FanimeCon 2011

Day Two

The second day of FanimeCon saw a sharp increase in attendees compared to Friday, which kept registration line waits over the three hour mark until the middle of the afternoon. While the registration surge was anticipated, another curveball awaited attendees: the lack of a printed programming schedule. To deal with the mishap, the convention encouraged smart phone users to download the schedule, while others checked schedules posted and updated outside the three main programming rooms.

The fanbase of Durarara!! had a lot to be excited about on day two as Aniplex of America pulled out all the stops to cater to their fans. The official panel for the series exploded when it was announced the series would air on Adult Swim this summer, and attendees got the chance to purchase the third DVD set for the convention before the release date in the Dealer's Room. To top it all off, Yūya Matsushita, the vocals behind the first ending theme for the series, performed to a packed house at FanimeCon's annual MusicFest that evening.

Other big events on Saturday included numerous game shows on Saturday evening, a "how to draw manga" symposium with Petit Evangelion manga-ka Ryusuke Hamamoto, and a character design workshop with Trigun movie character designer Takahiro Yoshimatsu.

One interesting moment from Saturday worth noting: as always, a contingent of local religious types showed up with banners and megaphones on the convention center mall to tell all of us that we're going to hell for liking anime/dressing in cosplay/eating chocolate/singing in the shower/whatever. Their appearance has become so punctual that you can set a watch to it, and as always, a group of Jesus cosplayers was out to "welcome" them with dancing and sarcasm-laced handshakes. Usually the ritual ends there, but this year, a few clever fans took the lampooning of the religious group a step further by making signs and holding a protest of their own... about nothing. Some of the signs seen on the mall implored passers by to "be themselves", remind them that "Dizzy loves them", and a number of other signs that ranged from the passionate to the bizarre.

You can check out photos from Day 2 below. Stay tuned for our report from Day 3!