This was a long time coming but never had a chance to type this out since I was preparing for Youmacon. Also had to get it out of the way before I could get to Youmacon's review.
Now to be fair, my reports usually run long, but this one will be relatively short. The main thing that usually attracts me to cons are the guests first and foremost. Although it's only the convention's second year, they gave us some awesome guests in their inaugural year with Yuri Lowenthal, Tara Platt and Vic Mignogna. Although they've had a mix of guests each year in terms of actors, to be frank, I really only care about the voice actors. This year they only had two voice actor guests (Katie Griffin and Linda Ballantyne) and they were primarily known for working on Sailor Moon in the 90s. Now this is in no way any sort of jab at the guests, because they were great! Glad there was some Canadian VA love going on too! I only wish there had been more VA guests in general and for them to have been a varied group. It's primarily the lack of VA guests that made me decide to only attend on the Sunday.
So with that preface in mind, I only attended the Sunday. I began the day by lurking through the dealers room. When it comes to WCC, really the only things going on are guest panels and the dealers room. It's only in year two, but I hope in the future they add more side activities, like more themed/ fan run panels, activities, etc. I guess much like the guests, I wish the dealer room was more varied too because (and I kid you not), probably around 70 % of the inventory at all the stores were Funk pops. They're great and all, but I just wish there was more to see (especially in terms of anime items... this statement also applies to Artist Alley). Although that being said, it's not as if there aren't any anime related products or anything. There were a lot of plushies for example and I even remember seeing a Nagisa cosplayer buying a Koro sensei plushie. On a personal level, I do wish I could find more TF stuff there, but I definitely wouldn't expect that there. At any rate, I went around multiple times 'til it was time for the first and only panel I attended/ was interested in.
At 11 am, it was time for the Sailor Moon panel which featured Katie Griffin and Linda Ballantyne! Now last year, there were no moderators, and I honestly prefer there to be none. However, that being said, the moderator they had for the panel was probably the best moderator I've ever seen period!!! I think they mentioned his name is Alex, so if anyone from WCC happens to read this, PLEASE use him again for moderating. He was well informed/ researched, engaged well with the guests and audience and also was good at getting the non-stereotypical questions (which is something I particularly appreciated). Had lots of fun listening to the guests and their stories from Sailor Moon and acting in general. Had no idea the sailor moon says segments at the end of eps were for the time taken away from censorship. Also thought it was pretty interesting when someone asked how they manage being mothers and VAs at the same time. I can't remember who said which, but one said she went into voice something while in labour and the other 2 days after giving birth.
After the panel, most of the day was spent mostly browsing the dealer room and trying to find places to sit. Fast forward until around 3 or so and by that time I had managed to locate some TF products (they were literally like finding a needle in a haystack) and got myself an awesome deluxe Combiner Wars Groove!
After that, I went to go meet Katie Griffin and Linda Ballantyne. I guess here comes another little rant though... I'm someone who LOVES to get autographs and it's just always a pain when they end up costing for a signature, especially when it's quite expensive. It was bad enough last year that it was 20/ signature, but this year it was raised to 25! I really don't like that system... I'd rather pay more to get into the con instead, especially since I usually have at least two things per guest to sign. If there is no other option but to cost, I wish there could be a better price or some sort of deal like "pay this for the first sig, but pay lower for subsequent ones". I guess another issue I had was that they paired Linda and Katie together, so if you wanted a sig from one, you were interacting with the other as well. I only had something for Katie to sign, so I felt REALLY bad that there was nothing for Linda. Would have just preferred to spare the awkwardness for both sides by having them be separate for the autographs. Now, that being said though, they were both incredible to meet! They were both incredibly kindhearted too! I first got up and said to them that I grew up watching their show and it was really what introduced me to anime in general. Started off by giving Katie this:
She really liked it! I remember her commenting on how she particularly liked the colours, which made me super happy! XD I think she also mentioned that I think she said she would be hanging it up in her kitchen. LMAO Had to apologize to Linda because I had a Sailor Moon pic in the works for her... but it was 4am the night before and I still wasn't done lining, so I had to call it quits... still owe her that pic on Twitter though. Had her instead sign one of her prints for me. Brought up to Katie how I liked her work on Team Galaxy, and she was all like "Yoko's my girl"! XD She talked a bit more about the show, like how she sang the intro too, although she deduced that I knew that already (what I didn't know though was how she basically has another career in singing). All in all, it was great meeting the two! It's honestly surreal to think that when I was watching Sailor Moon at like 4 or 5 years old before and after school that I would be meeting some of the scouts in the distant future. Never would have imagined such a possibility. XD
Anyways after meeting the VAs, was browsing around a bit more before I wanted to leave. Wanted to see if there was any last second gem. Out of pure happenstance, I ran into my cousin and his family! I NEVER see my cousins, so it was super weird to see him at a convention. It was actually his wife who spotted me though. XD They had their 3 year old and 4 month old with them, so it was nice to see the wee ones.
Ultimately bought some buttons for the first time though to decorate my schoolbag. Got myself a reboot button as well as an autobot and decepticon logo. XD
Anyways, sure hope this report doesn't make it sound as if I didn't have fun, cus I did... it was just very condensed. lololol Mostly just wanted to use the report as a chance to see some improvements if the organizers ever happen to read this. I feel like there's a lot of great things WCC can take advantage of while being a medium sized con, so I hope they might take some of that feedback into consideration for the future.
