Since last year I’ve used my debit and credit cards and rarely use cash in my every day life. In fact I don’t remember the last time I had cash in my wallet. I left the 7th annual Mid-Atlantic Anime Convention on Saturday even though there was another day left only because I had used all my cash that I had withdrawn the morning before and the atm machines at the convention center were completely tapped out.
I probably would still be there at this time if I still had cash!…but maybe that’s a good thing! I still need to eat right? I had a great time at the convention nevertheless! Read on for more pics and some short highlights of Friday and Saturday.
COSPLAY
Aside from having an enormous wing-span, this guy made a contraption where you can lower and raise the wings
A lot of the costumes that I saw were mostly Naruto or Final Fantasy since they’re both popular. And most were well done. But there were some people I didn’t recognize. A few I asked said it was characters that they themselves had created. Like The Internet. Yes. The Internet.
Below a few costumes you may recognize and a couple of originals.
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ART
There was a good amount of artwork displayed at the artist section (Artist Alley preps) that I wanted to buy. What I usually like to do, since I had to keep a budget with my art cash, is walk around and make a mental note of what I priortize to buy and then come back to the tables with my list.
When I spotted the picture above, by Chris Dame of Photography and Art, I ditched the mental notes and just bought it. It reminds me a whole lot of Major Kusanagi and I love the dark color scheme and sci fi theme to it.
Ken Marcus of Xynphix does an animesque profile.
There was a wide range of professional and amateur artists that I met who were pretty nice that had some spectacular art to show and sell. If I didn’t leave Artist Alley when I did, I don’t think I would have had any money left over for anything else.
A fantasy piece by Chris Dame.
Liquid Mark finishing up a commission.
An original by Robert Dejesus of Studio Capsule and one of many awesome pieces that I wanted to get but forgot about.
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MERCHANDISE!
One of many walls of figures found in the vendors room.
My main intention of going to the vendors room was for some cheap manga and dvd’s. What I didn’t expect to find was the massive amount of decent priced figures. Seeing as how I recently spent days building my new Gundam I took it easy on mecha’s and concentrated on manga and figures. I spent the better portion of Friday right here.
Gundam Galore! Manga Galore! Trading Figures Ga…you get the idea
Remember my process of purchasing in the art section? Yeah? It went out the window here too. I’ve included some pics of 2 of many figures I picked up at the con. The first is a Haruhi Suzumiya Figure and the other is a cool trading tech figure from the Range Murata Solid Collection, easily my favorite find at the con.
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PANEL FOCUS: OTAKU USA MAGAZINE
The girls at Otaku USA’s vendor table
I went to a few panels but one really caught my attention. Patrick Macias from Tokyo Eye is running a new magazine called Otaku USA. Described as a magazine by Otakus for Otakus, the magazine came out earlier this month. Jeff Kight of Otaku USA and Japanese cosplayer Yunmao Ayakawa, who writes for the magazine, were on hand to answer questions on Saturday.
Otaku USA’s panel featuring Yunmao Ayakawa and Jeff Kight (2nd from right).
Just before the panel started I met Jeff Kight and he was nice enough to give me a free copy of Otaku USA and talk to me about the magazine. The panel itself covered a lot of issues including: how much positive reaction they’ve received(tremendous amount on the web), what people liked about the magazine(across the board coverage, unbiased, and blunt), and how Yunmao’s articles include everything about otaku like cosplaying and Akihabara. Jeff did mention some possible plans for the future which all sounded pretty exciting, but still in the early stages and I don’t want to give it away. I’ll just let Jeff and the people at O-USA do that.
I did manage to read through Otaku USA and I was pretty impressed with the amount of varied coverage contained. From new anime series coming to the U.S. to a tour of the Gundam Factory in Shizuoka. There was a lot to like and take in. The only thing that didn’t really interest me was the live action, monster-Godzilla sections. Never really liked that genre, but that’s a personal preference. Other than that it was a great 1st issue that I’ll continue to check out.
Yunmao Ayakawa Yunmao and Jeff Kight
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BITS AND ENDS
The new wave of 21st century guitarists is here. I wasn’t really interested in the gaming section at the con but judging by this guy’s playing technique, this game looked real fun!!
Vendors selling cool eyes…I mean cool contacts. Looking out of this world.
Selling Voo Doo Baby’s….They’ve been out for a while but it’s the first I’ve seen them. I spoke to the guy that makes these and he only uses a single string to make one.
AMA7=Fun? Yes. Coming back next year? Yes. With more money? Yes
For my first Anime Mid-Atlantic Convention it was pretty fun and exciting. I met a lot of great people from otaku, artists, musicians, to industry peeps. I’ll try to come back next year for all the fun again and hope everyone is there!
It’s our fault since there were 4 of us in a very tiny car. But I was able to wear some neko ears instead!
My favorite cosplayer was Gir ^-^ the kid with the box on his head SO CUTE AND ORIGINAL!!! X_X I spent 100 bucks at least, most of it on manga lol =^-^= I’m actually not an anime fan, I went for the manga and the sites. When Piano Squall took off his jacket and ppl gasped, I was like *_* HE’S GONNA STRIP? OH GOODIE! 
Otaku Surf are you going to the anime usa convention later this year?
