Anime Central 2009 - The Blog

Hey guys, what up? This is Ernie Layug from "The Fan's POV" and typing in our blog for our Mother's Day Weekend that we spent in "The Second City". Well, it was an amazing time, other than when I got pissed, but i'm not gonna go emo and tell you about it. I would rather tell you the good things about ACen and then the GREAT things aboot ACen. So, let's begin.

The good things about ACen was the registration line was the quickest I have ever been through for a big con, the soap bubble, meeting all the different cosplayers, and having a great time not bumping into people with my camera. The pre-reg line was definitely something that other cons should look at. It was the smoothest (if that's a word) line I have ever been through. There were some mistakes like when they forgot to put up the different letters for will-call tickets, but even though that line went by fast. I was talking to somebody on the line and told me that people waited over 8 hours last year to pick up their badge. Are you kidding me? You must really love this convention if you waited in line for 8 hours to pick up your badge or demanded your money back. I'm hoping that Anime Boston learns from this from what I heard last year, this should be reported.

The Soap Bubble was a rave basically. I was kind of disappointed, but it was more a joking disappointed that soap bubbles didn't fall down from the ceiling to wash everyone. I wanted to see that, this way I can say that I went to a "Spring Break" type party. The hijinks on the line before was even before cause it looked like everyone was bored and when I came along the lines with a camera and asking everyone to make some noise, they were excited. Even the last people on line there were excited. It was great. Afterwards, I went to Denny's to eat and then I have to drive back pass the convention center to get back to my hotel. When I got to the convention center and saw the line, it was still outside and this was 45 minutes after I left. The Soap Bubble was the place to be at Saturday Night and the shit.

When I met all the different cosplayers there, it was a breath of fresh air cause it was good to meet a whole new crop of cosplayers. When you report on conventions throughout the East Coast, you have a tendency to see the same people over and over. This way you may not get alot of interviews, this time I did get a good amount. I'm hoping to get those interviews up on May 21st during "The Aftershow". This is where our staff choose the best interviews from the weekend and i'll play them. In all reality, it would probably be just me picking them all. You'll find my interview in there, but they were definitely some of the female ones. Just to be a guy for a moment, some of the female cosplayers were HOT, wearing little clothing, and LEGAL! Anyways, the interviews will be posted up soon and then everyone will know the QUESTION OF THE CON. Trust me, you will all love it. Here's the hint, Illinois is the number one state to have this. With the cosplayers, there was one thing I notice. THEY WERE CALM! There wasn't alot of running alot and causing chaos that i'm use to at a convention. Unless a convention is usually like that, and i'm around the craziness alot.

Those were the good things and now the GREAT THINGS, the masquerade hijinks, the fashion show, and dealer's room. The Masquerade hijinks were great cause everything that went wrong was the best part. The greatest part was when the audio broke down and everyone starting singing the rickroll. The people who were on stage for the skit itself were dancing and then they started dancing to "Just Dance" by our resident White Asian Steven's favorite white singer LADY GAGA. It was a good time, another part that I liked was the beginning when the MCs kept on getting the name of the event wrong. It's so overused, but still gets the job done. I found this hilarious and distrubing, a guy with a bikini top was dancing like he was trying to get a dollar out of me. Let me tell you that this guy moved his hips just as well as some of the girls that I know. He almost did, I got my wallet out to give him a dollar and then I realized that I was straight. So, the masquerade hijinks are always better than the actual masquerade.

The fashion show was awesome because it was cool to finally see what the difference is between all the styles. I didn't know that there were different style of Lolita, until this convention. It would to see that there are guy models to show how can guys wear these styles too. However, I would have to have a fashion sense and God knows I don't have one. So, that is out of the question. What I usually do is incorporate what I see and try to make my own style. I might take some Steam Punk and then make it my own fashion style and call it "The Philippines' best export". Who knows? Anything is possible in the anime world. If I can get laid during a convention, then anything is up for grabs.

The Dealer's Room was AWESOME. There were vendors there that I have recognize and new ones that I am aboot to discover. The oddest part of the Dealer's room was the car show. Personally, I don't think an anime convention is the best place to have a car show. It's very out of place, but then again so am I. That's a different story for a different day. I didn't buy anything from the dealer's room, but i did get alot of memories from there.

So, there was my favorite parts of Anime Central 2009. I'm sure that there are more, but i'm forgetting them at the moment. I'll talk to you all later