I awoke the next morning excited and ready to explore the con. When I arrived at registration again, I was surprised to find that it was just as long as it had been yesterday! Not only was the line excessive, the staff changed the start time several times. The time went from 10 am to 11:30 then to noon. However, they passed out the forms for registration and were nice enough to hold places in line for patrons to get cash if needed. The staff did this to make all transactions faster which was to everyone's benefit. This courtesy on behalf of the staff up's the rating to 3.5/10. It remains low because I was still in line for 5 hours. After I finally received my badge I was told that programs still were not available. I felt that this was totally unacceptable, there was plenty of time to print them out at least two days before the actual convention; This would have cut down the chaos.
There was a new policy this year, patrons were being issued wrist bands that were needed to return to their room. This was done to promote safety and care for their guests and elevators. It quickly became a pain trying to get a wrist band, or at the very least, to get to my room. This rule change caused an uproar among the public causing the staff became annoyed and many of the them became a bit rude; there were even a few that didn't really want to help, they seemed to be doing it just to get a free ticket. Eventually I did find people to help me get around the building so it wasn't a big deal. While waiting for a wrist a band I attended opening ceremony.
Due to the massive line waiting the time was pushed back to 1:30, then delayed again to 2 pm. The MC for the opening ceremony was awesome and super funny. However, he was set-up for failure. He announced guest's names that had not arrived yet. Some guests were late and were skipped over then then as soon as they arrived he would back track to them so that we could hear their spiel and have an idea when and where their panels would be held. Due to the scheduling chaos, many of the guests had no idea when or where they were supposed to be. I feel that the opening ceremonies deserved a 7/10, because even though it was horribly unprepared and unorganized they still pulled out all the stops to keep everyone laughing and almost made you forget we were just in line for several hours.
On a better note my Friday evening photo shoot, The Avatar shoot, was well organized and exceptionally executed; It was great fun, it was quick, and managed almost like a professional shoot. The young lady running it would call out characters and people jumped and snapped into a pose. She would give a count down so the next group would be ready and cameras would have time to reset and be ready. Very well done 8/10.
Friday night was the best night ever! I returned to my room, changed into some dancing clothes, and chased down some other friends so we could be ready for the rave. When I met up with them I was able to meet Jon St. John near my friend's room. He was very funny and was living like a king. We headed down and everything was in place; people were in line water jugs full and placed throughout both the hallways and near the dance floor. I can't remember the dj's name, but he was so amazing. The bass was perfect, the light show was phenomenal, and there was so much room to dance. I stayed until the rave ended with energy to spare. It was well done and everyone had a great time 8/10.
Afterwards, I returned to the game room. The game room was amazing! There were a great variety of games which included table top, computer, console, and arcade games. I jumped on the DDR machine, then over to play some Halo; they were both great. There were even games there that I hadn't seen in years, such as: Street Fighter II, The original Dragonball Z game, The first Dead or Alive. I saw the tournament but did not feel that I was up to the challenge and didn't sign up for them. However, I did hear from a friend who did sign up that all the tournaments went well and were very organized. One thing you don't mess up is a gamer's tournament there would be blood on the walls. Overall the gaming area was top notch, chiefly due to the increased variety of games and increase of space provided to play them, 9/10.
I started my Saturday off a little late but still before noon. Being up so late the day before prevented me from fully exploring the events. I quickly got dressed and headed to the dealers' room. I had already visited on Friday but I didn't buy anything at the time. The amount of space both provided and used was exceptional. There were so many vendors to choose from and it put your bartering skills to good use.
Mid afternoon I attended the Naruto shoot. It started off a bit shaky, but we got it together after some screaming and yelling. The shoot turned out just as well as the Avatar one, in fact it was a little better because there were some real comedians there. Afterwards, I went to see the Cosplay Nation's panel. I missed the beginning but from what i saw I really enjoyed learning about their projects and seeing the documentary getting put together. I loved it so much that I offered to help them whenever they're in town or if I see them at other cons. Another panel that I went to was hosted by Katelyn Kivel. She is a great speaker and I really liked her panel because it gave a interesting view on yuri hentai. I also went to the Sailor Moon panel, another hentai panel, and to several rooms showing Anime related movies. Many of the panels that I wanted to see were held during my photo shoots and as such I missed them. I tried to at least see part of the ones that I could, this gave me a good idea of what to look out for next year. Overall the panels, at least those that I saw, were all great and I feel they deserve a 9/10.
Sadly, Saturday night's rave couldn't even hold a candle to Friday night's. I didn't stay for more than an hour. I did not like the dj's choice of beats or the clips were shown on the screen. Not very satisfying, 5/10.
Sunday was another chaotic day, because everyone was trying to leave at once. It became an ordeal to use the elevators with such heavy traffic so it was time to chat with last minute cosplayers, guests of the con, and nap by the elevators while waiting to exit the building.
For the few things I saw and heard I rated them together because I didn't fully experience it but I did get a good general idea. The musical guests were pretty on point. It was a little different than what I usually listen to but its always good to try new things. I liked how the city opened up for the con goers. The people mover was always full and everyone seemed to enjoy their ride, including non-con goers. It was an interesting experience for Detroiters. I liked that Cobo Hall opened up to provide more room for panels.
On a final note, Youma is always a ton of fun. There is always great people to meet, new things to see and hear, and I'm always sad when it ends. I sit and wait for the following year to come. This year was great as usual and I feel it deserves an over-all rating of a 7 out of 10.
Thanks for reading my review and don't forget to check out Cosplay Nation I'm hoping they'll be a guest again next year. I'm Garra in one of their youtube videos!
http://ome1217.tumblr.com/
http://www.facebook.com/Cosplay.Nation
http://www.youtube.com/CosplayerNationTV
This Review was presented by Kris Penix. Follow her on tumblr or watch for her at the next convention.
