A Certain Magical Grimoire

Today was the day of one of the few anime conventions we have down here in Sydney for the year, and whilst I must say it wasn’t exactly the most rewarding experience for me since the first time I had attended, the fans still come in droves upon droves to flit around the stalls every year. Sydney’s March Mini-Animania isn’t exactly best convention around simply because the merchandise selection is poor, the cosplay just okay (there are always gems around but most of the time it’s passable), and the events uninteresting and the same every time i visit, but then again, it is a precursor to the main Animania later in the year so perhaps I shouldn’t be too critical about it.

Regardless, my main annoyance is simply the price just to get in. $25 simply to see some anime screenings, cosplay performances, AMVs, and time to browse around a small selection of stalls…to me it isn’t exactly the best exhange for the price I pay. Add that to the fact that it just seems to inflate every year, and you’ve got a receipe for no longer getting people to attend. Maybe I’m jaded after several years of attendance, or maybe I’m being a bit too cheap, but the fact is that these conventions aren’t seeing enough vendors to make them worth going to anymore. Most of the time, the ones that are there don’t stock anything worth buying, and it would be still be cheaper simply just to order them online in one go rather than being there in person. Even if the larger one has some additional events like panels and competitions, it’s not glorious or anything.

There has been a recent addition to the list of anime conventions in Sydney though, and SMASH , as it is known, is probably the best one so far. A good variety of vendors, events worth attending, workshops that actually are interesting and guests that are known to a certain extent. It’s also the only one that features doujin circles…well, fan groups at the least…in attendance, and some of their works are very, very good too.

On another note, I also played Left4Dead with some friends today, and it’s worth the ratings that people have plied onto it. Never mind the fact that the ‘zombies’ come in hordes at you, nor the fact that some of the higher leveled enemies are so annoying to deal with when they appear, the need for cooperation, communication and strategic thinking (as cheap as some of our tactics were) is much different than what you’d expect from a first person shooter. And while it’s not Resident Evil 4, the graphics are wonderfully crisp and smooth, and the sound that backs up zombie rushes or boss appearance so telltale that you respond accordingly when it volume cranks up. It’ a definite recommended play, until Starcraft 2 is released anyways.

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