Sakura-Con 2010 (5)
Sakura-Con 2010 kicked off with autograph sessions by various guests including Noizi Ito, probably best known as the original character designer for the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and Shakugan no Shana. Ito-sensei also held a Q&A panel later the same day offering fans in America to ask her questions. We have included a full summarized transcription inside.
Sakura-Con is one of the largest anime conventions in the northwest and like all anime conventions, it has its usual events like the Masquerade and AMV contest. What made Sakura-Con stand out from the rest, was the Anime Swimsuit Contest Panel. This year’s Anime Swimsuit Contest was a lively, comedic affair with jokes thrown one after another. The Anime Swimsuit Contest is an unique event for an anime convention and is one of the more entertaining adult events that an otaku can go.
Trigun is one of the most beloved anime series of all time. Unlike most other series, Trigun is a science fiction western, which is strange to see in a medium saturated with animated school girls. Trigun is a one of a kind series and now, thanks to the effort of the fans, a new film has been made to complement the T.V. show. Thanks to the good people at Sakura-Con, Badlands Rumble had its world premiere screening in Seattle, Washington with Director Satoshi Nishimura and Character Designer Takahiro Yoshimatsu in attendance. Fans got to see the movie even before it was released in Japan. The movie was shown without any dubbing or even subtitles with raw Japanese audio. Even though most of the fans at Sakura-con could not understand the dialogue, it was still relatively easy to follow.
The Charity Auction for Sakura-Con 2010 was held in room 2AB from 11:00am to roughly 2:30pm. The benefitors of the auction were the Make-A-Wish Foundation®.
Sakura-Con had a huge pile of items to auction off. Everything from DVDs, to key-chains, to autographed posters to exclusive sketches, this event was sure to be exciting.
The most notable (high-priced) items that were auctioned off were mostly exclusive sketches and autographed items. Noizi Ito had provided four sketches for this event. Two Haruhi Suzumiya sketches and two Shana sketches. Each with the words Sakura-Con 2010 written across the top or side, her autograph and the character sketch in a shade of red. Each exclusive sketch sold for $2000, $1500, $1600, and $1600.
The three hour event finally ended around 2:30pm. Most of the items were sold, though some items never found a home. At Sakura-Con, items that are not sold during the Charity Auction are cycled to next year's Charity Auction. With a total of over $27,000 raised, Sakura-Con's Charity Auction in 2010 was a definite success.
Organized annually by the Asia Northwest Cultural Education Association (ANCEA), Sakura-Con 2010 was held from April 2nd 2010 to April 4th 2010 at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in Seattle, Washington. The Guests line up this year was pretty impressive and attracted a total of 18,002 attendees.