On September 4, 2015, Sacramento comic fans kicked off their biannual anime convention, Sacanime, at the Sacramento Convention Center. The three-day convention’s summer edition underwent several significant changes since last year, some met with approval, others with a feeling of general dissatisfaction from the attendees.

The first of these changes was the date. Traditionally held the last weekend of August, Sacanime tested out a controversial new time slot over Labor Day Weekend.

“I miss the cons that were one week before school started, or the week of,” said Yuri Schwander, Sacanime attendee since 2012.

Other changes were even less considering of congoers. “The panels weren’t very diverse, they leaned heavily towards a particular fandom,” said Kailey Johnson of the schedule, which featured no less than four panels for a particular webcomic over the three-day period.

“It was unfair,” added Schwander,

Despite the drama surrounding the programming, congoers still found themselves able to have a good time. Many, like Schwander and Johnson, met friends who they wouldn’t normally get to see face-to-face, and with the lackluster event schedule, there was lots of time for catching up, playing games, and shopping.

“There was a vendor’s table that I absolutely adore, they make pieces of jewelry out of wire and beads,” Johnson said.

Schwander, less interested in the fashion side of anime conventions, said he bought ‘Morgan’, “a big plush cat and my favorite and only son.”

Cosplay, one of the main attractions of anime conventions, seems largely unaffected by the general bad feelings towards the programming.

“[I cosplayed] Robin from Fire Emblem Awakening. He also cameoed in Smash 4,” said Schwander. “It was two hundred bucks total for costume and wig.”

Johnson, who cosplays Sapphire from Steven Universe, spent around $250 in total and about 40 hours on her cosplay.

“You always come out of a convention super motivated to cosplay anything and everything that can be made with craft foam,” Johnson said. Her favorite part of cosplaying Sapphire is the skirt.

“You can hide anything in a ballgown,” Johnson said.

As for Schwander, he loves meeting new people who share similar interests. “The friends you make while cosplaying are keepers.”

by MADELEINE WOODWARD