Mizuumi-Con 3: In Words & PicturesMizuumi-Con 3: In Words & Pictures

Clockwise from top left: Japanese eggs, Andy Anderson's Fighting Generica Art, just one of many cosplayers, steampunk optical gear, origami demonstration (photographs by Soren Vaughn)

This past weekend I took the family out to Our Lady of the Lake University on the shore of Lake Elmendorf in San Antonio’s near west side to enjoy the sites, sounds and people of Mizuumi-Con 3. Put on by OLLU’s Mizuumi Anime Club, the con drew a large active crowd of anime, manga and video game fans. The turnout was great, with a registration line well out of the building and a steady stream of new attendees throughout the day. Many, many people were decked out in costume which lent a fun, frivolous air to the event.

The opening ceremonies, while sincere, were underwhelming. The best part was the the introduction of the guests, mainly the utterly charming artist Valerie Lynn Aguilar, winner of the badge art contest. Aguilar, a student at St. Phillip’s College, explained how this was the first time she had won something like this, that she loved seeing her art on all the badges and that she was floored that people could “buy my chibis on a thong!”

We enjoyed screenings of several anime features including new favorite S.O.S. Brigade. Carey Martell‘s documentary Cosplayers: The Movie was an interesting look at the cosplay subculture, capturing some of the energy of the people involved. I felt that the film lost some focus at the end, degenerating into more of an explanation of the woes of the anime industry, but overall it was a good, insightful piece. Otaku Hell with Spike and Maria was a rollicking fun time hosted by a candy-throwing naughty nurse and video-playing ninja. The show alternated between choice web and anime video clips and goofy contests. The dealers room was well stocked with artists, toys, manga and anime. Plenty of things to look at and buy. I even ran into my old friend Grego Hernandez, proprietor of Bean Pot Toiz.

Other festivities included a Japanese flute recital, Japanese egg making demonstrations, origami lessons, a Twitter-based scavenger hunt, karaoke and a steady stream of J-POP videos with only a mild Rickroll interruption. You can catch some video reports of the con from guests, including Kyle Hebert on the impressive Mizuumi Con line and Random on Contra Dancing.

Even through we did not stick around for the later events including cosplay skits and musical performances, this was a fun con and the Mizuumi Anime Club did a great job pulling it off. This was the third year of the con and organizer Darrell Hoberer noted that they combined the best of what worked in the previous two years for this event. I look forward to seeing what they distill from this one next year’s con.