Kimikon 2018 - Good Stuff

Today I am going on an adventure, an adventure called Kimikon 2018. This is a new anime convention at the Enercare centre, AKA where CNE is/BMO field that has been in the works since last year and finally took place on the weekend of Oct19-Oct21. They had a industry booth this year at AN and I had a nice chat with one of the main organizers of the convention about the struggles of starting a new convention and the other problems associated with it; namely getting people to even show up, guests, merchandise, venue and the like. Kimikon from what I read online and on their website is supposed to be a convention to celebrate “You” or rather the fans themselves, taking some shots at AN itself due to recent bullshit management and rules, or rather, the tightening of rules over the last few years over cosplay, art sold and general conduct. So in that sense Kimikon would not even exist if AN actually tired to improve itself and make better towards creators and fans, which they have bullied over the years. I brought a weekend pass at AN this year for early bird discount but realistically I was only going to spend a day down here. So let’s see what Kimikon has got to offer.

Pulling in getting parking space and we see this man walking away with a trolly bag already. This is not a good sign. The time is approximately 12:30pm, the convention technically opens at 10am on Saturday but I figured, what’s the rush, it’s not going to be busy. Maybe this is an artist saying fuck it, I’m going home or maybe it’s a guy from some other event going on, cause the grounds is very big with many other buildings and such. Hmm..

Wow, it’s BMO field, where the Toronto FC play and no one gives a shit, even if they do win. Feels so weird to be at this place when it’s not the CNE, you soon realize that almost all of the midway space is basically just parking space. Lots of parking. It’s 15$ flat rate for surface parking. They also have underground parking too from what I understand.

Heading on up to the engercare centre building. Wow, feels so weird.

Hmm. What is this? This doesn’t appear to be an anime convention based on the random normal looking people walking about. Then what’s up? Well it was foolish to think that the entire building would be used for Kimikon, maybe there’s something else going on?

Walking in a bit further and I see some cosplayers, alright then, so this thing isn’t a lie, people are here, but a lot of normal people as well. I soon realize that the majority of the people walking around are here to sign up and register for the Scotiabank waterfront marathon that is going to be held on Sunday. Oh so yea, now it makes sense.

Walk a bit further and I am greeted in the hallway with what appears to be the registration for Kimikon.

Alright then, gotta go up to the table then and redeem my badge thingy. It’s interesting how they have so many volunteers just derping about in the back and siting around, they really don’t need that many. I got my badge at discount at AN for $50 early bird because what the hell and it’s for the full 3 days, Fri, Sat and Sun. If you want to buy Saturday only pass it’s $40 so that’s kind of bullshit, overpriced to hell.

Further down the hall the congestion increases a bit which I am assuming is where the marathon people sign up and shit. Basically everyone that is holding bags have registered for the run, which is a nice take away I suppose for that event.

Oh look, it’s Zero Two normal clothes edition, pretty good. This could be one of the same girls that did the plugsuit version at AN, nice. Although I don’t really think the fangs were necessary.

With newfound knowlege of FGO in general, I see this Okita and Santa Saber registering to get in. Nice.

Asked for photo and it’s alright, the lighting on this one is kinda too bright but I think overall because it is indoor, it’s a lot easier for cosplayers to do their thing since they don’t have to battle with wind/rain and the elements in general.

After a small checkpoint and bag check we are allowed into the Kimikon main hall/room and it’s well…a bit underwhelming to say the least. Lots of….empty walking room and a lack of well…people for that matter.

There is a lot of this going on, just people walking and standing about, waiting for something or just totally tired. Or people like the guy on the left who is pretty much already done and making his way out.

Let’s see what kind of dealers and sellers that they have. I see some bait ass Titan nick nacks and shit.

Nice shirt booth selling pretty good shirts that I’ve seen around before. Thought about buying but then again I have way too many shirts already.

Some random shit and an old man is like, “I paid money to sell at this thing?”

Interesting. Probably the best blind box luck bag ideas that I’ve seen in a while. Normally you get bullshit from these things but this time they are themed according to kind of bag they have. So If i wanted Titan shit i get that bag, or if I wanted love live shit I would get that and so far. They say loosely what’s in the bag too so that helps provide incentive to not get totally random shit.

Looking pretty dead…some of the artists alley I think?

Wow, I thought I was in dealers but the “Dealers” is literally only like 2-3 rows and then it goes immediately into artists. lol.

The Exit, where everyone will eventually go, it’s just a matter of time.

One of the perks of it being so empty is that you can take pretty decent photos of the art and the booths although since there is no one there the artist is like very likely to notice you cause like yea, there’s no one else around standing in front of the table.

However, can’t notice me if you aren’t even there bitch!!!! lololol. There is going to be a lot of this, artists setup and don’t even bother to come back to have someone else watch their table while away.

Interesting sushi food artwork and nice attempt at cosplay for the potential customers.

Damn son, looks like you have like 0 business for sure, even with a nice table display.

While Kimikon is mainly about anime shit there are a few artists that try to push comic fan works and the like. But they should know better, anime art is what sells, not your western bullshit, at least not here.

Man it’s pretty empty. I’ve never seen rows so empty before in my life, probably less traffic than even at the first AN that I went to back in 2004. Back then people didn’t even have displays, it just wasn’t a thing.

This poor, poor shit artist. I’ve seen this bad 2B artwork at AN, so sad, so very very sad. You thought that maybe going to a smaller venue you might have a chance, but atlas, it’s probably even worse.

Some of the work i’ve never seen before and that’s cool. Pretty decent. Keychain game on point.

Not sure if the artists just said fuck it i’m not coming to this thing or came here on friday, setup then after 30 minutes said fuck it, it’s not worth it, i’m leaving. Either way this is an empty table of sad.

Ended up buying from this sad looking boy above. I failed to take a picture of this art display but I thought it was pretty decent. All of this shit was guilty gear, blazblue, even shadowverse, all stuff that I played so yea, gotta give the man some reward for this efforts. I spent a good 10 minutes talking to this guy while I slowly decided to pick my prints to buy. I asked him if he’s been to other conventions and he said not really, he’s tried to get into AN but no luck and is going to a con in Chicago, not sure when tho. I asked if he is a local and he said yes, so that’s cool. I said he should try to go to Anime Expo because it’s so big and he will be sure to make more business. He honestly never heard of it so yea, I did him a favor maybe.

Oh, you can kinda see the guy’s work on the right, but not really.

Mother fucker. Even our favorite boi is here again at this place. But then again, all of the pro artists kinda know each other so yea, hivemind swarm mentality, yes mai lord.

So sad, so empty. In a way it’s kind of discouraging for people to buy because if you stand in front of a booth the artist thinks you might buy so some people try their best to not linger around. This boi here is fully committed to the buy however.

So I was wondering if this thing has any panels, so low and behold one was taking place right now.

What the fuck are these guys doing? Apparently this is a panel/activity where you get to make your own pin buttons….you draw on a little paper circle and the attendant pushes it through the button maker to make your custom button…shit man..this is creative I suppose but soooooooooo ghetto I can’t even.

The time is now somewhere after 1:00pm as indicated by the hastily posted event paper…shit man so sad.

Panel room 3 isn’t any better. Fukkk.

One of the few “Sponsors” of this event, Pin Candies, which is just some marketing company that manages their website and social media I guess. Fuck.

Nice Kimikon flier and question ask us table for help. I like how they forgot to print the sheet for Question? Fuck.

This is a pretty decent artist that i’ve never seen before but it’s not really my thing. Pass.

They let everything under the sun here, you got shitty cups and mugs? No problem fam, you can sell it here. Bullshit.

How many times has it been? Must still be making money I guess for those unfamiliar. Sometimes you gotta let old things die.

Never seen this artist but it’s got some style but not my thing.

Oh look it’s a nice normal clothes Mashuu, nice wig. Their table is full of FGO stuff so that’s cool.

Wow wow, what is this? An FGO pull similar blind box thing for key chains? Oh shit, let’s give it a try, so jokes. For $5 dollars a go? Not bad, it’s basically like guarantee 4 or 5 star rite?

I asked them for a full picture of their booth for memories sake. They were fob, I think mainland but their english was fine. Shit.

So at the end of the day we pulled 2 times and got an Arash keychain and Nitocris keychain, not bad. These guys know their shit so when you buy they give you a shitty gold card print out and a tattoo of the command seal, girl and guy. funny shit. $10 worth it for the jokes.

While walking away I noticed that most of the people manning that table were in cosplay, we got like Leonardo on the right and Waver the gay I think on the left with the yellow scarf maybe? Cool.

Oh shit, I know this sweater. Either this guy has been to this years Anime Expo for the love live sunshine concert or he had someone buy it for him/online reseller. Shitt.

So here is the “Main” stage, which is very pitiful with a few chairs and 3 projection screens which is fine. They were doing a love live singing/dancing contest idol thing here and the hype-lings came out full force with glow sticks and everything. You gotta somehow admire these guys dedication for love live shows, even if it’s not even official or any good for that matter. I suppose all these guys were at the concert this year or maybe ones in the past so they are all like, fuck it, I might as well make use of my glow sticks here.

Even ghost Nitocris is taking part in the action. Shit man.

Somewhat humbling yet very humiliating at the same time. Magnificent.

See alot of this here. Just standing around, reflecting on what did I even come here, why did I waste money on this getting into this thing.

This guy is all like, man I feel so bloated my belly could explode if I keep on standing around here reflecting. Gotta fucking sit down man, my cane is getting heavy. Same.

Emptiness of the wild with more empty blank tables indicating more “fuck it i’m leaving” artists.

One of the more busy rows, it almost looks like a real convention, at least the earlying morning that is at AN or Fan expo.

I remember her saying something like I was so happy to get to try and sing Mari’s song or something like that. Yea yea.

Seen art before not for me. That wig upfront is beautiful however. White people.

Neoclassical hipster “Selling bullshit for no one, empty expanse of the metaron: Redux”

Neoclassical hipster title “Yonder the ponder from away, the reason for existence: Nouveau”

Pretty cute cool idea for a bag. But then again, who the hell actually ears these kinds of bags? Only women maybe. It’s like some shit that I would get after buying something at Anime Expo for free after getting figures or whatever.

Cute shit but nahh. For the bag I suppose.

Blue Eyes Aryan Dragon plushies huh? Pretty cute but I don’t think it is for sale, although they should be. I don’t like it when people put shit up and it’s not for sale, only display, like why do that man, it’s false advertising.

I don’t like the feel of these people. What the fuck white guys, do you know that it’s fucking cold outside? Why are you wearing shorts? Fuck.

Oh look it’s a Tamamo schoolgirl cosplay, easy and effective I guess. Must be friends of the tabler or something. I Think that’s kaiba on the right? Not sure.

Wow. I can’t believe even these guys are here. First saw in LA Anime expo, since then seen at every con that I’ve been. Initial D 4 life but man, even here? Maybe these guys straight up went fuck it too, come back on Sunday or something to get my shit. It’s like fully open, all of their prints and stuff so if you wanted to be an asshole you could just go up and steal some prints but no, i’m a good boy who appreciates artists efforts.

Never seen this artist before or at least maybe ignored before but has some nice stuff, mainly the stuff on the right.

On point with OG boats and New boats.

After all these years I’ve never bothered to learn this guy’s actual name. Apparently it’s DRAKE TSUI. Shit just too Toronto. DRAKE FUCK.

Oh look, it’s like the only shop that sells anime figures and shit.

Wait a second, isn’t this the same guy who sold us the Serval lying down plushie at Fan expo? I think it is.

Shittttt is is. Look at this layout, all of plushies are on the wire rack on the left. Shit, at least we know he’s relatively local.

Cell’s at work Macrophage white blood cell just chilling doing some work at Pin Candies or selling art or whatever? Not really sure. Nice cosplay tho.

Fuck these guys look sad. Cosplay Matsuri? Cosplay only event. I dunno about this.

Sad. I don’t even know what this guy is doing. Toronto Sailor moon convention? What a way to box yourself in bro and invisible gals.

KAWAII LAND is for cosplay group or convention? I think maybe both. More invisible booth attendants.

Memories. Their reach is long and far, Primerica. What the fuck are they doing here anyways? It totally doesn’t make any sense for these guys to be here.

Hmm, not sure if guy in drag is manning the table or just resting.

OH. I see how it is. Anime North table, with free give aways for free badges, from 2017. Took some shit, cause why not motherfucker.

Nice hair in blue cosplay maid girl thing.

Never seen this artist before but shit looks pretty good. I think it’s shared with a professional print shop that also sells markers too so yea, kinda multi-tiered booth. Nice big Mashuu poster.

Wow, so other initial d man is here too. I am seeing a trend here of artists. They must all know each other and are here for the corruption.

The time is about 2pm. Be back tomorrow huh? Not sure if that means he hasn’t shown up yet or he means Sunday. Later I eventually came back and the guy was there, brought some bunta STI WRX prints and had a nice conversation with the artist. I straight up asked him if he was a local from Toronto and shit. He said he was and I then mentioned that I’ve seen you around at other conventions, such as AN, Fanexpo and even Anime Expo in LA, and he was all like yea, we go there. I then asked why so many of the artists here are the same artists everywhere at all cons, is there some conspiracy or something? He said not really but yea, a lot of the artists know each other and are from Toronto or within the GTA/closeby and that it just happened that way. He then told me a story about the “OG” pro Toronto convention artist which started everything, how they got everyone else started to follow suit and to do conventions for a living, making art specifically just for conventions to be sold. I asked him about hows business at Kimikon and he said this to me “Honestly, I would be making more money if I was just sitting at home doing nothing. I forgot this was happening and forgot to cancel before it was too late and now i’m stuck here. On the other side, my friend is the one organizing this thing so yea, it’s kinda like that.” lololol Yea man, true dat. He then continued to tell me his story how he was originally a concept artist for a game company but then kinda got out of that because he was tired of following corporate rules and doing stupid shit that didn’t make sense, how he started doing illustration and doing what he loves and how he eventually started drawing story boards and planning to make his own anime. Cool story and talk man. Found dude here https://www.deviantart.com/r-trigger

Neoclassical hipster title ” Walking to nothing”

Nice art, I see dead people.

It’s good to see that people still buy art even at this thing. I brought from this artist before in the past, nice shit.

Wow, so even these guys are here too. I didn’t buy anything from them this time but after my conversation with initial d man I wanted to know if they were local as well. “Hey, just out of curiosity, are you guys local, from Toronto or nearby?” Her “Yea, we’re from around here, from Oakville.” So yea, I guess that answers and re-affirms my conversation with initial d man, alot of the artists which I deem “good” are local people, not people from the US or otherwise which I am sure truly are but the ones that I constantly see, definitely live here. Asked the same ol question “So how’s business?” she was like “Well yea, not too great honestly, but what do you expect?” For a first year con I suppose this is the inevitable result. Cool people tho.

I like it when they use the back of the display to show their shit, gotta make use of that space you know.

Wow, these hype-lings are still at it with the glowsticks. That guy on the right knows his shit, like multi-welding fo real.

Look at that pose, those strong legs, ready for action to shake that stick.

To the right of the stage is a few tables where guests can draw some shit and post on the wall at the back. This is similar to what I saw at Anime Expo to a much smaller scale.

Didn’t realize that women was kinda making a pose for me I think, lolololol, guess she’s trying to summon some shit.

So what we see here is the “gaming area” which is a bunch of tables setup with some consoles of varying age and vintages.

Some hero academia fools playing an older version of smash I think?

It looks like a lot but it’s not really.

The variety of games that they have is very diverse, here we see varying versions of mario cart and some fighting game on the far right.

Going retro too with duck hunt and even older gaming consoles.

I think project diva game with a special stick controllers for optimal rhythm. I’m sure all of this shit is some guy’s personal collection.

Two fools playing DBZ fighter Z.

More fighting games. It’s funny really. They have like the new tekken/soulcaliber and more obscure fighting games like Night Under In birth and even the old Fate ps2 fighting game that no one remembers but none of the consoles had setup blazblue, guilty gear, cross tag battle or even street fighter. Strange. They had old Street fighter 2 of course.

Wow, didn’t know something like this existed. An official ps1 stick for fighting games huh. Wow, and a PSONE, fucking jokes when you think about how microsoft called their latest box XBOXONE. Fucking jokes.

Moving along now, see some blue lady and shit, I have no idea what this is.

And so here we are, at the table of Sakimichan, the primary reason why this convention has any attention to begin with. If it wasn’t for her designing and illustrating the official mascot then the attendance of Kimikon would be even more abysmal. Despite being one of the main attractions I’m a bit surprised she didn’t get a bigger table or booth, compared to her display at Anime Expo, this is like so small and amateur looking. I’m not sure if she had them before but she apparently has art books now with her works in it. The hardcover “Vol 1.” book cost $100, lest to say I did end up buying it and asking her to sign it. Good shit.

One of the guys standing beside me was going to buy an art book as well and I noticed that he had an “Arts” FGO t shirt, the same style as the ones that were at Anime Expo from Aniplex. I told him, “Nice shirt man, did you get it at Anime Expo this year?” and he was all like, “yea man, I got it from there, but I was a vendor there, so I had earlier access than most.” I can’t remember but I think I also asked him if he was from here, and I think he said yea. I wasn’t going to get into what kind of dealer he was there or selling but yea, the presence of Toronto people at conventions is strangely strong.

A nice shot of our main attraction, Sakimichan fumbling with her phone with that credit card swipe attachment. It took a few tries for her to get my credit card to go through but yea, kinda cool how she’s not swarmed as much as in previous cons I suppose. Must be tough being one the the most popular full time convention artists based off initial d man says.

I can’t remember the time, must be around 2:30pm-ish but we decided to sit down for awhile and gaze upon the glory of this spectacle. My sister decided to go and buy the fate grab bag that we saw earlier as a tribute to becoming a kind of saber collector so that’s there on the table. They had battle-sports as a booth with archery and shit, same as AN, whatever.

Neoclassical hipster title “reflection of the vanishing quartz, the jalter no more.”

Fucking sitting down here, nothing much to do really now. See these sports fools, yea yea, they always move in packs.

Someone had to draw these illustrations so that’s something. Not bad, although the exhibitors are pretty sad.

Decided to go do another round and check out the art that people have been drawing.

As expected, very well drawn with much effort in general.

I suppose due to the lack of content and things to do/buy/see at kimikon people have been forced to spend their efforts here instead to make a mark on the con.

Shit this is pretty good jalter drawing.

Probably the best Vegeta around. The drawing on the right I mean, those pecks and biceps man, top tier.

Shit this is pretty good drawing too. Damn these guys have too much time on their hands. The ones in Anime Expo were pretty shit.

Alright so not everyone is that good.

Pretty decent attempt at the mascot.

Varying quality.

Well then, looks like they have food here which surprisingly, is that not overpriced compared to the shit that I’ve seen at Fan Expo. It is expensive but what can you do. At least the have the logo on there so it looks legit and branded.

Nice hotdogs, sausages and fries. No burgers I guess, too dangerous.

I gotta hand it to them tho, the effort in which they tried to brand everything must be acknowledged.

Hmm, I am quite sure I have seen this guy with the idolmaster shirt and towel every year at AN and I think maybe even at Anime Expo this year. Guy is seriously hardcore into it.

Nice crowd to sit. Nice chairs.

I think she was doing some kind of sketch or contest, wasn’t really paying attention.

Oh wow, I know this, it’s Illustrious from Azurelane. Pretty good. I’m sure I’ll see her next year at Anime North and other places.

Nice art at the back but I think they overdid it considering how low business has been. On the flip side the heros cosplay girl walking by is pretty good.

It’s all the rage these days, this Bowsette and Boosette thing. The speed and quality of which fanart has appeared online and even at conventions is pretty impressive. I’ve heard that they are having a mini convention for just this in Japan, not sure if it took place already or not but it’s cool. Nice Baiken art.

Everyone’s favorite not gay boy/trap Astolfo from FGO. Pretty good effort, i’m sure I’ll be seeing her at AN and places too.

Wow, someone committed to the Boosette thing really hard already for cosplay. Very nice dress although I think she could have gone lighter on the eye makeup a bit.

Neoclassical hipster title “Onwards to home, and then there was none”

Making our way out checking out all the artists one last time and I see another familiar artists. Dis guy got Azurlane boats now too, cool. Good shit but no buy.

Outside the hall now and it’s just alot of cosplayers doing their thing with pro camera guys asking for shots. This EMU red saber dress is pretty damn good. Good shit.

Another red saber EMU except in normal clothes. Once again, pretty damn good. The fact that she made the sword is like super bonus plus.

I think it’s the same Tamamo school girl cosplay that I saw inside. Pretty good shit. In the background we see something like wonder women I think and a normal marathon person with a face like “what the fuck” lolol, yea what do you expect background women.

Oh shit, it’s Red Blood Cell and Main Platelet. Pretty good shit. The anime wasn’t out in time for AN or even Anime Expo but i’m sure it’s going to be very popular at next year conventions due to how simple and easy the cosplay can be done effectively.

Nice chicken eating that pizza pizza.

Very nice Violet Evergarden cosplay. One of the better ones that I’ve seen. The umbrella is a nice touch, done very well.

Decided to check out what’s with all this Scotiabank marathon nonsense and the casual onlookers that it is generating.

There was a checkpoint were your supposed to like do something but I don’t know, we just walked in like it was nothing. The security guards or check people didn’t really care.

Hmm, this is quite a large space, many times bigger than the space for Kimikon and red carpet too.

Wow so many booths for registration. Crazy bitches.

Once you pass the registration area there is another whole section that is for shops and shit to sell fitness goods and clothing.

Pretty crowded in here. Shit, way more than Kimikon, that’s for sure.

Neoclassical hipster title “Gazing upon the abnormally unfit: self-redux reconquesta in G”

This feels a lot like the CNE now with the world shops and pavilions. They get the red carpet.

This red carpet. Man, I was hoping that Kimikon would get the red carpet too. Alas, that was not the case.

Nice board with writings on it. More scribbles than in Kimikon.

Free vitamin drink. Tried some berry one. Tastes like shit and vitamins. Well, what do you expect?

On our way out of the Scotiabank registration thing. Nice counter for when the marathon starts.

Making our way back to the scene.

I think he came to the wrong con. For some reason he feels like a homeless guy but he’s not.

Great poster, should have taken it.

Some yugioh fools doing their thing. So loud man, keep it down Kaiba.

Pretty good Bowsette cosplay. Good shit indeed.

Oh shit wow, it’s Unicorn from Azurelane. I would have never expected to her this here. Guess china boats is really making it big even here now huh.

Another crew from Cells at work. Not as good as the precious one. The dudes are perfect, but the Red Blood Cell is a little too old looking. Age, shit happens you know.

Another Cells are work Macrophage cosplay, nice work. The sword cleaver should be much bigger if you want it to be more effective to kill dem germs and cancer.

Heading out now, Indeed, this is Canada’s Largest Tradeshow facility.

Nice non-CNE view.

Nice and empty. How I like it.

It’s loot time. It’s funny really, despite being in it’s first year, I ended up buying more shit at Kimikon than I did at Fan Expo this year. Maybe due to the fact that it’s more focused around art and I’ve seen artisst that I haven’t seen before. The inital d guy’s print I knew I was going to buy but everything else was a surprise bonus.

On the top left is Sakimichan’s $100 hardcover artbook. Pretty good quality isn’t it? Below it were those FGO pull for fun gimmick keychains and tattoos. Top right is the running book given to the Scotiabank marathon thing. At the end of the day, we left Enercare centre at around 3:30pm, so basically we spent about3 hours actually at Kimikon. Fuck. It was so early we decided to see a movie for the afternoon, the new Halloween. Shit was dope. Well worth it, the movie that is.

Nice cover of the book. 2018 Vol 1 eh. I suppose she has so much art she can make artbooks every other year or so at the rate at which she produces. Got this bitch singed too, cool.

Kinda funny these Nitocris and Arash ones. Don’t quite understand why Arash has cat ears tho. Just because it makes him cuter? Dunno.

Alright then, this is all of the shit that was inside that saber mystery box. Full of beautiful Chinese bootleg quality goods. On the top is some card playmat? It’s the same kind of shit used in mousepads, nice Jeanne and Saber art, so at least that’s not too old. On the right is some nick nack shit like a ugly mash keychain, a Jalter plastic fan? and some buttons. It also had a plastic bag as well with saber lilly on it, similar to the kind you would get once you buy something official.

Nice Jalter charm for the next time my sister tries to pull for her.

There was a pack of postcards with exclusively saber artwork on them. Judging from the collection, some official and some fan works, it was likely printed around 2010-2013 since saber lilly is represented. Hm…why would anyone ever want this?

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