Anime Impulse Seattle was a couple of weekends ago, and boy did I need the fun it brought. It feels like it’s been quite a while since the last convention, Sakura-Con, was only a little over a month ago. But man, did I forget how bad my feet could hurt from walking around all day. You never really think about it till the first time you sit down at a convention, then you just don’t want to get back up.
This convention was different then what I was expecting, it was actually four mini conventions all packed into the Seattle Convention Center (the old building). Sneaker Expo, Collectors Expo, K-Play Fest!, and Anime Impulse. This was a little strange and none of these mini conventions took up much room, even though the convention center is very big. All of these events together only took up about half of one floor of the convention center (the floor with the sky bridge), and still felt pretty sparse.
I do think one of the best parts of the two day event was Melona, who were a sponsor of the convention. They were offering a free photo booth, where cosplayers and con-goers could get up to four printed copies of their photos (and a digital). They were also offering their ice cream and juice boxes for free to people who followed them on social media, I think you can see why this was the best part of the convention. My friends and I went many times to the photo booth both days to do fun and funny photos together of our cosplays (yes, we did match up in our One Piece cosplays).
One the second day I was a judge on the lip sync contest with two others, Tatiana (@totcoc0a) and Glaiza (@classicalglaiza), I was blown away by the contestants and their performances. Our host, Serenity (@clickclacksnac), was very entertaining and was so encouraging to the contestants. Who were all doing last minute practicing one more time and all were a little nervous. I know us judges were a little nervous as well about going on stage and she was so kind, making jokes and talking about Bridgerton with us to take our minds off everything. It was a little difficult to narrow down to two winners, but we did add on an honorable mention for third place (we came up with a prize for them afterwards).
The first place winner was Jay (@fizziefolliexo), who swept us away with her “Jane Doe” cosplay and performance. The second place winner was Fable (@fabled.cos), who played up into their character to a T, as Stolas from Helluva Boss with their performance. Our honorary third place was Lial (@lial.cos), who brought the energy and fun (especially with going first) as Bepo from One Piece. I was also surprised to find out that this was the first time either first and second place winners ever performed in a lip sync contest. The contest was sponsored by Kotobukiya, they gave us anime figures to hand out to the winners and were kind enough to give the judges and host a gift as well.
In the end I think this weekend was fun and I liked seeing new vendors and sponsors for a convention in the area. I hope we get to see this convention again next year, and I hope they will be able to expand and grow to where they don’t need as many other mini conventions packed in as well. But, being a small convention isn’t a bad thing, there wasn’t a crazy ton going on that I felt rushed or felt like I was missing out on events happening on the schedule. Many people showed up to the One Piece cosplay meet up and it was very organized by Yuri (@ooyu.cos) and Brandon (@menacecos). They did a great job getting the group into poses and directing us all, and took any and all suggestions for what characters to take photos of. The Delicious in Dungeon panel was also fun to attend, sadly no photos were allowed at the event, but it was a packed main stage for the discussion with the voice actors.
Again, it was fun to have a relaxing time at a smaller convention with friends I haven’t gotten to spend as much time as I’ve wanted to lately, and it was great meeting more cosplayers in the community. Now to wait for Washington State Summer Con before cosplaying again!
Were you at Anime Impulse Seattle 2024? What were your highlights? Feel free to leave a comment below or chat with us on Twitter/X at @TheConCollectve, Threads at @theconventioncollective, or Bluesky at @theconcollective.bsky.social
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