I was waiting for this convention for soooo long. Back in 2019, this convention was called International Fan Festival Toronto (IFFT). It took place over Easter weekend in the Metro Convention Centre. I attended it and despite some organization issues, enjoyed it immensely! Since then I have been waiting for it to come back to Toronto. There was another date scheduled for 2020, but then COVID happened and the whole thing was cancelled. :(
Then in March of this year, I got an e-mail saying that the convention will finally be coming back. It would still be taking place in the Metro Convention Centre during Labour Day weekend. I was so excited -- but sad at the same time. Unfortunately for me, I had a wedding to attend on the Saturday... so I'd be missing out on the most busiest day of the convention Dx This is why this blog has "PARTIAL" in the name.
I do have to say that Labour Day weekend for Anime Toronto was a much better choice than Easter weekend (or Father's day weekend, if the convention had actually taken place in 2020).
Here's the link to the first convention in 2019 if you want to check it out:
Like I've done with all my convention entries, I've lumped all my pics of cosplayers into one section. If you want to see just that, search for "Photos of Cosplayers". For the section of what I've bought, search for "My Convention Purchases". I didn't really do much of either but I like staying somewhat organized :)
A photobooth area for attendees. I didn't try it out by myself, haha.
The Little Details
Dates of Anime Toronto: September 1 - 3, 2023Location: Metro Convention Centre
Ticket Price Total: $282.50 (Premium admission -- I purchased this premium admission back in December, 2019)
Friday
Time Attended: 10:21 AM - 7:00 PM (SUNNY)
When I arrived at the Metro Convention Centre, I saw... slight disorganization. The attendees were spread out in small groups around the area. I checked to see if there were any line-ups to the opening ceremonies, the only thing starting at 10:30 AM (the Vendor's Hall opened at 11 AM), but there wasn't. Unsure of what to do, I added to the disorganization and leaned against a pillar close to the entrance. A few minutes to 10:30 AM, the doors opened and everybody from all directions went inside.Time Attended: 10:21 AM - 7:00 PM (SUNNY)
Anime Toronto 2023 Opening Ceremonies -- 10:35 AM - 11:10 AM
Jeremy Androsoff being emcee to the Opening Ceremonies.
The opening ceremonies was a bit... lacking. An intro video played but it was an intro video for AniRevo (another anime convention run by these organizers). The video quality also looked very washed out on the screens since the room lights were bright. We were shown a video from one of their sponsors (Sega), but the video also looked very washed out. The video shown was Sega's VTuber Popona singing and dancing to a couple songs. The only good part (at least in my opinion) was the emcee, Jeremy Androsoff, and his musical performances (it really takes a lot of guts to perform onstage and to put lots of feeling into it).
There were no guests present during the opening ceremonies... no words from the president of Anime Toronto... no extra performances from the other guests... compared to IFFT, this opening ceremony was a shell of what it could have been. :(
With almost an hour until the next thing, I went into the Vendor's Hall. Some of the booths were tempting, especially the ones in the Artist Alley but my attempt to be more minimalist kept my wallet safe... for the most part.
The booth for official IFFT / Anime Toronto merchandise. The mascots are really cute.
A bunch of crane games. I didn't feel like trying my luck, hahaha :)
AMV Showcase -- 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM
What am I seeing right now?
This was another disappointment for me. Why would an AMV event take place in an area where the lighting was sooo bright? Similar to what happened during the Opening Ceremonies, the videos looked washed out. The AMV Showcase would have worked better in a darkly lit room. I had my notebook out to jot down some memorable AMVs, but almost all of the AMVs had no credit information. I did my best to write down the series and any unique song lyrics or unique things so I can try searching for them later.
The AMV Showcase was scheduled to happen again but on the Saturday when I wouldn't be at the convention, so I sat through the entire 2 hours of washed out-looking AMVs. As I've mentioned in previous convention blogs, I love AMVs a lot. This is probably the worst treatment to AMVs I've ever seen.
Below is a clip of the video quality on the screen and then a couple AMVs that I think were played during the showcase.
A short clip of an AMV. I can't make out what's going on here :(
"Light Switch ~ Orange Road AMV" by Simplyfx. The song is "Light Switch" by Charlie Puth. I've never watched this series so I'm not sure if there are any spoilers.
"The Ouran Side AMV" by BecauseImBored1. The song is "The Other Side" from The Greatest Showman. Watching this makes me want to re-watch the series. <3
I made a couple purchases from the Artist Alley and sat at a chair downstairs to wait for the next thing. Eventually I saw a friend and spoke with him until doors opened for the next event. He made a killing with the crane games, lucky him.
Anime Speedtune Preliminaries -- 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
It's the 10th Anniversary!
When everybody walked in, we were handed an "Anime Speedtune Qualifier Exam" card. Pretty much, this was to see who would make the cut to participate in the actual Anime Speedtune event on Sunday. Gippy, the host, explained this preliminary was to offset anybody waiting in line for hours when contestants were originally determined via a first come, first serve basis.
Gippy would play 25 tunes for I think 10 seconds each and we had to guess if the tune was an opening theme, ending theme, or an insert song. A tie-breaker tune was also played with a question that asked for a numeric answer. I didn't originally plan to be a contestant, but I wanted to see how I did in the qualifier. Embarrassingly, I recognized only one song. For many of the tunes I just guessed.
After the tunes were all played, the exam cards were quickly collected and Gippy opened an Excel file with all the answers. He then proceeded to score each person's card live, automatically disqualifying any without a name.
Somehow, even with all my guessing, I made the cut! :O
My Qualifier Exam card and how each correct answer would be scored. I'm #4.
Gippy, the host of Anime Speedtune.
The answers to the qualifier. I can't believe I didn't recognize a tune from Parasyte: The Maxim! I love that show! DX The tune I recognized was from Detroit Metal City.
My overall score, if you can find #4.
Scoring is done. If you take a look at the "ID#" column, I believe that the column on the left counts how many people answered correctly for each row. This Excel sheet is very nicely organized! XD
Misc. Photos for Friday
The "life story" for one of the artists in Artist Alley. There was so much text I felt compelled to read it and so I took a picture so I wouldn't look all creepy standing by her booth for a long time trying to read it there. I could relate to her story somewhat :)
The Vendor's Hall and Artist Alley! There weren't too many attendees. I'm hoping that's because it was a Friday.
Saturday
Time Attended: N/A
As mentioned earlier, I had to attend a wedding so I missed this day entirely. All I hoped was that the turnout for Anime Toronto was much, much better on Saturday.Time Attended: N/A
Instead, here are a couple of Anime Toronto-related videos I found on YouTube:
"Anime Toronto September 2023" by The Great Canadian Explorer. This video walks through the vendor hall and artist alley. Music starts playing randomly at some point -- I imagine this is because of the singing in the background that had to be covered up due to copyright.
"Anime Toronto 2023 VLOG" by Ricoanmf. This short-ish vlog details his experiences on Saturday and Sunday.
Sunday
Time Attended: 4:30 PM - 7:30-ish PM (SUNNY)
I woke up pretty late today (I wonder why, lol) and missed a couple panels I wanted to check out. The only thing I still had time for was Anime Speedtune. Time Attended: 4:30 PM - 7:30-ish PM (SUNNY)
As I was making my way to the Convention Centre, I noticed several attendees walking past me (i.e. heading away from the convention -- they were likely going home already).
While I was in the line for Anime Speedtune, I ran into the same friend I saw on Friday and we chatted. He also passed the qualifiers. When the doors opened, 10 tickets were given out to attendees who wanted a chance to participate in case there were no-shows.
Anime Speedtune Grand Final -- 5:00 PM - 7:15 PM
Anime Speedtune!
I was a little nervous. I wasn't sure if I wanted to be a participant for Anime Speedtune because I was sure I would make a fool of myself. My anime music knowledge is pretty limited since I tend to watch a mix of new and older shows. I also think I don't watch enough anime. My friend said that I didn't have to participate, but I was very undecided.
To briefly sum up how Anime Speedtune works, it is a name that tune-type game but with a lot of extra elements. There are four rounds and the contestant with the highest score from each round moves to the final round. Contestants score points by answering correctly, but there are multiple difficulties. Answering correctly to a tune from a higher difficulty will earn more points. On top of there being multiple difficulties, there are also various modes like medleys and ramps that offer a slight variety in gameplay. And on top of that, there are also other things that can earn more points, if the contestant is skilled enough. It really is the most competitive name that tune game I've ever seen.
Overall instructions for Anime Speedtune.
More instructions.
All the categories.
A clip of Speedtune with quick guesses.
One of the medleys. I recognized two tunes, though I should have recognized four.
How many do you recognize? :3
The answers for the medley. I recognized Fullmetal Alchemist (I even remembered the song was called "Melissa"), and I was familiar with the song from Buso Renkin. I should have recognized K-On! and Sword Art Online.
Partway through Game 2, some water accidentally got on Gippy's laptop (the host). Soon after the screen froze for a few seconds and turned off. My internal reaction was D:! Gippy tried to dry the laptop but it didn't work. In the end, they were able to borrow a spare laptop and continue the gameshow that way, but the song categories were displayed as a bunch of files instead of the original layout. The contestants also had to raise their hands to answer instead of buzzing in. In order to make sure the event didn't run too over time, a couple games were shortened to playing only 10 seconds per song instead of 25 seconds. I have to commend Gippy that despite the mishap, he was still able to get the event done.
I did end up participating in Anime Speedtune, and I did embarrass myself -- I only got one correct guess, and it was video game-related, haha. ^^;
Anime Speedtune continues!
Misc. Photos for Sunday
How the Sunday afternoon looked like.
Overall Thoughts
From what I experienced (Friday and part of Sunday), Anime Toronto was unfortunately pretty lackluster. However, I can't be completely upset. Below were some of my thoughts while attending the convention:Did it cost anything for the organizers to cancel IFFT back in 2020 (cancelling any contracts with the venue, guests, vendors, hotels, etc)? What are the logistics involved with running a convention? This is the organizer's second time running a convention in Toronto, but it's under a new convention name -- how many new attendees would come?
I believe that if there was sufficient funding, Anime Toronto would have been an awesome experience. Then again, this is based on my experience on Friday and part of Sunday. The Opening Ceremonies and AMV showcase needed improvements, but the Anime Speedtune events were good. Maybe I missed a lot of good panels that could have changed my impression?
Despite my feelings about Anime Toronto, I really hope it comes back next year. I want it to grow and flourish. I loved IFFT 2019 and I really hope to see its spirit continue on in Anime Toronto.
Photos of Cosplayers
As mentioned earlier, here are some photos of cosplayers. I didn't see too many, but I'm sure that's because many were roaming about on Saturday. The most popular cosplays I saw were from Genshin Impact.
Yumeko Jabami from Kakegurui.
Keqing from Genshin Impact.
Nahida from Genshin Impact.
Zhongli! He looked too comfortably seated so I didn't want to bother him for a photo.
Cosplay I wanted to take a pic of, but missed my chance
-I can only imagine a bunch who attended on the Saturday
My Convention Purchases
Since I'm trying to be more minimalist these days, I didn't do that much spending. We'll see if that stance changes in the future. I do like supporting artists I like.I've said this in previous convention blogs, but I'm saying this again. When buying fan stuff, I often have this frame of mind:
1. Does the art style align with my tastes?
2. Does this work express the kind of fandom that expresses me? (like, if I saw a poster of Zuko and Katara holding hands and gently smiling, I might get it, because it expresses how I feel about their relationship -- a sense of deep understanding for each other)
3. Is this a piece of work that will evoke something in me every time I see it?
For what I've bought that I haven't yet watched / experienced the series for, I'll note it like this: (*)
Here is what I bought:
A couple picture / sticker keychain from Next Stop Please. The idea is to draw an image or put a photo sticker on the white piece of paper and slot it in. I thought it'd make for a nice personalized gift :) The paper template can be found on their site.
A bunch of things from Kelly K (the artist whose "life story" I took a pic of on Friday). Her style really appealed to me! Hopefully I'll get to see more of her stuff at future conventions.
So, to calculate the "damage" to my wallet:
2 picture / sticker keychains from Next Stop Please: $25
2 zines + stickers + print from Kelly K.: $50
Total "Damage": $75
If you made it this far, thank you very much for reading! Here's hoping that the next blog for Anime Toronto will be a more positive one (if it comes back -- please come back)!
If you have any questions about anything I experienced at Anime Toronto, or just comments and questions on anything, feel free to comment!
Thank you again for reading and have a wonderful rest of the week! :)
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