ANIME EVOLUTION 2006
PAN'S CON REPORT

Best con ever!

Now with the worst con report ever!


FRIDAY


Here We Go Again

This year, my friends Blue Rose and Kira joined me in my trip to Vancouver for Anime Evolution. We spent Friday exploring the sights and sounds of Vancouver, and ended up getting back to Simon Frasier University a little later than expected. We missed Friday-night pre-registration, but we still managed to run into some cosplayers.

We spent our Friday night in the common room of the dorm we were staying in with some other convention goers. We watched YTV's Friday night line-up and ironed our costumes, while others put the finishing touches on their own costumes. I met Jamie and Sam, two cosplayers and Vic Mignogna fans that flew up from Texas for the convention.

It was a quiet way to spend the night before a convention, but was nice to spend the evening in such great company. :3


SATURDAY


And so it Begins

After I woke up on Saturday morning, it took me about an hour and a half to get into costume. I waited until Blue Rose was ready and then the two of us headed to the convention. Kira was ready before us and left early. Blue Rose and I wore our Naruto costumes from Anime North and Kira was dressed as one of the Green Lanterns. Blue Rose makes an awesome Kakashi, so it wasn't long until we were stopped for photos.

We got into the registration line, which wasn't that long, but moving rather slowly. Blue Rose and I split up, and I ended up in line with a girl who would later cosplay Fuu from Samurai Champloo, and met Momo, who was cosplaying as Link. The line didn't seem so long with their company, and after I got my pass, I met up with Blue Rose, and our convention officially began.

We walked around the convention area, and I ran around taking photos of cosplayers. There were a lot there, so as soon as I took a photo of a costume I liked, I spotted another one and took off in another direction.

At some point, we passed by the long line to the dealer's room. I took photos of some cosplayers in line. While this was going on, someone noticed that Blue Rose had a sharingan contact lens, word spread, and suddenly Blue Rose was swarmed with people asking for her photo. A lot of people took close ups of her contact, so when they were done taking photos, she was blind from the flash bulbs. XD


I Love SFU

I would like to say how much I love the campus of Simon Frasier University. It's up in the mountains and features some breathtaking views. Moreover, it's beautifully designed architecturally. It makes a really nice backdrop to cosplay photos -- especially in comparison to other conventions which are held in poorly lit hotels or convention centers with bad carpeting. Anime Evolution was, therefore, open, outdoors, and gorgeous.

Mind you, as much as I love taking photos in sunlight, it was very hot and bright, so I kept hiding in the shade. In retrospect, this was a mistake since the photos I took in the shade didn't come out nearly as nice as I wanted them too. I need to remember that photos look brighter on my camera than they do on my computer.


Colorful Characters as Far as the Eye Can See

One of the first people I ran into was Mei, who I met two years ago. She introduced me to her boyfriend, and I was surprised when he turned out to be one of the shiny Anbu trio that I had also met two years ago. Sadly, I couldn't remember his name at the time (Adiran, by the way), but I did manage to remember the names of the other two Anbu ninja. Anyway, it was totally awesome to see them both again!

There was a cosplayer of Midvalley from Trigun, and he was playing the saxaphone. He was very good, and was walking around playing anime music. He was the source of background music for much of the day.

I spent most of the day taking cosplay photos. There were lots of Naruto and Bleach cosplayers, but also a surprising amount of D-Greyman cosplayers. There was a stunning Gazette cosplayer, as well as some .hack cosplayers that I stalked for photos. Actually, there were a lot of cosplayers I really liked at this convention. If I try to name them all, it'll take up my entire report. Heh.

There were some strange occurrences. One person mistook me for someone else's brother, and a bunch of people thought I was a Megaman cosplayer from the year before, who I can't seem to find photos of. Oh, and there was this guy walking around in a Batman costume. Kira went to talk to him, since she was also dressed as a DC character. He asked her what was going on. Turns out that he was there for a leadership camp, and was really confused that there were other people in costume running around. He explained that his costume was his Halloween costume from when he was six, and that's why it barely fit him.


Ninjaing is a Verb

At two in the afternoon, Blue Rose and I headed to the Naruto photoshoot. On our way, we ran into a Hinata my height and took a few photos. I wish I was in Vancouver more often, because I would have loved to do a photoshoot with her.

We finally made it to the Naruto photoshoot where tons of Naruto cosplayers were gathering. During the giant group photo, a Shikamaru cosplayer jumped out in front of everyone and pretended to use Shadow Possession Jutsu on the group, which made a great photo. After that, people started calling out characters to go up for individual shots.

I acted as a photographers, so even though I was cosplaying Naruto, I was in very few of the photos. I was in one where I was surrounded by Hinata cosplayers. I "traded" my position with a male Naruto cosplayer, who traded with a Sexy Jutsu Naruto cosplayer. It was really amusing.


Wandering Around Part 782

After the photoshoot, I ran around taking more photos. Blue Rose and I walked by cosplay chess to the dealer's room. The line for the dealer's room wasn't very long, so we decided to check it out.

The dealer's room was divided into two parts: a large room and a long classroom-like room. There were a lot more venders than I remember, and the entire place was bustling with people. I saw a lot of shiny cosplayers there, but didn't take any photos due to the lack of space.

While in the dealer's room, a female Anbu cosplayer I ran into earlier asked if we'd seen her male counterpart. We hadn't, but we kept an eye out for him. We found him after we left the dealer's room and pointed him in her direction. Much later in the day, we just happened to be nearby when they were reunited. Blue Rose commented that they got a happy ending.

We ran into Jamie and Sam, and after checking out Jamie's "miniskirt ranger" costume, we started searching for Kira. We hadn't seen her for hours and we didn't make a time to meet up with her, so we were starting to get worried.

Sometime around here, I met a fan of mine named Alex, who was dressed as a character from Paranoia Agent. I also married a guy named Josh who poked me and said hi.

I should mention that a lot of people came up to me and said hi throughout the day. I might be horrible with names and faces, but that doesn't change the fact that it was really nice to meet all of you! :3


Baby's First Walk-Off

Later in the day, Blue Rose and I attended the walk-off. This is a special event to Anime Evolution. It started last year, so this was my first year attending it.

The only reason I knew about it at all was because the Eiji cosplayer I met two years ago told me about it a few months ago. (I actually saw her quite a few times at the convention and I never put two and two together. When she told me she was the Eiji cosplayer, I didn't recognize her at first. Sadly, it wasn't until after the convention that it really clicked as to who she was. *facepalm* I. Fail. At. Life. Like. Whoa. I know who you are! Really I do! Thank you for telling me about this event! I totally owe you one!) The walk-off has two guys from two "teams" compete against each other with hilarious and squee-worthy results.

On Saturday especially, some of it was on the lewd side, but it was nothing horrible. Despite its content, it was a surprisingly positive event. All the competitors were in good spirits and their positive energy was infectious. You could tell everyone was having a lot of fun. I've heard that a lot of people have complained about the content of Saturday's competition. I understand why this would be so, but I also know there was a family with rather young children sitting in front of us, and they seemed to be enjoying the show.

Because it's worth noting, in this round of the competition a competitor dressed in a tracksuit surprised the crowd when he revealed he was wearing a Man Faye costume underneath. Heh. Also, the Anji cosplayer I met two years ago was cosplaying Gin from Bleach, although it took me a day to realize it.

After the walk-off, Blue Rose and I headed back to our dorm. On the way, we found a full Ouran Koukou Host Club group. They even had a little girl dressed as Hunny. They get so many points for having a full group. I loved these guys!

After I changed out of Naruto, I bumped into Thomas, who you might remember from my last Anime Evolution con report as the guy who punched himself in the face and won an award.

The sun was starting to set, and the plan was to go out and enjoy the evening activities -- including the dance. Blue Rose and Kira went. I was more exhausted than I thought, so I crashed and slept for 11 hours...


SUNDAY


The State of the State of Anime Panel

Sunday morning, Blue Rose and I got into costume. I wore my Mystel costumes from Anime North 2005, since I adore it but have only worn it to a convention once. Blue Rose wore her new and improved Anbu Kakashi costume. Soon we were off on our normal routine of spotting a shiny cosplayer, chasing them down, taking a photo, and then spotting something else of interest.

Anyway, I really wanted to attend the State of Anime in Canada panel held by Jesse Betteridge, webmaster of Zannen, Canada (awesome site, BTW). Kira joined us, and nothing seemed to be happening. When I went to investigate, I found that the sign on the door said the panel moved. We went searching, but it turned out that the panel hadn't moved at all, so we ended up back in the room we were originally in.

While I know the basics about anime in Canada, I don't understand it even a fracture of the amount that Jesse does. He's freakishly informative about anime on Canadian TV, issues with CRTC and other aspects about anime in Canada, such as distributors. Needless to say, I learned a ton in his panel. I also got a west coast spin on many of the issues, since some things that were mentioned were not the same as they are for me in Toronto.

At some point in his panel, someone brought up Flint: The Time Detective, and Jesse mentioned LELOLA. I ended up waving at Jesse then, and he clued in to who I was. I met up with him after the panel and officially said hello to him. He was tall. He said I was shorter than he expected. Heh. I get that a lot.

Then Blue Rose, Kira and I went on a search for tickets to the Meet and Greet dinner. We went to information, which sent us to registration, which sent us back to information. Finally, with Jesse's help, we found out that tickets for the dinner were sold with the t-shirts. ...why didn't I think to look there?


How to Waste an Afternoon by Walking in Circles

Blue Rose and I wandering back outside and caught some of the Cosplay Contest. It was entertaining. I was surprised by the lack of time limits and stage ninjas, but the contest ran smoothly so I'm not complaining. Mei and Adrian entered their Saikano costumes, and the Link that was behind me in the registration line performed a skit. We watched it from above, and I took some photos. We happened to be close to the greenroom for the contest, so I got some photos of the contestants after they left the stage.

After the contest, near the dealer's room, two guys waved at Blue Rose and I, and one of them pulled me into a hug. I was really confused, and then that tiny light bulb in my head turned on and I realized that they were the remaining two of the shiny Anbu trio from two years ago. We talked very briefly, but it was great to see them again. I hope I'll see them in the future too.

By the entrance to the dealer's room, we ran into an amazing Sol Badguy cosplayer. He made me wish I dressed as Jam again.

Anyway, Blue Rose and I went back to the dorms for lunch, and on our way back to the convention afterwards, we spotted a Wolfwood cosplayers carrying a punisher cross. Thinking he was a Wolfwood I took a photo of earlier, I said hello to him. It turns out he was the Sol Badguy cosplayer I saw just before lunch. We talked to him, and he showed us his punisher cross. It was made of metal and he filled it with little water guns. It was really quite impressive. I took some shiny photos of him that turned out to be some of my favorites from the weekend.

Blue Rose and I explored more of the convention, and I took photos along the way. I ran into both Wolfwood cosplayers and got them to pose together so I could take their photos, and some random people asked me to take photos of their shoes. I passed by some can-caning Kingdom Hearts characters, got a chance to see Adrian and Mei's amazing Saikano costumes up close, and caught the tail end of the Bleach photoshoot. I ran into the Stephs from Toronto in the autograph line for some of the voice actor guests, and a great human Luna cosplayer.

Some people attacked Blue Rose again, but people seem to like doing it. One of them was I'm Too Pretty For Math (ITPFM). (He's named after his t-shirt.) He picked her up and spun her around. It was around this point that I started taking photos of people glomping her, because I thought it was amusing.

Before we left for dinner, Blue Rose and I caught part of the second round of the walk-off.


Mmm... Fork

Kira, Blue Rose and I headed for the dining area where the dinner was being held. Anyway, I got dinner and spotted the Stephs, as well as Natalie, who once again flew in from England. I took a seat next to them, and ended up sitting across from the voice actor Michael Coleman (who theoretically cancelled his appearance, but was there). Blue Rose sat next to him, and Kira sat next to me.

Then Vic Mignogna came in and took a seat next to Blue Rose. Sam, Jamie and some more of Vic's fans sat next to him. We thought our table couldn't get any better, but then Michael moved to the end of the table, and was joined by Trevor Devall and Kirby Morrow. Scott McNeil came in and took Michael's old seat. We spent most of the dinner talking to Scott, and I took a few obnoxious photos of him eating. Keith Miller advertised his band's concert later that night and a staff member got everyone to sing Cathy Weseluck Happy Birthday. Throughout the dinner, the voice actors talked to fans and signed autographs. Scott got bored at some point and started singing things on the table. He signed a napkin, a fork, and started writing on a piece of lettuce. As this was happening, Vic was trying on the miniskirt rangers uniform while wearing a hat with bunny ears on it.

In a word, dinner was surreal.

After dinner, I got a quick interview with Vic. I asked him some random questions and played him rock-paper-Zazel. It was complicated by the fact that he didn't know how to play rock-paper-scissors, but it was hilarious and turned into a game of rock-paper-chainsaw, which I ultimately lost.

Blue Rose and I spent some time looking for Rob Bakewell throughout the convention, and we were finally informed that he cancelled. This made us sad. (We love you, Rob!)

Anyway, somehow we ended up outside after dinner. Scott left his backpack under the table at dinner, so when he left, Kira picked it up and tried to get it back to him. We hung around waiting for him to finish signing autographs. We got bored, and so we took his bag on a mini adventure and took photos of it as we went. My favorite photos are the one with the bag on a clothing donation box, and Vic posing with it. I also like the photo of my posing with it, because you can see Scott being oblivious in the background.

For the record, the backpack made it back to him. In fact, it's surprising how much we did with it considering we never left his sight.


Concerts, Trespassing and Dancing

After dinner, all three of us went to check out Keith Miller's band. They were pretty good. My photos of their concert turned out really blurry though.

Then we went up to the roof to look at the pretty scenery at sunset. Have I mentioned how gorgeous this campus is? I wish I had real camera equipment on me, because everywhere I looked was something I wanted to photograph. After wandering around for awhile, we headed back to the dorm rooms. I changed out of my costume (since I didn't want to wear it to the dance), and we hung out with Jamie and Sam in Jamie's room and met their friend Chrissy.

Blue Rose, Kira and I went to the dance. I loved the fact that their dance was outdoors. The weather was good, and there was a nice breeze. It was much better than a lot of the stuffy convention dances I've been to. I took some photos, and then we watched the dance from above.

There were some entertaining line dancers, and the Sol Badguy/Wolfwood cosplayer was there spinning around a staff. He was wearing part of his Sol Badguy costume, and without a wig, he reminded me of the actor Christopher Khayman Lee. Anyway, he was really good at it. He managed to attract some fangirls, who bowed down to his awesome talent. I sat nearby and videotaped him for awhile. Hands down, he was the shiniest guy there.

As for the actual dance, I hung out with Thomas for a bit, and ran into Mei and Adrian briefly. I also saw Jessie. Oh, and I actually danced a bit too.


MONDAY


Hacky Sack = Panel

Monday was a lazy day. I wore my ancient Juubei costume because it folded up into my suitcase easily.

Monday morning, I found some Digimon cosplayers to squee over, and ended up taking a few photos at a Prince of Tennis photoshoot. I loved the fact that a lot of the Prince of Tennis cosplayers were from the Ouran Koukou Host Club group.

After taking some photos, Blue Rose, Kira and I headed to a voice actor panel, where we found Jesse and his photographer friend watching anime, and the voice actor panelists, Keith and Brad, playing hacky sack with some congoers at the front of the room. My favorite moment had to be when someone asked Brad if he listened to music. He didn't stop playing hacky sack when he answered "yes".

As this was going on, other congoers were writing on the blackboard, and Keith and who I assumed was a member of his band, wrote on some chairs with chalk. ITPFM was there with a new t-shirt that read "Your Girlfriend Thinks I'm Hot", and I got recognized as Juubei and had my only cosplay photo of the day taken with a Ban cosplayer.

After about forty-five minutes of random things happening, the panel actually began. Keith and Brad answered all sorts of questions -- some illuminating, some serious and others just plain goofy. I videotaped a few of their answers. It was a fun panel.


Lizard Queen = Judge

Blue Rose, Kira and I headed to the main stage to catch the third and final round of the walk-off. Before the competition began, they were looking for judges from the audience. One of the judges came into the audience and was asking people who put their hand up why they deserved to be a judge. The first girls she asked gave answers like, "I'm unbiased," and, you know, actually answered her question.

When she came closer looking for volunteers, I thought "what the heck", and put up my hand. She came up to me and asked me why I thought I deserved to be a judge. I took the mic and declared, "Because I am the lizard queen!" Somehow, this worked, and I got to be a judge. (Thank you, Simpsons references! You never fail me!)

I went up on stage, and while the second judge from the audience was selected (a Kaoru cosplayer from Ourana Koukou Host Club), I took some photos of the audience. The competition began, and being a judge aside, it was great to watch the walk-off up close. Everyone involved was friendly and positive, not to mention that the boys were cute. Wait. Did I just say that aloud?

The judging was based solely on performance, so it wasn't that difficult to do. I deliberated mostly with the Kaoru cosplayer next to me, since the other judges were far away from me and therefore difficult to talk to. The only weird thing was that the host kept asking us the judges is we'd chosen the music, when we had no control over the music.

There were a lot of memorable entries (Sean of the Dead and the homeless guy come to mind) and some upsets (for instance, the Kaoru cosplayer and I both wanted the Tamaki cosplayer to win one round but he lost), but overall, it was a lot of fun. One of the contestants gave the judges "alcohol", which was really sparkling grape juice. So, I basically, sat back with a drink in hand, and enjoyed the show.

Some of the judging was really tough -- especially the last round. The finally two competitors were 1st Class Solider Zack and Mr. Zack, and they were both fairly evenly matched. While we had to decide the winner, the audience chanted "Zack! Zack! Zack!" The winner was 1st Class Solider Zack, but damn, it was close.

Have I mentioned that I love this convention?


Goodbye and End Notes

After the walk-off, Kira, Blue Rose and I hand to leave to catch a ferry back to Victoria. I changed out of my costume, we said our goodbyes, and finished packing. We called a taxi, and soon we were on our way home. As we left the campus, and waved goodbye, all three of us agreed that Anime Evolution was a spectacular convention.

The convention felt longer this year, but that's probably because it was. Like Anime North and many other conventions, Anime Evolution usually runs Friday night, all day Saturday and half of Sunday. This year, Anime Evolution ran all day Saturday and Sunday, and most of Monday. That's two full days and then some. There was great weather all weekend, and the events ran smoothly. All in all, it was a great con.

In conclusion, Anime Evolution remains to be my favorite anime convention.

I can't wait to go back. :3