CCB Report: Battle at the Capitol - Prelim Saturday

Coming into this past weekend's Battle at the Capitol, I really didn't know what to expect. Prior to this, I've never covered a "major," just a bunch of small tournaments at SacAnime, SacCon, and Capitol Fight District. But by the time the event was over near 10pm Sunday night, I have this certain feeling, something that I haven't felt in such a long time.

CCB Report: DAiCon 2012

For myself, the next two weeks is my Fanime. Due to finances hitting rock bottom in the last month or so, affordability issues have been raised about this convention that I would attend yearly. I decided a long time ago that I wouldn't go, despite having many obligations to go including running gatherings and reporting for the California Conventions Blog. I have since delegated a team to go on my behalf, but I still feel that something would be missing come Memorial Day, which will be addressed another time.

As for now, we have DAiCon, today's report, and the Battle of the Capitol, an event that I'm covering this weekend for the blog. DAiCon was in Davis, California on the campus of UC Davis and offered a wide variety of things to do during the convention, and I enjoyed it very much.

CCB Report: (Impromptu) Capital Fight District, April 14th, 2012

As the "Battle at the Capital" approaches, I wanted to check out Capital Fight District (CFD for short) as a tune up for not only the players, but for myself.

The reason why I call it the Impromptu CFD is that Artisan Building was overbooked and they had to change venues on a dime, moving the entire event over to Great Escape Games off of Howe and Hurley. I got there about around 2:15 only to find out about the move, and I got there just in time to watch some Marvel vs Capcom 3.

At the same time, a tournament for Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Melee was going on, and I haven't seen a massive tournament for this game in such a long time. As most people will know, the Brawl and Melee tournament scene can be a bit complicated; after all, the phrase "no items, Fox only, Final Destination" originally came from this fan base and all the changes that the people have done to "balance" the game. But still, it was nice to see this fan base still alive and kicking even for a game this old, and I just as much fun watching Brawl and Melee as much as watching Marvel vs Capcom 3.

CCB Insider #002: Fandom Wank

Recently, while surfing the net, Matt and I stumbled across this video.

Note: This video is no longer live, possibly due to the negative response to their flames.

I want to grab this person and shake them really really hard. I want to scream at them for dissing pretty much every fandom that ever came out of a country that is not Japan. And then defending like two extra TV shows anyway because "at least it's a cartoon". That's just sad. I bet this person doesn't even enjoy fandom anymore. This person is a perfect example of what a hipster really is--someone who cannot enjoy something in any way shape or form just because it's popular.

Byline - Episode 01: SakuraCon 2012

Episode 01: SakuraCon

Canadian artist Jackie and her fiancee Zanney travel to an anime convention in Seattle, WA to celebrate one year living together and meet up with some friends!

CogsCon 2012

When I received an invitation to CogsCon from a friend of mine, who happens to be on the staff, I thought it would be a good opportunity to visit a college-held con in its first year. It's always a gamble, when a convention starts off, and ones held at colleges can either rise to great heights, implode, or remain stagnant. Now that I've seen its startup, we'll see what I think.

Sacramento Spring Break Cosplay Gathering 2012

In the five years in covering for the blog, I've covered many events from convention gatherings to video game tournaments to concerts. But never in my memory have I ever covered a regular, spur-of-the-moment gathering created by fans for fans to just hang out for a day and take lots of photos.

CCB Insider #001: Anime Conji 2012

Or alternatively, Should-Have-Gone-To-Wonder Con.

Now, let's not beat around the bush here. Anime Conji is a fairly new event, and Southern California already has a ridiculously large amount of conventions in it. However, this is the only con whose primary focus is anime fans to be hosted in San Diego. Perhaps my expectations were a bit too high, considering this city is also home to Comic Con--you know, "the big one."

If we had to use the old 1 to 10 scale from the Tsunami Scoreboard--1 being absolutely terrible and 10 being the biggest event of the year--this con just barely squeaks by with a 5.

Koukou Chibicon 2012

While those who are fortunate enough to be attending WonderCon or Anime Conji were having fun there, I found myself attending a smaller convention. Much smaller. So small, in fact, that the name includes a mention of how small it is: Koukou Chibicon, held at Branham High school.

SacCon March 2012: Con Report

As the convention season swings into the Spring, small conventions such as SacCon and a number of small Bay Area conventions will pop up, which often serve as a test bed for bigger conventions like FanimeCon in terms of cosplay and some organizations that have plans for the Memorial Day convention in San Jose; for me, I tested out my new fish-eye lens in a convention setting, which will help me determine how to shoot come Fanime. It's also a break for those in high school and in college before Spring Break then the sprint to the finish.