Sunday at Emerald City Comic Con

A Different Kind of Convention

Anime conventions and Comic Cons are such different things. The focus is obvious right? Comic Cons these days are focused on everything that can slightly be considered geeky. It’s a larger celebration of people enjoying what they see and what they watch and put them together. I should also mention that there is a lot of comics just being sold on the show floor all over the place. So many editions of comics that I would never have known existed if I wasn’t there before. Anime had a presence, but it was for general audiences there too.

This isn’t he first time that I went to a Comic Con before. I went to Kansas City Comic Con very much pre pandemic and that was a blast because I went with a lot of friends. Anime conventions are such a different atmosphere. They are focused on one particular things, anime and in that way you can see so much variety of the anime experience because it’s not just treated like another thing. It’s seeing the full extent and culture of what anime is and what crowds it presents. Anime fans of all ages show up there.

So with me not knowing anything about Emerald City Comic Con or the atmosphere there was at the time, I wanted to at least experience on a day that not many people will be there at a time where people who have been there all four days won’t go into it yet. Not to mention not being able to take time off from the job I just started too, so one day is the best I could go. I really enjoyed it. Anime isn’t the only piece of media that I enjoy and it was such a good feeling to just celebrate our own unique interests in one spot at the same time. The cosplay was all over the place, but the passion you can feel at something like Sakura-con was still there and it’s great.

Traveling To and Back

Because of all the traffic associated with the Seattle area, even on a Sunday because Seattle is a busy , the light rail is the best way to get into Seattle for a day trip. It can take a bit more time, but as I’ve mentioned before on my Sakura-con post, it is a lot cheaper gas wise and you can slip in and out of Seattle pretty easily. I used the light rail again, but the difference this time is that I carpooled with a family friend from church to a light rail station and then into Seattle itself. We also got into one of the newer light rail cars and it felt very clean sci fi from older television shows.

The trip to and from the Seattle was also pretty smooth. There were some stops on the way from the light rail actually getting into traffic for a bit or some construction going on in some stations, but the view and scenery of the area is pretty good. Lots of comfy green trees, lots of interesting buildings, temples, and otherwise on the way there. If you have heard about some of the poverty and economic problems of Seattle, yeah it was obvious too. Seattle is still not what it once was despite some efforts, but I never felt unsafe through out the entire experience.

The Artist Alley

The most wonderful things about cons, unless its put in a negative light, is that you learn a lot about other people. My church friend apparently has paid attention to the artist community, asks for commissions, and always looks for new artists to pay attention to. I find that amazing because I didn’t know that before. I knew that the guy in question is a pretty big nerd, but this is a side of him that I never knew before and it’s really cool. I shared a lot about my own deep dives into anime and my own blogging experience there too. There were so many good artists that I wish I had the money to help and support. I also met some former college mates there and that was great.

From my hours that I spend in artist alley, I bought two pieces of art centered around anime. One is a very striking poster for Perfect Blue and then a poster of a scene from Mobile Suit Gundam that just looked so good. I had a budget and part of that budget was spent buying an expensive model kit of the Double Zeta Gundam. But completely worth it. All of it was worth it. I have never seen a Double Zeta model kid out in the streets and I wanted it. I had the money, so I had to get it and I want to build it soon when I have the time to do so. What a great time to be had for all people there.

One Piece Reunion Panel

This was the only panel that I went to because I didn’t do as much research as I could. But it was a good time. An actress and two actors from One Piece had a panel where they talked about how they were chosen to be apart of the Straw Hat Cast and then there was a decent Q&A afterwards. Those three people being Ian Sinclair or Brook, Sonny Strait or Ussop, and Colleen Clickenbeard or Luffy. As you would expect from a cast that has been together for other twenty years, their chemistry was amazing with each other.

It was so interesting to hear about how much these voice actors love their roles and them coping with the reality of One Piece being over soon and how they might not have as solid of a role after it. Or at least not having any sorts of guarantees for them to have any sort of role after being a One Piece cast member. You know despite them being veteran voice actors that are incredible at what they do. Or the small bits of fun of Ian possibly teaching Sonny how to use a slingshot in real life or some discussions about the complexities of food. So a good panel of some mixed emotions that somehow works out pretty well for them too.

Conclusions

I had a great time at Emerald City Comic Con. I was only there on a Sunday, as I mentioned before. That means that there were less opportunities to meet some celebrities because they probably went home already. That’s ok, I was just there for the vibes. Just means I need to spend more time there in the convention next time. Perhaps. This will be a continuing sort of adventures of this Emerald City Comic Con later on. Can’t wait to see anything more about what is going there next year if the right circumstances meet up to all of it. I did leave as the crowds woke up and started to fill the convention again, but the morning time period was great.