Seishuncon 2018!

Good afternoon everyone~!

School has been Kicking. My. Butt!  So posts have been slow. I've been really focused on that so it's been a bit difficult to make content for everyone but I do hope that my posts can become regularly scheduled!

Here is a post about my Seishuncon experience, so I hope that you can enjoy it!

Friday was a day that we did not attend because of work reasons, but Vanessa was there and awesome at running the show at the AWA booth!

Saturday~!

On Saturday we were able to get to the con around 11am only because the dumb MARTA was running single-track all weekend... So we had to get off and switch mid-way to the con and ... It just ended up being a struggle! We managed to make it and the MARTA was super convenient to the convention because it was just walking through a bunch of buildings in order to get to the Hilton hotel where Seishuncon was being held this year.

Honestly, while the old location was closer to my boyfriend's place - the new location really suited the size of Seishun. They had some small issues (like the dealers room wasn't well marked..) but it was a great location for Seishuncon!

We actually had various people come up to members of Danzoo→Dash and compliment us and tell us they were excited for our performance! I can't believe that people knew much about us, but we became more excited as hours passed! The AWA booth was quite fun and we had SO MUCH CANDY... People were really happy about the candy and a lot of people were glad to see and talk with us about the convention.

At 4pm on Saturday, Danzoo→Dash had their annual Seishuncon performance! In 2017 we did not have many members, but this time we came back with so many more members and a rehearsed setlist! There were definitely many things that I think I need to change and be stricter about with myself as well as how the performance ran. Overall though it was a great time and we enjoyed the crowd that we drew this year!

We were really thankful for everyone who came to see us and who helped us throughout the performance!!

We had no room for 7 girls war, tbh.

After the performance we did some photos and Q&A outside of the panel room before we made our way back down to the AWA booth and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon help promoting the convention!

We came back from the con with Terumi and we had delicious ramen at Jinya in Sandy Springs before I got to pass out for the night~! 

Sunday~!

Sunday we were able to make it to the con a little bit earlier and ran into a bit of a snag where Lee had forgotten his badge in the car back at the Marta station near Perimeter Mall... > u > But we managed and helped out at the booth!

I went into the dealers room and even manged to find DEMPAGUMI merch at a humble guy's booth! He was so enthralled that I was so happy to find it that he asked me what it was so he could order more stuff!!! Goodness, he was so kind!

We left around 3pm-4pm because the con had really start to shut down. We really enjoyed talking with everyone who came up to the booth and chilling with Vanessa!

OVERALL~! Seishuncon was a really fun chill con. I enjoyed dancing with everybody and seeing people who I had not seen in a while. I hope that next week I have a more informative post for you all~! But until then~

Bye bye~!

Blogging... Again?? + Kamicon 2018

The last time I posted on this blog was last February... So I can't say that I've exactly been a wonderful blogger here.. So let's re-start, ok?

Hi, my name is Swittx - well my name is actually Sara - and I  really enjoy writing! (Despite my absolutely horrible grammar.) I enjoy writing so much, in fact, that doing that for everyone here may be right up my alley! While I plan on writing reviews and such here... I do want to delve into YouTube Videos as well.

For the longest time I kept myself in a purely "cosplay" realm of activities on my page. But since 2015 I have exploded with various activities from JFashion to Con Volunteering. Now I am trying to blog my experiences as best as I can... With maybe weekly posts - if school and work don't destroy me first.

This is probably pretty boring content to read, so I'm just going to go into my review of Kamicon X this past weekend.

KAMICON X

January 26-28

Birmingham, AL

Friday January 26

Generally, I work a 9-5 day at my office job, so getting off from work with Hayley/Akiba Koala/Yumemi Hayley at 12 was a godsend! It was exciting and despite my car not having the cruise control option, (so my foot has to be on the pedal for the entire drive), I was ready to get the HECK out of town! 

The drive was pretty uneventful and we managed to get to Birmingham and find parking in the $10 parking deck pretty easily. We got into the convention center, (the BJCC), really quickly from the parking deck and found where the booth tables were. Finding our badges - as AWA Reps - was actually a bit difficult due to the Information Desk not knowing where to direct us... which meant we stood in the Pre-Reg line for 25 minutes or so before being directed over to the Walk In area. (Whether or not we even should have been in the Walk In Reg area is another matter - lol). 

We got our table next to GumpCity Con and had plenty of room for our huge banner and space to dance - which we did surprisingly little of throughout the weekend because our feet were so tired! After we got set up, we waited while Vanessa checked in at the hotel and waited for Charlie and Angel, our friends and a fellow DZD member, to get to the convention. 

Then we set off for our hotel. This. Was. STUPID.

First off, I didn't remember the hotel name, so I went around based on "the hotel branch starts with H" in my head. We definitely went into a hotel to only have to re-pack our car and drive down more one way confusing roads to a hotel which had absolutely no parking except on the side of the streets. However we did get upgraded to the Honeymoon Suite 👀 and we got free breakfast so...

Once we got ready to leave (mainly Hayley got into cosplay and I was too lazy to get into costume I'm sorry I'm a terrible "cosplayer".) we got back in the car to find ABSOLUTELY NO PARKING AT THE CONVENTION CENTER BECAUSE OF DISNEY ON ICE.

screw you disney on ice

We stuck around the con center for a few hours and played some games in the arcade. We also browsed the Dealers/Artist Alley, which was open until 10pm on Friday??? (Is that insane???)

Then we tried to go to MrCreepyPasta's panel. It was horror trivia. Which was cool, and we got to put a face to the person who Hayley and I had listened to for ... the entirety of our data entry job a few years ago. 

creepypasta is my jam ok

Then we went to the hotel and we went to bed but not after the TV trying to show us horrible gore movies while we ate. (The TV is cursed.) 

Saturday January 27
Screw. Disney. On. Ice.

Screw Birmingham's confusing city roads.

We finally get to the con center in DZD gear and we run to find any parking whatsoever. All of the DZD Girls were waiting on our butts to get to the con center because what the heck there was no parking even in the decks!!!! Disney on ICEEEEE!!!! 😠😠😠

Then it was time for the DanzooDash performance! It was set up for 10-11am which is quite early, and as an out of state group we did not have a huge crowd, but we had a huge stage with a drumset in the middle of it. ; w ; We had fun even though the camera to record was turned off the whole time... Sasuga .... DZD.... Luck....

Henlo u dumb animals

We even took over a portion of the AWA booth for the day too which is nice. I'm so happy that I get to perform haphazardly with these QTs all the time!! We really enjoyed sharing the stage with a member of another new Love Live group for Music S.T.A.R.T. which helped balance things out.

MY ANGELS

I'm always surprised how few people hear of AWA and live in the southeast... I feel like as a con that has been around for SO LONG and has such amazing registration numbers people would know more about it. But I guess that means it's reason for us to keep going to southeast cons to advertise! We had a fun time chilling at the booth and giving away candy and Crunchyroll drawstring bags (which were the highlight of our booth.)

Oh yeah! Lee (Lee AM Photography) got in on Friday night too so he helped out at the booth a lot.

Actual Proof that Lee goes to cons with Me

The other big thing we decided to do on this day was MEET THE ALEXANDER SHUNNARAH!! I saw him. I got his swag bag. The man the myth the legend.

ALSO. We went and saw the Japanese band Kazha. The lead singer also is the bassist and she a wonderful singing range. We got excited for covers of popular Japanese anisong - but we got Sweet Child of Mine and we were stunned.

we were ready to pop UO's but we were too shook.

Afterwards I got a cute picture with a very elegant korean lolita but I wasn't wearing the shoes to my lolita outfit. Kill me. I was wearing purple sneakers. Kill me.

We cosplay the AWA Mascots Ai and the panda, Wa!

Sunday January 28
Screw. Disney. On. Ice. (day 3)

We had packed up our cars and it was yucky and gray and misty out and we still could barely find parking. Luckily Hayley and Lee were able to find some as I ran to meet a really sweet Alabama con-goer who helped me get a discounted badge for Lee. (and I exchanged it for an extra weekend badge for her!)

We were casual Ai and Wa in AWA Shirts. I also cosplayed AKARIIIIN which I got the wig from Barricuda Cosplay. We saw that new Love Live Group perform too! They were cute!

I didn't have a whole slew of friends going to Kamicon, but I did get to see Karen and Ben!!! They are wonderfully fun people and even if I only ever see them briefly at cons, I always love saying hi!

We ended up leaving a little bit later than I expected so I had little time to study for my monday test - but I ended up doing OK so that's about it! Us trying to leave the city was a cluster-heck because the roads on Birmingham are insane...

Also very few food places are open past 2:30PM so I'm convinced the city wants to make no money.

Also screw you disney on ice.

That is my Kamicon X review. I'd drive 2 hours for it again next time, and hopefully I'll be feeling more genki for next year!!

Sorry about this gigantic post! I'll post another post next Thursday for you all on how I pack for conventions or something. Leave me a comment with stuff you want to see on here or on my youtube channel!

 Thank you.

KatsuCon 2017

Now that I have finally recovered from the stress of the con prep, getting sick, and struggling to get my daily medication and catching up with school and work... I can finally write my review on my experience going to the Gazebo---I mean Katsucon.

Ever since I had began to cosplay in 2011, Katsucon was one of those dream conventions. The gazebo, the little shops, the lighting, the cosplayers I'd meet... I think I managed to romanticize Katsucon quite a bit when I was younger... And that isn't uncommon among most cosplayers now- Katsucon has the incredible fortune of having the Gaylord National Hotel as it's host hotel and convention center! It also has a long with-standing attraction of more well known cosplayers, so I can honestly say that if there is any cosplay-centric convention in the United States, it's Katsucon. It's transcended it's place among anime conventions and really dug a huge niche for itself - which seems to be ... a problem.

eh? aren't you going to write about your EXPERIENCE?

Yes, but part of the experience for me isn't just attending the con, 

it's looking at the con from a new perspective - an incredibly objective one.

What is Katsucon, really?

As I mentioned, Katsucon has really dug it's niche in attracting and showcasing AMAZING cosplay. But what does the con itself have to offer aside from what a small local con gives you? From what I could tell, not much. 

I'm the first person to say buy the badge and support the con when it comes to cons! But I won't lie and say that I bought a badge for this Katsucon. The only reason I would have even wanted a badge was for the dealers room and artist alley anyways. I find that the panels weren't advertised (or at least to me) so I didn't even really take into account more than one panel. Aside from the big name cosplayers, there isn't ... an impressive guest list, and I don't even know if most of the industry bothers to make Katsucon a big event to appear at.

Regardless of the guest list, the location and the flock of brand name cosplayers really does help draw a big crowd from across the country! And, I think that shows a very good sense of community that we have. It is exactly that sense of cosplay community and meeting so many wonderful people - despite being sick half way through the weekend - really that made me want to return someday... But such a big cosplay-centric con does have it's downsides...

It's called KatsuCrunch for a reason...

Nobody who has a cosplay group gathering at Katsucon remains at ease with 2 weeks until the con. And despite not procrastinating much at all - I was in the same boat. KatsuCrunch isn't a myth to make everything dramatic and unbearable sounding.. No... It's as real as the sky outside! But instead of a sunny day it's hailing and you have to walk to the bus stop.

Leading up to the con, I was stressed for time, cash, and sleep but I just keep pushing and telling myself that the con would be worth it! (It was, for sure.) But I think that KatsuCrunch was the reason behind me getting rather ill half-way through the convention... Everyone I knew going to Katsucon was in a state of distress and it just didn't seem like the con was going to be any fun with how much negativity and stress there was going around.

I know, if you're a cosplay you all experience con stress, but Katsu managed to transcend any con stress I've ever had the displeasure of dealing with. - that being said, still worth it!!!!

Dreams and #squadgoals

I was roughly 17-18 years old when I first saw the amazing pictures and videos of cosplayers at Katsucon. I knew that I had to go and I absolutely had to cosplay with some of the people who really inspired me to cosplay. 

I also never thought that was going to actually happen. I didn't think I would ever get to a point where Katsucon would be a justifiable trip for me. I certainly did not think that the people who I looked up to would ever even know me! So I kept cosplaying without any expectations.

Then, I got invited to 2 Katsucon Cosplay groups with some of my very own cosplay #squadgoals. 

Credit: YenraPhotography.com

I'm not going to say this group of girls blew me away with their skills and kindness - because they absolutely 100% did. Creative, understanding, and very well mannered I couldn't have asked for a better group of girls! We were so bright that all of our bling was reflecting the sun back into our eyes and thus a few of us just sobbed for the whole shoot. But that's okay because everyone was cute and fabulous and our photographers were so kind and awesome!

Thanks for making Katsucon such a great experience, 765ers!

Old Buddies and Disposable Camera

Throughout the convention, I was able to meet with a lot of friends that I've made along the way. But the most fun is when you help your significant other do a shoot with some flashes (that work only sometimes...), a reflector (that I mostly open up and scare people with), and ... a disposable camera. 

This is horrifying - what is this?
Photo by Superlynnn Photography

If you ever want to challenge your skills as a photographer, I suggest you take a reflector and a disposable camera and do a photoshoot and get the photos back entirely unedited. It's a fun memory for everyone and I enjoyed everything about this, and hanging with Superlynnn, Sarah-Boo Cosplay, and Danisaurz was incredible. 

<3 Lee is a pro disposable-camera-man<3
Photo by Superlynnn Photography

Food!

The food up in DC is much more expensive than in Atlanta, but it's also more expensive to live in DC - so I wasn't shocked by this. Thank goodness for my Lee - he fed my poor idol soul all weekend long. RIP Lee's wallet. (Also Nando's is pretty good! Go check that one out if you're in the area!~)

When your complexion goes green...

And by this, I mean - getting ill. I was obsessive about drinking water and showering and washing my hands.. Naturally that means I was the only one in the room to get sick. It must have been settling from the stress of group cosplays and shooting for so much longer than I'm used to. Saturday night I was in PJ's by 8pm. Sunday I could barely move around.

Deanna saved my butt and told me to Tylenol myself before I died- and so we bought the most expensive airport drug we could and drugged me up on my way home.

I was out of commission for the entire week after the con...

Reflection

I accomplished so many of the things I never thought I'd get to do when I first started cosplaying. I did photoshoots at Katsucon, I was in some amazing cosplay music videos, and I cosplayed with some of my favorite cosplayers (and I can now say we're friends!).

Before Katsucon, I was considering slowing down on cosplay... I mean... I'm going to start a career soon.. But the experience I had made me love to cosplay again and pumped me up to be even more on top of things! 

To my roommates who snored, used a super loud electric toothbrush and came in smashed - I love you guys. You all honestly made me feel so at home and were kind enough to not yell at me for taking up a monumental amount of counter space and using ever hanger all weekend long.

To my friends who came and said hello! Thank you so much, it made me so happy to know anyone, and I hope to know even more people next time. I hope to also be in better health and with more energy so that I can visit people more and seem less like a corpse.

Finally, to my Darling, I literally could not have done Katsucon without you (Mentally or monetarily). You're amazing, wonderful, kind-spirited, and you're always so wonderful with me. I cannot wait to go to more cons and on more vacations with you in the future, I know we both deserve them!

Finally shout outs to my twitter friends who I saw and also everyone who was keeping me sane during Katsucrunch. You're the real MVPs.

No, this isn't real cash.
Yes, Yayoi is still poor.
Photo by: Soul-Drive Photography