Monday, September 29, 2014

SacAnime Summer 2014 Review - Anime, World of Warcraft, Cosplay and More



September 29, 2014
By Alex Vitelli

As a cosplayer and with so many conventions every year, it becomes difficult for me to go to all them. So whenever an event is happening in my area, I pick and choose based on who the guests are and what cosplay events will take place. I have attended SacAnime in the past and I have never been disappointed. It is held at a great venue, perfect size in my opinion, and usually awesome guests from the anime, television, cartoons, video games, etc.

I made up my mind to attend the show this year because I'm a HUGE World of Warcraft nerd. SacAnime not only had one, but two voice actors from the game so that pretty much sealed the deal for me to attend. Dave Fennoy and Liam O'Brien were guests of SacAnime and they voice two of my favorite characters from the game. Not to mention their other excellent works in video games and anime. Both guests where amazingly nice and didn't rush fans. My interaction with the two actors were friendly and they were really down to earth. The fact that I was able to bring my own item to be signed was amazing and anything else was just $5. No need to pay for photo-ops as we snapped several pictures with the actors. Other guests included Cas Anvar (voice of Altair in Assassin's Creed), Camilla Luddington (voice of Lara Croft in Tomb Raider) and the big stand out star, Mark Sheppard (Crowley in the hit television shows, Supernatural).



The vendors brought on their best on the convention floor. I'm a fan of little novelty items and I did not have any problem finding just what I needed. The usual conventions have more artists than vendors, but I love the fact that SacAnime offered a wide variety of vendors. I love artists and fully support them, but I'm running out of wall space. I love walking down the vendor aisles and seeing all the toys from when I was growing up and brings back a lot of memories. I usually leave a convention with a big bag full of loot and this was certainly the case at SacAnime. There was a sense of balance throughout the 3 day event between artists, collectables, vendors, guests, cosplay, and panels. Each day was full of pure entertainment.



As a cosplayer, I love seeing the creativity of everyone's costumes. I have attended many comic conventions but nothing beats the over-the-top and crazy costumes you will see at an anime convention. The anime cosplay crowd is simple fantastic and they are just fans just like every attendee. But that doesn't mean your cosplay have to be restricted to just anime. SacAnime is a very friendly place to show your fandom no matter what it is. There were a hefty servings of Deadpool, Disney Princesses, and other non-anime characters walking on the convention floor. All attendees and staff are supportive and welcome all types of fandom. This big mix of fans of a variety of genres is a sight to behold. Thank you, SacAnime for bringing this one-of-a-kind experience to us fans. And also thank you for allowing me to find that hard-to-find import item like the classic anime woman fully body pillow. I no longer have any more sleepless nights :)

convention, long beach, comic con, comic expo, cosplay, comics

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