Hello everyone! I just came back from an exhausting, but incredibly fun, three day weekend extravaganza called Animecon 2018. This annual event took place in the city of The Hague, and is a convention centered around all things Asian. This means there is a lot of anime, manga, workshops, food, games, in short all the good stuff. In order to not make a post that is so long you will get bored by it, I decided to split it up into two different parts, where I will talk about all the things I have seen and done in this fun filled weekend. So, let’s get started!
Just like last year I stayed at a castle hotel. It was conveniently about a 3 minute walk from the convention itself. Which means that after buying some loot (more on that in part 2) you could drop it off at your hotelroom and get ready for buying more loot….erm, yes, moving on. As you can see from the pictures below, the hotel was pretty luxurious and a nice way to spent some time resting after running around all day at the con. Especially as my room had a very nice view. They also provided a terrificic breakfast in the morning with enough food on offer to cater to everyone’s needs.
Now that we are on the subject of food, let’s talk about that for a bit. Oh, and you will get hungry after this, so you have been warned. What is a convention without food? No idea really, but there was certainly plenty to eat and drink here, and everything was just absolutely delicious. I ate a lot of cup ramen in all kinds of flavors, all of them very tasty. But the highlight certainly was the Japanese version of a Dutch dish called “poffertjes” (hey I never said or language was easy). Best way to describe poffertjes is a kind of mini pancakes, that are very sweet. However this variant was totally different and more of a salty snack. I also very much enjoyed the melon bubble tea which tasted soooo good, as well as the Japanese Crepes and Dango. All in all there was so much food there, that you had to be careful not to spend all your money on all these mouthwatering dishes.
One of the floors of the convention was turned into a true video arcade. But instead of paying for these games like you normally would, you could play them all for free. With classics like Time Crisis, Monkey Ball and Tetris to name but a few, you could relive the golden age of videogames. Besides the arcade machines, you could also play games on a great variety of different consoles with both modern games as well as golden oldies, enough to satisfy your gaming addiction. If you would like to play oldschool, you could also spent time playing an amount of boardgames at the boardgamenights (which I didn’t attend myself). Many games were anime oriented, like the Attack on Titan Deckbuilding Game, but you could also play classic Asian boardgames like Go. I did play one round of Go, but as it was my first time playing that game (yeah I like to make up excuses) I lost miserably (but still had fun playing it anyway).
Just like last year, besides anime there were also a great number of Asian movies to be seen. I ended up seeing two of them, back to back and both were very much worth it.
Going the Distance (Japan, 2016)
Going the distance is a movie about friendship and how much you would give to maintain that friendship. Asahi is a boxing trainer in Tokyo who is about to get married to the girl of his dreams Kaori. When his childhood friend Hiroto shows up asking him for help, he is torn between his soon to be wife and his friend. Time is running out for Kaori as she wants to get married before her ailing grandmother who suffers from dementia, forgets who she is. Things soon spiral out of control though, and Asahi finds himself in increasingly more trouble. This drama was very unique in the way that there was absolutely no music that accompanied it. It was an immensely beautiful film, that once again proves how precious true friendship really is, as well as the hard fact that you can’t always get what you want in life.
Her love boils bathwater (Japan 2016)
This beautiful and heartwarming drama was sent in for a contender as the best
foreign language film at the Oscars of 2017. Sadly it did not make the cut and one has to wonder why. The film tells the story of the woman Futuba who has just been diagnosed with cancer and hears she only has a few more months left to live. Instead of giving up, she is determined to finish a few things before she dies. One is finding back her missing husband and get him to resume the family bath house. Another no less important thing is getting her daughter Azumi, who is being bullied at school, to stand up for herself. With time running out, will she be able to accomplish these and other goals? A movie like this could become an enormous tearjerker. While I won’t deny that you won’t shed a few tears it is mainly a film that fills you with hope and an incredible feel good feeling. I was especially astonished by the high level of acting in this movie. In particular by lead actresses Rie Miyazawa who plays the terminally ill Futuba and Hana Sugisaki who played her daughter Azumi. Both were absolutely amazing in their admittedly very difficult roles. This was a powerful film that stayed in my head long after I finished it.
Well, that’s it for part one. Tomorrow I will bring you part 2, which will feature the anime that I watched, as well as all the stuff that I bought. And, last but not least I will also tell you what was the highlight of the convention for me, and suprisingly that wasn’t any anime or a movie. But more on that tomorrow, as I have to keep some suspense up right? Thank you all for reading, and now I am going to try and make up for some lost sleep lol!
Sounds like a great time!! Were there any cool flavours of ramen? Something different than what we would see here normally?
That arcade sounds like my dream! 💗💖🍻
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I had a blast and enjoyed myself so much! (Not to mention that I bought way too much stuff lol :)) Well I had a couple of different flavours, one called Miso, another with pork flavour. As we don’t regularly have Ramen here in Holland I don’t exactly know which flavours are normal. But one things for sure, it was all very tasty! And the arcade was great as well 🙂
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We ALL spend too much money at Con’s! That’s what they’re FOR!! 😂😂 And, I hope you got some proper nutrition in with all of your ramen! 😉💖
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Haha…you are so right: They are all way to manipulative to let you part with your money lol 😂😂
Haha…yes, I did….(but honestly I could not resist all the wonderful snacks…I guess that’s what a con like this is for as well 😂😂😂).
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So basically you were in Heaven 😛
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Haha…definitely very close that’s for sure lol. Yes it was absolutely amazing. I had an incredible weekend. Thank you 😊
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Looks so fun! It is almost lunch here and now I’m super hungry lol.
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Haha…well I did warn in advance that this post would make you hungry 😂😂 But yes, it was incredible. I had a great time, and it was even better than last year..which is truly incredible 😊😊😊
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I’m so glad you had such fun Michel!
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Aww, thank you so much Kim. I have one more day off work tomorrow (got to catch up on some much needed sleep), but after that I will finally be fully back to the blog. Can’t wait! 😊😊
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👍🏻👍🏻🤗
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Omg, that food. I nearly drooled on my keyboard looking at it (sorry that might have been a little too much information) 🙂 It looks unbelievably yummy.
Animecon looks like a lot of fun 🙂 Glad to hear you enjoyed yourself. 🙂
Can’t wait to read part 2 and see your loot hehe 😀
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Hahaha 😂😂 Nearly spilled my drink after reading this comment. But yeah the food was so incredible…thinking back on it I’m start to drool as well..(okay…moving on now 😂😂😂). Well, I just finished the post, and it will be out tomorrow. I have some very cool loot this year (although my wallet probably doesn’t agree 😂😂😂).
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Wow! I can see why you had so much fun 🙂 So many interesting things to see and do. I’m so glad you got to enjoy such a nice weekend doing things you love 🙂
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Aww, thank you so much! It was incredible. Even though I did not get much sleep, it was totally worth it (and I have one more day off work tomorrow so I can catch up on it again). On wednesday everything will be back to normal again (blogwise I mean), so I am finally going to get back to the normal blogging routine 😀
As for Animecon: it was amazing. Such a terrific and amazing weekend for lovers of all things Asian, would not have wanted to miss it for the world 😊
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Fab that it was so good, can’t wait to hear what your mysterious highlight is/was. 🙂
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It was incredible! I had such a great time, and highly enjoyed myself. Tomorrow I have luckily one more day off work (did not get much sleep the past few days lol) and then on wednesday everything will be back to normal (blogwise that is :)). Haha…as for the mysterious highlight………nope, not going to tell. You will see tomorrow 😂
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I didn’t realsie there was an AoT deck builder. I own the Street Fighter one, and quite enjoy that though.
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Yes the AoT deckbuilder is out for quite a while now. Only thing that’s a shame is that there are no expansions for the game (nor are there any on the horizon). Other than that though, the game is great fun. The Street Fighter deckbuilder also looked fun to play 😊
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It is pretty fun. Simple enough once you get your head around the rules too.
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That game section sounds awesome! I’d have a hard time leaving that area.
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Well, I can definitely understand that. My gaming days are pretty much over, but even I really enjoyed spending some time there 😊😊
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Sounds like lots of fun! I’ve never been to a con for three days, I run put of money on day 1…
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Haha, it was a lot of fun that’s for sure. As for running out of money….yup…that’s what usually happens on a con lol 😂😂😂
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This sounds like it was great! I’m envious, we rarely seem to get any good cons here. There’s the yearly MCM one in London, but that involves having to go to London, which any sane person avoids at all costs.
And yes, now I am hungry. I’ve had poffertjes before, they’re really nice, but the twist on them sounds lovely too!
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Well…honestly we didn’t have many good cons here either. The only other big event we have is Dutch Comic Con, but that con is not as much fun as this. There is just so much to do every day which is part of the fun. Haha…so London is that bad huh? Well..you could always travel to Holland next year (see part 2 for that :))
Lol..and sorry for making you hungry: but this variant on the poffertjes were so tasty…crap…now I am getting hungry again as well 😂😂
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I love a good game of Go! I loved Hikaru No Go back in the day too (it’s how I even knew about the game). And man, Time Crisis is such a throwback hahah I remember playing that a couple of times back in elementary! I’m glad to hear how much fun you had, Michel! Thanks for sharing. 😀
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Lol…welll…I got absolutely smashed while playing my first game of go. It seems very simple, but it is intriguing and very hard to master that much I know lol.
Time Crisis was so much fun to play again, really was one of those truly nostalgic experiences 😀😀 Thanks again, and of course you are welcome 😊
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Wish I could have gone with you! Sounds like a blast!😊
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Honestly wish you could have been there with me: that would have made it even more fun than it already was 😘❤️
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Yay! I agree!💜💙💜
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Sounds like someone had a blast! Glad you enjoyed!
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Whoa….my comments section just completely exploded lol😂😂 Thanks so much for reading all my previous posts and commenting on them, and it really is so good to see you here again: I missed you 😊
As for Anime Con: it was amazing, I can’t wait for next year 😀😀
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Wish I could go to something like a K-drama con! How can I not go through all your posts! Your writing style is really engaging! Really hard not to read! Awww I missed you too!
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Haha..well…maybe interesting to know: it’s not only anime at these cons. Loads of Asian movies as well…sadly no K-dramas yet, but who knows? Maybe in the future.
Aww…and now you are making me blush again. Thanks so much 😊😊
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Our friendship is incomplete if eother one of us don’t make the other blush!
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Haha lol😂😂 I guess that is so true 😂😂
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