Three weeks have passed since The Sangawa Project 2018 and needless to say, this year’s convention went a lot smoother than last. This year, The Sangawa Project moved to the Drury Inn located in Downtown Pittsburgh. The convention took place from November 30th to December 2nd, and although the venue felt smaller it left a more pleasant memory compared to the previous year. Last year, The Sangawa project took place at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Green Tree and the event did not go as smoothly as desired. Like most conventions, The Sangawa Project 2017 shared its area with other guests. Sadly the convention had unfortunate setbacks due to confrontations between the hockey families staying at the hotel and the convention goers. Due to a negative experience during the first two days, we did not have the opportunity to cover the full event; however this year we went into The Sangawa Project with an open mind. For last year’s coverage, you can click this link, otherwise, let’s go over why The Sangawa Project 2018 was a better experience.
General
The Sangawa Project 2018 and the Drury Inn welcomed guest from around The world to take part in an 18+ Convention to celebrate Japanese culture. Although the convention took place in a smaller venue this year, The Sangawa Project (T.S.P) still managed to grow despite the obstacles it faced and lingering resentment from the previous year. The 2018 event managed to intertwine the convention goers with other guests staying at the hotel. During the convention, the Drury also hosted guests who were in town for a cheerleading competition or the Penguins game. Unlike last year, the congoers and sports fans were able to interact in a positive manner and bond over similar passions. This interaction extended further where guests from all three events were able to share the private pool area without any conflict or incidents
This year, the convention welcomed over 500 guests, which is at least a 33% increase from the prior year. Unlike its older counterpart Tekko, The Sangawa Project prides itself in welcoming a smaller audience; the Pittsburgh Japanese Cultural Society has done a great job at improving the winter experience by welcoming fresh special guests to the convention while reinviting a few fan favorites to return. Attendees had the opportunity to get meaningful time with one another while also having the ability to have longer interactions with special guests during autograph sessions. This year’s voice actor special guests were Tony Oliver and David Vincent.
Special Guests
The Sangawa Project 2018 welcomed special guests Tony Oliver, David Vincent, Charles Dunbar, Samurai Dan and his wife Jillian, and Nancy Kepner.
David Vincent is known for his roles of the Narrator in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure and Phinks in Hunter x Hunter. He is also the voice of Senketsu in Kill la Kill, Grimmjow in Bleach, Robin (Fire Emblem) in Super Smash Bros. He is also the director of the Katsugeki Touken Ranbu series.
Tony Oliver was named to IMDB’s top 20 all time Anime Voice Actors list. Oliver rose to fame with his success as a voice actor-artist for The Sea Prince and the Fire Child. He is the voice actor of Rick Hunter in the anime series Robotech, Minato in the Naruto Franchise, and Lancer in Fate/Zero.
Tony directed the English releases of Fate/Zero, Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Bladeworks, Love Live, Charlotte, God Eater, Fate: Apocrypha, Hunter X Hunter, and Jojo’s Bizarre Adventures.
Nancy Kepner is an aspiring songwriter and musician who creates interesting and clever songs inspired by Japanese Pop Culture.
Charles Dunbar is a cultural anthropologist who interweaves his love of spirituality, media, and pop culture. Charles provides comical experience at a variety of conventions throughout the east coast. If you ever see him, you might think to yourself, “Is that Mcloven?”
Panels
Similar to previous years, The Sangawa Project hosted a variety of panels and a Taste of Japan Mixer for those over the age of 21. During the weekend, guests had the opportunity to play Cards Against Humanity with most of the special guests, the event lead to Charles Dunbar declaring that he would never play Cards Against Humanity again. Guests could display their skills against one another in Karaoke, Dance Dance Revolution, Beyblades, or in the popular Cosplay Battle Royale. This year, the Casual Congoers Society (C.C.S) had the opportunity to host multiple events during the convention that were well received. Congoers could “Let it Rip” in a tournament to see who the best Beyblader was and claim the Sangawa Project championship. Later on in the evening, the C.C.S hosted the official [REDACTED] Panel where things got a bit hairy.
Our Experience
Friday Evening
On Friday afternoon, we arrived at the Drury after a long monotonous day and started off with a nice relaxing drink… of Mountain Dew, compliments of the Drury Inn. After unwinding a little bit, we went to the old treasury vault to glimpse at Samurai Dan’s “I’m So Dumb” panel. Although the panel was amusing we heard laughter down the hall so we followed the laughter and discovered Nancy Kepner hosting the “Anime Ice Breakers” panel. This panel sought to introduce early arrivals to one another while setting the tone for the upcoming weekend. One of the icebreakers had participants contribute one word towards an overall story that ended with a moral epiphany. The ice-breaking panel helped guests to socialize with one another, get a laugh, and allowed for creative juices to flow. Next Omar (assistant) and I peeked into Anime Fight Club where audience members were requested to pitch their arguments for which team would win. In the first matchup, we saw B2 vs The Major from Ghost in The Shell; sadly, we do not recall who won that round but remember that the second round was fought between Cloud Strife and Zach Fair vs Penny Polendina and Ruby Rose. Before the battle was over, we adjourned to the Sangawa Parlor to listen to Nancy Kepner sing and learn about Japanese games of chance. The convention started to pick up around 8:00 PM when more guests started to arrive. After a brief convergence of the minds, we decided to explore the gaming floor and interact with some of the other guests. Most notably, we failed at DDR but we were able to show congoers some tricks to play Overcooked 2 and explain its story. After an hour of gaming, we thought we should join other congoers at the Sangawa Social and try different mixtures with varying themes. The mixer/social allowed guests to unwind while interacting in a low-pressure setting. The mixtures were rather lackluster but the company was stellar. The last and final event of the evening that we attended was the Sangawa Karaoke event. Guests sang their heart out with Country Roads, How Fall I’ll Go, and other songs.
Saturday Afternoon
On Saturday afternoon, we had a late start because of a late evening, but the day started off with a bang with the Cosplay Battle Royal. Sadly, we did not stay very long for the Battle Royal due to ongoing illness but we were able to grab a photo from the event. Up next was Samurai Dan’s Ninja Olympics where participants practiced their ninja skills with innuendos involved. Regrettably, the day did not go as planned and we were only able to stay a few moments at the Yugioh: Duel of the Century and This is my Fetish panels; both panels provided audience men with a couple of laughs. Luckily, I was able to regain my composure in time for Samurai Dan’s Cards Against Humanity with Dave, Tony, and Charles. The game provided multiple laughs but as previously stated, made Charles Dunbar state that he would never play Cards Against Humanity again. The last and final panel that we had the opportunity to attend was the C.C.S. official [REDACTED] Panel. The panel featured Bigfoot, a birthday cake, a broken chair, and prizes; the event was full of laughs and had guests shocked by the panels absurdity.
Wrap-Up
Like last year, we were only able to attend the first two days of The Sangawa Project, but we had an amazing time compared to the 2017 Sangawa Project. Guests were treated like they were actually welcome at the hotel rather than an inconvenience. Congoers were able to interact with other hotel guests in a relaxed manner and were able to share their passions with the hockey attendees and cheerleaders. Sadly, The Sangawa Project suffered from lack of space and a variety of panels, but guests were able to come up with alternate options to entertain themselves during downtime. At one point during the convention, we left the convention floor and went swimming in the Drury Inn’s pool with some of the other guests. We are thankful that The Pittsburgh Japanese Cultural Society welcomed us to be a part of the convention and interact with other guests to witness their experiences. We reached out to one of the founding members of C.C.S. to provide us with his experience in planning different panels at the convention. Unfortunately, we were unable to devise a time to discuss the experience, but hopefully, we will be able to catch up with him and the other admins at Tekko 2018. In the end, guests could say that the Sangawa Project brought cheer to a Drury Hotel.
