Another year, another Anime Evolution. Costumed fans of anime and manga gathered around the core of the University of British Columbia during a sweltering summer weekend. There was lots to see and do, along with plenty of awesome costumes, but the convention wasn’t as great as anticipated.

Friday started off late for me seeing as I had to work earlier in the day. After I finished my shift, I bolted home, showered, changed into Vyse and then hopped back into my car for the drive out to UBC. Driving in cosplay is always fun, because you’ll be guaranteed to turn heads at intersections and in passing vehicles.

I made it out to the campus shortly after five and met up with a few friends. However, before I realized it, the artist’s villa and dealers room had closed for the day. So instead, I wandered the grounds around the Student Union Building and took photographs of various costumes before our group decided head into the Pit Pub for some food and drinks.

We returned upstairs and ventured into the small auditorium off from the main hall in the Student Union Building to watch some AMVs. The videos were played in a fight, a la Mortal Kombat-style, where two videos would be run and then the winner, decided upon by the audience cheering loudly for their favourite, to advance to the semi finals. We stayed for all of the videos (because you know Luffy and piracy kick ass) and left after it ended.

So Friday ended with only a handful of people recognized me as Vyse from Skies of Arcadia — even fewer knew it was me, since they have been so accustomed to seeing a  Naruto outfit.

Saturday morning, I returned again as Vyse. Arrived just after 10:00 am and prepared for a long day. This time, artist’s villa was open and I was able to browse the countless tables piled high with drawings, prints, charms, and various other handicrafts. About half of the artists were lined up in the main hall of the Student Union Building and then the rest were crammed into three smaller rooms upstairs. The upstairs was really crowded and some of the conversations I passed in and out of between the artists all had the same frustrated sentiments about table prices and locations.

I totally forgot about the Little Kuriboh (of Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series fame) panel that was happening in the late morning. After exiting one of the artist rooms, I encountered one massive line that snaked around the narrow hallways. I was fortunate – the staff monitoring the line cut the rest of the people off just after I entered the ballroom. As always, I’m stuck in the back of the ballroom with standing room and all the way on the other end, there was a giant screen and two tables with people from Team Four Star and Little Kuriboh’s group. As the panel starts, I heard what sound like a heated discussion between one of the guests at the table and a member of the crowd. Well, the guy stood up, complete in full Naruto cosplay and was then introduced to everyone as the one and only Little Kuriboh. The panel was pretty spectacular as they went through a number of episodes, performed a manga reading in character and answered questions from the audience. Sadly, since I was in the far back a large number of my pictures didn’t turn out well, and much of the video was unfocused. Curses!

After the panel, I grabbed a small lunch and proceeded to check out the dealer’s room, which was located in the Student Rec Centre. There weren’t that many vendors this time around, and the selection was down from last year. I ended up getting a Fullmetal Alchemist 2011 calendar, a small Naruto and Tekken figure, some Golgo 13 manga and a Naruto Shippuden Sasuke keychain.

I spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the campus grounds and taking photos. I happened upon the Bleach (no surprise), Final Fantasy, and Black Butler photoshoots before making my way around to the War Memorial Gym for the Final Fantasy Fight.

In the Final Fantasy Fight, two teams stand on stage and are given a varying amount of HP to start with. Each attack done subtracts one HP from the person’s total HP – when all of the HP is depleted, the person is considered “dead” and cannot participate. Summons can be used and take off an increased amount of HP.
Two of my friends (the Fire Nation soldiers from Avatar: The Last Airbender) posed as summons for the first battle with the Avatar group, which was pretty awesome.

Sunday rolled around and, as always, it was a very subdued day. Since a number of my friends were unhappy I wasn’t rocking the orange jacket and blond wig, I decided to don Naruto’s summer outfit from Naruto The Movie 3: Guardians of the Crescent Moon Kingdom. I even got an awesome “do not glomp” sign from my friend AngelP in the artist’s villa to ward off potential surprise attacks (although regular hugs are always welcomed).

I ended up browsing the dealers room and artist’s villa again before heading back outside and catching the Sailor Moon and Vocaloid photoshoots behind the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre.

Overall, I did enjoy my time, but the convention itself has left a somewhat sour taste in my mouth, considering the venue location is the same after the 2008 fiasco. Signs weren’t clear and events kept getting bumped and rescheduled without formal notice. Another gripe was with staff visibility — most wore black t-shirts with “attendee services” pinned to the right arm, which isn’t that visible (as opposed to the black-vested, radio-toting IRT of Anime Central or the bright yellow-shirted San Japan Safety team). I’m also not a fan of the UBC location for something like Anime Evolution due to the crowded rooms and and spread out venues — although I have to admit I like abundance of locations for taking pictures. Of course, the cosplays were pretty awesome again this time around. Also, I can’t deny that Anime Evolution has probably one of the better artist’s venues — there’s plenty of styles, prints and other types of crafts to choose from.

Photos from the weekend are available in the Gallery. Unfortunately, a number of photos didn’t turn out too well, so I apologize if I took your picture but you don’t see it online.

Did you find a typographical or factual error in this article? Please let us know!