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Running alongside the dealers room was the artist alley and bring & buy.  The bring & buy was a great place to pick up some bargain manga, with second-hand selling for around £3 each.  There were even out-of-print titles, as well as figures and some cheap imported games.  The artist alley was unfortunately smaller then expected though, with a much more limited amount of artwork compared to most other conventions.  Still, it was great for attendees to have place available to show off their artwork if they wanted to.   
 



 

On Saturday afternoon of the convention the EGL (elegant Gothic Lolita) tea party began. This though was almost a non-starter those who did not bring the smartest of clothes with them.  This was because the dress code for the event was not explained prior to the convention.  Luckily though, the hosts were sympathetic towards our love for cake and let us in.  Once we were seated we served by a full Ouran Host Club, which was very cute and suited the ambiance of the room with host club music playing in the background.
 

The drinks you could choose from was immense, with everything from teas, coffees, juices to speciality teas.  Animetion's personal favourites was a nice filtered coffee and fairies blood (raspberry and vanilla flavoured tea). 

However, the drink selection seemed small compared to amount of cake on offer.  As soon as you walked into the cafe, your eyes became fixed to the large round table filled with pastries, muffins and chocolate cakes.  For those people watching their calorie intake there was also a large selection of fruit you could choose from instead.

The EGL tea party was easily the most organised and fun Cafe that we have attended at a convention.  It was great to see the Host Club staying in role throughout the event, for example, Mori pulling poor honey sempai away from all the cakes and the twins posing together for pictures!

Not long after the EGL tea party was the obligatory cosplay masquerade, which consisted of a wide variety of cosplays.  Highlights included Yakitate!! Japan and Silent Hill groups, alongside characters from Bleach and Final Fantasy.  The masquerade was skit-free as all skits were separately in the 'Auchimake' the following day.  Alongside the masquerade there was also a photshoot were cosplayers could have a professional picture taken.  As always, the masquerade was a convention highlight and did not have one bad costume in it. 

 


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