Images by West Smith
Once I first moved to Seattle from my small city in Alaska, I used to be enamored by the quantity of 24-hour choices this metropolis had. Residing proper between the neighborhoods of Inexperienced Lake and Greenwood, I used to be strolling distance from two traditional North Seattle 24-hour diners, Beth’s Cafe and Shanghai Room. I used to be in a position to get a rooster fried steak with milkshake at a second’s discover, any time of the day.
After the pandemic, Seattle’s 24-hour institutions quietly went away. Some switched to lowered late-night hours, some closed altogether. Even the 7/11 by my home began closing at 11 p.m.!
I get it, it’s more than likely not price the price of staffing to run that form of enterprise, however I nonetheless miss it. Which is how I ended up at Sakura Con, the biggest anime conference within the Northwest, at 4:30 a.m. this previous weekend. In contrast to different fan conventions within the space the place the present ground closes at 6 p.m., Sakura Con is a 24-hour conference, that means as soon as the doorways open on Friday at 8 a.m., the con doesn’t finish till closing time on Sunday at 4 p.m.
I don’t know something about anime, however as a lover of each conventions and 24-hour companies, I challenged myself to remain at Sakura Con so long as I might.
3:21 p.m.
Understanding that I’m planning to remain on the conference as late as potential, I arrive later than I usually would.
The conference is in full swing, with crowds of cosplayers crowding each inch of the conference corridor and each step of the escalator.
“Are you cosplaying a personality from an anime?”
“No. I’m only a fan of Hatsune Miku. This cardboard cut-out of her is a one-to-one scale.”
“What do you want about her?”
“I similar to what she stands for… some folks say she stands for trans rights, some folks say she simply stands for freedom.”
4:18 p.m.
“Is that an actual tattoo?”
“No, it’s eyeliner… I’m fascinated about getting an actual one, although.”
7:05 p.m.
I really feel a tangible vibe shift because the daytime crowd leaves the conference corridor round 6 p.m. and the nighttime crowd begins to reach.
7:30 p.m.
“My purpose is to get 20 hugs a day.”
“What number of have you ever gotten to this point?”
“18.”
“Has it been largely guys or women?”
“It has been plenty of guys.”
I’m hug quantity 19.
7:55 p.m.
Spiritual evangelists parked immediately in entrance of the principle entrance/exit to the con are screaming right into a megaphone about how we’re all going to Hell and can burn for all of eternity except we repent, yada yada yada.
Some guys in maid outfits would possibly discover these protesters a bit intimidating, however most individuals at Sakura Con appear to consider them extra as props for a photoshoot than aggravated aggressors.
8:15 p.m.
Whereas utilizing the lavatory on the sixth ground of the conference middle, I really feel the bottom beneath my ft begin buzzing and see the water within the bowl begin rippling, like that scene in Jurassic Park when the T-Rex’s heavy footsteps are shaking the water glass. Little did I do know that two flooring beneath us, the conference middle expo corridor has been reworked into a large live performance venue. Reol is performing her first present ever in America to one of many largest crowds I’ve ever seen in Seattle.
I stroll in on the finish of one in every of her songs, simply in time to listen to her say, “I don’t converse English.” The group erupts with cheers and applause.
There are such a lot of giant screens broadcasting Reol’s efficiency throughout the venue that for the primary music, I discover myself photographing a display screen throughout the room subsequent to the stage as a result of I assumed it was truly her.
9:00 p.m.
Reol’s present lets out, and anime followers trickle out of the conference middle and collect at Ethioblue C-Retailer, a comfort retailer that’s immediately beneath the conference middle, on Pike Avenue.
Sakura Con doesn’t promote alcohol contained in the conference middle, so Ethioblue has turn into the unofficial late-night gathering spot for Sakura Con attendees. It is a key a part of the Sakura Con expertise.
If I needed to put a quantity on it, I might say 90 p.c of the folks right here tonight are shopping for White Claw.
“I’m trying ahead to the dance. I’m simply going to go in there and let all of it out. There isn’t a judgment in there, ya know?” a Sakura Con attendee tells me whereas standing in entrance of the comfort retailer.
“What does letting all of it out appear like?” I ask.
“I dunno, I’m most likely simply going to, like, bounce up and down a bunch.”
The Sakura Con dance begins at 11 p.m., and at this level, it feels just like the occasion that everybody is right here for. Everyone seems to be making ready in their very own method, both with alcohol or some form of snack that you’d solely discover at a comfort retailer positioned beneath a conference middle.
10:08 p.m.
“We’re dressed as characters from JoJo’s Weird Journey: Half 7. It was simply introduced 4 days in the past that it was going to get animated. My buddy [in the green] is dressed as a personality named Gyro, and we thought it could be humorous to take an image in entrance of the Gyro Cease.”
10:18 p.m.
“What made you wish to gown up as M. Bison from Avenue Fighter?”
“My smile, man. All people tells me I’ve bought the identical smile because the character.”
10:21 p.m.
One of many largest attracts of Sakura Con is that they’ve the biggest free gaming suite of any anime conference on the West Coast. Tons of arcade and pinball machines are introduced in from Japan, all set to free play. No quarters wanted. The arcade is likely one of the points of interest that stays open for your complete weekend, so it doesn’t matter what time it’s, the arcade remains to be open.
10:28 p.m.
I see somebody play Dance Dance Revolution so properly that once they completed, your complete room stands as much as clap for them. Their efficiency transcended gaming and moved into efficiency artwork.
10:30 p.m.
“You suppose it is a cosplay? I’m only a simp* for a V-Tuber**.”
*Simp is an web slang time period describing somebody who reveals extreme sympathy and a focus towards one other individual, usually to somebody who doesn’t reciprocate the identical emotions, in pursuit of affection or a sexual relationship.
**A V-Tuber or digital YouTuber is a web based entertainer who makes use of a digital avatar generated utilizing pc graphics. Actual-time movement seize software program or know-how are sometimes—however not at all times—used to seize motion.
10:51 p.m.
I stumble into a large ballroom-turned-movie-theater that’s exhibiting fan-made anime music movies (AMVs).
I keep for a music video set to Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” and Macklemore’s “Can’t Maintain Us.”
Having semi-recently watched the VERY incriminating HBO Michael Jackson documentary, Leaving Neverland, I can not assist however really feel grossed out. I flip and ask the man subsequent to me: “Rattling are we nonetheless cool with acquitted pedophile Michael Jackson in 2025?”
He shrugs and says, “You gotta separate the artwork from the artist.”
“Yeah, I assume. I’m Jewish, however I nonetheless listened to a Kanye West music this morning, so I get it,” I reply.
“Properly, it was straightforward for me to cease listening to him as a result of I by no means favored his music.”
11:24 p.m.
Down the corridor from the AMV theater, I open a door that leads into one other huge ballroom. Chairs line the partitions, however the middle of the room is totally empty.
A desk in the direction of the again has two folks arguing right into a microphone.
“The earliest cat lady anime might have been as early as 1994,” the debater says.
I’ve simply entered “Zapp’s Spaceship of Love: Nice Huge PERV Debate!” The subject being debated is “Cat Boys vs. Cat Women.”
The person subsequent to me throws his palms up in confusion and frustration.
“This isn’t even a debate, they’re simply having a dialog! They need to be utilizing the Lincoln-Douglas debate format for one thing like this.”
12:01 a.m.
Mahjong is a tile-based sport that originated in China through the nineteenth century and is massively well-liked in Asia. The Mahjong room was scheduled to supply Mahjong Classes in addition to free-play tables till 3 a.m.
The Mahjong room was completely popping at 12:01 on Sunday morning.
“I normally need to drive an hour and a half to play with my Mahjong group, I don’t try this a lot, so I’m excited to have the ability to play Mahjong at Sakura Con.”
There’s a feeling of pressure and frustration within the Mahjong room that solely grows stronger because the night time goes on. I can sense how desperately folks wish to be playing on this room, and the way annoyed they’re each time they win a hand that they don’t seem to be allowed to guess on.
12:15 a.m.
At this level within the night time, I can really feel that persons are drained. The vitality is shifting. The crowds are beginning to skinny out, and the rooms are beginning to really feel greater.
A safety guard explains to me that though it is a 24-hour conference, you can’t sleep right here. You can’t lie down. However you may keep within the conference middle so long as you’re sitting up. This transforms the conference for me, because it now seems like a Japanese-style sport present. How lengthy are you able to keep within the conference with out mendacity down? How lengthy are you able to sleep sitting up with out falling over?
In all places I look, I see somebody was within the Sakura Con Seated Sleeping Place™.
12:21 a.m.
“Does this sport make you wish to shoot somebody in actual life?”
“What? No dude, I perceive that that is only a sport.”
12:45 a.m.
Whereas folks stealthily sleep one ground above us, the Sakura Con Saturday Evening Dance is in full swing beneath.
EDM music weaves out and in of exhausting breakdowns and well-liked anime themes. I take into consideration the attendee who informed me they have been going to “let all of it out,” and now that I’m right here, I completely get it.
12:25 a.m.
I step out of the dance to get some air, and when I attempt to go downstairs, safety stops me to say that the entrance entrance of the conference middle and some blocks of Pike Avenue are at the moment shut down because of a gasoline leak.
Earlier right now, a fireplace on the Cheesecake Manufacturing facility on Pike Avenue pressured elements of Sakura Con to close down. Are these items associated? Am I going to die at an anime conference? If there may be an explosion, I’m wondering if I’ll have the ability to react quick sufficient to get a cool picture.
These are my three ideas, in that order.
I ask the firemen in the event that they wish to be included in one of many photographs, they usually say possibly after they get this gasoline leak sorted out.
1:21 a.m.
Inside, the dance rages on, completely unaware that there’s a gasoline leak outdoors and that this entire metropolis block would possibly explode, Greenwood 2016 model.
2:36 a.m.
“We’re nonetheless right here, not that now we have a selection. We parked within the parking storage on Pike, and the gasoline leak has us caught right here. We’ve been making an attempt to depart since 1 a.m.”
The gasoline leak has locked down the Hyatt Lodge parking storage, that means anybody who parked their automobile there through the conference is now caught till the gasoline leak is contained.
3:07 a.m.
My DNA is telling me I shouldn’t be out anymore. At this level within the con, my choices are fairly restricted. The Mahjong room has closed for the night time, so I can both be on the dance on the principle ground or I can play video games on the arcade on the highest ground. The group is scaling down for each choices, and each are affected by folks sleeping.
3:20 a.m.
The gasoline leak is contained sufficient that Pike Avenue has reopened, and persons are in a position to get into their vehicles within the Hyatt Parking storage.
I hear two guys sitting on a bench collectively arguing about whether or not or not that is the horniest place on earth proper now.
“Not that many individuals are having intercourse, however everybody right here desires to be having intercourse,” one in every of them says.
3:25 a.m.
I didn’t discover this earlier than, however all day and all night time, doorways have been closing round me, shutting off elements of this huge anime conference. Once I arrived within the early afternoon, I had two conference buildings stuffed with occasions to discover. Now, I’m within the previous conference middle, and my two decisions are the dance or the arcade.
3:37 a.m.
A con attendee dances alone to a remix of “Pokémon Theme.”
3:34 a.m.
Digital dance music blasts so loud I can really feel it vibrating the organs inside my chest, and this Fallout: New Vegas cosplayer sleeps by it.
3:53 a.m.
I got here to Sakura Con with the purpose to observe the dawn from the conference middle. Because the dance downstairs performs its remaining music, I’m standing just about alone within the Sakura Con arcade. I play one sport of pinball, and the ball goes proper down the middle 3 times in a row.
I really feel like my time at Sakura Con is coming to an finish. I ask an worker within the arcade what I can do at this level within the night time, they usually inform me I can play arcade video games till 8 a.m., when the buying and selling card sport rooms open again up, and that’s about it.
4:15 a.m.
The dance is over, and with it, so is my time on the largest anime conference within the Northwest. I name an Uber.
“I can’t consider it’s 4 a.m.,” I say out loud to nobody particularly.
“Belief me, that is nothing—we’re simply getting began,” says a person in a lab coat as he walks off into the morning gentle, ingesting a Monster vitality drink.
4:46 a.m.
I’m residence, mendacity in my mattress. I do know I’m, however part of me remains to be contained in the conference middle. As I write this, it’s been a full two days since I left the constructing, however when I attempt to sleep, I shut my eyes and really feel like I’m in a type of big liminal conference middle rooms with folks lining the partitions and shuffling previous me. I don’t know if it’s the shortage of sleep or the gasoline I inhaled, however for higher or for worse, Sakura Con has modified me endlessly.
