The First Time Attendee:

If you think you have been to a big anime convention you have literally seen nothing yet. In 2018 Anime Expo (AX) placed first amongst anime cons with the most number of attendees at 110,000 with Anime Matsuri coming a far second at around 40,000. With this many people coming to an event there are a few things you must be prepared for especially if you are a first time attendee:

1.     Prepare your schedule using the program guide.

Luckily for us we do not have to guess when/where events are occurring and trust me when I say there are a lot of them. The TGYK team suggests that if you are lucky enough to be there early on Day 1 of the convention, use your day to get your bearings and get to know where things are located so you do not get lost trying to get to things you really want to see!

2.    Be mindful of the weather!

This year was not very hot (although we did have 2 earthquakes), but the year before there was a heat wave in L.A. so make sure you have plenty of water and you pack/plan your cosplays accordingly. The convention hall itself is well air-conditioned so if you want to carry the warmest parts of your cosplay to the convention and get dressed there that would be a good alternative.

3.    Set aside time for meals and shopping!

If eating and shopping is all you were planning on doing at AX you have plenty of time, but if you are planning on cosplaying or attending more of what the convention has to offer you must prepare for long waits at food trucks and slowly walking through crowds while shopping. TGYK found that L.A. is very spread out and you will have to either Uber or walk quite far to find a specific food you want, unless you plan on eating near the convention center and waiting a while for your food. As for shopping, you will have to take your time and go through Artist Alley and exhibitors multiple times because there is 100% chance that you missed something that you would have wanted to buy.

4.    THERE ARE MULTIPLE ENTRANCES!

IT’S TRUE. There is the big scary line at the front entrance of the convention centre, but there is also an entrance at the back with a much shorter line! Remember to use the map in your program to locate all the entrances and exits! Having options will reduce the amount of time you have to spend waiting in line.

EXTRA TIP: If you do not have any plans to attend an early morning panel/event, we suggest you grab a nice breakfast/lunch and go to the convention center around 1PM. There are significantly less people in line to get in and you will have a much more pleasant experience.

*If you guys have any other tips or tricks, please let us know so we can update this article!*

The Convention Hall: Anime Galore!

Anime Expo is the premiere North American anime convention. Many of anime’s head honchos show up to the convention and premier new episodes of anime, exclusive movie releases, and more! The hall is made up of 3 major parts: The Entertainment Hall, The Exhibitors Hall, and the Artists Alley. This does not include all of the other events that take place in nearby hotels!

This year there was an abundance of streetwear and cool anime themed clothes. TGYK is a huge sucker for well made, subtle anime clothes and there was plenty of it. Save up and buy some exclusive gear!

There is not much to say here aside from explore all corners of the convention. If you have been to another “big” anime convention in North America, AX is easily 3 – 4 times bigger. Be prepared to walk 5 – 10 miles a day because these halls are no joke. There is so much to see and do you must refer to your program to CHOOSE what you want to do because it almost feels like 4 days is not enough!

Good luck, friend!

The Nightlife:

The nightlife was easily a highlight for the TGYK team! There is no shortage of afterparties and AX sponsored/themed events which all run late into the night. The biggest problem here is choosing which event to attend. Although there are many events to attend tickets can be quite expensive averaging to about $30USD per event. If you plan to go out every night and make the most out of your trip, the expenses will rack up quickly. Tickets to these events also do sell out, so get ‘em while they’re hot! The TGYK team suggests either going somewhere prior to grab food and drinks before heading to one of these events because there are not always bars there and if there are, there is usually a heck of a long line.

 We wish you good luck partying and remember to party responsibly!

 If you have never attended an anime convention before, Sakura-Con would be like jumping into the deep end, but in a good way. There are roughly around 25,000 attendees every year, but it feels like much more than that because of the sheer amount of hype and youthful energy given off by its attendees. The TGYK team was introduced to anime conventions by the ones held in their hometown of Vancouver, which were quite small at the time. So when we decided to drive down to Seattle to check out Sakura-Con for the first time 6 years ago (our first “big” convention), we have yet to have a year where at least 2 of our members has attended this convention. It has become one of our yearly pilgrimages because it holds a special place in our hearts. You will definitely make many treasured memories at this convention. 

The Convention Hall: New Anime, New Trends!

Sakura-Con has all the staples of a big convention: cosplay, exhibitors hall, panels, artists alley, celebrity guest signings, etc. So instead of listing the usual content, we decided to make a list of the unusual as well as some helpful tips

exclusive to Sak-Con!

Masquerade Ball!

This one is definitely a show-stopper! Being at convention, there is already a reason to dress up, but now there a reason to dress up LIKE A FANCY PERSON. The Masquerade Ball is a family-friendly, formal, social dance and it usually has a theme that is announced before the convention so you can tailor your outfit accordingly.

Huge Gaming Area!

This is something Theo & Seb use to it’s fullest, not for fighting games or anything competitive, but for rhythm games! It is open 24 hours and all the games are free to play!

Panels!

I know I said we would not touch on the staples of conventions, but there are some instances of cool panels specific to anime conventions such as, AMV contests, Study and Work in Japan panels, and entire day of just mecha model content!

Manga Library!

There is a 24/7 free manga library! It is pretty self-explanatory. You must check in your bag, which makes sense, but free is free! Now get to readin’!

The Nightlife: Surpass Your Limits. Go All night.

We have dubbed this con “The Springtime of Youth Con” because the TGYK Boys always seem to find the strength to party all night long and do it again for 2 more nights. There is no lack of Afterparty events to attend mainly because everyone is looking to have a good time. There is the classic Sakura-Con Rave on Saturday as well as the Kickoff party and Annual Afterparty. If you make friends there is bound to be someone hosting some fun almost every night. Luckily we can classify ourselves as seasoned veterans in the Sakura-Con game and have made great friends willing to host us all nights of the convention. Our biggest problem is deciding which events to attend! Remember to party safely and always have a group you feel safe with or at least a responsible partner in crime!

Cosplay!

Check out our latest Cosplay Spotlight of Sakura Con 2019!

Never feel out of place with your costume, regardless of how obscure it is. I have seen some very specific costumes that I would never have imagined someone would do, but I recognized none-the-less. I am talking about a person I saw cosplaying as the Tales of Symphonia Nintendo Gamecube game case from 2003. That Specific.

If you have never attended a pop culture convention, Emerald City Comic-Con would be an amazing place to start. There are very few conventions that have such a relaxed vibe with so many people. Despite having approximately 95,000 attendees, ECCC (short for Emerald City Comic-Con) has yet to become an overwhelming experience. It feels more like your new nerdy friend giving you a tour around their house except for this particular friend has an abundance of money, lots of family visiting, and a house is the size of the Washington State Convention Center. There is are plenty of things to do and even more things to see!

The Convention Hall:

The Convention hall itself is packed to the corners with everything pop culture. With several floors and even several buildings dedicated to ECCC you can guarantee you will see something that sparks your interest. ECCC’s programming can afford to be as extensive as it is because of the number of attendees. Here are some of the activities you can do:

·         Celebrity guest signings and photo opportunities (at extra cost)

·         Various Discussion Panels (there is definitely at least one you will be interested in)

·         Costume Contests (also people cosplaying around the convention!)

·         Enormous exhibitor hall (you will 100% find something you will want to buy)

·         Artists Alley (custom art pieces usually made by the people who run the booth)

·         Tabletop gaming and more!

If I told myself ten years ago that I would be hanging out and making irreplaceable memories with friends that I met on the internet, I would think I was delirious, but this was exactly what I did at TwitchCon 2019.

Background

I started being active on Twitch late 2018, around mid-September, after being introduced to TheSushiDragon (a variety streamer) by some friends. Prior to that, I thought Twitch was solely a streaming service for games, so when I saw TheSushiDragon dancing away with his crazy green screen effects, I knew I had to delve into Twitch and see what it was all about.

I started watching a variety of streamers from categories like “Just Chatting”  and  “Music and Performing arts” and joined their communities. Through these communities I met a handful of people and became friends with. After a whole year of online interaction with various people on Twitch, through watching the same streams and chatting on discord, I was finally able to meet all these amazing friends at TwitchCon 2019.

TwitchCon 2019 was nothing short of spectacular. From meeting my friends in real life to meeting streamers, that I watch on a regular basis, it was a surreal experience. I was able to attend community meetups (and being able to put a face to usernames), meeting online friends and experiencing life irl together, and meeting my favorite streamers

The convention itself was pretty good. The following are what stood out to me at TwitchCon compared to other conventions:

Artist gallery consists of artists from Twitch

A stage for musical performances

Twitch Sing Booths (aka Karaoke booth)

There are probably a few things Twitch could improve on, but from what I’ve heard, TwitchCon 2019 was a huge improvement from TwitchCon 2018, so I look forward to what Twitch will do to improve the con next year.

NightLife

TwitchCon nightlife was a little different compared to the other conventions we usually go to. For other conventions we usually go to after parties or events hosted by “insert brand”, but with TwitchCon we spent a lot of our time hanging out with people within the twitch communities. If we weren’t in downtown having a good time, we would be hanging out with our friends and going to parties hosted by people within the Twitch communities.

Conclusion

Overall TwitchCon 2019 was a blast and I’m glad I was able to go. I want to thank Seb, Theo, Niko for coming out to TwitchCon with me. I’m glad that they were able to experience TwitchCon with me!