A little bit older but still not quite a veteran. This is Otaku’s second foray in the world of the anime con.

This time I registered early, had access to a car, and was able to attend all three days for as long as I wanted. I could have spent more time and went to more events, but standing in line is absurdly exhausting.

PREPARATIONS

This time instead of my godawful Irvine, I would come as Gendo Ikari. I didn’t have some of the adornments on the coat, and my face refused to grow a full beard, but I decided to go with what I had.

DAY 1

I actually had to drive my brother to an appointment in the morning, which prevented me from arriving early. This meant that I would miss out on my chance to get my VHS copy of Tekkaman Blade II signed by Tara Strong. She, of course, did the voice of Yumi Francois, the klutzy mechanic turned pilot of Tekkaman Hiver.

After getting my badge and bracelet, I headed straight to the autograph signing, which had no line. And no Tara. There was, however, Quentin Flynn, voice of MGS’s Raiden and trying his damnedest to look like Sir Paul McCartney. I got him to sign MGS4. Minor victory.

With primary objectives more or less accomplished, I proceeded to walk about and look for interesting cosplayers. My first target was the first Phoenix Wright cosplay I found.

For the record, there were two other Wrights at the convention I couldn’t get a pic of. One of them was Hobo Phoenix, and I desperately wanted to take a pic of him but was unfortunately stuck in line that day and couldn’t take it. I failed to track him down later.

This fellow goes by the name of Dartswarm. He is the world’s safest superhero. He is armed up the wazoo with Nerf weaponry I wasn’t aware existed. Guns to be sure. A makeshift Nerf bayonette. Swords. Daggers. Two swords that combined to form a double-edge sword. An axe. I forget what else. I hung out with him while downing an orange Ramune. So not worth $2, but who cares? It’s Ramune.

I took this mostly because I was impressed by the Ganon. Went all out on that one. Major kudos. As you can see, it started getting pretty dark. I wish I brought a real camera with flash instead of my mobile.

I liked this Haru. She had style. There were two other Haru’s at this con, but they didn’t compare. Though one of them did bring a yellow scooter.

Finally! Classic, non-AC Tifa! I’ve been trying to get my sister to do a Tifa cosplay, but when she gets around to it, she wants to do someone more unique yet still identifiable. No decision yet. But she looks the part, AND she has an interest in martial arts and bartending. She’s a perfect fit for Tifa. But it’s her decision, so that potential shall unfortunately have to be left unfulfilled for now.

I wish there were more light. I approached Siren (initially thought she was a female Banshee… *shrugs*) because… well, who goes as Banshee? Answer: no one. Next to her was hotness I was only allowed to see once during those three days: an absolutely stunning Poison Ivy.

After cosplay-hunting I went into the vendor area one last time to check out artists doing commissions. I picked out one artist that had some impressive artwork and decided to commission a picture. I was aware that there was a strong chance it could end terribly, but I took that chance and was determined that at least the experience would be worth the $35 I laid down. I had to participate in the process if I wanted to understand it better.

Aside from that, nothing much happened. I didn’t want to take part in the rave because it was already pretty depressing that I was attending a con alone again. I didn’t spend too much time in the game rooms because they still smelled of human sweat.

DAY 2

I drove to the hotel and immediately got in line. Line was longer than I planned, and I once again missed my chance to have Tara Strong sign my Tekkaman Blade II tape. But I was just in time to get Ali Hillis and Troy Baker signatures. More on that later, but first: my linemates. Because I had to find some way to kill time, and it was a long-ass wait.

I am informed that this fellow is supposed to be “Rainbow Dash” from My Little Pony. That aside, he was an entertaining person to talk to.

This hottie I have no idea who she is supposed to be, but she was also great to talk to and look at as well. She was more experienced in cons than I was, and I believe she plans to go to Fanime. I only go to SacAnime because of the convenience. It’s only 10 minutes away from my apartment.

If I may… nowhere near as good as last Summer’s Lightning, but Twin Lightning is pretty damn special.

I love these guys. The Predators. They were here last Summer, and it was great that I had a chance to take this pic this time. They use stilts so they’re freaking huge.

I call him Giant Awesome GIR. Nothing prepared me for him. He is awesome. Neat.

Finally, met this guy just outside the signing tables. He’s a Henchman, and that rocks.

I forgot to bring Dissidia Duodecim for Ali to sign, but she signed an autograph for me anyway. She’s a sweet person. Troy Baker didn’t really voice a lot of characters I liked in particular. But he did Nova, so I had him sign Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3.

It was at this time I rushed to the courtyard to search for the Higurashi party. I failed. But since I still had plenty of time before My Little Pony gathering, I did some hunting.

I’m not an Aeris fan. I always thought she was kind of a jerk. But I had to respect this.

This required much less thinking. As soon as I saw Saturn, I had to drop everything and take a pic. Favorite Senshi, bar none. Not even Mercury is higher. Not even the shy bookworm. That’s right.

Fezzes are cool!

This was the ONLY .hack cosplay there, and he didn’t even bring the right top.

Finally, made it for the Brony gathering.

I don’t even know.

This was much better on the eyes and ears though.

It was around this time I went back to the line for Vic Mignogna. But first, I had to take some pics from people IN the line.

Last year I took a pic of the one Mousse. That Mousse returned, but also with Ryoga and Ukyo. I of course had to take a pic.

Not only was my fav Yuffie here, so was the only Cissnei in existence!

I was not expecting Klavier Gavin. Especially one that looked so good. I mean, his face is all wrong, but aside from that, it was a solid Klavier.

Had to take a closeup of that medallion.

My linemates this time were Boximus Prime, who for some reason had Yugi’s head as a shield, and Rescue Cat (a YGO card). FREAKING RESCUE CAT! I take great pride in being the first person to recognize who this guy was cosplaying as. I love that card. Not as much as Eria the Water Charmer, but up there.

I regret not taking a pic of the stellar Maes that was near me in both this line and the line I was in Sunday. Even though he had never heard of Evangelion, I respect his dedication to the character.

Now, recall that I am in a line for Vic Mignogna, who is probably by far the most popular VA here in the west. At least according to what I’m hearing. His line was freaking huge. There were dozens of Ouran cosplayers here for all three days. And I was here to get him to sign my Excel Saga DVD vol. 3 because he played Wolf in a single episode. But it just so happens to be the greatest anime episode of all time, “Elegy to the Dogs.” I recorded his priceless reaction.

It felt good bringing him that dose of nostalgia-infused glee.

Rounded out the rest of the day with, what else? More cosplay-hunting.

I wanted to take a video of the Batussi, but he was done and moved on to a random fight with Cyrax by the time I got here.

Last time I was here, one of the door volunteers had a Lucia’s Pendant, and I chatted him up because of that. He wasn’t here, but a female #17 was. Glee.

I’m not entirely sure when Sango got ahold of those sunglasses. This only reminds me that I desperately wanted an episode where Miroku goes to Kagome’s time and gets arrested for molestation. Very impressive Hiraikotsu btw.

Honestly, all I saw was a camera guy and a chick willing to display that much skin and I was there. My sister informs me that the girl on the left is “Winry.” I’ll take her word for that.

Finally, I don’t mention it much, but I’m a big fan of Static. This made me happy.

Oh, and Greg Snegoff was an unannounced guest who put up shop and signings at the vendor area. I got him to sign my copy of The Professional: Golgo 13. The discussion that popped up when I brought out that tape was almost as priceless as the previous moment with Vic. This should be my thing. I should bombard guests with nostalgia. Too bad I can’t really pull that off with Johnny Yong Bosch. He’s surrounded by fans of his oldest works as it is.

DAY 3

I immediately went to the signing line for my last chance at Tara Strong. I traded this chance for the chance to take some awesome cosplay pics. At least I never have to go through this again. Allegedly.

I enjoyed this. Kudos to whoever left it. BTW, my line mates were “Death the Kid” from Soul Eater. Not sure if that’s his name or what. Liked talking about symmetry for some reason. And Maes Hughes, a name I picked up simply by being around this guy for so long. Liked pulling out a picture of his daughter turning 3. I think. He also collected autographs on his iPad. Ali Hillis almost wrote directly on it with a pen.

Getting Tara Strong to sign this was well worth the effort. When I pulled out Tekkaman Blade II, some helper made a fuss about someone bringing a freakin’ VHS tape. That alone was great. But then Tara talked about the panel (that I couldn’t attend) and how she said a line from this anime that no one recognized. If it hadn’t been for my brother’s appointment, I would have been that one fan. I hate him so much.

I also got Ali to sign my Duodecim game this time. Oh, but Ali and Troy had to leave early so they did that signing while I was still in line. Ali’s totally sweet, I swear.

Right after getting my swag signed, I went to the vendor area to pick up my commission. The art style isn’t too bad, but .hack was just too obscure. The artist wasn’t able to really capture the soul of the characters well enough. In fact, I had to return later to get him to fix Natsume’s eyes. The problem was that she had them.

I respect this artist’s work, but he just isn’t suited for .hack. I have my eye on another artist though and intend to assign another Natsume commission to her when SacAnime Summer starts up.

Now for the last pics:

Female Bakura. Always worth a shot.

Seeing Genma warmed my heart a bit.

There’s an epic joke to be made here. I just know it.

I. Love. This. Guy. Dr. Wily. He talked in that absurd accent from the American cartoon, recognized that I was playing Gendo (something exactly six people did in three days… which is at least up from 0 recognizing Irvine. God that costume sucked ass.) and did an epic pose with Henchman 27 that I didn’t take. But a breeze rolled in to make his coat wave at just the right time. Epic.

And that was my con experience. I wish I had more cash available and got to attend more events. But more importantly, I really need to avoid going to these things solo. My sis says she wants to attend in the Summer if she can, so there’s that possibility. I’m just not a group starter. I’m more of a follower, and I don’t see any anime groups at CSU Sac. Oh well. There’s always hope.

BTW vendors: Please stock more Super Gundams and keep that Ein figure available. I’m pretty sure I’m the only one who has his eye on Ein.