This is Dark Angel’s modest play by play of Anime Matsuri 2010.
*Disclaimer 1: At the time of original writing, I haven’t slept in about 24, so I’m sure there will be a more polished copy after this.*
So Anime Matsuri…Houston,Texas…where to begin? I got turned on to the con thanks to a friend (thanks DF) & somehow wound up going. Texas is 1 of the few I’ve actually lived in, but I haven’t been back here since I was a baby. So it definitely felt surreal.
The accomodations were okay. Sizable room. Free breakfast. Homemade cookies (courtesy of staff) every other hour. Yum, yum. If you managed to catch the companion pics, then you probably realize that I didn’t take as many as I normally do, sadly, my leg decided walking wasn’t a nessecary function this con/week. For some reason it just felt swollen and raw all weekend; I really had a hard time getting around believe it or not. If that wasn’t bad enough, my phone decided to die all permanent like just 2 days before the con! Like seriously?!
So despite everything agsinst me, I went to Texas. A vacation very much needed. Now this Anime Matsuri is a very small convention; their 4th year if I’m not mistaken, but they definitely took the con to a grand scale. The venue hotel for the event was pretty massive. Not convention center big, but ‘roomy’ enough to host everything comfortably. The hotel & surrounding grounds were absolutely beautiful. I can’t remember ever being more awestruck by the lanscaping, as opposed to the cosplayers.
And cosplayers there were, they came in troves. I mean this was a fairly small con; couldn’t have been more than 7,000, and yet, cosplay was probably one of the biggest draws this entire event. Even bigger than the costume deviants was the gaming scene aura. Yes, aura. Don’t laugh. Apparently, the guys running the con run a local game shop that specializes in imports & domestics tournment gems. F-Zero, Blazblue, Street Fighter, DDR; there was massive variety. Tank-size arcade hubs littered the 1st floor, only to be outdwarfed by the sheer numbers for qualifier & free play modules set up in the offical game room. If that weren’t enough, there was an entirely seperately room just for full-on tournaments. Yea, gaming was definitely in full effect here.
Now two of the hardest things to not notice were the vast innovations & the quite informal schedule. There were a maze of smart moves made by the con staff; little touches that really helped the con in a big way. For example, there was water stations at every corner of the con & they eve had a personalized cosplay repair station. Little things that just seem ike common sense & make you wonder why other cons can’t seem to implement. However, like I said, it was kinda hard to ignore the lax in schedule. I can’t think of 1 event that actually started on time or ended as planned. So there was a good deal of wandering the con as a result. However, and call me crazy, but this actually seemed to work for the Matsuri. Because while you may have ahad a 10-70 min wait, the wait was almost always worth it. The content, the events, the actual meat & potatoes were always top notch. It just seemed like everything was just really well prepared, no matter how long you had to wait. Kinda like Thanksgiving dinner.
As far as enjoying the festivities went, I borrowed Team XP’s Femi & we hit up the con. Some gaming here, some picture hunting there. I did a photoshoot. Yea, that’s right. Lol, what? I can’t photoshoot now? Not a very good shoot mind you, but enough to add some new pieces where needed. Friday was indeed a day to be impressed. And I’m pretty stoked I met a couple of cute cosplayers. Never a complaint in my book there. Of course, nowhere near as stoked as I was to meet [the] Crispen Freeman. It was like something out of a dream. I almost didn’t believe he actually existed, but sure enough, it was him. Was an good chat & I’m glad I was lucky enough to meet him. I went to the rave, but given my leg’s current condition & the fact that I don’t know how well the leg that got shot would fare back on the dance floor, I abstained from busting any moves. the Djs were pretty sweet too, and that annoyed me big time, cause I really wanted to party.
Saturday got even crazier. Femi awakened his sleeping samurai. There were smoking hot cars all over the entrance (note to self, get a Lotus). the cosplayers really came out tonight & they came to party. We saw one of the sickest Blazblue Tournement matches; played by one of the game’s developers no less. And then we met said developer. And if that wasn’t crazy enough, we got to see, straight from Japan, BACK-ON, preform live. and yea, they did ‘Chain’. Greatest part of this trip? I’ve killed 2 birds with 1 stone yet again, as Texas is now officially indited into the 50 State Challenge! Just one more down in this epic journey.
Con wasn’t perfect, but it was worth every penny. Anime Matsuri? Can’t wait to do it again!
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