GAnime! A Convention Close to Home

Oh the people! The costumes! The auctions.... wait what? Hello there, blog readers, I have a pretty exciting topic to discuss with you today and that, my friends, are conventions! Aren’t you excited? This past weekend I was lucky enough to go to G-Anime 2011, a local convention that occurs only fifteen minutes away from Ottawa in Gatineau, Quebec. Before I get into all the cool stuff I was able to do there we’ll start with a little warm up. For those of you who do not know, a convention is essentially a large group of people who gather to share a similar interest. Think of those conventions a lot of die-hard, Star Trek and Star Wars fans attend. An anime convention is no different. An “anime con” is where we anime fans go to do a variety of different activities, meet up with fellow Otakus and have a lot of fun doing it! There are many things that can be done at these conventions some of which include:

• A masquerade – a masquerade is an event held at many anime conventions where con goers can show off their home made costumes and win prizes.

• Meet voice actors – better known conventions offer celebrity autograph and panel sessions where people can get a chance to see some of the actors that do the voices for their favourite characters and shows.

• Shop till you drop! – conventions are the best place to buy Anime related merchandise such as DVD’s, toys, clothing and more, all at usually reduced prices.

Different conventions offer different entertainment so I’ll take this time to discuss my own experience at G-Anime:

Dressed as Hanayu Asitaba from Mixed Vegetables (a manga I enjoy reading) I was ready to get my con on! After getting my pass that showed I had paid to get in, I made my way to the exhibitor room where I soon found myself surrounded by cute anime related merchandise and fellow costumed Otakus. After browsing the tables upon tables of merchandise I decided to get a few interviews for my upcoming feature. I got to have a friendly chat with a woman who worked at my favourite anime shop as well as sat down with a lady who enjoys drawing anime styled cartoons for people to buy. When I was done with that I decided it was time to see what else this convention had to offer. Walking into various convention rooms I suddenly found myself in one that was holding an auction, whose proceeds would be given to a local charity. The articles up for sale were costumed convention goers! Naturally, for a good cause, I had to get in on the fun. When the auction was over I looked in on some of the other rooms which included a photography room as well as a gaming room filled with Dance, Dance, Revolution mats and a large collection of Wii controllers. After the excitement of exploring was over I decided to sit back and watch a few of my fellow Otakus sing, dance, and perform in the middle of the halls. (As is the usual at conventions) It was a lot of fun but sadly it was time for me to leave but not before I had filled my mind with plans of what I would be dressing up as for the next convention I’ll be attending in August: Fan Expo – Toronto!

Dewa mata!