Once upon a time in Orange County, the Scarlet Rhapsody team was ready to leave for the Bay Area. This was my first time taking John Wayne Airport to San Jose. It was really easy to get to and there was hardly any problems flying to the Bay Area. We used our preferred airline to get us to the Bay Area – Southwest. The quick 50-minute flight went by pretty fast. We landed in San Jose in due time. However, we felt rather disoriented arriving at SJC. The main terminals for SJC had been renovated. I have been flying in and out of SJC since 2003. It took a while for my brain to get adjusted to the new layout. However, we did run into Fanime conventioneers while we were waiting for our bags.



Thankfully, our ride from the airport to the convention center arrived. We arrived at our hotel, The Fairmont, a little before noon. Typically, we go to Fanime on Day Zero, the day before the convention. This was our first time arriving on the first day. We knew that opening ceremonies would not kick off until later in the afternoon. The amenities at the Fairmont gave you more bang for your buck: walk in closet, vanity mirrors, cozy bathtub, sofa, and a soft queen sized bed. We really felt that this was a steal for what the Fairmont provided.



Around noon, we stopped by Original Joe’s for lunch and to figure out what events to do for the convention. We looked at the guest of honor line up and we were pretty impressed by the Japanese guests. Fanime Con is a medium sized convention. Yet, Fanime was able to draw Furuya Tohru, Yoshiki, FLOW, and Takahiro Yoshimatsu in their line up.



We got ourselves settled in the convention center. Per tradition, opening ceremonies was kicked off in the main hall where there was a circus act that opened up the convention. Stage Zero begun to announce and introduce the guests of honor. Each guest had a little blurb to say about kicking off Fanime Con. Tony Figueroa, the convention chair, also announced his retirement from Fanime Con. Though cosplay gatherings were running wild in the fountain area, opening ceremonies drew in a pretty big crowd for the first day.


Shortly after opening ceremonies, the competing teams for The Fanimazing Race appeared on stage for the first round of elimination. In true Fanime Con style, the teams had a dance off. The audience determined by applause who would go onto the next round.



After exploring the Fanime Con layout and figuring out where programming events were, we went back to Stage Zero where Yuki Dong had a mini-concert in which she sang from the Vocaloid songbook.



Friday was a very light day, but there was much to do if you looked for things that interested you. I perused the dealer’s hall. It was about the same size as last year with the same narrow aisles. Jeff (Anime FX) made a comment that there were hardly any DVD boxsets being sold. He was able to get a better deal off Tenchi Muyo DVDs at the swap meet.


The swap meet is one of Fanime Con’s highlights. Out of all of the anime conventions Scarlet Rhapsody has attended on the West Coast, this is definitely the biggest swap meet we have checked out. You would literally have to spend at least an hour or two to see what everyone is selling. Aside from anime, some people were also selling things from Transformers, My Little Pony, and Disney.



The arcade and gaming hall was in its usual hall. I have always respected the gaming hall to be held in a well-ventilated area. Most anime conventions have game rooms in hotel meeting rooms where otaku body odor can kill anyone’s sense of smell. In addition to console gaming, there were plenty of arcade machines including Para Para Paradise. What surprised me is that I found a few Purikura booths. Wish I was able to get a few pictures of myself in!



Late night programming was sparse, at best. Several cosplayers gathered in the main fountain area for a Jack in the Box party. I decided to check out a good old Fanime Con tradition, “Awesomely Bad J-Music Videos.” Essentially, it was a screening of J-pop and J-rock music videos that had bizarre creative choices and / or were just plain funny that you had to watch it with an audience to share the facepalms or laughter.

After checking out “Awesomely Bad J-Music Videos,” we went ahead and checked out a movie, “The Hangover 2.” The Fairmont was right across from a movie theatre, so it was very easy to check out and wind down the night.

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