Gasp! The time has arrived!!!
This year was probably my most...er..."panel affiliated" year that I have ever gone to! There were a lot of good cosplayers out there, but unfortunately, I was still a bit wary of taking out my new digicam due to last year's experience of losing my camera, so I didn't take much. But hey, all was well, and hopefully in the cosplay gallery, it'll show not just mine but everyone else in my group as well! (That's always a good thing...)
And so, here were the costumes that I had done:
Unfortunately, I had to opt out on Mika for Gungrave due to time constraints. I had no idea that Alice's costume was going to take me that long to finish (darn super duper hard school girl shirts...)
For those who are new to reading my con reports, here's the names I will mention that are from the group that I go with:
Torch
MaulieKat (aka maulie)
SwedMex
Kaede
Juuhachigou
Kupochan
MasterChief
Walter #1
And some new names:
Argonus (Torch's bf)
Kevin
Argonus' brother
Jyama (Maulie's brother)
Seras
On with the show!
DAY ZERO - Pre AX day....
Well, I arrived at our group's newest hotel, the Desert Palms, at around 2:30 after picking up Torch and Argonus after getting out of summer school. Yes, you heard me right --- summer school. Unfortunately, I want to get out of my community college to a university as fast as possible because...well, my school's just not very good ^^. We had to wait a little bit because our rooms were still getting cleaned up, but after about a half hour we got into our suites and all was well.
The rooms were very very good, by the way. Next year at AX06, we'll be staying at the same hotel as well.
After settling into our rooms, a small group of us decided to go on ahead and wait in the pre-reg line at the ACC while Juuhachigou, MasterChief, Kevin, and myself decided to wait for Walter #1's group to arrive. Once they arrived, we too headed to the pre-reg line.
That was around, oh, 5:30PM.
We didn't get out of reg until 9:30. Enough said.
We did get a surprise, though. Kaede wasn't expected to come due to parental authorities, but they let her go -- surprising her as well!
DAY ONE - Waiting in the AMV line was worth it....
The day started off with me waking up at 6:30 in the morning. Not quite sure why, but I believe it was all the anticipation that was building up inside of me that I wanted AX to start now. So, to let time fly, Kaede and I talked for a bit before we finally decided to head on over to the AMV line. We ran into this guy who started drawing nifty pictures in Kaede's sketchbook ^^. Luckily, we got there early enough to not be very far from the screens in AMV, but man, that was a long wait.
Got one picture taken of me while wearing my Alice costume ^^. The guy commented that my backpack and costume matched.
After the AMV line and getting our tickets, Kaede and I searched around Dealer's Room (aka Exhibit Hall) for a bit. Got the manga that I wanted (after patiently waiting a month from my usual manga spending spree) and then headed back to hotel because I got too hot in my Alice costume. Wearing 2 layers of clothing isn't a good thing...not in Anaheim.
The AMVs this year were waaay better than last year's. Argh, I couldn't help but get....stuck in every category on what to choose with the exception of AMVTv category (because...well, once I saw Resident Evil 4, then I went: yep, I'll vote on that one ^^). The only bad thing was how loud the speakers were. I mean, we weren't very close, but my ears kept on ringing after the AMV contest ended.
My favorite vid of all time on there was "Wizard of Ozaka". Because that was just plain cool. I give props to the guy who made it.
After some more random talk back at the hotel, conked out and fell asleep at around 1am.
DAY TWO - Two panels in one...
I just have to say: TOMOKAZU SEKI!!!!!!!!!!
...*coughs*
Well, there wasn't much to do except head to the Seki panel, so dressing in my Ellone outfit, Kupochan and I ran into Seras and Kaede who had gone to the Hellsing gathering earlier. We were waiting around in between the ACC and the Hilton (the place where many, if not all, cosplay gatherings and cosplayers go to) for the Final Fantasy Complete gathering to start. It did start a little bit late, but it was fun. Plus, I was happy that people recognized me as to who I was dressed as (Ellone being a minor character and all...), but Kaede pointed out to me that Ellone did play a significant role. Maybe that was why.
I just couldn't help myself but look in the mirror and gawk as to how much I looked like her. 'Twas a bit scary, in a way.
Kupochan headed up to wait in line for the Seki panel as I went back to change into Hinata. Maybe I should've stayed in Ellone....because Hinata's outfit was much warmer than Alice's...and that was bad. Plus, my bandages kept falling as I walked, so I had to walk as if I sprained my ankle or something...
But the Seki panel was well worth it. While watching his newest role in the anime for Count of Monte Cristo (it's some long ass name in Japanese that starts with a "G"...or something, couldn't see the screen very well), we -- as in the audience -- didn't realize that he was standing off in the corner watching along with us!
I was happy that I got my pictures that WalMart ripped me off from last year.
Ah, but I was so happy that we was able to come back this year! Even if it was only for a day....it makes the fans happy that he thinks of us even with his busy schedule...
Crispin Freeman hosted, by the way. It was so weird...I dunno, but he looked like Ryan Seacrest with that blond hair O_o.
And Saturday was probably the day where I took the most pictures of just...well, anything and everything. Which was good, in a way.
After the Seki panel (which also lasted 1/2 hour overtime), headed to the Voice Actor's Panel. That was actually kind of cool, even though I don't like dubs very much, because the voice actors kept on expanding as time passed and they were just having a good time. It was just interesting to see how these people were very much like us anime fans and gave me a new respect for the voice acting area. Still doesn't mean that I'll listen to dubs more, but I understand the hardships that they're going through now.
Had to leave early because Kupochan needed the room key to our hotel room. And then Juuhachigou, Kupochan, Seras, her friend and I talked for a while about...random stuff. Like chickens to musicals to different shows and stuff like that. It's what you get when you get a lot of sleep deprived people in one room and it's 2am ^^.
DAY THREE - Maaya and Hellsing!! (woot!!)
Maulie and SwedMex left early to head on over and wait in line for the Sakamoto Maaya concert, which started a bit overtime, but that was okay. Kupochan and I headed to Exhibit Hall to do some more shopping; I got all of my manga that I needed done, and we went to meet Maulie and SwedMex in the line. Since we were waiting so long (after we got our wristbands), we were playing Speed (cuz SwedMex brought along is pack of cards) and that was fun. I hadn't played that game in the longest time, so I kept on losing ^^. But I did win once!! ^___^
The Maaya concert was really cool. I mean, I knew some of the songs that she was singing (like Escaflowne...one or two of 'em, Wolf's Rain, and Arjuna), but it was just nice listening to her. It was packed, too. We weren't too far back, but far enough to stay away from the massive speakers. Maaya was so funny, though. She didn't know that she was so popular over here in the US, and she spoke English pretty well.
After the concert, ran back downstairs to try to get more stuff and then went to the Geneon Hellsing Ultimate OVA panel. All I can say:
1) the creator liked to answer everything with "deadline" ^^
2) the director looks like Major
3) all three men like girls
and finally, the panel was AWESOME!!!! Argh...have to wait another year for that to come out, though....
I also went to the Yellow Dancer Concert with Kaede (well, because I dragged Kaede along, but I really wanted to see Yellow Dancer), but left mid-way through because the back-up singer was...um....annoying. Well, in the sense that I didn't like her voice. Plus, I just felt weird...because it seemed that I was the only...er...20 something year old there and every other Robotech fan looked like they were around 30s to 40s. *sweatdrop*
But now I can brag to my brother that I saw Yellow and he didn't ^^ (if you don't know who Yellow Dancer is, btw, he's a character in the 3rd Generation of Robotech).
DAY FOUR - I dun wanna go home!!!
I couldn't believe that AX went by so fast. When I woke up, I didn't want to go home. I wish AX could be like a week, but then that wouldn't go well with my school and work and all....*snaps her fingers in disappointment*
Nothing much done. All I did was pack up my stuff in my car, ran over to Dealer's Room to get 2 manga that I was missing (even though I bought them earlier...I couldn't find them again, so I headed back to re-buy them again), a raffle at the Funimation booth, and ran back to where my dad was waiting and went home. My cat was so happy to see me ^^.
And so, thus ends another year at AX. Next year...I'm just gonna go as Ed from FMA (no more hard costumes!!).
Until then!
