this time, I met Jason, one of my classmates from tai chi class at UC Riverside.
It was very cool to see one of my classmates throughout the 3-day weekend event.
When the dealers room finally opened, I went in and I was stunned by the numerous anime stuff on display.
Books, posters, wall scrolls, CDs, videos, DVDs, you name it. I spent most of my time in the dealers room and walking around
the con. At 3PM, I went to the Anime Improv event, which is "Who's Line Is It Anyway?" meets anime. Alan was planning to go to
that event but he didn't show up. However, Alexis did, as well as my friends Lysa, Valerie, and Brian. It was a lot of fun seeing
several fans come up to the front of the audience and perform improv.
Soon after, I went to a screening of "Lupin III: Voyage to Danger", which I haven't seen in a long time. Come to think of it,
I was out of the anime loop for a while and I'm trying to catch up. By 5:30 PM, I went to the dealers room since it was about to
close at 6PM. After 6PM, I walked around and stopped every now and then to take pictures of cosplayers. At 7PM, I met up with
Alan at Anime Music Video Iron Chef, where two anime music video creators are given several anime footage and have to create a music
video using that footage in a certain amount of time. The two creators who participated in creating a music video were ErMac and
Tim Park of Doki Doki Productions. AMV creator Brad DeMoss hosted the event. It was awesome to see how an anime music video is
created, especially when you're given some footage and have to create one with that footage in a certain amount of time. Plus, these
people as well as the host made excellent music videos. (Some of their videos are my favorites, which you can find at
this page.) By 9:30 PM, the music videos were done and both of them were well done. If I
remember correctly, Tim Park won.
The AMV Iron Chef was the last event I attended that day. I went home a bit tired but looking forward to day two of Fanime Con.
I came to day 2 of Fanime Con at around 7AM and I just hung around a bit. I went into a screening of a funny fan-made parody "This is Otakudom" at 9AM, just to pass the time before the dealers room opened at 10AM. I was in that room for about an hour, then I went to the Anime Music Video Panel, where several anime music video creators discussed their experiences of making these videos as well as answering questions on the subject. At noon, I left and walked about around the con and at 1PM, I met up with Alan at the AMV Finals, which ran for about 3 hours. After that, I didn't do too much, other than browse and shop the dealers' tables and snap pictures because I was to leave for a relative's birthday party at around 6PM.
Like the previous day of Fanime Con, there was a lot going on but this time it felt a bit different. The other day, I was overwhelmed with the first time experiencing an anime convention. But on the second day, I seemed to be used to it already. Still, it was very thriving, interesting, and fun.
I went to church at 7:30 AM and immediately after church, I went to the con. There wasn't too much to do since that was the the third and last day of Fanime Con. I did my shopping at the dealers room, took pictures of cosplayers, and attended a screening of "Lupin III: Dragon of Doom" at 1 PM. I came back to the dealers room for the last time before closing at 3PM. I bought quite a lot of merchandise throughout those three days at Fanime, from CD's to the Fanime Con T-shirt. I was planning to attend the closing ceremonies at 5PM but I hung out with Brian, Lysa, Valerie, and Amy in the remaining hours of Fanime. By the time they left for home, it was about a quarter to 5PM and I was already tired. I called my parents to pick me up.
Fanime Con was quite a wonderful experience. It was my first anime convention and I had a lot of fun during the event's 3-day weekend. Best of all, I got to see some of my friends again. ^_^