Anime North was even bigger this year than last if you can believe it. There were people from all over there and because I wore a Trent U t-shirt I met a few fellow Trent students there as well. I was also able to run into a few of the artists I’d seen on deviantArt in person.

I only went one day this year but that doesn’t mean I have fewer photos to share with you; in fact I have more. This can probably be attributed to the fact that I’ve moved into the world of digital SLR cameras with the Nikon D60. A “pro-sumer” camera, the Nikon D60 combines many of the features which make the D80 great with a light and easy to use package which I’m quite enjoying so far. Of course, the price is right too.

Anime North 2008 Cosplay Photo Gallery

What can I say? I just love this animation. From the dark introduction music in both the 1st and 2nd openings to the deliciously evil plot I just can’t stop watching this show.

Death Note follows Yagami Light, a high school senior who graduates to college during the course of the show.

Light finds himself disgusted with society and wishes to make a change. He feels he is surrounded by criminals and with his “strong sense of Justice” he wishes he could do away with them for the betterment of all.

As fortune would have it Light is presented with just this opportunity. Ryuk is a shinigami – which roughly means “death god”. Ryuk has become bored with the routine in shinigami society. In search of a little fun, Ryuk drops a Death Note in the human world.

Light is a brilliant character and the bulk of the show involves him outsmarting those who oppose his capitol punnishment of known criminals. This is where the show really shines because the ways light protects himself and the ways his enemies find out new ways to put him in danger are very complex and interesting indeed.

I take the most joy out of guessing what will happen next. You could say that Death Note is a very morbid murder mystery with a style that is extremely cool.

I love it!

It’s taken me most of a week to write this post but here we are. I’m posting all of my Anime North 2007 photos and as time allows I’ll add some captions. The event was huge this year and I wouldn’t be surprised if it had doubled in attendance.

Cosplay:

Models:

Some guy had his MP3 player and guitar plugged into a practice amp playing J-Rock in the dealer’s room. I thought it was a fun idea so I snapped a photo.

I believe the lens of my camera has finally come out of alignment. I’ll have to purchase a Nikon D80 to replace my crappy consumer camera which has serviced me so well all these years.

Well that’s it, I had a great time. I hope everyone else did, too!

Cosplay Frogger:

Some convention-goers are a bit nuts when it comes to jaywalking on a 6-lane road near the airport. This video might not be from this year but it illustrates the point pretty well. Thankfully from what I’ve read on Cosplay.com no pedestrians were hit in the two accidents that happened this year. As well, at least on Sunday when the torrential downpour came, pedestrians weren’t at fault either.

It seems that the manga has not caught up with writing new content until episode 110 and I’m still watching episodes in the early 70s. Let me tell you that around the time everything in Soul Society wraps up the story gets really, really awful!

It’s livable, I suppose but just about everything that defined Bleach as a series other than it’s characters are different. They go on a murder-mystery esque kick for a while until we figure out who a certain trio are an what they’re up to. Then we’re assaulted with a bad vampire story where the vampires are called Bounds (or bounto or something…)

I can’t wait to get back to the Bleach I know and love…

At least the ending theme is fun and not as annoying as “Happy People.”

Ichirin no hana is my favourite intro so far as well.

Mahou Shoujotai follows the adventures of a girl named Alice through a magical world. At first she gets herself and her friends into trouble and things are very light-hearted at the beginning of the series. The story takes a quick turn around the middle and comes to a fairly climactic ending. The one thing I can say is that they keep throwing wrenches into the works to keep you interested. Nothing really follows logically other than the fact that you’re pretty sure at the end of the whole thing everything will be alright.

The series comprises forty episodes at about 5 minutes per episode. The fansubs I’ve watched are actually about six and a half minutes each because they have a header that explains bits of the translation that might not translate well to English speakers. All in all I’d have to say this series was great. There was great lore, a great heroine and a great supporting cast. All of the important characters have their own motivations and story arcs which are given their due time.

I even appreciate that this isn’t a fanservice anime in the least sense. It sticks to the story at hand and I was riveted. I ended up watching many episodes in a row.

I’d give it 4 out of 5. Check it out for sure.

Official Mahou Shoujotai Site

Anime North was a blast this year with way more people and events than I had imagined. The show was big last year, but this year it was huge! The line-up on Saturday morning, the second day of the convention went all the way around the Toronto Congress Center!There were many good costumes and I didn’t get them all but I have a few here for you to see.

As well there were 3 Dance Dance Revolution type game booths, an area to play cards, a dealer’s room where you could buy merchandise, the artist’s alley, the auction and much more. That only counts for one building! Across from the Congress Center there is the Doubletree Hotel where half of the convention was held.

There were pannel discussions on various topics from types of anime to how to get a (and how not to get) a ‘con girlfriend’ (meaning a girlfriend at the convention).

There were many impromptu photoshoots such as this Yaoi Photoshoot which was more yuri than yaoi.

Camera crews scoured the event looking for interesting tidbits here and there. News agencies and YTV were seen wandering about taking interviews from the various convention goers.

In the Doubletree Hotel there were video games of various genres being played. Board games and games of ‘go’ were being played in the side lobby as well. In many of the rooms there were videos showing of various anime with some rooms showing themes such as, “Anime Hell” or “The first 40 years of anime.”

The streets were pretty much taken over by people in costume durring the event much to the chagrin of commuters. Thankfuly I didn’t see any ambulances so I assume noone was hit whilst bolting across the streets. Some of the fans took to crossing where there were no crosswalks, even though the traffic can be quick and dangerous in this area.

It’s a common affliction among anime fans to watch episode after episode of fansubbed animation. The storylines are often riviting and end in cliffhangers or otherwise leave you wanting more.

I think my work is done here… ^_^