Come on down for a chance at winning anime DVDs and Blu-Rays, courtesy of FUNimation! Try to beat other congoers to the punch in this fast-paced trivia game.
At this year's Castle Point Anime Convention, the first panel I checked out was “Anime Trivia with Prizes!”. I'm a competitive person by nature and although my anime knowledge hasn't been updated with new data recently, I still wanted to test my skills against other anime fans (if I'm lucky enough to get picked to play). The panel produced a mix of excitement and frustration, but overall fun experience.
Aside for myself, the whole FStandsFor crew was in attendance. After all, the more of us, the better our
chances were of getting picked (yes we like prizes, who doesn't?) We got there early and 15 minutes before the panel started, the moderator (didn't get his name) decided to play one more anime episode to accommodate the attendees of the previous panel (Crunchyroll Room). This of course resulted in running passed schedule which sparked annoyance from some of the attendees. The room was packed and the moderator didn't anticipate this. He looked overwhelmed and it didn't help that there was this one fangirl sitting right in front of him that kept distracting him, further delaying the contest.
The moderator picked the players through a ballot for round 1 and started the contest. That's when things got really exciting but frustrating at the same time for some. It was fun seeing the contestants sweat from nervousness and fail to answer some of the easier questions. Their reactions knowing the answer but drawing a blank or the answer escaping them entirely was hilarious. Everybody was so animated. Unfortunately, this also used a lot of time and that got some, including me a bit frustrated. It's important to note that the fangirl I mentioned was still very much at it, distracting the moderator by constantly talking to him. It doesn't help that the moderator himself wasn't speaking loud enough, making it sound like he was mumbling and hard for us to hear what he was saying. He eventually had to cut the first round short to give others a chance to play. He must have been nearing 20 questions already and still no one was close to scoring 5 points for the win. So the player with the highest score (in this case 3 points) was declared the winner.
Moving on, as he was picking the players for round 2 and got to the third pick, he announced the ticket number, and as my luck would have it, it was mine...I got in! I was so fired up. Not only because I get to play but also it was the second to the last round, as we were running out of time. The same rule carried over. Whoever gets 3 points first, wins. After a couple of questions I got my first point. I was feeling confident. Then all of a sudden the player next to me, who looked so unassuming I might add, just blazed through the next following questions and won the game! I was shocked but impressed at the same time. It was a good game and I got a lanyard for my troubles as a consolation prize.
Overall, it was a fun panel. It delivered the enjoyment a game panel should. The only negatives were poor time management and lack of leadership. If the moderator would've been a little stern and controlled the crowd better, less time would've been wasted and other attendees could've had the chance to play as well. We were constantly telling him to move on to the next questions as he took too long and got easily distracted by the fangirl. What was originally planned for 6 rounds got reduced to 3 rounds. Fortunately, the panel was scheduled to open again later that afternoon so for the others who weren't able to play, still would have a chance later on, with the luck of a draw. Could the panel have been better? Absolutely! Was it a total disaster? Absolutely not! Most of the attendees had fun. And that is the most important thing a panel can offer. There is always room for improvement for the next time.
BY: Jovanni Febrero
