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Anime Central 2009

So.. last weekend I was Road Trip-bound for the 12th annual Anime Central Convention held at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare and the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois..

Anime Central (ACen) is the largest Anime, Manga, and Asian Culture Convention in the Midwest,  hailing over 13,000 friends and fans every year!

Now right about now you may be asking yourself: “Lex, what the hell are you doing at an Anime Convention?” ..well, while I do admit to being an avid fan of Cowboy Bebop, Gundam Wing, ..Samurai Champloo, etc..  that isn’t my main reason for attending. Anyone who actually knows Lex should know about the 7years of my life [01-08] that I dedicated to professional arcade gaming [mainly the Tekken Series] so I go to pay homage and also to compete in the tournaments and casual gaming sessions that are held every year. In other words.. I’ve more than earned my stripes in the nerd-world thank you very much.

My motives aside.. the main reason that most people go is to Cosplay which is short for “Costume Roleplay”. People pick their favorite anime, manga, comic book, video game, graphic novel, band or movie character and do their best to outfit themselves to look as much like that character as possible. Basically it’s like Halloween.. only the costumes for the most part are taken 10x more seriously.

Japanese street fashion such as Visual-Kei, Lolita, and Steampunk are also very widely portrayed in Fashion Shows and by fans alike. From your favorite Japanese cars, to your favorite card games..

Girl In Lolita

..DJs, A Masquerade, Masses of Merchandise, and a Rave with over 5000 people..there truly is something for everyone here.. well almost everyone.. Sometimes I even join in on the festivities! If you’re any type of a fan at all, you should definitely take into consideration attending, but unfortunately you’ll have to wait 364 days until the next one because this year’s ACen is over and done!

See ya next year!

Lex As Sweeney Todd

More Photos Below..

Additional Photo Credits: risette, Thalynn, theanimeblog..thanks for Flickr’ng!

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