Characters of all kinds filled the University Center last Saturday for Valdosta’s first anime convention, Kaji-con.
Kaji-con, which was hosted by Anime Aftermath, VSU’s anime club, offered a variety of games, shows, and prizes for anime lovers from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
“I think it was an astounding success there were no massive speed bumps. Even things we thought might fail were successful,” said Anime Aftermath president, CJ Yow.
Games were played with an anime twist, such as Anime Jeopardy, Anime Pictionary, Name That Character, Iron Artist, and Darcy’s House of Torture.
Darcy’s House of Torture was one of the most popular games where contestants had to do bizarre tasks and trivia with unpleasant consequences for wrong answers.
Three members of the audience were chosen to dance to a Japanese song for the entire duration of the game.
The first challenge was the “Happy Taste Ice Lobotomy” where three contestants were quizzed on anime and had to buzz in with the answer- the catch was that before they were able to buzz in, they had to chug slushies.
During the next challenge, a contestant had to dig through ice with their elbows in search of an egg. The third challenge was “Let’s Make a Pretty” during which contestants had to draw an anime character with finger paint using their feet.
The final challenge was “Bubble Gum Nega Yum.” During this game each contestant was asked a question testing their anime knowledge. If they got the answer wrong they had to drink one of four concoctions like soy soda, Korean hot sauce, pickled krill, and fish sauce.
In the Cypress Room, Kaji-con goers could play video games all day ending with a video game tournament at 6. Toba Ellis won the video game tournament.
During the day some of the favorite anime TV shows like Gundam Wing, Princess Nine, and Nerima Daikon Brothers were shown in the UC Theatre.
During the convention a new anime movie, Envagelion 1.01 was premiered. Kaji-con also had several panels discussing maters related to the anime world. Pirate vs. Ninja panel discussed the continuing debate over the pros and cons of both pirates and ninjas.
Cosplay tips and tricks was a discussion on how to make the perfect costume for cosplay.
Towards the end of the convention, a cosplay contest took place which featured several different categories. Best in Show winner was Brittany Howard as England from Axis Hetalia. The Most Creative winner was Craig Gaddis as a pun on the title Hellsing. The Best Attention to Detail winner was Amanda King as Yomiko in Read or Die. The Best Original Design winner was Samara Ayers who was inspired by the Japanese fashion style of Dekoro Harajuku.
Anime Aftermath started in February 2009 and the members have been planning the convention ever since according to sophomore Brandi Jackson.
The members of Anime Aftermath decided to call their convention Kaji-con because Kaji means “fire” in Japanese and they would be able to show their Blazer pride.
Because of the convention’s success, Anime Aftermath is planning on having Kaji-con 2010 according to Yow.