Saturday, 05.23.09Location: 150 W San Carlos St - San Jose, California
Time: 0925
Saturday was going to be our biggest day at the convention. There was Anime to watch, the Artists' Alley would be in full swing, and I was going to spend the biggest amount of money at the dealers' room. first though was to watch some of the newest Anime to be released here in the States as well as check out what was currently airing in Japan. The first one we saw was Iria: Zeiram the Animation about a female bounty hunter trying to kill an unstoppable monster. Nice 80s style sci-fi, Anime at its best. Next we hit K-On, mostly on accident since we were a bit early for the Anime that I really wanted to see. K-On followed the high school lives of four girls trying to start a band club at school. There was the shy bass player, the fan service keyboard player, the ditsy guitarist, the bossy drummer, and the ex-goth/death metal singer as their advisor. It was very funny and very moe . . . very. The next Anime was the main event though - Valkyria Chronicles! Everything you'd expect from the show, great art, nice CGI action, and a story that was very close to the video game. I can't wait to see an official U.S. release on this one.
Saturday, 05.23.09 Location: 150 W San Carlos St - San Jose, California
Time: 1106
After eating an $11 muffin, we headed out to the dealers' room . . . where I'd be dropping some serious cash. My surveillance trip on Friday helped me find the best deals and limit my time searching for what I wanted. First stop was the Medial Blasters booth, the only actual distributor that showed up to Fanime, I love them! For one they are cheap, even cheaper than online stores. I also love how the guys there actually watch Anime and old school Anime at that. In addition to the two Voltron Anime I picked up on Friday - I also grabbed the complete set of GoLion (the uncut version of Voltron), the complete set of Tekkaman Blade, Ah! My Goddess season 1, the first three volumes of Moribito, the complete set of Iria, the complete set of Teknoman, and the complete set of Ramen Fighter Miki! Since I spent so much at one time, they threw in the live action Iria movie for free and said I was their best customer that day. After dropping off the box of Anime at the table my mother was at, I headed to one of the other dealers. There I picked up the complete set of Yu Yu Hakusho and the complete set of Yawara. All this shopping made me hungry, so off to Nihonmachi!
Saturday, 05.23.09Location: 240 Jackson St - San Jose, California
Time: 1521
We hit Nijiya Market in JapanTown to pick up some groceries we had ordered the week before. A case of Ramune (a kind of soda), a case of Calipco (a kind of fruit soft drink), and some other snacks were what we picked up. After we ate an ice cream sandwich (you cannot beat Japanese ice cream!), we went over to Nikaku to try and find a Sukiyaki pot. We were able to find one for a reasonable price as well as some other items.
Saturday, 05.23.09 Location: 240 Jackson St - San Jose, California
Time: 1713
We stayed in Nihonmachi for dinner, eating at a sushi bar. It was great! We had donburi, it was amazing. I could eat that stuff every day and never get tired of it. Afterwards, we went back to the hotel to drop off the groceries and go back to FanimeCon. Once again, we seemed to have some bad timing, a local high school was having their prom at the hotel we were staying at. After circling the parking garage for 20 minutes (mind you the parking lot was a four story one) we finally found a place at the very top of the lot. As we unloaded the stuff and waited for all the high schoolers to load into the elevator, I snapped a quick shot of the Adobe building across the street from us. After all the work to just get into the hotel, we decided to call it a night.
