So I had a damn good weekend. My timing for moving out to Vancouver turned out to be very lucky in that it coincided closely with the convention Anime Revolution. The last time I went to an anime convention was in 2004 when I went to Anime North and I was very underwhelmed. However, Anime Revolution, especially for it being a brand new convention, was so much better.
I suppose it's also worth noting that this time around I was actually old enough to attend some of the 18+ panels but even so, the PG panels were more rich in content and diversity and the experience was just all around a lot more fun.
Plus, the Nostalgia Critic was EVERYWHERE. I got a photo with him the first day I was there, I also attended a panel he headed; then the next day, I bumped into him in the hall unexpectedly, I attended a Brony panel which he briefly crashed, and I went to the 18+ improv panel which he took part in which was entirely to my surprise; then the third day, he was spending a lot of time in the gaming room and I got to watch him play Super Smash Bros. Melee (badly) for a bit.
Aside from Doug Walker being around every corner, the remainder of the con was also very enjoyable. I went to the swimsuit contest which was both very funny and cringe-inducing when the contestants did Q&A in-character. I saw a lot of My Little Pony cosplayers though was frustrated that I saw around 7 Rainbow Dash's and only 2 Fluttershy's (only 1 on the first day).
I went to a panel about making indie games out of curiosity; I do have some ambition for it but I'd rather focus on animating when it comes down to it. I have to respect the hell out of the panelists for insisting that you do not promise to pay your artists with "exposure in the credits, because they will hate you"; I've been there multiple times myself and believe me when I say that they are absolutely right, it does nothing for the artist professionally or personally.
The Anime Jeopardy panel wasn't great; it was run by two people who had never run a panel before and even if they hadn't told us, it still would have been uncomfortably obvious. But there was some amusement to be had so I suppose it's alright in the end. The Name That Anime Tune was, as well, a little dull in my opinion but it was run better.
I also got a picture of Spoony (Noah Antwiler) enjoying a pixie stick.
There were a lot of other panels I wish I could have made it to (and I must admit to a slight interest in the speed dating panel) but simply did not have the time since I had other places to be on the weekend as well (the convention center is about a half hour walk from where I'm currently staying). In the end, I'm very happy that I finally have my figuarts Vegeta after BigBadToyStore understocked and canceled my order several months back.
I didn't take a whole lot of pictures but I might post what I did get in another post.
