Anime Conventions

Friday, July 14, 2006, I went to my first anime convention, "Ikasucon" in Cincinnati, Ohio. I was surprised at how many people were cosplaying--something like half of all costumes could be attributed to Naruto. I did briefly notice a nice Cherise costume from S-CRY-ed. I stood in line for around half an hour to get in. My first impression was that this event was not particularly well organized. On a monitor displaying events at this building (the convention wasn't the only thing going on) there was no mention of VA Greg Ayres who was supposed to be the guest of honor. I asked if he would be present today, but the employee didn't know for sure, but doubted it. The brochures hadn't arrived yet (a sign on the table said to check back at 12:30, then when that time came around 12:30 was scratched out and replaced with the word "later"). Nobody seemed to have any idea when things would happen. For the time being I figured I'd look for some cool stuff at the vendors room, but it was late opening. I was tempted to give up and go to a nearby museum instead. When the vendors room finally opened, the merchandise wasn't as exotic as I'd hoped; little, if anything, that you couldn't find on the internet. Nevertheless I bought some Gashapon figures--fairly expensive, but if I manage to repaint at least one of them, I figure it will have been worth it (I got the blonde-haired girl from Ichigo 100% in a maid outfit, Golgo 13, the Paper Sisters from ROD, and Cutey Honey). I finally learned that an opening ceremony would take place at 11:00AM. Around five feet in front of me was a man with his hair dyed blue, who it turned out, was greg Ayres after all. Afterwards there was supposed to be a discussion of the future of the anime industry, so I figured I'd wait for that. I figured I'd ask Greg and the other guests (including David Kaye, voice of Sesshomaru) a few questions. Did he have a second job? No, he said, though he has to work his ass off to make ends meet as a VA. How much attention did he pay to the original Japanese VA's style when he gets a role in a dub? Not much, he prefers to create something entirely original. Finally, did the guests have any "guilty pleasure" anime? Greg likes Fuushigi Yugi and The Ping Pong Club (yay!). I was beginning to feel that this wasn't going to be a waste of time after all. The next event was a name the music contest, and I managed to get myself selected as one of the contestants. I got lucky, and even though I hadn't recognized all that many tunes up 'til that point, during my first round four songs I knew came my way in rapid succession--themes from Urusei Yatsura, Gunbuster, Megazone 23, and Cutey Honey. Someone joked that I must be a "plant" since I was clearly a good deal older than the other contestants. I lost the next round, but I'd done well enough to win a free DVD, namely Vol 1 of Gunslinger Girl (which was sweet because I have that on my Greencine rental queue!). I figure I probably made back my $25 admission fee via this prize, and then some. There was another game show contest afterwards, but it wasn't as fun and I didn't participate. I'd developed a headache, and decided it was time to leave. But things had turned around nicely, and all things considered, I was glad I'd come.

As you might have guessed, this wasn't a particularly large convention. There were no booths operated by anime companies or magazines--the nearest thing was a stack of Broccoli catalogs which were free of charge (I did get a free ball point pen!). I would guess there were around 100-200 attendees. Knowing nothing firsthand about conventions, I had arrived early for fear that it might be sold out, but I doubt if anybody was turned away. I felt a little out of place since I was wearing a conservative plad shirt whereas everyone else was either cosplaying or dressed in some sort of anime-themed t-shirts. But everyone was friendly and I enjoyed myself. I'd like to attend a larger convention--perhaps the next "Ohayocon" in Columbus.

Heh I was at Anime Expo last week and that was a crowded fest! I came away with an Ikkitousen bag after I had to play 5 rounds of Rock/Paper/Scissors with Geneon's VP. Hehe

I've been at Anime Boston every year since it started. Not sure if I'll be going again though. Each time it seems to become progressively more boring to me...

Dunno if it's me or the convention that's been changing. Probably a bit of both.

I've never been to an anime convention. Heck, I only attended my first sci-fi convention last spring. ^_^; I'd thought about attending Nan Desu Kan, but it doesn't appear that the R1 distributors even attend and that would be my main draw (I'd love to attend a FUNimation panel). They do have a few Japanese people coming, but none I'm interested in. :-/

I'd thought about taking a vacation to attend one of the big conventions, but going alone isn't that much fun and less so when there are crowds to contend with.

I remember going to the Big Apple Anime Fest 2005 (I think). First ever anime con I went to and probably the only con I went to. I went because I wanted to get some stuff from the vendors that were around. A lot of cosplayers were there. Lines that seemed to go on for aeons. The stupid volunteers. I loved those cosplayers, though. Some really went out of their way to look exactly like their favorite characters. One kid dressed up like Vash the Stampede and got the costume down right to the guns (of course fake). Then the others you gotta look and laugh at. Yes, I love those anime cons. Too bad BAAF decided to shut down after that year. I do have my sights set on the NY Comic Con this Feb. I'm not that into comics, but since there will be some anime stuff, I might as well check it out. Hopefully, there will be more cosplayers to make fun of, comic or otherwise!

Ohayocon 2007 (part 1)
On Friday, Jan. 5th, I set out for Columbus, Ohio, and Ohayocon 2007. I was really looking forward to this, as I'd heard this would be a much larger and more elaborate anime convention than Ikasucon had been. I prayed I wouldn't crack up my car as I navigated to the Columbus Convention Center. This was the first day of the convention, and the line of persons waiting to register was so long that I was one of the last to enter it before no more people were allowed to join in! "What's the hold up?" someone asked. "Computers" a worker replied. Registration was moved back to 1:30PM due to "technical difficulties", and the opening ceremony was supposed to be at 2:00. I suspect it's standing in damn lines which get otaku all sweaty and smelly at conventions! I felt embarassed, being a good deal older than the vast majority of the other attendees, and being one of a very few who were neither cosplaying nor wearing any sort of anime-themed clothing. Was there any point in standing at the very end of the line? Maybe I should wander around. After awhile a "gopher" told us we could attend the opening ceremony, even if we hadn't checked in, and I decided to do so. The noise, shouting, music, wild costumes, etc, contributed to an atmosphere of excitement. Since I had around 40 minutes free time, I walked around and located the rooms in which the various panels and presentations would be held. Numerous rooms were devoted to screening anime, but I figured I could do that anytime so I'd concentrate on the stuff I couldn't do at home. I sat outside the room where the opening ceremony was to be held, since the door was still closed--'til someone walked right in, and I followed suit.

To be continued...

Ohayocon 2007 (part 2)
I was the first or second attendee to enter the large room. I killed time by studying the event schedule which I'd printed off the internet. Some more people trickled in, but at 2PM the ratio of guests/volunteers/workers to attendees was about 1:1--not a big turnout. A woman declared the ceremony would be moved out into the lobby where people were standing in line, but that idea was junked before long, and an abbreviated ceremony was held instead. I recognized the names of a number of these guests--Tiffany Grant, Matt Greenfield, Greg Ayres (with the same bright blue hair he'd had in Cincinnati), Chris Sabat, Monica Rial, Amanda Winn Lee, etc. These VAs must make a significant part of their income by appearing at conventions. They did lots of laughing about stuff I didn't find particularly amusing. Afterwards I returned to the lines; at least now there was a distinguishable shorter line for pre-registered persons, like myself. With plenty of time to kill, I thought about what sort of costume I'd dress up in if I was cosplaying. I decided it would be one of those native alter users from S-Cry-Ed who have been brainwashed and put to work by HOLY--they have neat uniforms, wear masks and never speak, so my embarassment would be minimized. Just stand with my legs spread apart and my hands behind my back. Standing in line, standing in line... I could forget about the 3PM bloc of lectures and panels, and maybe the 4PM one as well. Each time my place in line moved to the end of one hallway, another was waiting. Finally I completed registration after an hour in line, just in time for the 4PM bloc.

To be continued...

Ohayocon 2007 (part 3)
As the first event I'd attend, I selected "What is Lolita?". This turned out to be mostly about fashion, with no mention of any anime series until the Q&A segment. The name of this fashion is not a pejorative spin-off of the term "Lolita Complex", as I'd assumed. It was mildly interesting, but not what I'd hoped and didn't use up nearly all of the hour made available to it. With twenty minutes left I went to "Your Voice Actors and You", even though I usually watch subtitled anime and didn't want somebody to try to take me on some sort of guilt trip for watching fansubs. That didn't happen, fortunately, though I didn't learn much either--at least this ballroom was air-conditioned. People were still standng in long lines in the lobby. I went to "Cosplay Competition Basics"--but somebody had screwed up, the panelists never showed up, and the event was cancelled. I went back to the room I'd just left for "Dubbing Workshop with Chris Sabat". He was funny and hosted the event single-handedly. He did get his start in radio, after all, and would still be there, he said, if he hadn't known a girl who censored anime for Funimation. Someone asked him to employ his Kuwabara-voice, which he did--his ordinary voice is completely unlike it (good for him). Next, "Drawing Anime Faces" was mildly educational. Then, "Anime Whose Line" was confusing and I gave up on it. I couldn't help feeling somewhat frustrated and disappointed with the way the convention was going so far. Had this really been worth a precious day off from work, and an hour-and-a-half drive? I went to a discussion of Gankutsuo, which fortunately hadn't begun yet because of some trouble getting the audio-visual equipment up and running. This was a surprisingly intelligent comparison of the anime to the book, and to several movies also based on it. But I hadn't seen it yet, so a lot of this was lost on me, and I left early so as not to spoil the ending. I took a look through the vendor room just before it closed for the day. I recognized some of the dealers from Cincinnati, but I didn't buy anything since most of the stuff I purchased down there has yet to be completed. One problem with conventions is that you really see very little unique stuff you couldn't get at E-bay. Then I went to the "Ouran Host Club Private Meetup". I was surprised to see an event devoted to a show which hasn't been R1 licensed yet (another problem with conventions), and was looking forward to this. But it turned out to be nothing more than a handout of ice tea (or Kool-Aid) by cosplayers! Well, that was nice of them, but it's hardly worth an hour of my precious convention time (and the Kool-Aid tasted terrible).

To be continued...

Ohayocon 2007 (part 4)
I was feeling very unhappy at this point. It was 9PM; I was curious about a two-hour event called "Anime Hell" that would begin in an hour, but I also didn't want to wind up lost in a strange city after midnight. I walked back to the parking lot and asked the attendant for directions. It turned out that getting back on the interstate headed home would in fact be quite easy, so I had a change of heart and decided to stay awhile longer. I had an expensive but tasty meal in the convention center food court, then figured I'd check out what an event called "AMV" was about, since it was in the same ballroom as Anime Hell would be. The abbreviation must have stood for either "Anime" or "Amateur" Music Videos--sort of like stuff you would have once seen on MTV but with anime clips as the video portion. This was interesting; I had no idea such things were being made. There were various categories; the "Action" ones were giving me a headache, with noisy heavy metal music. Perhaps my favorite one combined the theme to the James Bond movie "The Man With The Golden Gun" (about the only song I recognized) with clips of feats of marksmanship by Jigen of Lupin III. The "Comedy" ones were clever and funny--like a trailer for a fictional animated version of "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" which used scenes from FullMetal Panic. Well, this was a definite improvement--I was glad I had stayed. And now for Anime Hell...
To be continued...

Ohayocon 2007 (part 5)
The AMV segment ran around a half hour late, but I wasn't complaining. Now it was time for Anime Hell. A lot of people took seats in the large ballroom, suggesting this was a popular convention event. There was an atmosphere of rowdiness which was both exciting and scary in a way. The hosts introduced themselves and displayed a screen on which someone named "Heino" appeared and attendees could chose numbers between 1 and 99, which corresponded to a collection of film clips these guys had painfully assembled. Up to this point I'd been taking detailed notes all day long, but things quickly got so uproariously funny that I sat my pen down. If I remember correctly, first up was a Japanese video called "Fish Fight" (refrain: "A carp is a living thing, and you shouldn't eat it unrefined and smelly"). Then a typical young man is confronted by a Power Rangers-like team who've somehow gotten the idea that he's an evil mastermind out to destroy the world. Some of these clips had nothing to do with Japan, but all were LOL funny. Where do they get this stuff? Apparently Anime Hell was a long running attraction at anime conventions, and this Heino fellow had been their "mascot"; but he had retired since last year, and a replacement was needed. The choice was Japanese comedian Hard Gay, and we were treated to a couple of skits of his ("Say!" "Wooo!"). Another feature was a comparison of animated and live-action versions of the same stories. At some point Anime Hell came to an end and was replaced by "Midnight Madness". The main feature was something called "Evangelion: ReDeath", a parody of the whole EVA series and movies. I think it was around an hour long and new voices had been added to clips from the show--and it was hilarious. Some people just know how to be funny. Finally around two in the morning we were told that we didn't have to go home, but we couldn't stay here. My attitude had made a complete turnaround, from disappointed and frustrated to giggling and smiling. I guess the trick to conventions is to stay for the latenight stuff, comedy gold which you can't get anywhere else.

Ohayocon 2007 (part 6)
I reached home around 3:30AM, thinking that I'd been lucky that things had turned around at the end, and it would be best not to return to Columbus for a second day of Ohayocon. But after a good night's sleep and reviewing the list of events for saturday, I decided to go back--largely because there was another Anime Hell event ("Anime Hell Lounge Style") scheduled for 7PM. I dispensed with my plad shirt, showered up, and donned my single piece of anime clothing, a Speed Racer T-shirt. My expectations weren't so high for the afternoon, based on my experiences yeterday. I wanted to see something about cosplay, but one event yesterday had been cancelled and I'd missed the other because it had been rescheduled without warning. I went to "501st Legion Stormtrooper Costume Construction"--as you might guess, this had a Star Wars rather than an anime motiff. But these guys (and girls) had their act together, made remarkably good outfits, used all their time and accumulated a considerable audience. They had knowledgeable listeners who asked intelligent questions, too. I thanked a member for the professional quality of their presentation. Off to a good start! "Name That Seiyuu" was in the same room afterwards. It was nice to have a panel (a sort of gameshow, actually) reflecting the interests of those who prefer subtitled anime. I volunteered to take part (since there weren't enough contestants) but wasn't able to answer a single question... maybe it was too hard to make identifications from audio recordings alone, for me at least. Next was "Your Voice Actors and You (part 2)"; yes, yes, it's extremely hard to get a job doing this. This was repetitive so I got supper and went through the vendor room again, but nothing caught my eye. I'd hoped to catch the first half hour of "Voice Acting Workshop with Chris Sabat", but it had been delayed and moved. Matt Greenfield and others were answering questions; much anime is nothing but elaborate toy commercials--even Gundam--he said. Then I went back upstairs for Anime Hell...
To be continued...

Ohayocon 2007 (part 7)
Considering that yesterday's Anime Hell event had been held in the largest room available, it was surprising that this one was located in one of the smallest size rooms. People packed in, chairs soon ran out, and I brought one in from the room next door. My favorite part was a parody documentary about Japanese otaku hosted by an English reporter. Also good were "Bring Me The Head Of Charlie Brown", an "Iron Chef" parody, and "Dr. Tran". Perhaps best of all was what seemed to be a German film about safety when operating forklifts--it's quite boring at first, but gets hilarious (there was much applause when it ended). All-in-all, Anime Hell was not as good as yesterday, but great fun nevertheless. Afterwards I stood in line for ten minutes before learning that the panel I was hoping to get into had been moved downstairs. I hurried down to "100 Year Old Fans" in which some guys who had been into anime since the 80's (and were wearing silly artificial white beards) reminisced about what it was like back in those days. They recalled how anime would sometimes be given a little space at science-fiction conventions; vendors would display their goods on the beds in their rooms, and people would pack into small rooms to watch VHS tapes. This was really interesting, and I wish these guys (including the two who had hosted Anime Hell) had had more time to talk. At 10PM I went to "Your Favorite Anime Sucks", in which a guy would think of something bad to say about any show which members of the audience suggested was good. There was quite a turnout. I proposed Patlabor, and I'm proud to say the best he could do was say the trailers for it were crappy. Still, barely worth two hours' time. Afterwards, the ADV dubbed version of PaniPoni Dash! was being screened across the hall, and I was curious to see how the voices sounded. I figured I'd stay for an episode or two, but ended up enjoying it to the extent that I watched all five episodes on the DVD. Everybody was laughing heavily, the voices weren't as bad as I'd expected, and it was a good way to cap off the night. I'd stayed even later than the night before, and didn't even leave 'til 2:30AM. So much had happened in the space of two days that Thursday seems like a week ago. Seeing so many people fervently devoted to anime was a good thing, and I think has reinvigorated my own interest as well. I'm looking forward to next year.
THE END.

Thanks for you report.

I have seen quite a few AMVs and still have about 100 of them on my harddisk. http://www.animemusicvideos.org/ appears to be the information source about these things. Some AMVs are masterpieces of directing, most notably Shin Seiki Evangelion with Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" (http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members/members_videoinfo.php?v=2809). Of course you have to know the anime very well as to understand how the lines of the song matched the story.

So, you got to see some Hard Gay stuff, eh? We were introduced to him at work. He's oh so wrong, but even without English, I found his stuff amusing. With English subtitles, it was funnier.

Anime Punch (part 1):
Back in Cincinnati last summer, I was given a flyer for yet another Anime convention to be held in Columbus, "Anime Punch: The Armageddicon II". This one was supposed to be largely organized by the anime club at Ohio State University, and I was hoping it would be more intellectual and sophisticated than the conventions I'd already attended. So, on Friday, March 30, I set out for the state capital yet again. Navigating to the approximate site went smoothly, except I found I'd neglected to write down the exact name of the hotel I was looking for! Fortunately, the first one to come into view turned out to be the correct site. I was sure I'd be late, and miss some of the activities (which were supposed to begin at 1PM), but I found that whereas attendees had had to stand in incredibly long lines at Ohayocon, registration hadn't even begun here. I sat down and waited... 1PM came and went, and nothing happened--what's going on here? It turns out there had been some sort of screw-up; neither name badges nor programs were ready yet. Man, is it just my luck, or is the registration process at anime conventions always messed up? I'm 3 for 3. Fortunately, some screenings of anime began, so at least there was something to do. I watched episodes 2-4 of Saber Marionette J--I'd forgotten what a fun show that is. Things finally began to happen at around 4PM. I did a little cell painting--some instructions would have been nice, but I was late so I can't really complain. The programs finally arrived, hot off the printing press. Things were still pretty messed up; the rooms where some videos I was interested in watching were supposed to be shown turned out to be empty. Registration was moved back to 6PM! I was pretty pissed off over largely wasting an afternoon, and doubtful if I'd return tommorrow.
To be continued...

Anime Punch (Part 2):
At 5PM the opening ceremony began. Three guys played a video game on a big screen in front of the audience, in which gravity and physics clearly didn't apply; (I didn't get it either). Crispin Freeman was a guest, so was Tristan MacAvery. It was announced that name badges were finally ready, but wouldn't be checked 'til 8PM. Afterwards I stayed for a presentation called "State of the Union", a discussion of which way anime, manga and video games are going nowadays. There were exactly four people in the audience, including me; still, it was an intelligent and fairly interesting talk, which was encouraging since most of the presentations at Ohayocon had been pretty pathetic. When I had first arrived, I hadn't noticed many cosplayers; seeing a couple girls in maid outfits was what tipped me off that I was indeed at the right hotel. Now there were many of them, and I was especially impressed by three guys who were obviously Lupin III, Jigen, and Spike Spiegel. Next I went to a talk called "Adaptations"--adaptations every which way between different media, manga to anime, vice versa, etc. For a while I was the only person listening to this one, and I had two presenters to myself (a few people wandered in later on). Next I went to "Cosplay Panel" next door. This one had a fairly large turnout, the presenters had won awards for costumes they'd created, and they clearly knew what they were talking about. Concepts like "Crossplay" (crossdressing while cosplaying) and "Interpretational Cosplay" were mentioned. I left halfway through this two-hour lecture as it got too technical (sewing demonstrations, etc), and headed for a talk called "Mecha". The presenter had yet to show up, however; I sat for awhile, then gave up and went to "Your Favorite Anime Sucks". This had been at Ohayocon, and frankly didn't impress me too much, but anything was better than just sitting around. After awhile I went back to the Mecha room to see if anything was going on, and indeed the lecturer had shown up and just begun. "Giant Robots" would have been a more appropriate title, since that's what it was about. This guy did a good job, showing us the OP sequences from each series he mentioned, and describing them in a fun and interesting manner. I'll bet Big Fire would've enjoyed this talk. Afterwards I decided to head home; it was only 11PM or so, but this convention was on a smaller scale than Ohayocon and the presentations were petering out for the night. I'm the sort of person who finds these presentations to be the most attractive element of a convention--unless it has the weird comedy of Ohayocon's "Anime Hell", and Anime Punch clearly did not. The presentations had been better than those at Ohayocon, but the uproarious comedy was missing, so overall my impression was: average. But I decided I would return tommorrow...
To be continued...

Anime Punch (Part 3):
On Saturday I calculated I'd arrive back in Columbus in time for the second half of a feature called "Required Reading". this was supposed to be an introduction to the shows you had to see to have a decent all-around understanding of anime--not necessarily the best ones, mind you. I was curious to see how many of these titles I'd seen, but when I arrived, the assigned room was empty! Had nobody shown up and it been cancelled? Had it been moved somewhere else? Anyway, I went instead to "Round Table", which was a knowledgeable but brief discussion of the state of fandom today. Nothing too exciting was scheduled for the next three hours, so I paid a visit to a nearby museum. I returned at 3PM for "Otaku Studies", a presentation about just what an otaku is. The lecturer was a PHD, who had written his thesis on this topic and now works in marketing. As such, one interesting point was his suggestion that a true otaku is someone who is into stuff that is both in low supply and low demand. I didn't learn anything radical, but this was fun nevertheless. Next, "Physicality in Anime" was all about slapstick humor. Hosted by the same guy as Mecha, this consisted largely of scenes from Azumanga Daioh, Dragon Half, Excel Saga, Time Boken (never seen this one myself 'til now), and Magical Project S, which brought tears to my eyes. It really is easier to laugh when you've got company! Like I said, my chief interest was in these panels, but there weren't any more (except on video games) for several hours. I went to some sort of cosplay skit event, which had a tremendous turnout compared to the panels. But it was late, the electronics were messed up, and it didn't seem all that funny to me. It was around supper time, there was one more panel I was looking forward to at 8PM, and I decided I'd get something to eat and decide whether or not to go home. I decided to stay, and went to a "Gundam" panel at 7PM. I had never realized how godawful many variations of Gundam there are! The presenters (including the Giant Robot guy yet again) definitely knew what they were talking about and used all their time, whereas the talks at Ohayocon often used only a fraction of the time alloted to them. Then came "Model Building", which is a hobby I'm into (and this was about the only discussion in which I managed to make some intelligent comments). I hadn't realized that the garage kit industry in Japan has been decimated by "knockoff" kits; don't buy anything from Thailand, if you know what's good for you! Next there was a talk on Vampires in anime, but I chose to attend a demonstration of technigues by the modeller. Unfortunately, myself and one other person (who didn't stay long) were the only ones to show up, and this was pretty much a bust. I wish I'd gone to hear about the Vampires. And then I left. For some reason, despite all it's flaws Ohayocon left me invigorated and enthusiastic, whereas Anime Punch left me vaguely discouraged and frustrated. It hadn't been a waste of time, but if I were to guess, I'd say the problem was that somehow I was left feeling like an outsider, without all that much in common with the people I'd been exposed to here. When I was back home and at work again on this website, the thought occured to me that here's where I get more enjoyment out of anime!
THE END

My turn to document a convention.
Anime Expo 2007 Long Beach Cali Day 2.
After being badgered by my friends to go (And the fact that my wife let me go) I went to Anime Expo Day 2 (Sat). $30 later I was wandering around the main hall trying to hang onto my wallet before those wonderful products ate it up..hehe (BTW All my friends flaked and I was all alone.)

For cosplayers a lot of Haruhi Suzumiya, A few good Inuyasha/Kagome pairs, TONS of Naruto, No sign of Man Faye, one set of the 12 sisters from Ragtime (err 6 of them) but the best was Man Haruhi - A 6' tall Asian male dressed as Haruhi perfectly. I was like wow that's a tall Haru... OMG it's a GUY!

I didn't go to any panels but I did get to see the first Death Note movie (the 2nd was sold out), but the main reason I went was for the SoS brigade concert. It started 2 hours late (and I missed the ADV panel) and the guy in front of me DEFINITELY did not take a bath from yesterday, but it was a nice concert. I was in the back but in the center so the seat was very good. Completely adlibed presenters (such as Patricia Lee the pink ranger) but the best one was Johnny Young Bosch (Itsuki) who stole the show as he did not expect to be call up. Each of the 3 girls sang at least one song but Yuki's VA (Mitsuki?) had the most professional voice. Finally at the end they brought up a bunch of cosplayers who knew the final dance and they did it twice but I did want all 3 of the girls to sing the final song instead of syncing it (sound troubles did not allow them to all have a mic).

Finally thinking I could enjoy the rest of the convention (it closed because the concert ran so late) everyone else had the same idea and filled up the movie and the panel rooms so my fun was over.

AX good place to go but remember to preregister or you will be standing in lines for HOURS.