Day Three of Anime North is just like Day Two, just minus the brunch and more casual. Most of the JP Ps went back to their hotels after closing ceremony was over; Harami and Mai both attended that event, and that ended at 7pm. Most cons don’t end this late, for a weekend-type con. We ended up eating at a tex mex place down the road and it turned out a lot more affordable and about as delicious. It was also a little bit of an acrobatic act; originally it was a dinner with just some local Ps and the HPT guys, but some JP guys wanted to tag along so the party size changed from 13 to 26 and back to 16. I again tipped well.

Did I mention that on Saturday’s off-kai at the local steakhouse chain (it’s not as upscale as, say, Ruth Chris’s) we did RE@DY? We were able to get a whole corner of the place to ourselves and a few JP Ps went off on it.

After hanging out with all these new-found Ps, it was kind of moving. By day three we were sufficiently bonded with some JP Producers that we had a tough goodbye at the parking lot. We came back to the hotel and did more calls and lightstick waving. Hacked the hotel TV so we can watch 8th live. Remember the glamours AI LIKE HAMBURGER routine.

And this is how Anime North feels like a 4-day con even if it’s just 3 days long. On Monday we got up at a reasonable hour and walked around Niagara Falls. It’s always fun to see the largest watering hole on earth.

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So the hotel I stayed at had paid-for wireless, but we didn’t feel like it. I suppose if I didn’t lug my laptop around I could’ve left it there to set up internet sharing, but screw that. It also means no mid-con update posts.

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I’m actually not at the con yet, but I figured there are notes I can share.

First off, ACEN is the third largest con last year in US and Canada. That’s really impressive. This also means if you didn’t book a hotel room way ahead, it’s real hard to get a room. Unlike AX or Otakon, the area near the con is not exactly the most pedestrian friendly either. Somehow we got rooms. It’ll be a little crammed but it’s not too bad. It might also be a hike, but I’ll live. The last time I visited ACEN was 2005 so I expect everything to change greatly, including the crowding.

Second, WUG is here courtesy of Crunchyroll. They’ll be rolling all their autograph sessions at their booth. Details can be found here. And here. Bottom of that post also has a list of events at the con for WUG and Yamakan/Hiro-san.

Acen guest guy camps the forum well, so it’s cool. JP WUGners are coming as mentioned.

Angela landed and will have goods. They have a booth autograph in addition of the ACEN ones. Details in the link. Good, I like goods.

I’ll be draining LPs and rocking out my 3DS streetpass games while bouncing between scheduled conflicts. Yeah. This is also the first time doing Press for ACEN, and I vaguely remember some issues they had with Press, which explains why their Press process is kind of horrific.

I mean, I think I’m going to miss all the Final Fantasy chamber music stuff. Terrible.