Anime North 2011

Between May 27 and 29, 2011, Anime North 2011 was hosted at the Toronto Congress Centre, which had been the location for atleast 4 years now. I don't really know what I can say about Anime North at this point, it feels just like every other year. Though this year, unlike the last, I went with a different bunch of people so we saw different things. Read on for a comprehensive summary of my life on May 28, 2011.

We arrived there at about 11:00am. And we were greeted with this line.

BAM ! The line is to the left and it is an oval around the area where cosplayers were being photographed (around the right side and center)

We waited in line for about an hour before finally getting into the convention centre. Inside was another line but much shorter and took maybe 10 minutes.

The inside line. Registration desk is to the right.

Once we registered, our first sight was the artist corner. There were a fair amount of good artists in my opinion who created professional looking artwork.

A sample artist booth at the artist corner. Many of the booths were swarmed with customers and spectators when we were there. I hope I won't get in trouble with these pictures...

We bumped into a friend of a friend of ours who had her own vender table. We chatted for a bit and moved on. Throughout this day, we bumped into a handful of acquaintances. From vendors, to cosplayers, to normal attendees.

The next area we looked at was the dealer's room where all the vendors who weren't artists were selling merchandise. This included everything from DVDs, to mangas, to posters, to figurines, to gundam models, to even erotic pillow covers. The atmosphere is like the artist corner except artwork is replaced with merchandise. Also the vender tables are larger for their inventory and they usually have their store name somewhere in the back.

The atmosphere of the dealer's room area. Just like the artist corner but with more people (and less room).

Because I recently started buying Yugioh cards, I bought a few packs from a vendor here. It was from a vendor who also has a card shop called Card Masters.

Both of those areas were pretty cramped as seen in the photos. Cosplay photos taken in there were a bit of a pain for both the photographer, cosplayer, and other people. As everyone had to adjust slightly to provide a free space for the photoshoot. Therefore, I would advise to take cosplay pictures outside. Preferably infront of the main Toronto Congress Centre entrance right by the intersection between the convention centre and the Double Tree Hotel. That area has a huge traffic of people going between the two buildings.

After shopping, we proceeded to get food. Since based on previous experience at Anime North, the Harvey's at the intersection would be extremely full, so we went to the Double Tree Hotel to eat food. There we saw many people playing card games with one another. Mainly Yugioh cards. However as I didn't bring my cards, I couldn't join them. Also, I would feel bad if other people had to watch me play and do nothing.

Where we ate. I brought my own food, my friends bought food from there.

For the remainder of the time at Anime North, we checked out panels, video show rooms, and other events. The panels and video rooms were dull and uninteresting as either someone would talk about the topic of the panel or a video would play for the anime in question. Neither of which interested me much to write about. I will say this however, if you were thinking of going to a panel. Don't. And I have a reason, if you don't know anything about the topic of that panel, you're probably not interested in it. If you were, you would have looked into it already. If it was about an anime, you probably would have watched it, and therefore, you will already know what the speaker will be talking about. Of course, to be fair, you should go once just in case. Maybe you'll find some hidden enjoyment from me. If you do, please post in the comments below.

An unique, interesting event at Anime North 2011 for me was the Idol competition, since I went with another group of friends previously, there were different tastes and I hadn't seen this before. The idol competition was like a singing competition. Each contestant would sing a Japanese song. Also there were 3 judges who would give constructive criticism. And at the end of the presentations, there would be the awarding ceremony for the winner.

The idol performance stage. The masquerade which I wanted to watch but didn't have time would also be held here.

We left at about 6:00pm because our driver had other plans later that night and had to get ready. It was all in all a great day. Bought some stuff, took some photos for memories, and even saw something new. Would definitely be up to go again next year if other friends are going.

I even considered cosplaying, except I'm terrible with a sewing machine and buying cosplay clothes easily cost $100+. Perhaps I will reconsider when I get a job.

Please visit the gallery below for many more pictures.

Anime North 2011, May 28

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