Sugoi Con Day 1

Whew, majorly exhausted from our first day at Sugoi. Our original goal was to get up at 8 AM leave the apartment by 9 AM, maybe run a few errands and grab lunch. We didn't leave the apartment until 11 AM, and running last minute cosplay errands took longer than expected. We got to the con around 2 PM, and were glad to know nothing had started. No panels started until 4 PM. So we registered and while in line had a conversation with a mom whose 15 year old daughter was going to an anime con for the first time. She was really uncomfortable with the idea of leaving her daughter by herself mainly because she saw the huge variety in age groups a.k.a. tons of older, creepy looking guys. Dustin and I talked to her about cons and attempted to alleviate some of her concerns. Dustin said the woman was totally trying to push us into being chaperons for her daughter; I totally missed that. 

 
After registering, we ran across to the supermarket to pick up some last minute items needed to help finish or make our cosplay function. Dustin "Macgyvered" his Professor Layton tophat using posterboard and clear packing tape. Note: Gorilla Glue does NOT equal craft glue or work on fabric. We could've used some of Billy May's "Might Mend It." We both changed into our cosplays and then headed to the Ghibli Worlds Panel. It was an interesting panel, though it could've been better if there weren't technical difficulties. Some neat points I took from the panel were: Miyazaki in almost all his films has an environmental theme, and he focuses on strong, female characters because he feels they are underrepresented in Japanese culture and too often relegated to stereotypical, weaker roles like housewife. Following that, we went to Con Safety run by Greg Ayers with his fantastic hair. We had some downtime, and I was going to change into my Mio cosplay, however I realized, I had packed everything but my wig. -_-; Nevertheless, I was content to remain in my Luke cosplay largely because it was so comfortable. Dustin and I got a lot of recognition together; it was really fun when people asked us for pictures. It was really hilarious when one woman said, "Oh you're from that mystery game, "The Mysterious Village." I just solve the puzzles, I don't know the names. It's a mystery."

We grabbed a couple hot dogs and container of nachos and headed into the Duct Tape Sewing Panel. It was more specifically a panel on how to use duct tape to make a pattern that you could later add fabric onto or trace onto fabric and cut out. It was run by two older ladies in their fourties, who were pretty funny and spunky women. It was cool to see the things she created using simply duct tape, tin foil, and newspaper and cardboard. It got a little tedious though and the fact there was a loud, major tool in there didn't help. Dustin left maybe 15 minutes before the panel ended, and I followed him a few minutes after. We went to the concert being held and saw the last couple acts of FICE and stayed for three songs of the band Zetki. I found the girls of FICE absolutely adorable; they had so much energy and it caught on fast. I didn't think I would like Zetki, but I was pleasantly surprised. They impressed me and reminded me of JAM Project. Dustin got so excited when they performed "Desert Punk." I really liked the second song they sang, though I have no idea about the name. 
 
After leaving the concert, we skedadaled over to History of Fandom. This was my favorite panel of the night. I really didn't know what to expect. However, the guy running it, named Mark (I think was his name) was AWESOME! He was so well prepared and only used powerpoint to bring up basic points. He gave a detailed, well researched account of the anime industry and how the fandom evolved. He broke it down by generations, saying every two years a new anime generation/fandom was formed. He talked about when the first anime conventions were formed and how they're different from current cons. He credited the internet with being largely influential in shaping the anime fandom. He was so laid back and funny but his intelligence clearly shined throughout his presentation. Probably his most important point was that now is the best time to be an anime fan because of all the resources we have access to and the dramatic lowering in the cost of anime and manga (as compared to the 90s). Such a great panel and panelist; I'm definitely going to hunt him down tomorrow and talk some more with him. 

Lastly, we went to the Cosplay 101 panel. It was informative; always nice to get cosplay tips. I didn't gain a great deal of new information on cosplaying; what I took from the panel was knowledge about different vendors for patterns and wigs. For me, there just wasn't anything particularly striking about the panelist or the information she presented--since I knew most of it already.  

 

Dustin is uploading video footage. We're going to head to bed soon. Thankfully, the first panel we want to attend starts at 1 PM. We get to sleep in. Plus, there won't be any running around for extra cosplay stuff. Post pictures and videos tomorrow. :)