Last weekend, during Labor Day weekend, was SacAnime. It was held in Saracmento, California at the Sacramento Convention Center in the downtown area of the city. SacAnime is a twice yearly event and is put on by the same people who run SAC-CON (Sacramento's version of SDCC). They hold the first SacAnime at the beginning of the year/winter and then another in the summer. I read that this particular convention has been around since 2004, so while it's not brand new, it's not old either. Only the last few years has it been held at the convention center as well. - This con is mainly geared towards Anime, although there were a few comic sellers and there were some comic-based cosplayers.
[Myself cosplaying Mami Tomoe at the Hyatt Regency in Sacramento]
In my San Diego Comic Con (SDCC) post, I talked about being a newbie at conventions. This is my first year going to fan conventions and this was my first time at SacAnime. To top off a list of firsts, this was also my first time cosplaying. I went as Mami Tomoe from Puella Magi Madoka Magica, which is one of my favorite Anime series. My version was rather watered down. Honestly, I didn't want to go all out, mainly because my cosplay was not 100% ready. It needs a lot of tailor work done to it, but I just felt like I had put off cosplaying for the whole year and that I just wanted to test it. Overall, I received nice compliments and even was asked for a few pictures, so that was nice. In the future, you'll see a better fitting outfit and more detail to the cosplay. I'm also working on getting a new wig, as I did not like the one I wore. I ordered it off of eBay and just didn't have time to order another one.
Enough about my cosplay attempt........ I only went to the convention for 2 days. I went Friday and Saturday. The convention ran from Thursday-Sunday. I did not cosplay on Friday. I wore a Princess & The Frog dress. Unfortunately, I do not have pictures from Friday at all, not even of myself. I really didn't do much picture taking at this con, but I will share what I have!
[Myself with artist Melody Wang aka Chukairi]
The first thing I did on Saturday morning was go see Melody! She is an artist that I met at my first ever con, WonderCon! I fell in love with her Korrasami print and also her Sailor Scouts! Melody is so talented! She does not just make fan art, but she has a lot of original art as well. She recently came out with a book called "Transcend" which features original art and original poetry. The book is amazing! and gave me a whole new appreciation for her as an artist!
[Myself with Vocaloid cosplayers at SacAnime Summer 2015]
In the main convention hall, I happened to see Vocaloid cosplayers! I have no idea who they were in real life, but as a Vocaloid fan I had to get my picture with them! They were very nice and very interactive with fans and convention-goers!
[Storm cosplayer at SacAnime Summer 2015]
There were a lot of great cosplayers at SacAnime. Unfortunately, I did not get many pictures with them or of them. I was busy socializing and meeting people, but I did get a nice shot of this Storm cosplayer. I thought she did a great job and she was nice enough to let me take her picture.
[my SacAnime art haul]
Now I'll share my goodies from SacAnime (summer) 2015- The picture above is my art haul. I've mentioned before how convention art as become my "thing" at conventions. I simply love seeing artists interpretations of different characters and shows. While this is not my biggest haul, I will say there are some major milestones for me here!
I apologize if do not capture every artist here. Some artists are more personal than others, so I remember them well, other artists are not so talkative or do not really let you get to know them. Sometimes the artist is away too. A couple times at this convention the actual artist was away and I was left purchasing the art from a friend or family member who was watching the table.
Starting left and working clockwise:
- First, is the Sailor Moon picture with all of the main Scouts! I know it's covered up a bit, but it does have all of them on there! I really liked this art piece, because the artist put a unique spin on them. I'm personally all about elegant dresses and dressing up and I love that in this picture with some of my favorite Anime characters! - Art is by a woman named Zhen Yue. I saw her first at Fanime this year, but did not buy her work. This time I could not resist. I think she's super nice and very easy to talk to! She's super pretty and always dressed up in some Kawaii way!
- Next is the My Little Pony (MLP) print. Up until this point I have never found a MLP print that I really felt I had to have. Sad, but true. I have seen some that I admired or liked, but I feel like an art piece really needs to speak to me in order for me to pull out my money. Well, this one did just that! I also bought a smaller print of Korra in an 80's style look with the "watching you" pose from the Anime, but I did not pull it out for the pic above. - This was one of those times where the artist was not available. Her prints were sold to me by two of her friends and I was not able to get them signed. The business card reads "Slifer The Sky Dragon".
- Moving over to the mermaid; this is an original art piece by a young woman named Kait Reynolds. First off, let me just say that I was so happy to meet someone who spells "Kait" the same way I do and not "Kate". Anyway, she was a very nice person and she actually brought us to her table. We were passing by and she introduced herself. I enjoy fan art, but I also enjoy original art and I loved her original mermaid!
- The next print down (purple) is Urd from "Ah My Goddess", which is an Anime series I have always wanted to get into, but have not done so. The art is from ZambiCandy who I first saw at this years Fanime and bought a print from her that she did of "Revolutionary Girl Utena". I really like her work and I have a feeling I'll be buying more from her in the future!
- So the print on the bottom is Homura Akemi & Madoka Kaname. This is the first "Puella Magi Madoka Magica" print I have bought, ever! I'm not always thrilled with the way the characters from this series are represented, to be honest. I often find they look goofy or not quite like their true selves. I also think most of the fan art does not agree with how I view them, which is okay, it just makes it so I can't buy much. As I stated earlier in this post, this is one of my favorite Animes and I'm glad I finally found a print that I feel looks great and represents Homura and Modaka well! - I do not have the artist info on this picture, but she was actually not at the table that the prints were being sold. Two guys working the table sold us the print and the artist was a woman working at another table doing commissioned art. I did get her to sign the print, I just did not have the chance to talk to her or get her info.
- The last print, coming full circle, is Sailor Jupiter by Melody Chukairi. Above, there is a picture of us together. I have had the pleasure of getting to know her this year over many conventions. She's a great person and a great artist! The Sailor Jupiter print is the last in her series of Sailor Scouts that I needed, but mind you she has only finished 3 of the Scouts. I am waiting on her next one which will be Sailor Mercury. I can't wait until she finishes them all!
- In the center, on the left, is a tiny red square. This is actually four prints, but I did not lay them all out. This is a cute design titled "Everybody Loves Kyoko". I love it! I feel like Kyoko is often not represented. The artist is a woman named, Natalie, and she was very nice and sweet! I hope to see more from her in the future!
- Lastly, in the center, is a Korrasami pic, or Korra and Asami. It's such a sweet and simple art piece. Honestly, if I find great Korrasami works I have to have them. The print is by "Ivory Ice" and I did not get to chat too much with the artist, but I do like her work and style of art.
[center: Garnet/Ruby/Sapphire charm - sides: Kyoko & Madoka charms]
It's never too late to start a collection........right? Well, that's what a friend told me. Right from the start of my convention-going, I decided early that I was only going to collect art. While I have always admired and liked the charms and keychains that artists often make to accompany their prints (or in some cases that's all they make), I just didn't want to get caught up in spending money on them and so I thought it was best to admire them from afar. However, at Fanime this year, I saw so many charms that I liked and I left the convention feeling like I should have bought some. I never like having a feeling of neglect, so I decided that I would start at the next convention or at least before 2015 was over. Well, I found some nice charms and even a keychain at SacAnime! In the picture above, you see the on the sides that there are 2 charms- Kyoko & Madoka! I guess it was just Kyoko's day, because I seemed to have found a lot of things of her at this convention that I really liked and in the past I felt like she was pretty much absent. But, you go girl! The charms were 2 for $10 (if I remember right.....). I wasn't too thrilled with the Mami or Sayaka charm and the woman selling these did not have a Homura charm, or if she did then she was sold out. I did not catch the name of the seller and I did not get any info or really talk to her, but I do love the two charms that I bought.
In the center is the last item I purchased from the convention. I really have been wanting a Garnet charm ever since I went to Fanime. I saw so many that were good, I just didn't get one, because I was not collecting yet. So, I was determined to get one at SacAnime! I found a great one for $12. I love that it shows Ruby and Sapphire individually and then as Garnet when fused together! Great representation! Again, I unfortunately did not get the creators info or name, but she did a great job!
[Outer Scout charms & Urd print by ZambiCandy]
I featured the Urd print above by ZambiCandy, but I also bought charms from her as well! Left is Sailor Neptune and right is Sailor Pluto. Neptune is my favorite Outer Scout and I bought Pluto who represents my friend, Selly. I shall show you all a better representation of us and these charms in the near future! These charms are an interesting story. I wanted to purchase them, but then the seller realized that she had not brought them with her. However, she was nice enough to sell me the ones on her display board!
[prints & sticker by Natalie Lopez]
Aside from the "Everybody Loves Kyoko" series, I also purchased this cute Asami & Korra sticker from Natalie. I don't normally get into the sticker thing, but this one was really cute!
That wraps up my SacAnime convention trip! Overall, I enjoyed myself. The organization's big goal is "a safe environment for fans" and I felt that they did provide that. Everyone was really nice to everybody and I had no issues. The setup was nice as well, because there were plenty of hotels around the convention center that made it easy to access the activities going on. It was one of the smaller conventions I've been to this year. The artist area and supplier area was all in one room, but it felt nice to not feel crowded (after experiencing nothing but that in SDCC).
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