Anime Detour:

From the Desk of Brigadier General Kaorion:

I've finally recovered enough from my most recent mission, Anime Detour 2009, to submit my finding. Most of us were ill before going to the con so, sadly, I have little to report.

Wednesday April 1, 2009 - 1800 hours After spending multiple hours packing I finally headed out with my brother, and fellow skirt, Crimson to meet up with Colonel Serra, my SiC, and another fellow skirt, Asuma. Once we were there we unpacked Crimson's car into Asuma's van and spent a good portion of the evening watching anime and telling stories. We finally decided to get some sleep sometime after 1:00 am.

Thursday April 2, 2009 - 0830 hours The four of us began our journey to Anime Detour; most of us spent the ride sleeping. With the hotel in sight we finally started to enjoy the buzz of excitement of the upcoming weekend... till we realized we had to get everything up to the room. Once we were checked in and got all our stuff into the room Serra and Asuma headed out and did their staff thing and Crimson and I relaxed in the room.

Friday April 3, 2009 - 0945 hours Crimson and I headed down to line up for registration which headed out onto the Skywalk. It only took about an hour for us to get through the line and after that we decided to check out the layout. There was still a couple of hours before anything really started so we headed back up to the room and changed into my Sakura Haruno (Naruto Shippuden) cosplay and we headed back out. Once we were downstairs again we headed over to check out the Dealer's room, which we surprisingly didn't purchase much while there. We then wondered around, talked with a few people, then headed to opening ceremonies. After that we trudged up thirteen flights of stairs back to our room (it was almost impossible to get an elevator all weekend for most people) to get something to eat and took a break. Afterwards we went down and watched the goings on from the second floor balconies for a little while longer before returning to the room for the evening.

Saturday April 4, 2009 - 1200 hours Noon. That is when Crimson and I woke up for the day. It was quite a shock to me, I'd never slept in that late on a Saturday before. With only 3 hours till the Ranger/Skirt panel I decided I'd hold off on the cosplay till after it was finished, since I'd brought a different outfit to wear to that. Once we'd eaten and replenished the towel supply in the room we got dressed, gathered the panel supplies (though some were still forgotten) and Serra, Crimson, and I headed out. Serra was lucky enough to catch an elevator but Crimson and I got down via the stair. Serra got held up by another member of staff and well, taking the stairs made me late. However the room was quiet happy when we finally joined them and we quickly set up. This year's game was Bingo. Since we didn't have enough tables we moved the chairs out of the way and everyone, happily (or so it seemed), sat on the floor. This was when we realized we'd forgotten the mini marshmallows (which were to be markers) in the room. So we improvised with pocket change and candy. We played 4 Corner and Line Bingo. The Rangers had a four point lead. Realizing we were running low on time so we started the final round: Blackout. A 10 point game, winner taking the glory. Some cards had freed up and so AG, a Ranger co-host, and I challenged each other as a sort of extra game. Playful "insults" ensued but in the end the Skirts took it all. I won the extra game and the Skirts got the 10 points for the round. The winner was presented with a giant Pinecone then the clean up and chatting began (Though we ran over our allotted panel time). Crimson and I then climbed the Stairs of Doom back up to the room to get something to eat and so I could change. About an hour or so later I was in my Kohaku (Inuyasha) costume and we, at a casual speed, climbed down the stairs to wonder the con. However, forgetting it was Saturday the space was filled with people waiting to line up to get in to watch the Cosplay Competition. Even so we wondered about for about an hour, though there weren't many activities going on and Dealer's room was closed. When they finally announced they were starting line-up for Cosplay we when back up to the room to watch from the hotel's closed circuit channel and Serra joined us just as it was starting. Having changed once again Crimson and I when down to check out the dance and stayed out till about 1 am. I finally got to sleep at about 4 am. Sunday April 5, 2009 - 1100 hours Deciding we were too tired to wonder just yet Crimson and I sat around watching TV for a while since we didn't see anything in the con schedule that attracted our attention. Around noon/1-ish I dress, as Sakura once again, and we wondered our way to convention space.

Sunday is kind of a blur to me but I'm sure we when back and forth from the room a few times before attending Closing Ceremonies at 5:00. After that was finished everything was finished. Most people said goodbyes to everyone they passed before heading out to their cars and going home. Crimson and I, however, finally caught an elevator back up to the room where we finally realized the weekend was over.

Monday April 6, 2009 - 1030 hours Waking up in a rather quick fashion we gathered all our things that were strewn about the room and packed them up to head back to Asuma's house, where we then unloaded them into Crimson's car and headed back home. We finally got home late in the evening (we'd spend around 6 hours traveling in a vehicle at this point) and had two very different methods of return. He when for food and then unpacked and I unpacked and then when for food. Once that was done we called it a day and collapsed into our respective beds and got some real sleep.

And that concludes my report on all things related to myself at Anime Detour 2009. I wish I'd made it to more panels but I'd spent the 3 days before that working on cosplays (so I was exhausted) and 13 flights of stairs were killer. Even so I still had a blast while I wondered and admired the cosplays and the Skirt/Ranger panel seemed to really well so I have no complaints and can't wait to do it again next year!

Pics HERE