Sorry for the bad image. I hate to make it small. I’m using the AN logo. Well, it’s time for me to tell you all what Anime North is. As you may or may not know, Anime North is an anime convention that is held once a year at the end of May. It was originally a one day convention but expanded to a 3 day convention. Its major events include a Masquerade, Dealer’s Room, Artist Alley, Guest of Honor presentations, Gaming (Video and RPG), Panel Discussions, Video Presentation, Contests, and Dances. Every year, it will add new events and guests. Guests are always a major part of AN. Most guest that attend these conventions are voice actors that are from the anime dubs. A few years ago, they started adding Japanese guests. One of the best guest that AN had every got was Kotoko. She performed songs from anime (the unreleased songs at the time) and songs from her album. This was the year that AN broke 10 000 guest limit. Last year, they had the almost all the dubbed Bleach cast and ZZ as the guest of honor. Since the Kotoko concert in 2006, Anime North had concerts since then. This year, Haruko Momoi will be AN’s japanese guest of honor. Every year, there are always a wide variety of guests.

Cosplaying is always a huge part of anime conventions. AN have events for people who loves to cosplay. Events like the ever popular Masquerade, Skit contest and fashion shows. The Masquerade is like a skit contest. Each team/ person gets 1 to 2 minutes to do a skit in front of judges. Which in the end will that people get prizes. There are different levels to these contests depending on which you want to enter. Beginner level (people who just started cosplay), journeymen (people who done cosplaying for awhile), and expert (people are pro at this stuff). I’ve try cosplaying at AN, it was pretty fun. The last time I cosplayed at AN was in 2006. I think I cosplayed as Wisdom mode Sora from Kingdom Hearts 2. This year, I plan on cosplaying. Haven’t started on making it. I should really start.

For gamers out there, AN provides that. They gaming tournaments, such as DDR, fighting games (Streetfighter to Smash brothers to Guilty Gears), board games, card games, and even handhelds like Mario Kart DS. Games are a major part of AN since almost around 25% of the people that go to the con are gamers. With the ever growing gaming community, the dealer room started selling gaming goods. I’ve attending the Capcom Vs Snk 2 tournament and ended up in the top 5. I would had gone farther, but the time of the tournament was off and the it was cut short and we can’t finish it. I would love to have that tournament this year and a smash brawl tournament. No matter what, Anime North will satisfy a gamer need.

People who have been coming to AN for awhile have been ordering hotel rooms. Since it’s a 3 day convention, people needs a place to put their stuff and a place to sleep. It gets tiring being at a convention and going all out. People who attend all 3 days mostly either live near the convention or get a hotel room near it. To my knowledge, right now, since the beginning of this year, all the hotels near the convention have been sold out. No rooms on the day of AN right now. I have reserved a total of 7 rooms for me and my friends. Usually we fit 4 people per room. So 2 people will sleep in one bed. On some occasions, we had to fit up to 6 people in 1 room. If you do plan to go to AN, just reserve it real early. I mean really really early. For this year AN, I reserved it around August last year. The hotel I’ll be staying at is Doubletree Hotel whihch is part of the conventions. This hotel is where some of the events are at.

Now, the ever popular topic, where do I buy the anime goods ? Like all anime conventions held in Toronto, there is always a dealers room. Don’t think the room is small. It’s really big huge, and a tons of dealers selling anime goods. The goods sold at AN range from, DVD’s, games, CD’s, figures, doujinshi, manga, swords (yes, you heard me, swords like Katana, or anime swords), plushies, artbooks, clothes, cosplays, japanese food (pocky), and for some people hentai. There are a ton of things to buy. Trust me, last year I had $2000, I still wasn’t able to buy all I want. Price is always a major thing when in the dealers room. You have to look around first before you buy. Some dealers sell cheaper then others.Like one place had this figure you want, but it cost $30. There is another place, have the same figure and it cost $25. For me, I would take the $25 figure. Also, make sure before you buy it, it’s a real product. Anime North has this policy on bootleg stuff. Just make sure, just in chase. You can’t just buy whatever you see. You have to buy stuff that you’ll like that fits your budget. Don’t spend all your money on the first day. The 3rd day of the con, dealers sell stuff real cheap because they want to sell all their stuff before it closes. Last year, they sold a huge kon pillow originally $40 for $10. Just make sure to keep some money for the 3rd day. I’ll say this, spread your money out. You also need money for other things too. Like food.

Food is an important thing for people who goes to conventions. For something like Anime North, you need to eat a good breakfast. You’ll need most of the energy at the convention. Conventions always sell food to keep all the otakus from starving. There is a problem though. All foods sold at the convention are so damn expensive. So here’s a tip. There are always fast food to restaurants around the convention area and within walking distance. Like at AN, there is a Harvey’s, Tim Hortons, Swiss Chalet and even a sushi place. There are always good places to eat. Even though a conventions is going on, they will not change the price of their food. That is convenient due to that people rather spend more money on anime goods then food. You should always jave a food budget like $50 to $100 depending on what you want to eat.

Well, that’s it for now. If you want to know more about AN. Just ask me. I’ll be happy to tell you.

For more Anime North info. Please try to visit the offical site: http://animenorth.com/

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