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The Big Apple Anime Festival was the must-see event of the year. With people of all walks of life coming together out of a common interest; enjoying themselves, discovering new shows and characters, showing off a distinct flair for the medium they love and looking forward to doing so for many more years to come.
"I'm loving it here,” said Matt K, who has attended the BAAF since it all began three years ago. “There are a lot more people here than last year, but it is still a lot more intimate than the Otakon. I’m just looking forward to enjoying the rest of the week and I will definitely be back for year four.”
On the other side of the hotel, Kira was enjoying her first year at the BAAF, coming in costume to show off her love of anime. “This is cool,” she said. “I like anime a lot. I watch it every single day and I just wanted to get dressed up. My aunt helped make my costume and I like it. I also like looking at the rest of the costumes that people are wearing.”
The art known as cosplay gives fans a reason to dress up as their favorite characters from the world of anime, manga or even video games. It doesn’t hurt to meet other people like them, who wowed many guests and had their pictures taken by countless fans that enjoyed seeing their characters come to life. “I really enjoy cosplay,” said Ender, who dressed up as Link from The Legend of Zelda. Ender showed up with her friend, Dante, who dressed as a ninja character from the game. “It really does bring people together who have the same interests. We met each other about a year and a half ago while doing cosplay. You can make some great friends here and this is a great event to enjoy together.”
So, what did I think? I know you were dying to know. My only complaints are that with so many people expected, the BAAF should have made more room or obtained a bigger space to accommodate the expected guests so I didn’t have to wait for close to 30 minutes on a line to the dealer room. Speaking of the dealer room, I must stress that the word deal is part of dealer room. Media Blasters and CPM were the only tables offering true deals and if I can go online or to a store and pay the same price for a product, than what is the point of going to the dealer room?
Other than that, I had a lot of fun, enjoyed the shows, the company and the atmosphere. The BAAF was indeed all it was cracked up to be. I made some great deals at the CPM table and saw Scorpion’s Revenge on sale complete with a quote from this site on the back of the box. My partner and I saw two great premieres, like Initial D and Tokyo Godfathers, two movies whose reviews can be found at the end of the article. We met some wonderful, interesting, if not unique, people and were certainly left looking forward to enjoying it all over again next year. Why pay money for a round trip ticket to the Orient, when the Orient comes right to you.
Send comments and questions about this article to JMinners@ybfree.com.
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Cardcaptor Sakuras and Tomoyo Gundam Wing Duo | CYubaba Spirited Awa | Yuffie Bunnie Bunny, Mokona, Rikkko, Magic Knight Rayearth and FFX-2 | Orfik as | Kita and Naru Love Hina Tetsuo Shima Akira | Dark Chi Chobits | Elegant Gothic Lolita |
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Link and Sheik Legend of Zelda | The Little Cardcaptor Sakura Misao Ruroni Kenshin | Elegant Gothic Lolita | Fan having Inu Yasha painted on her arm | J-Rock Sub-Zero | Satoshi Kon's Tokyo Godfathers Hana, Miyuki, and Gin | |