SakuraCon 2012

[Zilla]

Is anyone here attending? I'll be running the Rock Band area throughout the event, and otherwise wandering the expo. I never make plans for conventions ^^; I'll probably drop into some anime screenings, wander the dealer's room (I like wallscrolls!) and see if any panels interest me.

You shall know me by my blue hair and glasses.

[Zilla]

This may be the best con experience I've ever had. I've been to quite a few. My previous top-con was Anime Detour in Minneapolis, a smaller but high-energy con with a con suite and really fun and active people.

One of the first people I saw was Okabe Rintaro, from Steins;Gate. <3!! I also saw two pairs of Panty and Stocking. The first thing I did was hitting up the dealer's room, and I got a copy of Ehrgeiz!! I've been looking for that game for years! It did cost $37 and was disc-only; no official case or instruction booklet. But I got it!

I also signed up to donate $10 a month to an organization that helps fight anti-gay bullying in schools by both introducing kids to the message of tolerance before they get enmeshed in hatred, and challenging laws that prevent teachers from even mentioning anything LGBT related. I'm really stingy with my money, and I kinda waffle back and forth on that commitment since I don't really like recurring fees... ^^; Still, it's a very noble cause. They definitely deserve support.

I watched a short, hilarious film called Coffee Samurai, about a samurai who is reincarnated as a vending machine. He's somehow able to return to human form for brief periods of time, but after a while, he turns back into this really cute human-faced coffee vending machine, which he can also become a plain "Mr. Coffee" machine. He falls in love with a girl, but this conflicts with his fighting lifestyle, where he must take on evil playground bouncy-zebras and stuffed polar bears.

I staffed the Rock Band stage from 8PM to 2AM, and that was a blast. I really liked helping people out with settings and equipment, and finding bandmates (or filling in if nobody wanted to). It felt REALLY good, helping these people have a blast! My ears are ringing though... ^^; I sang a few songs and now my voice is going out. ^^;;

I'll still be there today and tomorrow. I'm a bit surprised at the lack of replies on the thread, but I did kinda post it last minute and I suppose if anyone's going, they're not checking MSF 'cause they probably can't go to the con from home like I can.

When it's over, I hope this thread can serve as a collection of our stories! This is my fourth year at SakuraCon, and it is so far the best con I've been to!

[Zilla]

All over!

Things I bought:

Ehrgeiz for PS1.
Junes shirt.
Ditto-face shirt.
Hanekawa Tsubasa wallscroll (Bakemonogatari).
Lucky Star manga, volumes 1, 5, and 7 (I have vol. 6 already)

Things I didn't find, but would have bought:

Anything Steins;Gate related.
Anything Panty and Stocking related (Especially demon sisters)
Yuruyuri manga
Cromartie High School manga that I don't have already.
Any other Lucky Star manga I don't have already


The last day was pretty relaxed for me. I wore my Ika-chan hat/hair, but that was it. (I actually wore some rather lame jeans and the Staff t-shirt was all baggy on me, I didn't really dress up a single bit for the last day ^^;; )

I only got to spend about an hour at the dealer's room before I went to work on the Rock Band stage.


Stories from the Rock Band stage:

There was a team of DC Superheroes; Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor, I think, who got up on Saturday and ROCKED "Somebody to Love" by Queen. It was JAW-DROPPING.

And then someone who hadn't ever heard Freebird before sang it. He did his best, but it wasn't crowd-pleasing... ^^;

I spent most of my time running around and asking for bandmates to fill in positions that people needed. Sometimes I helped people pick settings, sometimes I helped with instrument technical difficulties, sometimes I played instruments when nobody else wanted to. We had a few staff songs, and they were fun to play, but I felt a little bad when the manager guy would get in line during busier times and take up time with longer songs.... ^^;;;;;

[Miku-chan]

Sounds like you had a good time after all. Sorry I didn't reply or anything, got stuck over the weekend. I run the Karaoke too at several cons for Animeland shows and YuleCon, so I can relate to the kick you get from helping out at Rock Band. Let's compare con notes sometime...

[Zilla]

I was interested in the karaoke, actually... I'm a pretty good singer apparently (I got to number 20 on two songs on the Rock Band leaderboard! )

But my Japanese singing? Ah, I'm... only really singing phoenetically, and I can't remember all the words since I don't understand them all. It's getting better and better, but I'd still be embarrassed to try. I still wanted to check it out, but I never really did.