Whoa, so much to say about Anime North! Svetlana Chmakova jokingly refers to anime conventions as “An exhibition of Japanese culture, a festival that celebrates our national diversity through the merging of art, writing and electronic media.” – and it is that, and so much more! Even without buying a ticket one could enjoy some of the cream of AN’s crop – standing in line itself was an experience, as we watched streams of crazily dressed cosplayers pass us [Ayu and I] by. Too shocked to even take pictures, we watched the myth of guys-dressed-in-school-girl-outfits come true, as well as someone totting around a GIANT ninja star. Love it already! The inside of the Congress Centre turned out to be more or less a warehouse, but the stuff on the ground was enough to make up for the appearance of the actual building. We first visited the Creater’s Corner, and if not for some careful planning and money-paranoia, I could have easily spent ALL of my money there. Such amazing Fan-Art!!!! O.O And the pins…XD Not to mention all the authors were so nice and understandingly answered our questions, even if we didn’t buy anything. After this came, of course, the renown Dealer’s Room! Ayu and I had only ever been to Dot Con, a small, shrunken cousin of AN which didn’t have an Artist’s Alley, and who’s Dealers Room was…nothing, compared to this one. Planning to return, and now joined by Ara (Kasia) we headed out to the other hotels to go to –dadadum- Panels!! Seriously, I didn’t know that anime conventions were supposed to have panels!!!! Really! I had only ever been to Dot Con, which offered two animes playing in two showrooms, so I was totally taken by surprise that we had workshops to go to! I finally understood why Cons are/were so addictive – there’s just so much to do!!! The next few ours were a blur of different places, once the Doubltree Hotel for half a writer’s panel, then a manga panel with Svet (<3) at the Renaissance, then a yummy-smelling Iron Chef panel next door. Food, I have to admit, was scarce and expensive, but luckily home-made mustard sandwiches intervened and saved my day. Finally it was back to the dealer’s room for a Svet signing, then off to the Masquerade!! I must admit I would have rather gone to Skit Night, but this almost made up for it. The MC was cleverly-funny even though he was terrible at pronouncing names, and the costumes were, of course, amazing. Then, finally, heavy with purchases and new memories, Ayu and I dragged ourselves home, happy and exhausted.
-Olivia D.
Anime North was great in my opinion! It was my first ever anime convention and I enjoyed it so much. I bought an awesome dagger for ten bucks and 325 cards for a trading card game I didn’t know how to play (and apparently no one else does either). I am totally looking forward to next year, where I will cosplay as a character in a manga I’m trying to draw (the only problem is that I suck at drawing).
-David W.
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