FanimeCon 2011

Day Three

"I'd rather focus on new series than redo old ones," said Seiji Mizushima, responding to a fan question at his Q&A panel early on Day 3. When I asked the director if the process of digitization has made any part of the production process more difficult, he admitted that the past ten years have seen a lot of adjustment. "At first, a lot of directors had to ask for revisions because of the changes to the process," said Mizushima, "but these days, Directors are familiar with the technology and what tools can be used, so things move faster now." Only a handful of people were on hand for Mizushima's panel, which preceded one of the convention's biggest panels: the Q&A for actor and singer Yūya Matsushita. As fans gathered outside awaiting the start of the panel, the noise outside the room got a bit out of hand, causing Mr. Mizushima to peek towards the door nervously as screaming fans packed the hallways outside.

Matsushita wasn't the only musical act to draw a crowd Sunday; J-pop band Flow also welcomed a packed house, where the band made their best use of English and gags to entertain the crowd. The audience also got to win prizes for answering questions about everything from the band's prior releases to what they had for dinner the previous night. The mood in the room was silly to the point of awkward, but the band rolled with it; when one audience member asked why two members of the band wear sunglasses indoors, they deadpanned "we are shy."

Both the Dealer's Hall and Artist's Alley saw an increase in traffic Sunday as fans rushed to spend money, while the convention's "Stage Zero" held a massive video game tournament that tied up hallway traffic as passers by watched the matches. As evening fell, Guest of Honor panels gave way to giant fan events, including a gothic lolita fashion show and a Yaoi panel - both of which produced the biggest lines that the panel area has seen all weekend.

All in all, Sunday once again proved to be the con's busiest day, with the convention center spilling people onto the streets for cosplay photos and the eventual start of the Masquerade across the street from the Convention Center in the San Jose Civic Auditorium. We'll be back tomorrow to tell you more about the Sunday night festivities; in the meantime, I'm going to hit the Karaoke and belt out some tunes. Check out the cosplay photos below!