Review #2: Anime Midwest 2015 -- by Elizabeth

Hello! This is lightning’s daughter’s friend, Elizabeth, and I’ll be talking about my experience of Anime Midwest 2015. This was my very first convention, so my perspective is probably a little bit different from Erin’s. All the same, it was an amazing three days, and I had a lot of fun! So without further ado, here’s how my days went:

Friday, July 3^rd

The first day of the convention. The entrance hall was absolutely packed with people getting their tickets for most of the day. It was really amazing. I was overwhelmed at first, as I’ve never seen such a concentration of sheer energy and excitement in one place before!

After getting my press pass, I wandered around the vendor floor for a little while. I got some Pokémon pins for my roommate and myself, and a really interesting comic book created by one of the art vendors (Sire, by Alexis Royce).

From 2:00 to 3:00, I was at a panel for my favorite video game series, Legend of Zelda. The panel mostly seemed to be tossing opinions back and forth about bosses, dungeons, and items, but it was interesting to hear the different points of view. After that, I spent more time wandering around and taking in the sights, and meeting some of Erin's other friends. Then we went to Denny’s for a late dinner, which I really needed.

Saturday, July 4^th

Since Erin was going to be in a panel that morning, I woke up around the same time she did. I was tired from the previous day, so by the time I was ready to be out and about, she was already gone. I was less overwhelmed, however, and I took a lot of pictures of cosplayers and funny goings-on.
I didn’t go to any panels, but I did hang out at consweet (the place with free ramen, rice and Mountain Dew) for awhile, and poked around the vendor stalls. They had some fun number games, where you paid and the number you got determined what sort of mystery bag of merchandise you got. I also entered a raffle, but didn’t win. I also went to the arcade later that day, and had a lot of fun hanging out there and playing games.
I got tired again after a while, so I went back to the hotel room. We walked to the McDonalds later for dinner, and while the walk was long and a little unsettling, the food was great and affordable!

Sunday, July 5^th

I decided to sleep in until 10:00, which was a good decision considering how worn out I’d been the previous day. After getting ready for the day and packing up my things for checkout, I headed out for the vendor floor again for some last-minute souvenir shopping.

Between 12:00 and 1:00, I was at a panel hosted by Samurai Dan, and got to see a 300-year-old sword and a 700-year-old sword! I also got a video on how to tell the difference between a decorative sword and an actual weapon. After that, I went to consweet for a snack before heading to the entrance hall to leave around 3:00.

The trip back took a few hours, so I spent the time switching between mentally reviewing all the events of the past few days and getting some much-needed naps.

All in all, the whole experience was amazing, and I’d say that my first convention was a complete success! I had a lot of fun, and I’m very grateful that I was invited to attend!