Unfortunately missing the first day, I arrived at SacAnime on Saturday after taking a train to Sacramento. Being the first time I have been to this convention, I was equally as curious as I was excited about what is in store. As a veteran convention attendee that visited various conventions over the years such as Anime Expo and Pacific Media Expo, I am aware that each has their own unique differences and SacAnime is no exception.
What I noticed was that a good number of guests of honor were notable English dub voice casts such as Steve Blum who voiced Spike from Cowboy Bebop and Sam Rigel who voiced Shirou from Fate/Stay Night. I attended the Black Butler Reunion panel where Brina Palencia who voiced Ciel and J. Michael Tatum who voiced Sebastian were holding a Q&A session. Tatum had a very outgoing personality and was not afraid to give out his sometimes harsh opinions on certain topics. For example, on the subject of the Ciel and Sebastian pairing within the Black Butler fandom, he stated he is not a big fan due to Ciel probably being a bit too young, He clarifies though that he is respectful of others’ tastes, but he also has his own. He also admits that he was creeped out from the Ciel corset scene in the anime.
At the exhibitors hall, there were vendors selling various anime (and non-anime related) merchandise. At the back was the artist alley with the far left side being the area where premium autographs sessions were held. Due to the popularity of smartphone game Pokémon Go, goods related to Pokémon were probably the most popular and abundant. Admittedly, even I was joining the hype by wearing a Team Rocket T-shirt.
I also visited the console game room located at the Sheratin Grand Sacramento Hotel which was across the street from the Sacramento Convention Center. There, various games were showcased such as Super Smash Bros. 4, Guilty Gear, Killer Instinct, Street Fighter, Dance Dance Revolution, and many more. Unsurprisingly, the room was crowded with excited players casually and competitively battling against one another.
Overall, my first impressions of SacAnime was positive with a good number of events that will keep at least me from being bored. Since it is the first day of attending for me, I feel that I have yet to properly explore everything the convention has to offer. Tomorrow will be the third and final day, so I’ll for sure get my fair share of fun experiences if the trend keeps up.
