After missing Anime Central last year due to other commitments, I was finally able to make it back for the convention’s sweet sixteen party. That’s right, Anime Central is 16, and what better way than to celebrate than with cosplay, concerts, and cartoons! Ever expanding, this year’s event not only took over the Hyatt Regency O’Hare and the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, but the Hilton Rosemont/Chicago O’Hare hotel as well. The three day event ran from Friday, May 17^th to Sunday, May 19^th, 2013 in Rosemont, Illinois. Photos from the convention are available on Gallery.

Due to the last minute organization, I wasn’t able to book a room in the Hyatt Regency O’Hare as in previous years. Instead, we opted for the Crowne Plaza O’Hare, which is just about a block and half down, near the south end of the convention centre. While we wouldn’t be in the middle of the action, we wouldn’t have to suffer the horrors of fighting for an elevator. Speaking of the Hyatt’s elevators, I discovered later that some changes were implemented to keep issues with the lifts under control, including signage, IRT members inside the elevators and staff in the lobby level.

The convention kicked off around 10:00 am CDT, but there are badge pick ups Thursday afternoon and evening. As I had pre-ordered my badge online, I had the luxury of spending $2.00 USD to have it mailed to me and save me the grief of standing in line to collect it; I just have to remember to bring it with me (which I did). The registration hall wasn’t too busy this time around, as opposed to previous years — I only noticed this when I was with my friends getting their badges. One of my friends had actually been kind enough to snag a few extra goody bags with the program books, advertisements and a bright orange Crunchyroll lanyard. I wouldn’t end up using the program book as Anime Central has hopped on the Guidebook mobile app, something I really enjoy since it’s easy to use, organized and always with you.

Friday morning arrived and it was time to suit up in costume. It’s no surprise that I started my day off as Naruto, but what did catch me off guard was that I got stopped for a lot of pictures. I found while wandering through the Exhibit Hall, I wouldn’t be able to go more than a few steps without having my picture taken. At other conventions, I’d be lucky if maybe a handful of people would ask me for a photo, but at Anime Central, it seemed almost overwhelming. I have to apologize to my friends for getting them to hold my camera and bag each and every time — sorry! An adorable moment happened when I encountered a family who’s son was attending his first anime convention and dressed up as young Naruto. When his parents asked to have his picture taken with me, I held out my light-up rasengan orb and got him to make it look like he was charging it up as one of my clones. Aww!

Our first stop was the Exhibit Hall in the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center. If you want anything anime, you’re bound to find it here. Figures, toys, plushes, wall scrolls, posters, CDs, DVDs, shirts, hats, costumes, swords, books, dakimakuras, wigs, costumes, and so on. I found myself walking out with a Hatsune Miku nendoroid, an artbook of Kagamine Len and Rin, Soul Eater and Blue Exorcist t-shirts, a copy of Inazuma Eleven 3: Spark for the Nintendo DS, and a Rin Okumura Half-Age figure. Lined up next to all the vendors were the artists, and the narrow aisles were packed with tables and displays of drawings, sketches, prints, posters, figures, plushes, perler beads and much more.

At the entrance of the Exhibit Hall was a roped off rectangle where artist Eric Maruscak was working on a chalk drawing honouring the anime movie Lupin the Third: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine. His masterpiece would be worked on throughout the weekend before being completed and displayed on Sunday.

I had heard that the Good Smile Company would have a booth at Anime Central, so I was excited to see what figma figures and nendoroids they would have a available. The setup was pretty big with a couple of display cases with some of their more popular models, include Link from The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Pit and Dark Pit from Kid Icarus: Uprising, and a variety of Hatsune Miku figures. Ultimately, they didn’t have what they were looking for, but i wound up getting a temporary tattoo and sticker after filling out a survey; I was able to get my Miku nendoroid (mentioned above) from another vendor.

On Friday afternoon, I was able to borrow my friend’s Inazuma Japan tracksuit so I could cosplay Tachimukai Yuuki from Inazuma Eleven, complete with a plush soccer ball. My friend went as Mamoru Endou, not in his Inazuma Japan goalkeeper kit, but the regular field uniform. Back inside the Exhibit Hall, we heard someone screaming at us as we passed the Crunchyroll booth. Apparently one of the staff members turned out to be a huge fan of the Inazuma Eleven series and to top it off, Kariya Masaki and Kirino Ranmaru from Inazuma Eleven GO walked by. What a coincidence! So we all had to get our pictures taken and discussed soccer for almost a half hour.

Prior to my arrival, one of my friends had secured a number of tickets for the Kalafina concert on Friday night. Kalafina is an all-girl Japanese pop band — comprised of vocalists Wakana, Keiko and Hikaru — who have recorded songs for anime series like Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Fate/Zero, Kara no Kyoukai and Black Butler. The concert was scheduled to start at 8:00 pm CDT, so we all made our way across the street to the Rosemont Theater. Upon finding our seats, we were treated to a light show and some of the band’s hits played on two screens next to the stage. The theatre didn’t appear to be too packed as there were still plenty of seats available. Perhaps more people were up on the balcony? I couldn’t see. When Kalafina appeared on stage, it got pretty loud. I can’t remember the last time I’ve been to a proper concert where my ears were still ringing afterwards. The trio put on a heck of a show, playing songs such as Oblivious, Red Moon, Magia, Mirai, and The Whole Sky. Pausing in between songs, Wakana, Keiko and Hikaru would address the audience in English, reading off of pre-printed sheets kept on stage; they seemed pretty excited to be in Chicago. Once Kalafina had finished, they posed on stage to take pictures with the audience in the background. I love when a band interacts with an audience like that; definitely makes them amazing in my books.

Saturday turned out to be pretty busy, so I put my Naruto outfit back on and made my way back to the convention centre. My intent was to hit up the Naruto photoshoot that was happening in the afternoon, but I didn’t get that far wearing the costume as walking up and down with foam sandals and constantly having to adjust the pouch on the right leg as it kept slipping down and pulling on the safety pins. Aside from that, I was able to take pictures of the many awesome costumes making their way through the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center and Hyatt Regency O’Hare Hotel.

As the sun began to set on the second day of Anime Central, I found my schedule full taking photo shoots of my friends in costume. First up was a mini-shoot with Shizou from Durarara, followed by Sesshomaru and Rin from InuYasha. Making our way from the hotel to the green spaces between the on/off ramps of the I-190 proved a bit time consuming with everyone asking for pictures, but once we made it, they were all mine! I thought it was a lot of fun and managed to snap quite a number of great shots of them. Next, it was my other friend who was dressed as Yukio Okumura from Blue Exorcist. Hiding out in waning hours of the day under the skywalk and near the loading bays of the convention centre, I captured an armed teacher from True Cross Academy ready to take on the demons of darkness. Last person of the day: another friend, this time as Naruto Uzumaki. While some of the pictures turned out darker than normal (I should really invest in that Nikon SB700 flash), I was able to save face and make the remaining pictures look good. It’s a lot of practice and I would love to take more shoots with my friends in different outfits.

As Sunday is the last day of the convention, it would also be my last day in the city; fortunately I was able to plan my return flight home later in the evening so I could spend a couple of hours at the convention with friends and not rushing through everything to catch a plane. We had packed up everything and were out of the hotel room before 10:30 am CDT which gave us time to relax and stand in the massive line up that snaked down North River Road so we could enter the Exhibit Hall. Once we had a chance to say our goodbyes, it was back to the hotel to collect our luggage and off to the airport for the trip home.

I was pretty impressed with Anime Central this year; staff seemed organized and friendly, lots of signs, wide selection of merchandise. I didn’t check out any panels or the cosplay show this year, so I can’t comment on those. Registration is easy and saves time having the badge mailed to you for a small fee (see above); the best idea I’ve encountered at any convention. Total attendance, according to rumour, most likely topped 28,000, although I’d like to hear the official results. All in all, I had a fun time and can’t wait for 2014!

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