By Lagoloid
The Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford, CT, US. The venue for Connecticon every year.
Greetings Wukriians! This is Lagoloid writing in after 3-Days of attending our very local all things geeky convention Connecticon from July 12th -14th! We don’t normally type about our convention outings, but we thought this would make a fun blog post for you all to read. Both Gatsumann and I have been regular attendants to this convention almost every year. We were both there for the very first one back in 2003 and since then it has expanded our horizons to many of the interest we hold dear, including much of the content that has inspired us and helped to create Wukrii. Even though much of the convention has changed a great deal since then, we still go to meet old friends, check out the informal panel content, snap some photos of cool cosplay and at the end, eat lots and lots of tasty barbecue! I’m desperately trying to fight off this food comma from the heavy BBQ dinner today to type this con report, so just bear with me folks.
No, not THAT Kami!
The panel content at conventions is a very important part of the experience for us as we love learning new and interesting things about Manga, Anime, and Video Games. We went to panels about Robots in pop culture and there were even some interesting panels about Disney, which to an animation fan like myself are a must see! Both Panels went into one of the lesser known pioneers of animation Ub Iwerk. The other panel showed some of the most weird and goofy (No pun intended, ah-hyuck!) officially sanctioned Disney made videos we couldn’t believe were real! Some of the most informative panels where the ones that went into depth about Japanese culture, including free and high value resources for learning Japanese and how-to Otaku in Japan from Reuben Langdon. Reuben was an American Stuntman and voice actor who voiced Dante in the Devil May Cry series believe it or not! He even took time to show us a lot of the cool video clips of Japanese commercials and TV series he worked in. We got an even further fill of crazy Japanese TV commercials with a whole panel that showcased them, that capped off our Connecticon on Saturday with lots of laughs and confusion.
In one panel, we learned about Japanese “kami” and where shinto and Buddhist traditions intermingle in Japanese culture. This is one of the many things that inspires us to make our Wukai and the lore that surrounds them. Even one that went into great depth about the connection of foxes with Shinto religion. What kind of interesting panels have you Wukriians been to yourself?
If there’s one reason to go to Connecticon, it’s that they always partner with Tokyo Attack, a gaming rental service that provides the convention some of the largest collections of import Japanese arcade machines you’ll ever see. It’s pretty impressive some of the arcade cabinets they manage to acquire. Some I never thought I’d see this side of the East Coast in the US, let alone in Connecticut. So much to play, so little time. One of my favorites, Time Crisis 5, was a new addition this year. I was surprised they were able to get latest one in the series. Tokyo Attack further stepped up their game and brought a DANCERUSH STARDOM arcade machine. It’s the latest Shuffle Dancing rhythm game from Konami’s BEMANI series. This was just released last year, so I was impressed to see that Tokyo Attack managed to get one! They even had this crazy ping pong bouncing/throwing arcade game called Scotto that has to be seen in action to be believed! What arcade machines from the gallery of photos look interesting and fun that you would totally love to play?
You can’t have an Anime/Comic/General Pop culture convention without seeing hundreds of folks show off their awesome costume designing skills on the show floors. We found so many impressive displays of creativity this year, so here’s a small sample of the cosplayers that impressed us the most at Connecticon. One of my favorites was the well constructed Scyther from Pokemon suit that looked good enough to be officially made! The other stand out cosplayers were the Gothic Lolita 2B from Nier: Automata, the Little My and Snufkin from Moomin, the Raiden from Metal Gear Solid 4/ Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, the Toyota Sprinter Trueno AE86 from Initial D, the Rita Repulsa from Power Rangers, the Bayonetta, the Wiggler Headed Hunter from Monster Hunter, and the Chrono with Lucca from Chrono Trigger! Which ones are your favorites? Which characters can you recognize and name?
So that’s a wrap! Another Connecticon done and most likely the last convention we’ll be attending this year. We don’t have any plans at the moment for conventions next year, but if and when we do, would you folks like us to do another con report in a similar style by either Gatsumann and myself? Be sure to leave a comment on the post to let us know! We’re always looking at ways to add more content to the website and we love hearing from you. Thanks for reading! Now I leave you with the traditional delicious BBQ dinner we always have after Connecticon!
The best cure for post post-con depression!
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