Jared and I readied our outfits for another Fanime Con staple, the Black and White Ball. Most anime conventions categorize their ballroom dances as secondary events. However, Fanime Con gives a ton of publicity and promotionals for this popular dance. Jared and I wore Gijinka Persian and Giovanni from Pokemon.

Before stepping out to the Black and White Ball, we went to the That Guy with the Glasses Panel hosted by Psycho Neko, Psycho Otaku, and Jewario. The panel was mainly a Q & A panel about the behind the scenes work in “You Can Play This” and a few hints at the four-year anniversary special, “Suburban Knights.” The stories behind several videos were told including why PsychOtaku had to change up his show a bit. The crowd was having fun asking questions, but sadly there was not enough time to watch the video they had brought.

Even when after the panel was over, the That Guy with the Glasses trio were swamped by fans of the popular website. There were numerous photos taken after the panel. Many fans used their 3DS to take 3D photos. There was a Linkara cosplayer as part of the fan group and he was dismayed to learn that he missed out on several Dr. Insano cosplayers. This promoted Victoria to point out that Jared considered cosplaying as Cinema Snob. Several people in the audience agreed this was a good idea.

We were able to talk about video software and get a nice picture with Jew Wario, PsychOtaku, and Psycho Neko. It was Victoria’s third time meeting That Guy With The Glasses team members and Jared’s second time. It is always great to meet members of that site as they tend to be very nice people.

Once the That Guy With the Glasses impromptu meet and greet was done, we decided it was time to go to the Black and White Ball. Per usual, the ball was held at the Fairmont Hotel. The Fairmont’s regal atmosphere made it the perfect place to hold a fancy ball. However, the Black and White Ball was held in a smaller ballroom compared to previous years.

Having been to the Black and White ball since it’s early beginnings in 2007, this year’s ballroom dance was a let down. We still appreciated it for what it was, and it was definitely better than Anime Los Angeles’ excuse for a Regency Ball. However, the song selection was really weak this year. After Fanime, a few friends and I joked that all of the good music went to the Usher and Akon concert playing at the HP Pavillion since both events shared the same time and day. For the most part, J-pop and J-rock were played. A few songs had a ballroom kind of vibe to it, but what was really difficult was that it was hard to listen to the music to figure out the count because of the heavy base and chatter going around the dance floor. Songs listed as Two Steps felt like assuming the high school slow dance position. There was a point during the dance (after the “United States of Pop” mash up), where song after song just felt like it did not belong at a ballroom dance. “Every Heart” from Inuyasha felt like that slow dance at the gym wherein the wallflowers roll their eyes.

While I have mentioned a few times that it is possible to (east or west coast) swing dance to popular music (top 40), there is a difference between having something by FLOW and Rick Astley. At least you could west coast swing out to a Rickroll. Jared and I were praying for the Rickroll ex Machina. to save the dance. However, we were quite amused when a group of guys decided to do The Creep on the dance floor.

Typically, we would stay at the ballroom dance until the very end. Since song after song felt like the same generic schlock, we decided to turn in an hour early. Granted, the music selection at the beginning was fine selections. However, things begin to go downhill after the demonstrations.

Jared decided to check out a few room parties. I decided to hang out with Jeff to check out the late night programming. In a nutshell, Stage Zero was still doing anime trivia, the yaoi and h rooms were running wild all night, and the anime music video room was filled to the brim. Jeff and I decided to check out the karaoke room. We caught the tail end of the Karaoke Gong Show. This is another Fanime Con staple in which bad singing is rewarded. It is a contest that is all for laughs, nothing serious or pretentious about it. Jeff and I stuck around to watch people sing. The karaoke staff opened it up with a manly version of the Azumanga Daioh theme song.

The night was beginning to wind down. Fanime Con does have a happening nightlife. Having Dippin’ Dots while watching people sing was a nice way to end the night.

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