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Aniwave 2014
11 years ago
On December 7th, 2014, I attended my first ever anime convention. This convention was an anime one located in North Carolina called Aniwave. Aniwave is a one day Aniwave convention, which makes it good for new congers like me, at least in my opinion. I attended the convention with my cousin and his girlfriend, who have been to anime conventions before. The following article is about my experience at my first ever anime convention.
My cousin, his girlfriend, and I started our journey to the anime convention at 8:00 in the morning. We travelled a little over an hour and a half in order to arrive at the convention center in Wilmington, North Carolina where Aniwave took place. It was a long drive filled with country sights. After arriving at the convention center a bit after 10, we had to stand outside in line to get our convention badges. It was very cold out there, and the line moved slowly. We talked a bit with a girl who was in front of us in line.
When we got our badges, we took a moment to decide what we would do first. We decided that we would go into the Dealer’s Den and see what kind of things was being sold. The Dealer’s Den was crowded! There were quite a few dealers there, and a lot of other people walking around, looking at what was being sold. My cousin and his girlfriend bought two badges for themselves (one badge was Ivy from the Batman series, and I can’t remember what the other badge was), while I bought a black and white stripped tail keychain for myself.
We wondered around the Dealer’s Den for a while before deciding to go to the food court so my cousin and his girlfriend could get something to eat. I took note of the many people there, many were cosplaying. Some were cosplaying as characters I couldn’t recognize, others were. Those I could recognize were: L from Death Note, Inuyasha, Freddy Fazbear from Five Nights at Freddy’s Conker from Conker’s Bad Fur Day, Dante from Devil May Cry, and Koga from Inuyasha. There were even people in fursuits! After my cousin and his girlfriend were finished eating, we decided to wander around some more for the next few hours. Occasionally we would go to the Dealer’s Den to look around and buy something. We also met up with their friends, and hung out with them.
We didn’t really go to any panels. We only went to two panels, but only for a few minutes of each. The first panel was a panel where the new Sailor Moon show was being aired. We only caught the last few minutes of that panel. The second panel was: Steal This Panel, My Little Pony. We only stayed the first 10 or so minutes of that panel before deciding to go to the room dedicated to the League of Legends tournament. My cousin’s friend was in the tournament, and he wanted to watch the tournament. We spent a good portion of our time there, watching that tournament and playing Magic the Gathering. My cousin’s friend won the tournament and won a $50 gift card to some place.
It was at this time when we decided to go home. The convention was still going, but we were getting burned out at that time. So we said goodbyes to our friends and left the convention. I had fun, though it was really overwhelming. I didn’t know what to do first, and wanted to do everything at once. I’m glad that I had my cousin and his girlfriend with me so that I could have some structure to my day at the convention.
While there, I bought quite a few things. I got the black and white stripped keychain that I mentioned earlier. I also got two little pictures of Foxy and Chica from Five Nights at Freddy’s, a deep purple tail that I can wear, and a wearable pin that has the Umbrella logo on it. I know I didn’t buy much, but the stuff there was expensive. Plus I was budgeting myself.
Overall, I enjoyed myself at the convention, and I cannot wait until I can go next time. Oh! One more thing, I got a random hug from a Storm Trooper. I was watching my cousin and his friend play Magic the Gathering in the food court when the Storm Trooper walked up to me and gave me a hug. I couldn’t believe it, but it was still pretty awesome.
My cousin, his girlfriend, and I started our journey to the anime convention at 8:00 in the morning. We travelled a little over an hour and a half in order to arrive at the convention center in Wilmington, North Carolina where Aniwave took place. It was a long drive filled with country sights. After arriving at the convention center a bit after 10, we had to stand outside in line to get our convention badges. It was very cold out there, and the line moved slowly. We talked a bit with a girl who was in front of us in line.
When we got our badges, we took a moment to decide what we would do first. We decided that we would go into the Dealer’s Den and see what kind of things was being sold. The Dealer’s Den was crowded! There were quite a few dealers there, and a lot of other people walking around, looking at what was being sold. My cousin and his girlfriend bought two badges for themselves (one badge was Ivy from the Batman series, and I can’t remember what the other badge was), while I bought a black and white stripped tail keychain for myself.
We wondered around the Dealer’s Den for a while before deciding to go to the food court so my cousin and his girlfriend could get something to eat. I took note of the many people there, many were cosplaying. Some were cosplaying as characters I couldn’t recognize, others were. Those I could recognize were: L from Death Note, Inuyasha, Freddy Fazbear from Five Nights at Freddy’s Conker from Conker’s Bad Fur Day, Dante from Devil May Cry, and Koga from Inuyasha. There were even people in fursuits! After my cousin and his girlfriend were finished eating, we decided to wander around some more for the next few hours. Occasionally we would go to the Dealer’s Den to look around and buy something. We also met up with their friends, and hung out with them.
We didn’t really go to any panels. We only went to two panels, but only for a few minutes of each. The first panel was a panel where the new Sailor Moon show was being aired. We only caught the last few minutes of that panel. The second panel was: Steal This Panel, My Little Pony. We only stayed the first 10 or so minutes of that panel before deciding to go to the room dedicated to the League of Legends tournament. My cousin’s friend was in the tournament, and he wanted to watch the tournament. We spent a good portion of our time there, watching that tournament and playing Magic the Gathering. My cousin’s friend won the tournament and won a $50 gift card to some place.
It was at this time when we decided to go home. The convention was still going, but we were getting burned out at that time. So we said goodbyes to our friends and left the convention. I had fun, though it was really overwhelming. I didn’t know what to do first, and wanted to do everything at once. I’m glad that I had my cousin and his girlfriend with me so that I could have some structure to my day at the convention.
While there, I bought quite a few things. I got the black and white stripped keychain that I mentioned earlier. I also got two little pictures of Foxy and Chica from Five Nights at Freddy’s, a deep purple tail that I can wear, and a wearable pin that has the Umbrella logo on it. I know I didn’t buy much, but the stuff there was expensive. Plus I was budgeting myself.
Overall, I enjoyed myself at the convention, and I cannot wait until I can go next time. Oh! One more thing, I got a random hug from a Storm Trooper. I was watching my cousin and his friend play Magic the Gathering in the food court when the Storm Trooper walked up to me and gave me a hug. I couldn’t believe it, but it was still pretty awesome.
