Acen 2011! My very first anime con!

So I was uber excited when a friend at my school’s anime club told me she had extra badges to go to Acen this year! I have never been there but I’ve always wanted to go for about… 5 years! Being a Chicago local Acen is our regional con, just hoping on the blue line and it will lead you straight to Rosemont.

At first I didn’t see any cosplayers but while walking further out of the station I saw a crap load! The first one I say was a lovely Faye Valentine cosplayer. Oh did that bring me joy ^_~

So after walking through the crowd of cosplayers both amazed and dazed I met my friend in front of the Hyatt (the hotel that Acen is held) she gave me and my girlfriend badges then made me told me go where ever. I happily obliged. The vendor area was huge! Cosplayers running around left and right grabbing all the doujin, manga, anime DVDs, plushs, hats and candy they could find. I on the other hand was too overwhelmed by the vendors and cosplayers just ran around looking at things.

These are some pictures I picked up from the interwebs in the vendor area and artist alley. I honestly don’t know who took them nor do I know which site they were taken off of but these pictures are not mine. I actually grabbed them off /cgl/ a few days ago so who knows where they got it them from.

Yup one of the vendors at the Artist Alley.

These were pretty awesome... too bad I was pretty broke.

Ah hats! Damn you TF2 for creating my unhealthy obsession! Damn you!

Then there is the cosplay! There were some bad ones but loads of great ones! I saw a great Lust cosplayer but then I was with my girlfriend during the time… dammit. Still there were a whole bunch of great cosplayers running around! Here are some of my favorites. Again these pictures  weren’t taken by me.

A Flandre Scarlet cosplayer ^^ I can't help myself around Touhou cosplay.

A Yoko cosplayer. Ah yes by far one of the best ones I saw around.

LMAO! Dat Dr. Venture! This was the perfect cosplay.

Haha! Dr. Girlfriend and The Monarch! They're both perfect in this picture but we both know what we're interested in! ^_~

My girlfriend and I were behind her. I said, "I'm team rocket and this shiny Pikachu I must capture!" then she hit me. <_<

Panties & Stocking with Garter Belt cosplayers. These three look awesome in together... Wish I could see a transformation scene from Panties & Stocking though. ^_~

There is a lot more to tell but I don’t want to give a long rant on what happened. The next con I’m going to will be Ramencon 2011 in Indiana! This con is going to be small compared to Acen’s 25,000 attendance but I’m sure it’s going to be just as fun!