Video games have become more and more a part of the Anime convention experience as of late, and has become a common sight at anime conventions much like terrible Death Note cosplayers. Anime conventions have always been a joyful experience for its celebration of nerdery and this past weekend at Anime Matsuri, anime fans got a chance to share some of that joy through a charity auction for Child's Play.
We should consider ourselves lucky to have luxury items such as video games, but not everyone can afford something so costly as a video game system when you're a parent having to deal with your child's hospital bills luckily, Child's Play is there. Child's Play is a non-profit charity that provides video games, toys, and books to sick children in hospitals all across the United States and beyond. ModernMethod, Japanator's parent network, is no stranger to Child's Play and Japanator just had to be there so we can share the awesomeness with you all!
Hit the Jump for more about HELPING THE CHILDREN!
Marc Pedregosa, a great friend to Japanator, headed up the auction along with the awesome guests to the convention such as Blake Shepard, Sonny Strait, Quinton Flynn, Stephanie Young, Mike McFarland, Crispin Freeman, Chris Patton, DJ HeavyGrinder, Matt Mercer, and Cynthia Rothrock.
The auction kicked off with Blake Shepard and Sonny Strait presenting autographed hand-drawn pictures up for grabs who also warmed up the audience and set the stage for more willing bidders. Quinton Flynn also presented an awesome shirt that he autographed himself. One of the more weirder items up for bidding was a Panda Hat which was worn by most of the guest voice actors and had some of their DNA which could be used to clone your own voice actor.
Autographed anime DVDs followed and titles such as Claymore, Code Geass, One Piece, Dragonball Z, and Fullmetal Alchemist which were also autographed by the voice actors who were present that worked on the titles. DJ HeavyGrinder also went on stage to auction off an autographed copy of her album "Eternity" along with a picture of her with the winning bidder.
One of the more awesome items up for sale was a chance to get into a martial arts movie poster style picture with all the guest voice actors with the help of martial arts film star, Cynthia Rothrock. This was a great chance for me to immortalize Desutoid as he kicked some Voice Actor ass, and this was when I got into a little bidding fight with the Anime Matsuri convention Chairman Deneice Phan for the chance of a lifetime, but sadly we both lost to some lucky dude who got his picture taken while stomping some American Voice Actor on the floor.
Special guest performer, Strong Machine 2, who performed the previous night with her father, Strong Machine 1, donated her red school backpack which she wore during her performance in the Polysics video "I My Me Mine". Truly, it was the only thing that I wanted from this auction but I got outbidded by Anime Matsuri Convention Director John Leigh, who won the prized backpack for $300+. I shook my fist angrily at John Leigh but was cut short when the final item up for auction was announced.
The final item up for auction was kept a secret and when it was time for it to be revealed, a uniformed security officer went up to the stage and handed a box to the lovely nurses. Marc revealed that the box was from Miyavi, Anime Matsuri's guest performer who rocked the previous night's concert. The box was labeled for use by some Japanese Coffee beans which disappointed the audience a bit, but then Marc tore through the crude packaging tape to reveal the final item was a hat. However, this hat was no ordinary hat, it was a one-of-kind hat made for and worn by Miyavi which bore his signature with a message that said "Dont give up".
In the end, Miyavi's hat sold for a whopping $720 which collected more than $3000 for Anime Matsuri to donate to Child's Play, which wan't bad at all. Every cent that is collected can guarantee a smile on a child's face who's in a hospital bed somewhere. Many thanks goes out to the staff of Anime Matsuri and the generous bidders who just made a child's life a little bit brighter.
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