SacAnime 2012

Over the years, I’ve heard about a fairly large Anime convention in the Sacramento area called "SacAnime," but never got the chance to venture out that way to see what the hype was about. Usually, I would hear about it after the dates had passed. Well, this year I made a conscious effort to put the date on my calendar and check out this convention. I even pinned up the flyer so I wouldn’t forget the date.

SacAnime is held at the Woodlake Hotel in Sacramento. It’s a decent-sized hotel with a few mid-sized conference rooms, but nothing too flashy or overwhelming. In addition, most of the amenities are outside.

In front of the Hotel, there was a DJ playing mostly rave-esque House music.

There were some cars all decked out with various Anime themes.

I wanted to grab that Supergirl. I would have given her a good home.

The line to get in was about a 20 minute wait. People were chomping at the bit to obtain a badge for the show.

The cool thing was that it seemed practically everyone in attendance was in some kind of costume, which made the 20 minute wait fairly entertaining.

Pimp Mario was one of my favorite cosplayers during the show.

Once I got in, I decided to check out the vendor’s hall for some cool anime figures, but the room was kind of small and cramped.

The one guy that had figures that I was interested in was seriously overcharging for them.

I wanted that Ultraman bank, but he wanted WAY too much for it. I checked eBay’s price right after which was substantially less.

These Necomimi ear things were insanely popular. There were a fair amount of people wearing them... and they are expensive. They (the ears) supposedly monitor your brainwaves and respond according to your current emotional state.

Oh my… She wears them well. The dude in the backgroud with the ticked off visage said, "Nobody wants to take my picture." Heh. Well, sucks to be you. ;)

Thug Life!!

I almost bought that shirt.

I’m not too familiar with most of the guests, but some of them were really cool.

Michelle Ruff flashes the deuces for me.

Johnny Yong Bosch was a big deal here.

Laura Bailey is so cute. Too bad I didn’t get a good photo of her. My camera had a ‘duh’ moment, but I didn't notice until it was too late.

What sucked was people weren't allowed to take photos WITH the guests. That was a real buzzkill.

Jennnifer Hale, who voices Carol Ferris in the Green Lantern Animated series was on hand. She had a panel for Voice Acting so I decided to sit in. It was entertaining and informative. Jennifer also voiced Giganta and a few other characters from the Justice League Unlimited series.

I waited in line without anything for her to sign just so I could take a good photo of her smiling and looking at the camera. To my surprise, they allowed people to take photos WITH her so I was stoked.

Jennifer was a delight and getting the chance to chat with her was almost worth the price of admission. Meeting someone that actually takes the time to speak with you at these conventions is refreshing. She also told me that I have a beautiful name. :) Not Sylent, in case anyone is wondering. ;-)

Meanwhile, the Courtyard was the place to be all show long… and it was outside, free of charge... Wish I had known that ahead of time.

There were cosplayers galore gathered in this spot dancing, posing for photos and generally having a good time.

Perhaps one day, I will understand the My Little Pony fascination.

There was a Video Gaming room that had some older consoles, but the quarters were a bit on the cramped side.

Back out to the Courtyard was where everything was hot and poppin’.

What I noticed was the ever-growing popularity of Robin. This show was to Robin as SDCC was to Harley Quinn.

…and there were more than a few Harley’s wandering around.

There were also a good deal of hotties. I’m still wondering what Anime this is girl from. Either way, you can see the appeal... or should I say, "both appeals."

She knew exactly what she was doing. You should have seen her jiggling with every slight movement. She had some guys hypnotized.

Hellooooo Kitty!

A Mermaid costume is a definite first! She looked great poolside.

Blow me a kiss, baby.

It was good to see characters I recognized since there were so many Anime characters I've never heard of. I'm old school so for me, Anime is Robotech, Voltron, Star Blazers, Ninja Scroll and the classics. Most of the newer stuff, I either don't know about or can't relate to.

Yeah, yeah... I know, but hell. Pedobear was on hand too.

Pedobear was kind of a prick. When people wanted to take his photo, he took the head of the costume off.

…and now, it’s time for Pedobear’s picks:

….

At every show, there’s always at least one guy that’s trying to make cosplayers perform the poses that THEY want. This guy is one of those guys… and it’s annoying and creepy.

I kind of felt sorry for this girl:

The creeper was photoshooting this cutie and he just wouldn’t let up. “No, do this! No, move your arm this way! No, tilt your head to the right, now back left. Lay down on the grass...”

I wouldn’t doubt if he faps to all the pics he takes later on that night.

Over the years, I’ve been somewhat critisized for creating Chick-centric convention coverage. It just so happens that the ladies have the best costumes… or lack thereof. *snicker* Well, here are some guys in costume that I thought were cool:

This Cyrax was WAY cool!

The guy on the right made a really good Cobblepot.

Star Wars in the Hiz-ouse.

Deadpool is a Niners fan!!

Here are some more pics:

This was a cool cat.

I’m pretty sure this is a dude.

Yikes! I don’t know what this is.

Closing thoughts: SacAnime is a nice, intimate show for hardcore anime fans. The show featured some notable guests within the world of anime, cosplayers galore and had a nice, family-friendly atmosphere. The vendor’s hall was far too small for my liking and was insanely crowded for most of the day.

The biggest ding about this show is the cost. Regular admission for one day is a whopping $30, which I think is FAR too much. I’ve been to smaller shows that featured more noteworthy guests and taken more from those shows. The Anime Expo in Los Angeles is 10 times the size of this show, yet the price of admission is a smidge less.

What I didn’t know about this show was you didn’t need to purchase a badge if all you wanted to do was cosplay. The badge only gets you into the vendor’s hall, the panels and the area to meet the guests. Since the Woodland Hotel is mostly open area, you could spend most of your time outside and still participate in events, at least that’s how it appeared.

Overall, it’s a fun show, but the cost is too high and the rooms were too small. They should consider relocating to a larger venue to accommodate a show of this size to reduce human bottlenecking.

The next show in case anyone is interested: