It is so hard to write this and keep my eyes open, I am so joyfully tired after day two at Anime Washington. It was such a blast, I loved that the friends I made on day one all wanted to go out and have dinner after day two! Truly some of the best memories I’ll ever have from a convention and this is only convention number two of the year so far!
Day two was a little less crowded, but no less fun! It was nice getting another chance to go back through artist alley and look closer at the art and pick up a few things (I can no longer buy posters or any wall art, since my walls are too full already!). I was lucky enough to buy a shirt I had my eyes glued to yesterday. The title, Girl Dinner, with the one and only Gojo from Jujutsu Kaisen on it (swoon). Yesterday had sold out most of the shirts, and the ones in my size. Today though…well there was one display in my size and I don’t think I’ve ever thrown my money down so fast.
I took my friend’s son again to the con, and he had a blast, and got some of his first ever anime figures (I’m so proud). He also schooled me when we went to play in the video gaming room, and kicked my butt every time. I didn’t think one could lose at Tetris so badly, but I proved to be a special case at having no clue what I was doing. In my only defense, I think they have changed the game since I played it. But, it was so great to see him open up and talk with people about his favorite animes and how he wants to start cosplaying too!
One of the cooler things I saw at this convention, that seemed to be a really big hit (I just know the vendors in charge must have loved that!) were the claw machines. We had seen them yesterday, but didn’t play because of the lines and crowds around them. Today though, we just kept going back to play, they’re kind of addicting. The prizes were all these super cute medium sized plushies and they are so soft! I did a couple rounds, but mostly left it to K (my friend’s son) to go in for the kill. He did so great, got me two dinos. I did get a third one, a very hard plush everyone was struggling to grab. A mini black cat that just did not want to leave, but someone swooped in and nabbed it. He was kind enough to just give it to me, since he was just playing to have the thrill of winning. I love all my new plushies and my squishy kitten!
I would also like to state I kept my promise! I went to a panel today!!! Cue dance music and lights! We sat and enjoyed listening to all the voice actors of My Hero Academia talk and answer questions. It was so fun, and afterwards we got to meet a very cute family that was cosplaying as the family from SPY×FAMILY (their daughter was so cute!).
My main highlights from Anime Washington were pretty good. There were some ups and downs (which I’ll write about later), but I loved meeting so many great people this weekend! That was the all time best highlight in my book. Getting to know people and making a new gang of friends! The four other girls I met, I absolutely loved and am so happy for all the hanging out in the future will bring us. We even all met up for dinner tonight before heading next door to doing more claw games (it was super fun, but harder than the ones at con). Everyone at the con this weekend was also very nice and it was so great to get so many great photos of their cosplays, and there were just too many cute kids in cosplay! Overall, the best part to me really was seeing my friend’s son’s wonderment and happiness shine through him at attending his first convention. I hope I’ll be able to take him along to another convention in the future, and help him on his figure collecting.
Now I’m off to start getting ready for MegaCon Orlando, which is only three day away now (oh my gosh!). I still have much to do, but time spent away from getting ready was so worth the weekend spent at Anime Washington.
Were you at Anime Washington this past weekend? 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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