Anime Weekend Atlanta 12 Cosplay 2006

This year we were able to get an early start on our 6-hour drive so we arrived at a more reasonable hour, a little before 11 PM. However, due to another convention that was wrapping up the next day on Friday, rooms were in extremely short supply for Friday night, even for those of us who booked in advance. Fortunately, the Waverly was still able to accommodate us.

This year the AWA folks had shifted some of the usual functions to different locations. For example, during the first day registration, the ticket booths were set up in the Waverly lobby rather then the usual registration counter in the Artists' Alley.

Due to activities of the earlier overlapping convention, a band stage in the Grand Ballroom was still being removed Friday morning. This required that the Opening Ceremonies be rescheduled to the afternoon. In a bonus result of this rescheduling, I had the opportunity to photograph two of the AWA guests of honor. To the left is Masahiro Aizawa, key animator, director and character designer. His most notable current work is for the anime, Moon Phase. To the right is a surprise unannounced guest, Sumie Kinoshita, key animator, also associated with Moon Phase. To my great delight, after taking this photo, I gave my usual bow of appreciation and Kinoshita-sensei bowed in return. I was deeply honored.

Following the Opening Ceremonies (covered on the next page), we took a break for lunch around 3 PM.