I am not sure if I am supposed to go super in-depth here but here is my overall review:
Day 0 - Badge-less preview and pre-reg badge pickup. My friends and I arrived at 6:45 (15 min before line was supposed to 'open' and 'start'). We knew there would be a crazy line so weren't surprised when we were greeted by hundreds of people already waiting before us. The line opened about 30 - 45 min late (7:40 ish) and began processing people. About 5 hours later were were in the final loop of the line and about to get into the actual 'badge room'. Once we got in we finally got our badges and left. That was a total of 6 hours and some odd minutes. We were so tired of hanging around that we didn't check out the badgeless preview (which I regret now) but instead just headed home exhausted.
Day 1 - Was that 6 hour line worth it? Time to test it out. It has been 8 years since I last attended Fanime so I was excited to see what was new, exciting, and what changed. Apparently Friday (day 1) is not a huge day so I took most of the day to take photos, check out the game room, and explore the dealer room. Overall nothing too exciting, but was a good start to the con overall (got my bearings).
Day 2 - THIS is why I waited 6 hours in line. Day 2 (Saturday) was the best day of all Fanime for me. Not only did some of the most amazing cosplayers come out and show their stuff, but I also got to sit in on some awesome panels (armor making, history of bandai toy designs presented by the man who actually designed them, and other interesting panels). After all that, we explored some of the film rooms and got to watch some interesting new features like video game movies (movies made from cinematics and in-game snippets to tell a complete story) and the marathon room for Dragon Ball Kai (cell saga). While normally we spend a majority of time watching anime, this time we spent more time exploring panels, finding cool cosplayers, checking out artist alley, and best of all (for me), MUSICFEST 2013 !!! This was my first Japanese concert and it was a blast. We waited about 1 hour in line to get some of the best seating in the house ! Rookiez is Punk'd put on a stellar performance and kept the crowd jumping, clapping, singing, and enjoying the show. After Rookiez came 7!! (seven oops). They did a good job and were overall very fun but it was hard to follow-up such a high-energy band like Rookiez with a more pop-alt band like 7!! overall, both were great, though, and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole show.
Day 3 - Sunday was a good day because I got to get my CD's signed by Rookiez and 7!!. Both were very gracious when signing and Rookiez even investigated my shopping haul and said my figures were "kawaii" or cute. I appreciated their interest and interaction even though they didn't have to. 7!! were cool and shook our hands and personally thanked each person who came. After all that, I ended the day with the fanimaid cafe which was... awkward but an experience. We checked out some more panels then called it a day. Overall it was a good wind-down day.
Day 4 - Monday was similar to Friday. Not many people, not as many big shows/events, and in general just a less huge time. I still got to see some amazing cosplay (the best Lara Croft I saw all weekend) and got to do a last-minute wallet purge and buy some stuff in the dealer room and finish off my coins in the arcade area.
Overall, if I were to do it again, I might consider avoiding the pre-reg line and just killing some of the early time on Friday (day 1) since most people aren't there early and most big stuff won't start until later on Friday. I would still go to every single day as I don't like the idea of 'missing' anything, but for less die-hard enthusiasts, Sat/Sun would be the two days for sure to hit, with Fri being a maybe and Mon being avoidable.
For those who are interested, here are some photos I took:
Kairu Photography - There is a Fanime album and a Musicfest album. Please check out both, like the page if you like the photos, and tag anyone if you know them (and I haven't tagged them already).
Thanks and enjoy !