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Round Zero: The two days leading to the convention It is that time of the year again where I get to be let free and have some much-needed time off and enjoy a summertime anime convention. The convention is Queen City Anime Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. The convent took place at the Sheraton Hotel in Charlotte and it took place August 5 – August 7, 2022. My vacation started on the Wednesday night before the convention. I had a good friend and convention hotel roommate stay over the night so we can get some last-minute things done before leaving on Thursday. My friend took his Covid 19 test, and it was confirmed negative. I took mine earlier that day so at least we had a base line and were in compliance to QCAC’s attendance policy. We uploaded his results to CrowdPass and enjoyed the night. I Already had my Vaccination information uploaded to Crowdpass so I was good for the convention. The next day my friend and I did some running around after packing out my car with all our gear. We stopped at a couple of ABC stores for some drinks and then stopped at target near the hotel to pick up a couple of other items. Next we stopped at the PetCo next to Target and grabbed my friends bags while he was working so we can then check into the hotel room and all he needed to do was just go to the room. Once the shopping was done and it was near check-in time, we headed to the hotel, parked the car, checked into the hotel and got the Handicap Accessible room and key cards. We to the car to utilize the cart to unpack the car and get settled into the hotel room while we waited for a couple of friends to arrive. We unpacked the cart, got our stuff situated and hung out until my friend arrived from York SC. We met up with him outside the hotel and walked to our dinner reservation at the Japanese BBQ Gyu Kaku in the rain and arrived at the restaurant before the skies opened up. The dinner was awesome. Not only was the food awesome. The Time spent with friends was much needed. We at well more than the price of admission. The food was cooked to perfection for the sides and meals that weren’t prepared at the table and the quality of the Meats and Seafood to be grilled at the table were tasty as hell. The bill was 352 dollars after tax and tip for the four of us. But it was money well spent. Ten out of ten will go back again next year with the boys and make this a tradition. We headed back to the hotel to wait for a friend to arrive at the trains station. My buddy and I went and picked her up at the sketchy train station on North Tryon Street. We waited outside for about 20 minutes before getting her and her luggage packed into the car. She had a long ride from Virginia to Charlotte, and she was hungry. We stopped at a Wendy’s near the hotel, and we couldn’t order for her as they weren’t taking cards for payment. We had no cash on us, so we had to go to the hotel with no food for her. Luckily, she packed some snacks which helped her last to the next day. Round 1: Fight – Friday Day 1 We all woke up early to get ready for the convention. We took our showers, shaved, did our make up and got ready for the convention. I was dressing up as Doctor Robnix from the Sonic the Hedgehog Movie series/Games/Animate series. My friend was dressed up as Lord Briarwood, my other friend was dressed as himself, and my other friend was dressed as Mcree. We all left at different times to get to the registration area of the convention. While Walking from the hotel down the stairs to the registration area my pant leg caught under my boot after I started walking down the stairs from the middle landing and I fell down the stair. I fell like a graceful gazelle. I protected my head and made sure I didn’t damage my props. I was able to get up and some onlookers ran by to see if I was alright. I fell down in front of the Registration Tables and No one from the con came by to help, it was the attendee’s who checked me out. Luckily, I was wearing my motorcycle boots so that helped minimize damage to my ankles and leg. I dusted my self off and got back up and stood in line with my friends. The convention thought it was wise to have the registration lines on the left side of the strairway right in front of the Elevator. The left was for people to buy at the door and near the stairs for those who pre-registered. That was a bad move for accessibility as you were blocking the way for those who needed use of the elevator. But I digress, We got into the line, I was able to get my badge after some confusion as I have a lifetime badge and their system didn’t show the registration. I showed them my email from the Convention with the bade number and the VIP status and they gave me the badge. After going through the line, I tucked my pants into the boots, reapplied the spirit gum for my mustach and then went up the stairs. The convention was packed. I had my photo taken multiples time as the eggman. People liked the cosplay. Every so often I would stop, open my jacked up and take a swig of the Gatorade I had in my camel pack to stay hydrated. Little did I know I would go a gallon of that liquid in one day. The convention center was hot. I sweated a lot. I had to apply the spirit gum over and over just to get thorough the day in cosplay as the mustache kept coming off. I went around the convention did my rounds through the vendor hall/ artist alley, and hung out with friends. I did a mustach swap as the original one was drenched in sweat and couldn’t be used for the photo shoot. At 5 pm I did my photoshoot with my Photographer Imiicie. We went to the parking deck and took photos for the package I purchased. The Shoot went well and when that was done and we cooled down a bit inside, I went back to the room to get out of cosplay. I attended the Burlesque show at 10:00 pm and had a great time hanging out with my friends and then we all retired for the night at our hotel room to prepare for the second day of the convention. Round 2: Fight – Saturday Day 2 Day 2 opened up to me preparing for the cosplay judging. I got into my Ainz Ooal Gown Cosplay. Took me a bit to get into the boots as I am sore as hell from the fall the day before. I get everything I needed for the judging, and I had my handler get me to the judging room. We entered the room and go over everything with the judges. They seemed impressed with the work. Liked the way it looked and thought my finishing was well. Overall the judging lasted about 10 minutes and I was on my way. I then rushed back to the room to get out of the cosplay as I was boiling and I couldn’t wear it in the convention center for health risks. I then changed back into robotnix and walked around the convention again. Repeating what I did on Friday. Hanging out, meeting friends, taking photos, talking the “SHIT” with friends and people overall having a good time until I had to get ready for the cosplay contest. I rushed back to the room to get dressed by myself while my handler was MIA. I met up with him at the main events hall. We get in and start getting ready for the cosplay contest. The event room was standing room only. The contest started 15 minutes early. And lasted till about 7:30ish. I didn’t place, again. Though The contest only had first place winners for craftmanship contests, but 3 places fore the runway which was interesting. To say I was pissed for not placing was an understatement, but It happens. I get out of the event all to get back to the room, some Kids said My cosplay was awesome and I should have won and asked for my photo which made me feel good. Afterwards, I rushed back to the room to get out of the cosplay as I was hot as hell. After the contests, I ordered some food to the hotel and hung out with my friends. Went out around the con while the late night events were about start and then went to the room to rest my leg and hips for the rest of the night so I watched some anime on my laptop while icing my leg. After doing some short resting, I packed up all my bags and packed the car out a bit. I brought a cart to the room and got that prepared for checkout so we could have a fast check out in the morning. Round 3: Fight – Sunday Day 3 Day 3 started out the same as Saturday. We got up. Got dressed and cleaned up the hotel room. We packed out the cars and made sure the room was cleaned and we weren’t missing anything. I checked us out of the room and then we hung out for the most part of the day. Didn’t do too much. WE waited for my friend’s sister to pick her up which didn’t happen till about 4 pm. Afterwards we left the convention to end fun weekend. The overall weekend was good. There was some things that could have been done much better and other things that my need to be fixed. The Good, The Bad, The indifferent The good: 1) The convention cared about the health and enforced a mask mandate as well as mandatory testing or full vaccination. 2) The hired security staff was good, nice, courteous, and did their job well. 3) There was a variety of food truck. The Bad: 1) There was no Cosplay Contest Feedback panel 2) Lack of accessibility for those who needed accessibility. 3) The placement of the registration booth was bad. 4) The food truck placement was not accessible and too far. 5) The venue was too damn hot 6) The con staff didn’t even see if a convention attendee was alright after falling down the stairs The Indifferent: 1) The hotel could have better accessible rooms. 2) The room we had leak from the room above, 3) The accessibility room had doors only 33 inches wide and the rooms were narrow. 4) The cosplay contest seems to be chaotic from a backend. There seems to be no consistency between each year I have attended. Overall, the convention was fun. Things will need to change to help the event grow. I don’t know what’s happening in the back end but things will need to be ironed out big time way prior to the event occurring. In conclusion I will continue to attend. But there are changes that will need to be done in order for this event to grow and continue to operate. I say this is a solid 4 out of 5 stars.

Prologue It has been crazy the past couple of years since Covid 19 struck the world as a global pandemic. This made the plans of many become cancelled as the virus spread like wild fire throughout the world. In 2021, I had plans on going to Ichiban Con in Concord, NC. The convention was cancelled due to the pandemic, which rightfully so was the smart thing to do by the convention organizer. Things have cleared a bit in 2021 where I was able to go to Queen City Anime Convention and they had very strict covid 19 protocols which made the convention feel very safe. Time to leap forward to January 2022 and Ichiban Con made its comeback appearance in the convention scene and this is my story of what happened at the convention through my perspective. Now, the convention journey was standard. Working on my cosplay, making small improvements, and getting ready for the convention. On January 12, 2022 I packed up my car with my gear and my friend Ventus and I drove up to the Embassy Suites in Concord, NC at around 2:30 P.M. We arrived at the hotel around 3:30 P.M just before the normal check in. I was smart and I performed the Check in online making sure I was able to choose a room on the 2nd floor as I knew we would have roommates who would have mobility needs and being on the 2nd floor would be the easiest to get on and off the elevators and if we those who needed to use the stairs they would be able to do so. Ventus and I get to the hotel to grab the key cards. There was a bit of a snafu with my bank card and I had to use Ventus’s Card in order to secure the room for the reservation because I didn’t get paid till the 13th. After checking in, we grabbed a cart and packed it up to bring our gear to the hotel room. This is where we stood for a bit and then went out for dinner. We hit up the Iron Dish Korean BBQ restaurant that is literally 10 minutes away from the hotel. We partook in one of the best dining experiences I have had in quite a long time. 45 dollars per person, all you can eat food, with a 2-hour time limit cant be beat. We enjoyed every minute of it. Once dinner was completed, we slogged our way back to the hotel with our stomach’s full of great food and retired for the night at the hotel resting for the long weekend ahead of ourselves. Day 1: The next day, we woke up, stopped at the front desk, changed the bank card to my bank card and then had breakfast. The hotel has a decent continental breakfast where we enjoyed things from eggs, bacon, cereals, coffee, tea, juices, and variety of other breakfast staples. Now that breakfast was completed, we went back to the hotel room and relaxed until around noon where we went to stand in line to get our badges and get age verified. The line was already forming and we waited till 1 pm for the line to open. While waiting for the line to start we chatted with some artists from the artist alley and craft fair who was in line with us and I found out I bought some merchandise from one of them last year at Queen City. Talk about a small world. About 10 minutes in line we grabbed our passes, got age verified and then I went to get my staff of Ainz Ooal Gown Prop Checked. The staff said it’s a propped and its checked without looking at it or inquiring anything about it. I asked if I could at least get the zip tie to commemorate that it was check in at a con for posterity and they did. While walking back to the room to drop the prop off I met up with my buddy Cam who we went up to the hotel room, dropped the staff and helped bring his stuff up. This occurred several times through out the day with various of our roomies and when the last roomie made it our convention trip started to get going full swing. Since this was the first day, nothing was really going on, the convention was light on participants as it was a Thursday and the time the convention started was at 3pm. We all hung out, took our tours of the dealer room, check out panels and met other friends throughout the day. We had pizza for dinner and drank the finest alcohol we could bring to get the convention part started. We ate, drank, and we were merry until we called it quits to get ready for the next day. Day 2: Friday was the next day of the convention We woke up early, went to the lobby had breakfast and got ready for the convention. I cosplayed as TeruTeru from Danganronpa, Cam cosplayed as Endeavor from My Hero academia, and our other friends either cosplayed or went in weeb attire. We hit the cosplay floor and Cam, Camilla, and I went around chatted with several peeps, went outside, took some photos, started to enjoy the festivities within the convention. We hit up the dealers room, we hit up the game room, and what not. Highlight of the game room was when Cam and I played some Rock band. He took guitar and they forced me to be vocals after the first song Cam played. I choose Crazy Train for the song and needless to say, I nailed it and blew Cams mind. He wasn’t expecting me to go ham with it, but then again, Ozzy is one of my favorite artists so I knew I could sing it quite well. My cosplay for teru teru got some weird looks, some people called me chef boyardi, another called me barry the slasher from FMA, and another said I looked like a chef form the hotel. I was ready to be asked that because this was a dry run of this cosplay, I am hoping to get more items set up correctly for it, like the mini chef’s hat, the symbol on the apron, and the wok. The highlight of the cosplay was getting a plastic ladle prop checked from the security department. I thought that was pretty funny. We all met up several times throughout the day and we attended panels, met with friends and what not. The best thing that happened was Cam and Josh were asked to be roasted in the Cosplay Roast. IT was hilarious and we all had a good time. After the panels were done, we came back up to the room hung out with friends and retired for the night to get ready for Saturday. Day 3: We started Saturday the same as Friday. We ate breakfast and went back to the hotel room. Cameron got into his cosplay for this 10:15 judging slot, I walked around the convention while pushing Camilla around in her wheelchair as she has limited mobility. We hit up the dealers room, did our laps of the Con Floor, She had many photos taken of her cosplay which many people loved. Around 1 pm, I went up to the room and got into my cosplay. This is the first time getting the cosplay together with the boots, sabatons, knee armor, and new gloves. Ventus was my handler, we walked around, I was stopped many times for photos and video opportunities. Had my photos taken by the variant and I paid for the thumb drive with the photos on it. I retired to the bar for a bit to wait till the photo shoot with my fried Imiicie. At 3:50 I suited up, met with Imiicie and we did the photo shoot. The shoot was outside. It lasted an hour, And took many photos. Some of the basic photos are going to be used for my portfolio that I will be putting together for my entry into Queen City Anime Convention in August. Once the shoot was over, I walked around for a bit, took more photos and then got out of the cosplay so that we could attend the cosplay masquerade. Ventus and I were lucky we got on line when we did. The filled up fast. The masquerade was good. The MC’s had good chemistry but the organization was poor. There was too many skits and not enough time for the craftmanship run way walks because they ran out of time. On the bright side, Cam won 3rd place in the masters division even though he entered the journeyman version. After the cosplay Masquerade, Cam, Camilla, and 2 of our other roomies, left the convention as they had long trips back home and the weather was going to be bad for Sunday as there was a winter storm watch in affect where there would be snow and ice. The Rest of us couldn’t check out due to 2 others in our group were a bit drunk and were in no way safe to drive. I made the decision to pack the car out so it was easy to get ready to leave in the morning. Ventus and I had Chinese food for dinner, while Josh and Jason did their own things. We went to bed around 12 or 1 am. Day 4: Day 4, we woke up and say there was about 2 – 3 inches of snow on the ground. We all woke up, ate breakfast and we cleaned the hotel room. Once we were all done, we checked out and Josh and Jason did their own thing while Ventus and I did out our thing and left. The drive home from Concord to charlotte was a pain in the ass due to the snow and ice on the ground. IT was sleeting and For some reason there was no plows on the road. We were able to make it home safe with no incidents. I would like to thank my many years of living and driving in winter conditions in New York. It kind of sucks we had to end our convention short. But It happens. I am hoping year will be better and we can stay the entire time. Epilogue and Rants. Overall, I had a great time at the convention, It was great to hang out with my friends and enjoy their company. We met so many people and made some new friends. Our cosplays were a hit and despite having to cut the trip short, I rate the convention this year a 8 out of 10. There were some things that could have been done better. The covid 19 protocols in place were a bit too laxed. They didn’t have any information posted until a week or so before the convention. They required all attendees wear a mask, yet the staff was allowed not to if they were vaccinated. There were some people who didn’t wear masks inside the convention sections and people weren’t enforcing the mask rules. I am not going to say how the convention policy differed from the policy of the hotel, which was fully vaccinated you could be mask less, while not vaccinated you would need a mask. Other issues I seen was the snafu with lines and queuing. It seems like it was inconsistent, and some staffers couldn’t make the lines correctly. This caused some arguments and contention between staff and congoers. I think they would need to think of queuing more seriously next year and come up with better solution. My final rant doesn’t have to do with the convention, but it has to do with certain congoers. This issue focuses on cosplayers who are disabled, who need use of mobility aides, who are different body type/gender from their cosplay source, or just human in general. My main rant was hearing some of the stories stemming around the fact that some people are cruel. People who will openly say that “you shouldn’t cosplay x person because your body type doesn’t match.”, or the cosplay would look great if you didn’t have crutches or if you weren’t in a wheelchair.”. This makes me angry. Everyone has the right to be able to cosplay who they like regardless of who they are, if they are fit, unfit, disabled, or have a different body type, gender, or skin color from the sourced material. You know how bad that makes people feel. It makes them feel like shit. This community is awesome. Cosplaying is fun and everyone has the right to experience that. Just because a cosplayer isn’t accurate to the source for what ever reason, doesn’t mean they didn’t do their best to do so. They put their time and effort into the cosplay to get the Dopamine Hit for getting asked to have their photo taken with a fellow fan of the fandom. A hit of dopamine to see that people like their work. Saying things that hurt people’s feeling is a dick move and isn’t tolerated. If I would have heard those statements from the people saying them, I would have given them choice words. They have no right to say things like that especially when it can hurt the feels who are affected by the words. Cosplay is meant to be an outlet for fans to dress up as their favorite character. There is no room for hatred and I do hope those people who say things like that, I hope they question their life decisions as it is wrong. This ends my experience from Ichiban Con 2022 convention.

This past weekend I attended the 11th annual Ichibancon Convention held in Concord, North Carolina. Ichiban is held in the Concord Convention Center located the Embassy Suites Hotel right across the street from the Charlotte Motor Speedway. This is my second year attending this convention and I thought I would write a review detailing my experiences, observations, and thoughts about the con. I stayed at the embassy suites again this year. My arrival date was on Wednesday, the day before the official start of the convention. I thought it was easier to check in a day earlier and not have to deal with the crowds of guests rushing to check in and get ready for the con. It was great to gather all of my luggage and cosplay items and get them into the room with no hassle. My buddy arrived shortly after I did and we dropped his gear off into the room and then we proceeded to go to Lidl, a local grocery store, similar to Aldi’s but better quality to grab some beverages, snacks and some food to sustain us through the convention weekend. We promptly returned to the hotel so that we can get a spot to park as we planned to stay at the hotel and not leave eliminating the headache of the parking situation I experience last year. We ordered some Silver Lake Ramen off of grubhub to be delivered and we had that as our dinner. The food was great and reasonably priced. After we ate, we retired to the hotel lobby and grabbed some Adult beverages to rewind and get mentally prepared for the upcoming convention over the next couple of days then returned to the room to watch Trigun Bad Land Rumbles and Paprika. Day 1 – Thurday Thursday is the official day one of the convention. We woke up and grabbed some hotel breakfast. We hung out in the hotel room until 12:00 noon. At that time we went down to the Convention Center to grab our badges. The badges were similar to last year, but it seemed like the lanyards were thin and not as good as last years. After we got our badges, We did 18+ Check to get our wrist bands and then I went back to the room to get my Staff of Nazerick to be checked in by security as it is custom to have your Cosplay Weapons and Propped Checked. This is where I knew my weekend would be worth it. I stepped to the Security desk and said I had a prop to be checked. The Security Staff looked at it and was in shock and awe to the sheer size, weight and the fact that it was 3d printed but looked like it was casted in another material. I asked if I needed a special zip tie or item on it and the other staffer said We know this is a prop and we are not going to waste a Zip Tie. This made me laugh and I was on my way. While walking back to the hotel room to drop the staff off I was stopped multiple times by many people curious to see what the staff was about and why I was walking around with it. I told many people that this is for my Cosplay that I will be debuting on Friday and Saturday as I feel that Thursday and Sunday’s were days to days to be comfortable, check out the convention layout, check vendors and see what’s around. After eating lunch, we went back down to the convention at 4:00 pm to start our con day. Went to the dealers hall, otaku flea market, and the artist alley. I scoped out items I would buy later and met with some friends. While this was happening my Buddy was going ham buying Items to have signed by the VA’s and Guests as well as other gifts. Which was interesting to say the least as I wait till the final day to buy things and to see if you can get them discounted as the vendors don’t want to lug the items around. Once we saw all that we saw, we retired back to the room to drop off our stuff, get our drinks from the lounge. Drank the adult beverages and then went back upstairs to play some Cards against Humanity. The game was fine but it was 3 people playing so you couldn’t get the best kind of combinations. We retired around midnight to get ready for the next day. Day 2 – Friday Friday started normally. Woke up early, grabbed some breakfast and then waited. We knew the convention would start at 10 am. So after heavily preparing to fight out of the Con FUNK by utilizing the methods called “SHOWER and ANTIPERSPERANT,” I geared up for my cosplay. Mind you this is the first time that I have suited my cosplay up with everything. It all went on fine. I just needed some help to make sure the cowling fit right. Onwards to the convention hall. I had to side step, crab walk, or scuttle out of the hotel room door into the elevator. We went down stairs and since we had our badges we were able to walk in without waiting. Walked into the Hall and met up with my buddy who Cosplays Endeavor and Reinhardt, and spoke for a bit. My neck plate strap broke off but my friend brought it back to the room so I can repair it later. We then went our own ways. I walked around for a while getting stopped for photos. I was being the character. I started Talking like the person I was cosplaying. I had people stop and kneel and bow down before the Great and Powerful God King of Nazerick. AINZ OOAL GOWN. The reactions were wonderful. Pictures were being taking. People commenting on how well the cosplay turned out. People asking about the staff and what I did to bring him alive, etc. This made my day. I had positive results at Queen City, but this was better than I expected and I am not even done with my cosplay yet. The best reaction of the day was when my friend, who was dressed as Endeveour and I met up with Jesus and we decided we were going to walk back into the hall. One person asked to take our picture where a cleaning lady stopped and said I need to take a picture of this “SHIT” too. She looked at me and with a look of disbelief she said “Oh shit his eyes are glowing.” That was the best reaction I could ever ask for. After several hours of cosplaying, I was getting tired walking with the staff and my vision was poor due to the mask being worn over a morph suit mask. I retired Ainz for the day so that I can take photos of cosplayers and just to relax. Fast forward several more hours we had multiple friends up to the room and we were drinking, playing cards against humanity and eating pizza having a good old time waiting for the next day to start. Day 3 – Saturday We woke up late and decided to skip breakfast, though I forgot breakfast ended at 10 on Saturday’s and decided to get ready for the day. I fixed the neck plate of my cosplay using Copious amounts of Gorilla branded Hot Melt Glue and donned my cosplay. I walked around for several hours in the con. I was in character the whole time. I scared some con goers by walking up behind them. The thought it was cool. I was asking where my fellow Tomb Guardians were. I did what every person would do. Have fun. Around 11:30 I stopped at the bar, hung out with friends, ate some food. I suited up waiting for my photoshoot to start at 1:00 pm. around 12:30 while standing in the bar area. I was asked to take a photo. I agreed. The Person who asked said she was Albedo Last year. I asked her if she had the Fancy Albedo Black Butt Winds and the Septum Piercing and she said yes. I told her that she was the reason why I decided to do this cosplay after speaking with her. She got her photo taken and I told her to hold on. I took the custom made Ring of Nazerick I 3d printed and used resin to make the stone with and gave it to her as a parting gift. The same way Ainz gives the ring to Albedo in the series. I have never seen a girl Swee and Squeal before over a handmade ring. But it was worth it. I also thought the look on her guy friend’s face was priceless as well. He looked like Dude why you giving her a ring. At 1:00 PM. I met up with Leah of Imiicie Photography for the Photo Shoot. https://imiicie.wixsite.com/miicie We walked off hotel property to the shooting location. It was windy and overcast. Nice and dreary day for a photoshoot of Ainz Ooal Gown. The shoot lasted about 30 minutes for all the photos to be taken and it was a good time. We went back to the hotel bar to talk more about what I would like for the photos and told her what I was looking at and I would send the reference material. After the session was done, I started to suit up to drop off my gear in the room so I can cosplay later when the unthinkable happened. One of my shoulder armor pieces broke at the seam where it was glued. I was like FUUUUUUUUU. Oh well, at least I got the photoshoot done. I figure, let me get it up stairs to the room and I can glue it later. I grabbed everything hastily and proceeded to go to the room. While waiting for the elevator, I dropped the broken piece to break it further. Made me mad and I was mad I didn’t realize I lost one of the gloves for my cosplay. Oh well. I did what I needed to do so I wasn’t really mad. I glued what I could glue with E6000 but I knew it would take forever to cure so I cleaned up and De-funkified myself and went back downstairs and walked around a bit, took more photos. There was a fire alarm that happened when a kid pulled the alarm so we all had to evacuate the building and we had to wait for the Fire Department to clear it. I then hung out until the Cosplay Masquerade. This is where things got interesting. While preparing for the line to start, the con staff was a bit unorganized by the events room. They pushed people back who were patiently waiting to line up. While they were getting things ready and we were allowed to get into line, about 30 people jumped the line. We were like WTF but nothing was done. We were let into the room and the event started. The MC’s were good and funny and they had good chemistry. There were a lot of Idol Groups, Dancing and some other Millie Vanillie Lip Sync skits. The Cosplay contest was alright. But it seemed like some of the judging was a bit jaded. And my friend was a bit annoyed that he didn’t win, but there was no feedback given to what I was told. This reminded me of QCAC last year to me, where I was told that 3d Printing and Foam Work have nothing to do with cosplay. With that aside, I did voice my concerns to the MC when I ran into him after the event. He said that CONOPS are aware and that they may have new categories for judging for cosplays that are more technical such as armor work or technical craftsmanship. This kind of led to a Dumpster fire of a thread on the Ichiban Facebook group, but I digress. After the events of the masquerade. I hung out with my friends. Drank some adult beverage and retired to the patio so people who smoke tobacco can unwind while listening to music and drinking said beverages. About 20 minutes into this the heavens opened up and it started to down pour. We went back inside and then I started to get leg cramps and I was hungry. I went to my room, ordered some food via grubhub. Took some ibuprofen and watched some tv while waiting for the food. At midnight, some people were drunk trying to get into the room next door and they were so rambunctious the walls were moving. I came close to calling the front desk for a complaint but it stopped. After the food arrived, I ate and cleaned up and packed all my stuff for the next day. I stood up till around 2 am before going to sleep knowing the final day was upon us for the convention. Day 4 - Sunday It is now day 4. Woke up early. Finished packing and loaded up the cars. Checked out of the hotel early and then ate breakfast. We waited in the breakfast buffet area till the convention started and then started walking around. This is where I was talking to my friend about the broken window and hotel staff said it was due to the high winds. I bought my case of Steamed Japanese Cheese Cakes. I got a cd Signed by The VA of Asuka From Neon Genesis Evangelion and just checked the dealers room and what not. I left around 12 noon as there wasn’t much for me to do and I didn’t think the panels were worth going to today. I made the 35 minute trek back home to unpack my car and get some additional sleep. Overal Exprerience My overall experience with the convention is positive. I like the smaller, intimate venues where you can meet people and make friends. This is far different than larger conventions. Like any convention, parking and food choices suck. Especially when the prices of food can be jacked up so if you go, buy food and bring it in to consume if you want to save some cash. Many of the people are nice and I had no issues with them. In fact I made many friends just by attending this con and Queen City. The cosplayers were nice to watch and get photos with. I was able to get some good idea’s for my cosplay just by talking to them. I didn’t see too much of toxicity within the community at the con, but I know it exists out there. I wrote another post about it in the Cosplay Section Parking was another grip as this con has many people visit during the day and parking gets scare quick. It would be nice if they had more parking or as other has suggested moving to a larger venue. The only issue I see with that is that you may loose your intimate setting of this venue. I think this convention is good. I loved every minute of it. I know I may not have made use of going to the panels or standing in line for some of the events, what I did participate in I had no issues with. 10 out of 10 I will go back next year. In fact I am already preparing for next year.

Queen City Anime Convention will be a four day event in Charlotte, NC from August 9th to August 11th, 2019. Queen City Anime Convention will feature a cosplay contest, an anime marketplace, fan programming, a video game room with tournaments, and more! It is being held at Sheraton Charlotte Hotel 555 S McDowell St Charlotte, North Carolina 28204 CONVENTION HOURS: TBD Click Here to View Full Events Schedule (TBD) Since I bought my Lifetime VIP Ticket last year I will be there. I should be attending all four days. The ticket prices should be pretty reasonable for a local convention . It is held at a hotel convention center. I believe it should be quite interesting. This is something I am looking forward to. For more information you can check out https://queencityanimecon.com/info/

For 2019, Guests include Alejandro Saab, Vic Mignogna, Steve Prince, Ryan Bartley, Bri Knickerbocker, Kazha, and Xanthe Huynh. Admission Advance Purchase Admission: Click here to purchase This rate expires on Dec 15th, 2018 4-day: $49 Thursday: $22 Friday: $29 Saturday: $37 Sunday: $20 At the door rates: 4-day: $60 Thursday: $30 Friday: $37 Saturday: $43 Sunday: $20 Children 10 and under are free with purchase of a pass. Please note: 4-day pass will be available for sale at the door Thursday-Saturday. Admission hours: Thursday:1:30pm-midnight Friday: 9am -midnight Saturday: 9am- midnight Sunday: 9am -4pm I have already purchased my 4 day pass. Just waiting on getting funds to get the hotel room. Who else is interested in going?

Queen City Anime Convention will be a four day event in Charlotte, NC from August 23rd to August 26th, 2018. Queen City Anime Convention will feature a cosplay contest, an anime marketplace, fan programming, a video game room with tournaments, and more! It is being held at Hilton Charlotte University Place 8629 J M Keynes Dr, Charlotte, NC 28262 CONVENTION HOURS: Thursday: 6:30PM-Midnight Friday: 10AM-Midnight Saturday: 10AM-2AM Sunday: 10AM-5:30PM Click Here to View Full Events Schedule I have already purchased my 4 day VIP ticket. The tickets are pretty reasonable for a local convention . From what I can tell this is the 2nd year for this convention. It is held at a hotel convention center. I believe it should be quite interesting. This is something I am looking forward to. For more information you can check out https://queencityanimecon.com/info/