Well, Anime Wasabi 2008 has come and gone. I had a good time, and here is the run down.
Friday afternoon/evening was pretty quiet. It started off a bit disorganized, with some of the early panels not happening, no schedules, etc. But people were showing up, the artists were there, and the mood was friendly and mellow. Later in the evening the panels got better, Jan Scott-Frazier's panel was a lot of fun, check out the audio in the previous post.
Saturday was a lot busier. Many more people showed up, I estimate between 750-1000. There were some good panels, including Kyle Hebert's Dubbing 101 panel, the artist's alley was hopping, and people were having lots of fun. Later in the evening it was time for the musical acts. There were a number of them, the biggest being the Royal Dead, a group from Japan consisting of a female vocalists and a male electric violinist. Their music was quite good, and the turnout was good. Their opening act, JFF, was a bit... less. The group of women sang but didn't actually play their instruments, it was like guitar syncing? Anyways, Royal Dead was where it was at. Afterwards Kyle did his Hentai MST3K.
Sunday was quiet, Some how-to panels, Q&A panels and Jason Martin's Breaking into Art (audio to follow) panel.
Some personal notes. I got a chance to spend some time with Jason and Heather of ArtPlayMix.com. They are a husband-wife team that do independent character design and illustrations. Their artwork is amazing, and they do shows where you can buy their art. You can also buy art direct from their site, so I highly recommend that you check it out. You might also be seeing some of their artwork decorating a new Anime-Pulse.com website in the months to come. They're great people to spend time with, and they're also local which is a big plus.
Overall impressions of the con were good. It was a first-year con, which comes with it's own problems. Attendance was good considering that aspect. Hightower, the director, kept things running smoothly and was a real pleasure to work with. I didn't see any unhappy guests or attendees at this con, which was nice to see. I hope that Anime Wasabi will return next year as well.
-Ichigo
Photo Album below
