Day 1
Got to the convention at roughly 10:30AM on Friday, quite a bit of time to spare before opening ceremonies. Definitely wanted to get in early as an opportunity to take pictures.
This Light cosplayer caught my eye simply in how natural he looked.
A Final Fantasy cosplay group. I honestly have no idea who half these characters are.
This trailer was in front of the con grounds for a good part of event; once it was up and running, it was dispensing free slushes. I'm surprised they got permission to bring it here, since the con's held at a college campus and ARAMARK has the food services here on lockdown.
There were a lot of Vocaloid cosplayers over the weekend, this was one of the best ones I saw.
Small TF2 cosplay group. The person playing Medic actually had a Balloonicorn with her at other points in the con, I unfortunately never got a picture of it.
This Tinkerbell cosplay was pretty good. For whatever reason I only took one shot of this cosplay, but it turned out amazingly well in my opinion.
Hello Kitty Samurai was probably one of the cosplays that stood out the most during the weekend.
Group of Pok?mon cosplayers.
These two were apparently supposed to be personifications of colors. I like Pink's design, reminds me of a few Phoenix Wright characters.
There were quite a few Touhou cosplayers this year. I thought this Wriggle looked especially nice, mostly because of the cape.
There were also plenty of Madoka cosplayers this year. The series was readily available in the vendor hall, but hooooly craaaaap $35 for 4 episodes
I thought the sunlight really helped enhance this photo.
Yes, this is Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas cosplay. I was surprised too.
I thought this Stocking cosplay was pretty well-made. In the background you can see a bunch of people on the lawn playing Red Rover.
A group of Batman villain cosplayers. There was a Scarecrow with them later on, but I unfortunately didn't get a pic of him.
Another Touhou cosplay, taken in front of the college's central staircase.
Cheria Barnes and... another character I don't recognize because I don't know anything about Tales. These two were panelists at Saturday's big Touhou panel, and they did a pretty good job all things considered, but I'll get to that later.
Sanya Litvyak from Strike Witches, taken in the vendor's hall. I'm sort of disappointed in how this turned out since the rack in the background sort of clashes with the focus of the picture.
My camera's autofocus seemed to be sort of uncooperative with photos taken in the parking garage where the vendors were, but I was able to somewhat salvage this photo of Sailor Jupiter.
Nitori and Reisen. This turned out not bad given how the other photos in the vendor hall wound up.
Sakura and Syaoran from CCS, taken just outside the entrance/exit to the vendors.
The vendor hall attracted some controversy since at least one table was apparently selling counterfeit/bootleg goods (and another was selling posters and such of art stolen off of Pixiv), but there were plenty of trustworthy vendors there (many of them being local hobby shops and stores like HMV that had locations outside of the con, so they couldn't simply con you and vanish)
Wound up buying myself a few Nendoroid minifigures and a Mega Man model kit, which I worked on to kill time after my DS ran out of power.
A larger group of Touhou cosplayers, taken in a spot near the front of the campus. A bunch of us agreed that dark wall in the background really helped improve the photos.
Kyouko and Sayaka from Madoka Magica.
A really nice Princess Peach. After a Rosalina I encountered at previous cons, I was actually expecting this one to be a very well-dressed guy.
Chell from Portal. I keep thinking this cosplayer is someone from my hometown but they don't seem to recognize me.
Aya Shameimaru in a school uniform. I sadly was not able to get the shoes in this picture, because they were really damn nice shoes.
A character from Galaxy Express 999 that I can't remember the name of at the moment.
There were quite a few comic book cosplayers, I thought this was a really good-looking one.
Pretty sure this Eureka, but can't say so with absolute certainty. This was the last photo I took on Friday.
After hitting the vendor hall for a second time, I ran into a few friends from my college anime club. I got invited up to their room to hang out for a bit, then we went for donairs at a small restaurant I used to frequent some time ago.
The evening was spent watching improv events run by Synaptic Chaos Theater. They provided no shortage of golden moments, the finest among them being Will Wood's over-the-top, hilariously offensive redub of the Robert Carlyle ads for Johnny Walker. The first day of the con provided way more than I was anticipating.
Day 2Before arriving at the con on Saturday, I headed to a nearby street to go to a bubble tea place. What I didn't know was that there was a market there every weekend. In addition to the bubble tea, I wound up getting myself a waffle and a hot pretzel.
Moka and... Kurumu? from Rosario+Vampire.
Two con staffers/volunteers dressed as Winry and Ed from FMA, in front of the con weapons check.
The main cast of Madoka Magica.
Gendo and Yui from Evangelion.
Sailor V. Even in the years where it hasn't been the 20th anniversary of Sailor Moon we get a lot of Senshi cosplayers.
Saber, Rider, and Lancer (?) from Fate/Zero. They had some minor trouble with the weapons check, since that transparent plastic sword was difficult to peacebond.
Millia and Bridget from Guilty Gear. Yes, that's actually a guy dressed as Bridget. If a girl dresses as Bridget is it just dressing up or is it a double trap?
The Red Queen from Alice: Madness Returns.
Sailor Neptune. I think the only one of the main Senshi I didn't see was Uranus (nobody ever cosplays the Starlights or all those other characters from Stars)
Utsuho Reiuji. The cosplayer had quite a bit of trouble maneuvering since the stiff cape meant she had to go through doors sideways.
The three people in charge of the Touhou panel.
Two of the panelists are a couple so I had to get a photo of them together.
This guy was waiting outside Touhou panel dressed as Yuuko from Nichijou. He certainly pulled it off.
and of course this picture had to be taken
That's me on the right.
All the cosplayers at the Touhou panel in one photo.
The Touhou panel was much better than previous years, even though it didn't go quite as planned. The head panelist had a lot of notes prepared, then she couldn't get them to print. They then went to plan B, which was a brief introduction of the franchise followed by demoing the games and showing a few videos. Still, everybody seemed like they had fun and I was very satisfied, given this was pretty much the reason I came to the con.
Some more Vocaloid cosplay I thought was pretty good.
The city library had a table in the main hall alongside a few other events advertising and a charity drive that was folding paper cranes to raise money for Kids' Help Phone. I thought this was a pretty cool display and a neat way to advertise the library; unfortunately, I couldn't get the logo in since it was too crowded to get further back.
A solo cosplayer dressed as Homura from Madoka Magica.
The Claw and Chun-Li cosplayers are both regulars in the local con scene, I've seen both of them plenty of times before.
Yuki from Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi.
Mikuru from Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi.
Saturn and Pluto, and I have no idea who that guy in the middle is.
Another Mikuru cosplayer, this time accompanied by a Haruhi.
A Fairy Tail cosplay group.
Black Rock Shooter and Dead Master. That cannon prop is apparently really damn heavy.
Samus. I actually get nervous taking pictures of people in overly skimpy or tight cosplays since it seems too much like ogling them...
Sailor Moon cosplay group.
Faust from Guilty Gear. I love how it's put together from common or reasonably accessible stuff for the most part.
No idea who this character is, just took a picture of it because I liked how it work.
One of those new-fangled new-generation Pok?mon. I sometimes wonder how much these suits cost.
Afro Samurai, I believe.
While there was more programming on Saturday than Friday, I wound up leaving earlier. I didn't stay for the dance for a variety of reasons. Last year it was so loud that my ears were ringing for a long while afterward, and the bass was threatening to unhinge the glass in the back of the gymnasium from its anchoring bolts. I really didn't feel like subjecting myself to that again when I was already pretty tired.
Day 3Day 3 was mostly a wrap-up. My bus transferred at West Edmonton Mall so I stopped in to get some Chinese food and bubble tea, then rode in for the last day of the con.
I realized I didn't get a photo of this Lightning cosplayer the whole weekend, so I decided to take it while I still had the chance.
Miroku and Sango from Inuyasha. I had to suggest we change places for the picture because they were standing in a spot where the sun was shining right into the camera.
Captain Falcon. Really liked the gloves here.
Random maid.
Letty Whiterock getting photobombed by that Utsuho cosplayer from the previous day.
A few of my old buddies from anime club in Bleach cosplay (the Tsunade to the left is with them too, she's the sister of the guy on the right)
Random fancy-dressed girl.
Strider Hiryu, who I initially mistook for Ryu Hayabusa.
Sunday didn't really have much. There was a show by the 404s improv troupe featuring their time-honored tradition of concluding by performing blindfolded on a stage of live mousetraps, and the closing ceremonies featured the winners of the AMV, cosplay, and karaoke contests. I did one more sweep of the building for photo opportunites before it closed, then headed off for home.
My haul. The Persona 3 artbook and Mega Man comic were bought at a comic shop across from the college and the poster was bought from the artists' hall (and it unfortunately got damaged by my bag). Between this and food, I spent roughly $250.
This was probably my favorite Animethon so far. I'm anxious to see how they could possibly improve even further for the next year, but unfortunately I'm hearing it might not happen due to understaffing. If this is the last one, I'm at least happy I was there.
