Anime Oasis 2012 - Part III: The High Society Formal, Burlesque Show, and Wrap Up.

The High Society Formal

Oh, Jareth!

I'm not generally one for fancy galas and formal dances. Sure I went to a few homecomings and a prom, but I mean real high society events where the snobbiest of the snobs show up and entertain each other with tales of frivolity, money making, and business deals. Well thankfully I still haven't been to one of those snobbish events, as AO's High Society Formal is a place for anime fans to dress fancy and have a good time, while still respecting the idea of a formal ball. It's about as close to a real formal ball as I'll probably ever get, barring some kind of journalist award ceremony where people throw money at me, but I don't know how likely that is (yet).

Evening, ladies.

The High Society Formal is a classy affair that allows attendees and guests alike to dress up and be fancy schmancy for the evening and dance the night away. Male attendees, or girls who dress as men for the dance, must wear a tie, formal jacket, slacks, etc. Ladies (or those dressed as ladies) had to wear a formal gown of some sort that covered the knees and heeled shoes.

Princess Bubblegum!

Despite what might seem like a stuffy event, it was really all about anime fans just having fun and dressing up for the night with their friends. Having said that, I had a great time, and it was nice seeing people being respectful while also enjoying themselves.

Quite the gala, if I do say so.

Burlesque Show

A little something for everyone to enjoy.

I'd never been to a burlesque show before and I didn't really know what to expect. I knew it was all about ladies dancing around while scantily clad, which is awesome, but I had never seen one in person before. The Glitterarti Gals were the burlesque troupe on tap for the evening, and they didn't disappoint. They performed quite a few numbers, taking breaks intermittently to give out free tickets to shows and explain a bit more about who they are and what they do. 

I'm not even going to attempt a "big guns" joke.

There were some beautiful girls in the group, and I can't recall their names at the moment but they were all really good at what they did, and that's dancing while scantily clad to music. I can't really say anything negative about that, because if you have a talent you should exploit it, and I'll be damned if they don't do a good job.

Helloooooo, nurse!

There was also a pretty amazing Michael Jackson impersonator in the group, performing some pretty slick dance moves. I was going to try and shoot some video of the event but I was running low on space as it was and didn't want to sacrifice image quality. In any case, here's some pictures of the guy in action:

Talkin' 'bout Billie Jean, son!

Ow!

Overall the burlesque show was a lot of fun and I hope the Gals will come back next year, as I had a great time watching them do their thing.

Do come back ladies, do come back!

Wrapping Up: The Remaining Bits

Dun da da dun, da da dun, da da dun!

Tea parties, costume contests, bikini contests, vendors, video games, panels, events -- how does one cover it all? Simple: you don't. The main thing I've learned from going to cons over the years (and it hasn't been a lot of years, but I learned quickly) is that you go to what interests you as an individual. I'm  a huge Dragon Ball fan so naturally I attend every Sonny Strait and Chris Rager panel I possibly can.

Sonny Strait, one of my personal highlights of the convention.

I love meeting new people and drinking tea, so hell, why not go to a tea party? In the end there simply isn't enough time or energy to go to every single thing at a convention, let alone every single thing that interests me personally. One of the events I made sure to go and cover, however, was the big costume contest near the end of the convention.

My personal favorite skit of the evening

There were some great costumes and skits, and some not so great costumes and skits. One particularly interesting gaff occurred when two different cosplaying groups had the same idea to sing "Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better"... I was sitting next to voice actress Caitlin Glass at the time and I told her (after laughing a bit) "I think they played the same song again by accident." But then they kept going...

The first "Anything You Can Do" Skit.

If you ever see me checking my phone constantly and not really doing anything on it its more than likely because I can't look at whats making me uncomfortable. Opie and Anthony describe this phenomena as douche chilling; when something is so douchey you just can't bare to see it. Evidently the second group to perform the skit with the same song in question, whose pictures I did not upload here or on my Facebook, created quite a scene backstage due to the mix up. Not the best way to endear yourself to your fellow attendees if you ask me.

Dude, at some point you just have to say she's not worth rescuing anymore.

Despite any technical difficulties or drama, I enjoyed the show, and its clear that some people put a lot of care and thought into their props and costumes. There were over 40 cosplayers and skits this year, and that's definitely something to be celebrated. 

Hard workin' tattoo lady.

Oh yeah, and people could get tattoos at the convention, too. Anime tattoos. Cool anime tattoos.

Final Thoughts

Pack it up, we're outta here.

I enjoyed my time at Anime Oasis 2012. Yes there were certain things that weren't perfect but that goes for every convention. Having said that, I had a great time and its definitely a convention I could see myself attending next year. I enjoyed the guests, the events, and the panels that I attended and really that's all I can ask for at the end of the day. 

Where it all starts, where it all ends.

As long as a convention has something that a majority of the people attending can enjoy then it is a success in my eyes. All things can improve, obviously, but I feel like the staff running Anime Oasis have things pretty well in hand from what I can see. Sure, there's always going to be drama and politics in any scene or fandem, but none of that took away from my enjoyment of the overall experience.

See ya' next year!

I'll give Anime Oasis 2012 a solid 4 out of 5. I had fun, nothing terrible happened, and I met great people. In the end that's all that matters to me. See ya' next year!