Anime Evolution 2013

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It’s summer and that means: Anime Evolution! Returning to celebrate ten years of anime in Vancouver, Anime Evolution once again took over the Student Union Building (SUB) and Student Recreation Centre (SRC) at the University of British Columbia (UBC). For three days during the Canada Day long weekend (June 28th-30th, 2013), fans could immerse themselves in cosplay, manga, merchandise and fun.

While I was driving out to UBC after work on Friday afternoon, a commercial for the convention popped onto the radio while I was listening to the traffic. Is this one of those targeted ads or just a coincidence? After parking my car, I walked over to the SUB to collect my badge at registration. I know Fridays at conventions aren’t super busy, but the halls weren’t even filled. Artists Alley was relatively empty even though it occupied prime real estate. When claiming my badge, I was lucky the girl behind the table was sorting through them; she was holding mine when I presented my pre-registration email. Lucky!

Once my badge was clipped onto my camera bag’s strap, I went out in search of costumes. Considering the attendance levels for a Friday evening, I did manage to find a few outfits and promptly asked to snap their picture. Plenty of familiar series, but a few new ones too — Attack on Titan, Kuroko no Basuke, for example.

The Dealers Room occupied the SRC as in previous years. Inside, the selection was a mix of the usual — books and DVDs/Blu-rays, figures, plush toys, shirts, costumes, steampunk items, pre-made costumes, card games, video games, weapons and smaller knick-knacks — some legitimate, some not so much. A section near the entrance was cordoned off for the autographs, but were empty by the time I arrived.

Back in the SUB, I decided to check out the second floor and see if there was anything interesting going on. This floor was dedicated to panel, screening and events rooms; after circling it once, I sat down and watched the movie Redline. I don’t know how to best explain this, but I will try. Redline is the name of a race that takes place in the futuristic Roboworld. Following JP and Sonoshee, both racers, must navigate Roboworld and not only deal with the other participants, but the planet’s own military as well. It’s pretty cracked out, but I thought it was cool. I got up and stretched my legs before coming back and finding Summer Wars playing. So I sat back down and enjoyed the wonderful animation and storytelling of a family celebrating its matriarch’s 90th birthday interrupted by a computer virus attacking a video game. The style is similar to that of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and I would learn later that the animation studio Madhouse worked on both films.

I donned Soul Evan’s outfit for Saturday and went back with the renewed hope of more people and things to do. Driving in cosplay is always fun — other motorists have to do a double take when passing you or pedestrians stop and stare. Much of the day was spent relaxing, catching up with old friends and making new ones, photoshoots and just wandering around. In the afternoon, my friends and I decided to have a brief Final Fantasy VI photoshoot out with the roses near the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts. With Locke, Celes, Sabin and an amazing Terra in hand, we set out for for the garden. With a clear view of the North Shore Mountains, and a few unsuspecting tourists we were able to get some good shots. Although next time, I should really remember to adjust my f-stop so the pictures aren’t totally over exposed.

We didn’t stop the photshoots there; after parting ways with the Final Fantasy VI group, I got some amazing shots of the merchant Zacharie from RPG Off, Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings and Aladdin from Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic. By now, we were all hot and sweaty — at least I was — and we returned to the SUB to relax, eat and chat.

For Sunday, I planned to get Yuri Lowenthal’s autograph, but I also wanted Bryce Papenbrook to sign something, but I didn’t have anything, well, new on-hand (since he signed my copy of the Blue Exorcist DVD collection at Sakura-Con 2013). Dressed as younger Naruto, I drove back out to UBC and caught up with my friends. Before stopping off at the dealer’s room to see Bryce, my friend took the opportunity to flip a table. Not because she was angry or anything, but because the convention had setup a portable table adorned with some battered silverware and was giving attendees a chance to knock it around for $5.00 (with proceeds to charity). Oh my goodness was that ever hilarious. I was going to come back and attempt it later, but the table had broken and there was no more flipping to be had.

Inside the SRC, i got into the relatively short line-up in the autograph area and waited my turn for Rin Okumura’s voice actor. I was shocked that Bryce had remembered me and my friend from Sakura-Con 2013 and asked how were doing. He seemed to be enjoying Anime Evolution and was impressed by its relaxed atmosphere and even mentioned stopping off at Granville Island and sampling some of the food there. Even though I didn’t have anything for him to autograph, he grabbed a Blue Exorcist post card from the stack on the table and marked his name down on it. What a nice guy!

Funnily enough, while dressed as Naruto, I encountered varying groups of visitors wanting pictures. It was a lot of fun having different people come up and charge up my rasengan or hold a jutsu pose while their friend or family member shapped a shot. As I was talking to a visitor from Japan, he was very eager to see Naruto and One Piece cosplayers since both series are extremely popular back home.

Back at the SUB, we met up with another of my friend’s pals dressed as Sailor Uranus from Sailor Moon and went off to have another photoshoot around by the Irving K. Barber Centre. By now, the heat had gotten to us and it was decided to head off to McDonalds for some drinks and a break.

On our way back from McDonalds, I broke off from the group and went to stand in line for Yuri Lowenthal’s autograph. The queue was definitely longer than that of Mr. Papenbrook’s and even with my jacket off, it was still pretty stuffy inside the converted gymnasium. My only break would be getting to stand next to a single fan that was there to cool the people waiting between the barriers. Seated at the table were both Tara Platt and Yuri Lowenthal — I was the second to last person to get his signature and he even thanked me for waiting in line so long to see him. I brought a copy of the fourth Naruto Shippuden box set Yuri, who voices Sasuke Uchiha, to autograph. He even scribbled down “revenge destroys everything…” above his name — an allusion to Sasuke’s spiteful nature.

Being smaller than years past, Anime Evolution 2013 was really relaxing for me. I didn’t do a lot of rushing around to panels and for autographs, instead spending time relaxing with my friends and taking pictures. I didn’t purchase anything this year as not a lot really interested me, but I still did browse just in case. I guess I just needed a weekend to sit back and enjoy the finer things of a convention. I’ll go back next year, and hopefully have a Nintendo 3DS by then so I can participate when everyone sits down for a little bit of group gaming.

Pictures from the weekend are available on Gallery.

 

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