all HTML, thumbnailing and few comments by eternaly awesome Anna-neko
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Hey everyone, and welcome to the 3rd convention of 2001 for Trowa Al and ANFCP. This time Albert Ng's
Freestyle Cosplay Photographs goes to Chicago, IL for Anime Central 2001: a weekend of anime, fun with
friends, and of course.. photographs of the very nice cosplayers that showed up for this weekend of May
11th-13th. Granted the weather started off bad with rain and thunderstorms when myself, my brother Tom,
Fernando, and Ace arrived Thursday night, but we were able to scope out the con site, a nice meal at Chilli's,
and visit the local GameWorks (expensive DDR USA & 3rd Mix: $1.50 for 3 songs?!) We rested up nicely before beginning the weekend that would be my first experience at Anime Central.
The convention site, the Sheraton, was a nice hotel, but due to the bad timing of having to renovate most of
the hotel (esp. the main lobby) during the weekend of A-cen, and that caused a lack of space for taking
pictures and moving around the place. (Nothing worse than taking pictures with walls with chipped
walls, curtains made of tarps, and rolls of yet-to-be-laid-out carpet in the background..) The overfill hotel,
another Sheraton a few miles away, was just as nice and had a gorgeous lake outside it, perfect for cosplay
pictures. Yet the A-cen Sheraton still was a good place for a convention, and renovation or not, it didn't
hamper the spirits for the con-goers that weekend.
Friday was a little slow for the convention, but the opening ceremonies was nice, as they had a little video
introduction for each of the Guests of Honor. The dealers' room or Exhibitors' Hall was split into 2 separate
rooms, which made it a little hike back n' forth for the eager shoppers, but at least there was no waiting in
looong lines. Saturday picked up immensely, with activities happening back and forth, as well as the number of
cosplayers appearing in large numbers. The Cosplay panel was informative, fun, and a number of cosplayers and fans showed up to learn about the Art of Cosplay. For a special non-anime related event, there was a
mini-photo shoot of the Chicago-based racers, who displayed their hot import cars along with several girls
(including my friend Margaret) who posed for some VERY nice pictures. ^_^ Check out the special "omake"
pictures and you'll be impressed, I'm sure. The Saturday night Masquerade was the main highlight of the
convention, and there were a lot of good skits, along with some great costumes. Afterwards came the large
photo-shoot in the outdoor Pavillion tent. Since there were tons of people there (mainly for the free food!) it
was difficult getting the pictures of the Masquerade contestants, but I managed to get some, including the small but good group for the American Cosplay Paradise (ACP) and Cosplay Mailing List shots. No late-night parties or dances for me, since the masquerade and party afterwards took a while, so we called it a night after taking lots of "reenactment pictures" for Henry's "Initial-U" skit. hehe
Sunday was a little slower, but I was able to get a few more cosplayer pictures that were still around on
Sunday. I mainly was there to take pictures of me and Claudia in her Mana costume, and say bye to people I
knew there..
Overall I had a real fun time at my first Anime Central. It would've been better if the hotel wasn't undergoing all that renovation, and it was a minor hassle having to drive back n' forth between the two Sheraton hotels.
Didn't get ALL the pictures I wanted to take, but I beat my previous record (10 rolls) but only by 1. I'll have to
see if I'm up for a return trip to Anime Central in 2002, and who else would be interested in going. But the mood and enjoyment level after this weekend looked good for a return trip next year.. we'll have to wait and see..
Thanks go out to Henry Genjitsu, for accomodating us at the overfill Sheraton for the con, and it was nice
meeting his friends like Frank, Albert, Erika L., and everyone else whose name I forgot. But your Initial U
skit (mixing Initial D, Utena, and uhh.. a lot more was too much!) Good seeing Erika from Southern CA, so we
didn't feel like the only West Coast Cosplayers to attend an outside-CA con, and seeing cosplayers I've seen
before but never talked to before like Kimmie (can't wait to see you at Animazement!), Elfeater (so kawaii in all your costumes!!) and Crystal (Tekken characters never looked so good!) And for my two good cosplayer
friends from Southern CA: Claudia & Margaret, I was so happy to see the two of you again since Fanime, and
thanks for letting me take pictures of your always-sugoi costumes. Margaret: Thanks for posing for the car
photo-shoot, as those pics came out great. Claudia: Our two cosplays together look so kawaii and nice; you're
the one who's too kind. :) And thanks go to my brother Tom, and my friends Ace and Fernando for braving the
adventure with me, and we shared in the fun together. Hope we can all do it again next year!
Up next for ANFCP is Animazement, a short 2 weeks after A-cen! Can Trowa Al handle the pressure, the
excitement, the funds, and the film for it? Find out, as North Carolina is the next stop. As usual, big thanks go
out to Anna-neko for helping me create these lovely pages of pictures you're about to see. *Hugs* Can't wait
to finally meet you in person, after a few years of only taking your picture, and take more pictures of your
costumes since Otakon 2000. :) And of course big, BIG thanks go to my sweetheart Stella for helping me scan most of these pics, saving me lots of time. I love you for that, honey! Can't wait for our weekend together at Animazement! ^_~
If you'd like to contact me, you can do so at animeng@msn.com, or AOLIM me at Trowa Al. To check out my
old site, go to: http://members.nbci.com/anfcp/cosplay.htm or check out the new pages for 2001 cons created by Anna: Katsucon 2001 and Fanime 2001. If you have the time, please sign my Guestbook, as I'd love to hear from you and appreciate your comments. Thanks, and see you at anime con soon! CIAO!
Albert AKA Trowa Al