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For those who were not hung over from the night before, there were plenty of events to keep you entertained from 10am onwards.  For a start those who were itching to spend their hard earned cash could either go into the dealers or bring and buy rooms.  Both rooms used were of a good size and there was plenty of choice on what you could buy.  Meanwhile in the Dorothy Hodgkin's building there was a hive of activities from dancing lessons to guest signings to video programmes.

This year Amecon pulled out all the stops in terms of guests and had not one (as they did in 2008) but three.  This included Brad Swaile, Wendy Powell and 'secret squirrel' Monica Rial, who has appeared at previous Amecons.  During the afternoon there was a panel for each of them to discuss the lives of an anime voice actor/actress.

 

  Animetion attended the Cosplay Café in the morning, which was held in the Student Union bar.  Although no hot drinks were available on the day (due to health & safety reasons) there was a choice of cold drinks and cakes to buy.  What stood out here was the small attention to details made such as place mats of the mascot Ami-chan and the personal service offered by each waiter/waitress.  This included pulling out the chairs pouring out each drink for customers, as well as some friendly banter. 

Refreshed, we quickly moved on to the industry panel, which went into detail about the state of   the anime industry not only in our own country

but also in Japan.  Straight after this the Beez panel followed.  In this panel they announced three titles that they are going to be released in the UK, which are Lucky Star, Sora No Woto, The Girl Who Leapt Through Space.  It was also interesting to find out that Durarara!!! is being released in the UK before the USA on subtitles only, with the first part being released in October 2010.

For those more interested in Gothic Lolita culture rather than anime, there was a panel covering it running opposite the Beez panel covering all the basics for those who want to know.

Next was the MCM Expo panel, which was the first time the Expo organisers had run such a panel at a convention.  The panel went into detail such as the reasons why October 2010 London Expo is expanding to three days and how MCM Fringe (an initiative designed to promote fan-run events) will enhance the event further.  It was really interesting to find out information not normally known by the visiting public, such as how the comic and manga areas are subsidised so that artists can promote their work.
 

Animetion then headed back to the Student Union for one of the major highlights of the weekend - the cosplay masquerade.  After some queuing and waiting, the event unfortunately started thirty minutes behind schedule.  It was well worth the wait though, as the cosplays on show were good and included costumes from My Neighbour Totoro, Kingdom Hearts, Eternal Sonata, and even Disney's Robin Hood to name but a few.  This year Amecon had two competitions for cosplay, one organised by the event itself and the other being the qualifier for the Euro Cosplay finals this October.  The first part of the masquerade was for standard entrants, with a mixture of

prizes plus judges awards on offer.  Towards the end the entrees for Euro Cosplay took the stage, with expert fursuiter FatKraken winning the spot for the finals.  She will be representing the UK along with SephNoir, winner of the previous qualifier, at the finals later.  Overall the quality of all of the cosplays was of a high standard, regardless of whether they were Euro Cosplay entrants or not.  We are sure it must have been a hard job for the judges to make their final decision when it came to winners, Animetion certainly had difficultly picking a favourite!

Immediately after the masquerade we moved straight onto the charity auction.  This is always an interesting event to attend, as you never know what otaku item of goodness will tempt you to go beyond your bank overdraft!  This year it was assisted by guest Brad Swail, who had kindly donated some items of art and a plushie to the auction.  The items on offer varied from large pillows of anime characters, DVD box sets,  mascot Ami-Chan plushie and a full set of con-badges.  Finally fellow summer convention Ayacon kindly donated a weekend pass to their next event, along with four nights accommodation and a full set of their con-badges.  This alone helped to raise over £350 for the Donna Louise Trust

As the evening entertainment began there was plenty to keep you interested.  For those who wanted to test their brain on there was the pub quiz.  Meanwhile in the Ball Room the J-Pop/J-Rock disco was keeping people entertained, with much glowstick spackery.  Animetion, who had had a heavy night the night before decided to call it quits early, ready for the another full day of activities. 


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