SacAnime Winter 2016

A couple weekends ago I went to Sacramento to ring in the New Year, celebrate my birthday, and attend SacAnime Winter 2016! So, Happy New Year to all! I hope you all had a safe and happy NYE, however you celebrated. I also wish everyone a great 2016 and hopefully it's been great so far for everyone!

[sushi from Osaka in Sacramento, CA]

My NYE was pretty chill and relax. I went out with friends to have sushi at Osaka in downtown Sacramento. - I highly recommend this place if you're in the area and you enjoy sushi. 

[celebrating my birthday with Melody and Heather]

Day 1 of SacAnime Winter was good. I spent the entire day at the con and walking around. I saw a lot of great art, artists, and vendors. I also was able to get in touch with people I have met at previous cons. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures from Day 1 though. 

In the picture above is myself with my friends, who also happened to be artists at SacAnime. They came out to celebrate my birthday after Day 1.

[myself with Irene eBdard]

Day 2 was a little better, in terms of picture taking. I made sure to take pictures! The first thing I did when I walked into the convention was stand in line to meet Irene Bedard! It was also the actual day of my birthday.

FYI: For those who may not know, Irene Bedard is the voice of Pocahontas in the Disney animated version. 

Pocahontas is my favorite Disney Princess! Up until the movie came out, Jasmine was my favorite, but when Pocahontas came out it was all over! She was it for me! I found her version in the movie so inspiring! I love the music from the film too! It was awesome to be able to meet the woman who brought her to life! It was a nice birthday gift from Agent Afronaut!

[myself with artist Melody Wang]

It's always great to see Melody Wang, aka Chukairi, at conventions! She's become a really great friend of mine and I happen to admire her work oh-so-much!

[Anna Greenwood as One Punch Man]

Had the opportunity to see this amazing cosplay by Anna Greenwood as One Punch Man! Seriously, AMAZING!

[myself with Kyndall Jordann as Marceline]

I was just walking by and happened to see a girl sitting there that looked exactly like Marceline! It was great to meet Kyndall Jordann! She was a sweetheart and she looks like a living version of Marceline! Also, we were totally boot twins!

 [myself with Chris Cartwright]

And when I saw this adorable Pikachu cospaly I ran right up to him! Chris Cartwright did an amazing job and was so sweet! Hope to bump into him again at future cons! 

Well, overall I had a great time at SacAnime and celebrating my birthday. It was a little slow and definitely slower than the SacAnime Summer I attended in 2015, but it was a very early con and right after the holidays. Not to mention it was during NYE, so that probably slowed down the con. However, I met a lot of great people and reconnected with familiar faces, and had fun! It was a nice start to the convention-going for 2016! See you all at WonderCon next!

End of the Year California Convention Rankings

So, it's the new year! HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope everyone out there has a great 2016! Since it's the beginning of the year, I decided it would be a good idea to rank all of the conventions I attended last year, because that's what we do at the beginning of the year- we rank things in order from the previous year......yup. Since I'm located in California, every convention I attended in 2015 was in my state of residence and I'm ranking all 8 conventions I attended, starting with the worst and finishing with the best!

8. Kraken Con Fall 2015
Though this con boasted an impressive guest list- Christy Carlson Romano, Zach Callison, Sarah Williams, as well as some great food vendors- HiroTako & Koja Kitchen, that was all it had. Everything else about this con was bad. The location was out in the middle of nowhere and not very easy to find or get to. It was aboard the USS Hornet, which is an old Navy ship that was turned into a museum, and thus it was small and cramped. To make matters worse, the layout of the con as awkward and hard to get to. Going up and down the stairs was a pain, because it was only made for one-way traffic, so people could only go either up or down at any given time, the other people going in the opposite direction just had to wait. The autograph sessions were held outside of the ship, because there was no room on the ship. The screen viewings were muted, because they were in the same room as the the Artist Alley/vendor room. To top it all off, the smell of the ship was awful, and my ship sources tell me that it is nothing compared to what the smell is like on an active ship. Overall, I feel like this con tried, but if they want to have a successful turn out they need to have better location, better amenities, and more space. If the con returns to the USS Hornet next year, I will not be attending.

7. YaoiCon 2015
This is another small con, but it is just steps away from going from a not-so-good con to a good one. This con is located just outside of San Francisco, which if you're from the area, it's not so bad, but if you're coming from another state or other parts of California it would be considered a "hole in the wall" as it's not directly in the city. I honestly feel like if it were located inside of San Francisco the turn out would have been better. There was also no food vendors, just what the hotel they held the con in offered. Though there was enough space for the vendors, there was barely any room to move in the Artist Alley and even though my group and I walked through the whole alley, the fact that it was so oddly laid out and so crowded, made us want to leave fast. Aside from the auction at night, the con also doesn't offer many activities. Due to the nature of the con, it requires ID and for attendees to be 18+, but aside from two pictures I saw there was no reason to exclude anyone. Just asking the two artists to take down those photos would have made it appropriate for any age, at least during the day. I feel like this con has potential it just needs to step up its game. I will say that I received the best name badge out of any con I attended in 2015! Seriously, no con has bested it!

6. FanimeCon 2015
This is a con that has much appreciation from the Bay Area/Northern California. If you're a con-goer on the West Coast then it's a convention you've probably attended at one time or another. It's pretty popular among fans, as it should be, since the whole theme is that it is "for fans, by fans". Since this con was so hyped up to me before I even went that I had pretty high expectations. However, the con has some issues and some that are growing larger and need fixing fast! First off, the good things- It is held in a nice location at the San Jose Convention Center, although San Jose itself cannot hold the parking needed for the con. They did offer free shuttle services to and from the hotels in the area, and that helped out immensely! There was plenty of space for vendors, artists, and just to mingle! It's mostly Anime based, but it welcomes all fan appreciation of comics, pop culture, and nerd related topics. However, the con is growing and it doesn't seem like the people in charge are handling it well. There were many vocal complaints from vendors about current situations and future situations, and even some artists were vocal about it. Many made claims that they would not return the next year even though they had been there several years in a row. Though there were many activities for people to do, the music played and the DJs were horrible. I also was not a huge fan of the atmosphere, honestly. It wasn't as friendly as other cons I attended. Hopefully there will be improvements and there will be more action taken for the growth of this con by the current people in charge. I would hate to see this con fold because of a simple matter of investing a little more into something they already have that is good.

5. SacAnime Summer 2015
SacAnime is a nice quiet con in Sacramento. It's a nice bridge between the summer to winter gap. Most spring and summer cons are done by July and the later ones are mostly in October and November, so the fact that SacAnime Summer is held in September gives it good timing. I like that SacAnime is so simple. There's nothing really fancy to it. It's you're typical fan con that is mostly Anime based. It offers fans a chance to mingle and has the usual fan art and vendors. The guest list is ever growing. They do offer other activities such as a ball and dance nights, but I honestly don't find that appealing. The best part of this con is just that it's simple and the atmosphere is really friendly! It's held at the Sacramento Convention Center which is nice in size and easily accessible. I enjoy this con and will return to it as long as I can. My only issues with the con are:
1) The wristbands. There are no other cons that I have attended where having your badge isn't enough. At this con you have to have both the wristband on and the badge. If you only plan to attend one day it's not so bad, but if you're like me who buys the weekend package, then you have to leave that wristband on the whole weekend. If an attendee does not have the band they cannot enter and they have to purchase a whole new band!
2) I would like to see the con step up a little and offer some other activities. After having been to quite a few cons this year, I have noticed a pattern in the activities that they all offer. It'd be nice to see SacAnime do something that sets them apart.

4. San Diego Comic Con 2015
I have always wanted to attend the great San Diego Comic Con (SDCC). It's the biggest convention in the USA and it's the one we hear the most about! (Although, New York Comic Con is creepin' on them!) I will say that is is an amazing experience and if you're a fan of comics, pop culture, and/or love conventions then you need to attend at least once! I heard a lot of complaints about this con though before I went. People complained about everything from getting tickets to the events and staff. My group and I had no problems getting tickets, so I'm not sure what the fuss about that was? As long as one didn't sleep on it, it was pretty easy to obtain tickets. SDCC offers many things that other cons just cannot- the A List guest list and panels, the premiers and sneak previews of upcoming movies & shows, exclusive toys and collectibles! It does offer all that and it is a one of a kind experience. However, the reason that I cannot rank it higher is 3 things- 
1) There is so much to do outside of the con! Just walk down the sidewalk outside of the con; go down through the Gas Lamp District; go over to Petco Park and you will see tons of vendors, companies, and activities! None of which costs any ticket. So without even going into the con, one can do a lot! 
2) It's very crowded inside as there are nearly 100,000 attendees, but it's not very well monitored or controlled. Literally, people just stopping in the middle of aisles blocking traffic and taking up space when others are trying to get through. The layout also does not have much rhyme or reason; just artists and vendors randomly placed wherever. 
3) I had quite a few bad experiences with major companies, most namely Funko and the fact that the con allows this behavior to happen is appalling to me.

Like I said before, this con gives fans access to things that other cons cannot, because it has such a good reputation. However, it needs better organization and better control from the staff. Due to the fact that it is so renowned and it is so well known, I expect more from it.

3. Comikaze Expo 2015
Comikaze was the last convention of 2015 for me. It was way more fun than expected! What I loved about this convention was the fact that I saw vendors, artists, and creators that I had not come accross at any of the other cons. I was also able to actually meet a lot of people I had not been able to at previous conventions. The overall atmosphere by the cosplayers and attendees was friendly. The artists and the creators were just as friendly. I met and conversed with so many people there! It was great! The con was a little pricey for what it was though and I'm not just talking about getting Stan Lee's autograph. Just to buy the Funko Pop! exclusives alone were expensive. There also wasn't a ton of exclusives or limited edition things there, but that's okay. The second part of the convention was a little weak too. It held the autograph sessions and other vendors, but there was never very much going on there, so it felt a little bleak. Overall, I enjoyed it though and I would go again. As the convention grows it will be interesting to see what they develop.

2. Big Wow Comic Fest 2015
I kind of felt like Big Wow was going to be disappointing for me, because it was so heavily comic based with very little attention to pop culture or Anime, but I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed it so much. It was a small con, but sometimes the best things come in small packages. One downside of large conventions is that it takes away from the personal experience. Artists, vendors, companies, and creators are not able to give much individual attention or really converse about their works, because there's so many people and only 1 or a few of them. Big Wow provided the opportunity to get to know a lot of the creators and artists. I was even able to have a great conversation with people from Aspen Comics. They did have some impressive display of the Avengers there and quite a few big name comic artists, writers, and companies there. There were quite a few fan artists there and lots of toy vendors. The biggest thing for me was the friendly atmosphere and the positive environment that the organization promoted. I just generally enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and it was family-friendly. The sad thing is that the Big Wow is no more. It has merged with Silicon Valley Comic Con and with all the shady things happening with that, I have opted not to go to that con in 2016. RIP Big Wow.

1. WonderCon 2015
WonderCon was the first convention for me! Not just of 2015, but ever. Needless to say, I had no idea what to expect, but I sure had fun! I enjoyed the fan-based atmosphere. WonderCon is put on by the same organization as SDCC, but the whole point of this con is to be less commercial than SDCC and to be more about the fans and smaller vendors and artists. I felt very comfortable at WonderCon. It was a lot of fun and very easy to mingle. Being that it was held in Anaheim at the Anaheim Convention Center, it was very close to Disneyland and so very accessible to the many restaurants and hotels in the area; literally everything is walking distance. I literally could walk from my hotel to the convention with no problems and it wasn't a taxing walk either. The whole setup was very nice. I also enjoyed the over all layout of the con. Panels and guests were very accessible to the fans too. I'm definitely looking forward to going next year. The only improvement that WonderCon could make, in my opinion, is to have more activities outside of just panels and celebrities; it is, after all, suppose to be all about the fans and the love of pop culture. The con is moving to Los Angeles in 2016, so it will be interesting to see if it is better, worse, or the same.