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That's right, I still recognize the existence of this blog! I just can't do much about it right now. With classes, tutoring, and attending two different clubs (on opposite sides of the valley, no less), I don't have much time for anything else. I have a few of the swag pictures taken and uploaded; now I just need to get the rest of them. With Haruhi finally having finished its US run, I'm currently on the prowl for a new series to obsess over. There's always NHK I guess, but it's going to take so much longer to complete (volume 6 should be released next August by my estimation). I've been collecting Air as it comes out but I haven't gotten past volume 1 yet (for the same reason as my lack of swag pics :P ) so I can't count that. Maybe when Genshiken 2 comes out here, I'll start a multi-site promotion strategy. That's a bit far-off though. Speaking of G2, I've been fairly lucky to keep up with the fansubs as well as I have been. I'm also attempting to follow Clannad but... you know. Why can't there be more hours in a day?! BTW, I've also downloaded the first 5-6 episodes of a few other series (Gundam 00, Rental Magica, etc.) that I haven't even gotten to watch yet. And yet, I've been keeping up with NHK, Naruto (don't ask...), and Bleach in their manga forms (plus the NHK novel). I guess it's because I read on my way to all the places I go. ... THAT'S IT!!! I just need a portable DVD player or an external hard drive with a screen and I'll be able to keep up on my anime too! Sounds like a good fund to start up... ^_^ All right, I'm off to class. Thanksgiving's coming up, bringing with it a four-day weekend. I'm not promising anything but it sure sounds like a great time to do some photography... Tags: personal
Current Location: School
Current Mood:  blah
Current Music: "Megumeru - Cuckool Mix 2007" from CLANNAD TV
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 Ah, Momoi-tan!!! Daisuki da yo!Okay, I know I've been promising various posting dates left and right, but this is really it! The final Anime Expo post! Good riddance, eh? ... Actually, I've really enjoyed writing these journals. It's been a bit like reliving the event. At least it's the closest I'll ever come (besides downloading those concert videos ^_^;). Alright, let's jump right into - What? You want to know what I've been up to for the last couple of weeks? No, you really don't. Come on, quit it. *sigh* All right, if you insist. I may only have class on Monday through Friday mornings but the afternoons are (sometimes) taken up by homework, not to mention my attempts to sit in on JPN 101 classes Tuesday and Thursday nights. I also recently finished what I think is a reasonably good wallpaper of "Sayonara Zetsubou-sensei" (yes, reasonably; my reason? used Paint instead of Photoshop). My time has been split many, many ways. I'm still keeping in contact with that anime club I mentioned recently BTW. The first meeting was incredible: a Lupin III movie, followed by a couple of preview discs full of episodes, great barbecued food, and fun conversations with otaku who shared similar interests as myself. It was an incredible time! Okay, I guess I've side-tracked myself enough; back to the post at hand. The final day of AX begins... NOW!!!
Monday, July 2, 2007
I actually woke up when I expected to on Monday morning. 7:30am sharp. I hurried through my morning ritual, running toward the convention center as soon I could, wearing the shirt I had bought from Momoi-tan's focus panel the morning before. I couldn't miss this event, no matter what! This was the main reason for my insistence on attending Expo this year! I just had to make it!!! I ran to the arena's entrance, wanting to get my ticket before all the seats were taken. Maybe I could even get a close seat! After all, they said tickets would be released to the public at about 8:30am and I was there five minutes early. I walked to the reserved ticket booth, walked back to the center of the square, looked around near the main doors of the arena... Uh, maybe I got there a bit too early? Then I heard Momoi-tan's name mentioned on the other side of the entrance square. I ran over, noticing it to be the same place where the SOS Brigade event line began two days earlier. A couple of guys were talking with an AX staff member, who promptly handed them a pair of tickets. Tickets!!! I see tickets!!! I hurried to the staff member, passing the two fans on my way. He asked whether I wanted one ticket or two. Unfortunately, my attempts to drag Vincent to this concert of the century hadn't worked, so I only took one ticket. Still, I had managed to make my first step toward the ultimate event! Looking around, I expected to see a crowd of people clamoring in the distance, cursing themselves for not being early enough to get the first ticket. Nobody. ... Th-that's okay, I thought. There's still plenty of time. As I walked away, feeling only slightly let down, I thought about what I could do until 11am, when the concert started. There was no line yet, so it would be ridiculous for me to stand in the sun for two and a half hours.
My schedule showed only two events I was interested in that were going on anytime soon: the panels for Tokyopop and Manga Entertainment. I wouldn't be able to make it safely from either panel to get to the concert on time. I decided to get in the dealers room line, which was on the other side of the arena. It opened at 10am so I could easily check out my favorite tables, search for last-day deals, and still make it to the concert with time to spare. The line was about the same as it was Friday morning, though with less cosplayers and more tired con-goers. Oh, and staff members occasionally walking by, offering free Momoi Haruko concert tickets. I had my iPod this time so the minutes flew by rather quickly. (Just 120, 90, 75 minutes until Momoi-tan!) The line moved inside just after 10am, and I immediately found my way to the booth I had kept my eye on all weekend. I was bound and determined to get that copy of "Welcome to the NHK" with the pack-in game! They still had a copy on the shelf! My hand shaking with anticipation, I picked up the manga - no discount. Eh? Was there some kind of mistake? I looked around for some sort of "50% off everything today!" sign in the booth. Nothing. Maybe I should get it anyway? After all, I might never see it again. Then again, the art and story really weren't spectacular and nothing from NHK would be mentioned in the game. Definitely not worth $16. I put it down with a heavy heart and walked away, a single fingerprint on the plastic wrap being the only remaining sign of my presence. Whoa, I'm getting waaay too into this. The rest of my time in the dealers room went about the same way, except for a few exceptions. I did find some discounts but not on any of the items I had been hoping to bring home. After one last look at the Air and Higurashi Daybreak PC games ($60 and $20, respectively), I headed to the exit.
At 10:45am I stood in front of the entrance to the arena. No line, only a couple of guards standing by the doors, checking tickets as the occasional fan walked through. I showed my ticket to a guard and walked into the arena. What, was it just not busy enough to warrant tearing ticket stubs off? That question was answered the moment I walked into the seating area. No more than 30 people were sitting inside. O_O <_< >_> T-T For a moment, I was outraged at the many online fangroups dedicated to Momoi-tan. Then I was relieved at not buying the $30 tickets online before coming to AX. Then something else occurred to me: Momoi-tan came all this way, from Japan to America, probably expecting to see hordes of fans. How would she feel when she saw so few people in the audience? Would she ever even consider coming back? I wasn't sure but I for one definitely felt crushed by the turnout. I sat in my seat (9th row, BTW), trying to distract myself from these thoughts by watching Momoi-tan's "21-Seiki" PV. Luckily, as I sat muddling in despair, more people entered the arena. By the time the lights dimmed at 11:15am, there were around 100 people in attendance. Staff members had been wandering through the aisles, handing out the requisite glow-sticks (at Momoi-tan's concerts in Japan, every fan in the audience is armed with at least two glow-sticks). Finally, Momoi-tan herself ran on to the stage, greeting everyone and moving right into a song. I couldn't move for a moment. She was standing there (dancing there?) less than 50 feet away from me! I realized everyone was waving their glow-sticks to the music, some singing along. I followed suit, waving my arms like an idiot, watching and mimicking Momoi-tan's directions to the audience. (She lifted her arm slowly in front of her, we lifted both, then waved frenetically as she danced around. Song followed song; I heard only a few that I actually knew (Tondoru Baby, Tenbatsu Angel Rabbie, Mail Me, etc.) but I sang along, enjoying the rush of fandom-powered energy that was probably falling over every person there. She occasionally paused between songs to comment on the fans or the songs in Japanese and broken English.
At one point, she mentioned something about a friend and band member before saying in English, "Here is my friend Manzo. He sing for you!" It took me a second to take this in, then: "MANZO?!" I should mention that Manzo is a performer who has been often overlooked in terms of album releases and in fandom as a whole. He performed the opening themes for Genshiken's TV and OVA series and I've been hoping to hear more from him ever since I found out about him. Well, this was definitely something more! Momoi-tan ran off-stage as Manzo walked to the microphone, dressed in a construction worker's outfit. O_o Uh... I really hope that's not a reference to the Village People, I thought. He asked everyone how we were doing and said he'd start with the opening to Genshiken. It sounded so different live, as he played his guitar while singing. "My-Pace Daiou" used to be my favorite anime theme, and that feeling was rekindled as I listened, waved, and sang along. He seemed to draw out the ending of the song, realizing how much the fans were getting into it, before moving to what would be his last song. He said something about the song that I didn't understand until I got home; it was something like, "This next song, my final song, is the theme for the demolition companyof the same name, Nihon Break Kogyo!" Sure enough, he started playing a song I had never heard before but I enjoyed it from the end of the first verse. That song, of course, was the reason for his strange outfit. When he finished the song, he thanked the audience and told us to continue enjoying the concert. He threw his guitar pick into the audience and ran off-stage. Momoi-tan soon came back and began another medley of songs. After each one, I felt as if my arms would collapse from over-exertion. Then the next song would start, I'd find a sudden burst of energy, and my arms would start waving around as crazily as at the beginning of the concert. It felt like it would never end, and I didn't really mind. After a while, though, Momoi-tan announced that the next song would be her last one. It was a slow one, and I felt like I became part of the music, letting it wash over me as I realized it would end soon. It came to an end and she thanked us all and walked off the stage. That's it? The amazing event was over? Some fans didn't accept that fact easily and started shouting for an encore. Others, myself included, chanted Momoi-tan's name over and over. After a couple of minutes, she came back on to the stage, smiling. She started yet another song, which we waved for as wildly as ever. During her next song, Mail Me, something in the crowd's passion got to her and she broke down, struggling to keep going. Her fans cheered her on and she finished with most of her normal energy. She thanked us all again and had Manzo come back on-stage to take a picture of her in front of her sparse but adoring fans. The final song was a collaboration between the two, as Momoi-tan sang and Manzo played the accompanying music. At the end of the song, she thanked us all again and waved just as wildly as we had been doing before. She walked off-stage, continuing to wave. A few of us were still waving back as the lights came on. For the first time since her original exit, it hit me that the concert was finally over. I walked out of the arena, noticing the same booth of CDs and t-shirts I had seen the day before. I didn't have room in my thoughts for that, so I kept walking. My mind finally having snapped back, I stood outside the arena and checked the time. It was almost an hour past the time when the concert should have ended.
I wandered back through the dealers room, my attention subdued from the concert. I picked through the manga and figures still lining the shelves but not finding anything incredible, I left for the hotel. I could have stayed for the Media Blasters panel but I figured it probably wouldn't have anything worth mentioning. (Boy, was I wrong; they announced so many licenses, including KujiAn TV, Genshiken 2, Strawberry Panic, and a few niche series that I wouldn't have expected from MB) I went straight to my room and sorted out my thoughts. I don't remember anything else from that day. I didn't write anything down and I didn't really do anything worth mentioning anyway, I'm sure. The next morning, we left early to get back to Phoenix as soon as possible.
Monday was by far my favorite day of the entire weekend, though I'm sure you already noticed that. The Momoi Haruko concert surpassed all my expectations. My first true concert ever, it was an awesome and exhilarating experience! But more than that, the entire weekend was incredible. Even without writing down notes or doing this blog, I don't think I'll ever forget it. This feels like a way heavier ending than I've had for any other entries... Anyway, I hope you were able to experience even a small part of what I felt at Anime Expo. I also hope it was fun to read. Moving along, I guess I'll write about some of the Suncoast Animania events, though I might skip my planned Harry Potter It's-all-over-so-now-what summary. I'll also continue to type random things that come to mind. Thanks for reading!
Ah! I forgot about the swag image post! I guess it's not over quite yet... Tags: anime expo, momoi haruko
Current Location: home
Current Mood:  rejuvenated
Current Music: "-Boku wa Koko ni Iru-" by SOPHIA
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After two weeks, I'm back! Sorry about being later than I had posted previously but things didn't happen the way I had planned. Checking around my usual sites, it doesn't seem like anything big has happened recently (besides Wonder Festival). In that case I have nothing to talk about up here this time. Oh, one thing on my "Day Two" post: At the SOS Brigade event, the translator had obviously not researched Haruhi or anime subculture at all. One of the most memorable examples was when Hirano-san mentioned that Haruhi was a tsundere character. The translator just gave a strange look and stopped at that part of the translation. After trying a couple more times to explain what she was saying, Hirano-san looked into the audience and asked (in English), "You know tsundere?" More than half the arena arupted with shouts of, "Yeah, tsundere!" It was so unfunny that it was almost hilarious. Almost. I'm glad I got that off my chest. Let's begin, shall we? Sunday, July 1, 2007
I've mentioned before that even though I usually got back to my hotel room in the early evening (or even before that), I hadn't gotten much sleep yet. Maybe it's because I wouldn't feel like a real con-goer if I showed up to a morning event, full of energy...? Nah, I just don't know my limits when it comes to sleep, that's all. You can imagine my surprise, then, at not waking up until 10am Sunday morning! I got ten hours of sleep?! I don't even get that kind of rest at home! (Though I guess it wasn't ten full hours; I woke up most nights to hear some heavy snoring from elsewhere in the room...) Anyway, I had planned on waking up around 9 or 9:30am so I could make it to Haruko Momoi's focus panel. I suppose you're wondering why I didn't set my alarm the night before. I am too.
It was too late at that point to worry about it too much so I just threw on some clothes and ran to the con center as fast as I could. I got to the panel room at 10:45am and saw a table with all kinds of merchandise set up beside the door. "I may have missed the panel," I sighed, kicking myself, "but at least I can get some Momoi fan-stuff." The table had CDs (Momo-i Quality, Ha-Ru-Ko Update, Cover Best, and others, some with DVDs included) as well as a tour shirt (it includes Japan, Anime Expo, and Germany's Connichiwa as tour stops). I was checking out some unpriced posters on the wall when the guy behind the table asked if I had seen the focus panel. Point of interest: the staircase right in front of the panel room was the only way one could get to the room. The guy had been standing behind the table as I was walking up the stairs. There was no way he didn't see me walk right in front of him. I had a good "Here's Your Sign" reference ready in my head but I decided against it and just said that I hadn't gotten to see the panel. "Oh," replied the vendor. "It's still going on if you want to catch the end of it." The next second, I had a seat inside the room. There she was: Haruko Momoi, the queen of Akihabara, goddess to otaku all over Japan (and some parts of America). She was taking the last few questions from the audience. Looking around the room, I was sad to see only about 40 people total. No... Considering she's not very well known here, I guess I should say an amazing 40 people showed up to the panel! She really seemed to have fun interacting with her fans (through a translator, of course). She answered questions involving her music (most recent was "Cover Best" and she was surprised to find that Americans had already heard of it and bought it), her voice acting experience (most recent is Seto no Hanayome, which is still airing, but she also mentioned Soultaker), and various other things. Very cool stuff. She was wearing the tour t-shirt that was being sold outside (that sold me, if nothing else ^_^). Before leaving, she mentioned her concert on Monday and asked all of us to come (I was sold on that before I even got to California). I remember thinking, as I moved outside the room, that that was the first time I ever felt moé toward a real person. As I was looking at the merchandise table a second time, the vendor mentioned that the posters behind him were free with the purchase of any two items. Considering they were limited promo posters that Japanese stores usually give away with the purchase of the corresponding CD, I thought it was a reasonable deal. I bought a tour shirt and the Ha-Ru-Ko Update CD ($5 more for the CD/DVD combo but then I'd have to buy an R2 DVD player). I walked to the next panel with a bounce in my step. That bounce was removed when I realized I had zoned out in front of the awesome merch; it was 11:30am, halfway through the given time for the DrMaster panel. I decided to head to the DOT-ANIME panel instead. I didn't even have a clue what DOT-ANIME was, but it was in the same room that would later hold a panel I wanted to attend. DOT-ANIME turned out to be the localized version of a Japanese fan-friendly retail website. It's affiliated with Bandai Visual and so far, they only carry BV products. Eventually, they'll carry all American anime products and even many Japan-only anime products. Fans can give suggestions for what they want to see on the site and, as long as it's not out-of-print, they'll add it to the site. Interesting stuff. I just wish they'd hurry it up a bit... I stayed in that room for the noon Funimation panel. As with the previous day's ADV panel, I actually knew someone there: Lance Heiskell, AnimeOnDVD's Funimation representative. He's a big comic-book geek so I figured he was just there for Witchblade info; it turned out that he had something to say about almost every license mentioned. After the panelists introduced themselves, they talked about some current licenses, including the third DBZ season set, a possible TV broadcast for Witchblade, and a confirmed video-remastering for the Slayers sets. They also mentioned the new One Piece VA cast (scroll down for that info). Then came the fun part. First up was an announcement for the One Piece movies. The eighth movie, the one that retells the Alabasta arc, will be coming out next year. Uh... right. I'm guessing that's because Funi wants to let American fans see the newest one first, then release the others later. Plus, it ties in with something we've already seen so it might pick up more buyers. The next announcement was the first official license. I got myself pumped up for it, shakin in my seat, getting ready to cheer... Funimation has licensed - Love Hina!!! "Yeah! Whoo! I loved the manga! Favorite series ever! This is going to be incredi-" Wait. Something's not right... Didn't Bandai already license the LH anime? Didn't they release a complete (albeit expensive) collection earlier this year? And Funi already has the license? (http://www.funimation.com/lovehina , it doesn't work yet) I guess they're going to clean up the video (wish they'd get the animation to look more like the manga art but that's never going to happen) and give it a new dub (I only ever saw the first disc, but only in Japanese). I dunno... I guess I'll support it. I never bought the Bandai release (it originally came out when I was still early in my fandom) and it's coming out all at once in a collection (which will hopefully cost less than the $80 Bandai wants). One quick note: the license includes the Spring/Christmas OVAs but the panelist said he wasn't sure about LH Again. I already have all the OVAs though, so that doesn't matter as much. Come to think of it, I guess the OVAs would have the same dub cast. Meh, I might check it out eventually. It's not like I'll be watching this new release dubbed anyway. Not unless they get an awesome cast together. Anyway, that threw me off so I wasn't ready for the next license. They announced the second season of Negima (!?). Oh, that one had me cheering. I've been waiting for Funi to announce that since the last DVD of the first season came out here. No word on the OVAs yet but I can deal with that. For now. Next up was Tsubasa season two (haven't seen season one yet, undecided on season two), then an official license for the xxxHolic TV series. Another one I've been waiting for (since the movie was licensed, which still has no release date). The license train kept a-rolling with Darker than BLACK (saw the first episode fansubbed, not bad) and Jyu-Oh-Sei (only heard about this one before it started airing, didn't catch my interest). After that, they answered some questions, including mine about LH Again, and that was it. It was a fun panel but only in terms of announcements. The next blip on my schedule was Dark Horse, which I would only get to see half of before running to the Bandai panel, but I figured I'd just stay in the room again. Why waste a good seat, right? Then I was told the line was forming outside for the Bandai panel, and that everybody from the Funi panel had to leave so Bandai could set some stuff up. I was okay with that, at least until I saw the line. It stretched outside the building, around the side, and halfway up the stairs to the second floor. And I was missing Carl Horn for that?! Eh, Bandai has been doing pretty good recently (regarding Haruhi, ignoring Love Hina) and I wanted to see what they would license at AX, the largest anime con in the U.S. (Code Geass? Lucky Star? Both? Please?). Well, the line finally moved inside at 1:30pm and the panel itself began just a few minutes later. As it turned out, Saito (the head of Lantis, the music production company that put together all the Haruhi CDs in Japan) was in attendance and he brought a special guest: Minori Chihara! If you recall, the concert on Saturday had made her my favorite of the Haruhi seiyuus. I was ecstatic, seeing her again so soon. Saito and Chihara-san did a quick Q&A session (a couple of people got free Yuki CDs for asking "good questions") and then they had to leave. Something about not wanting to take up Bandai's time. What?! No!!! Come back, please!!! ... Sorry... Then the Bandai panel really began. Ken Iyadori, CEO of Bandai Entertainment USA, headed up the panel. He seemed to have fun and mentioned something about it being his first con panel ever. There were about 10 trailers shown, including My-Otome, Flag (the box was finally shown, looks like a camera bag), and Zegapain. The last three were new announcements. The Gundam Seed Destiny movie has been licensed and will be released after the series (can't have a Bandai panel without Gundam). Then a trailer with older animation was shown. I barely remember the characters from way back when the series was shown on TechTV. Silent Mobius?! But Bandai already has that series... It was announced that they now have the rights to both SM movies, which actually came out in Japan before the TV series was made. Next up was Aika (Bandai lost LH to Funi, and took Aika from ADV?), and continued with a trailer for Aika A-16, the new OVA series. Fans of sexy secret agents (no, don't think Bond, think Najica) will love these two series. Heck, I'll probably pick them up myself (I own the entire series of Najica, anime and manga). And they ended with a general Q&A session. For some reason, they kept the Code Geass license and a couple of others (Sasami!) for Otakon. And thus, I was left a bit disillusioned after leaving the panel room. Only one thing could fix that: a few more hours in the dealers room! (During which I found an expensive Haruko Momoi R1 concert video, and decided to wait for a price drop on the final day [didn't happen]) My arms full of geeky treasures, I made my way out at 5:15pm to attend the 5:30pm Imaginasian panel. (I spent the extra 15 minutes checking out the incredible DVD cases and disc art) The panel itself wasn't too surprising, as the guy in charge didn't have anything new to mention. What did happen was that he showed off the DVD cases I had seen earlier, which were for Imaginasian's upcoming releases of Nobody's Boy Remi, Cat's Eye, and Orguss. He even popped the discs into a DVD player connected to the projector and let us see the menus and opening sequences for Cat's Eye and Remi (he didn't have the Orguss disc on him). They really looked great for shows that came out about 20-30 years ago! He also talked about Imaginasian's cable station, their Geneon anime block (remember that?), and their future theater in Los Angeles, which will show their licensed live-action Korean and Japanese movies. Sounds interesting, I might have to check that out at next year's Expo. All in all, it wasn't a big panel but I could really feel the fan-interaction going on, which a new company like Imaginasian needs. At 6:15pm, I had nothing else to do and thought about calling it a day and sleeping for awhile, but then remembered a panel Vincent had mentioned being very interested in. A company called Okashi Studios ("Strange Studios"? I like it already) was venturing into the primarily-Japanese business of ren'ai games with a game called Shira Oka: Second Chances (quick note: Shira Oka means "White Hills", not "Second Chances"...^_^). I figured I'd drop by the panel since Vincent was treating it as the greatest thing AX had to offer. I got to the 7pm panel a bit early so I got to listen to some of the game's background music as I waited. They also had a short slideshow of images to keep us entertained. At 7pm the panelists introduced themselves as the people who started the company. They talked about how ren'ai games would probably never get past a certain fanbase in America so there's not much chance in seeing a license anytime soon. (Some popular ren'ai games include Kanon, Air, Kimi ga Nozomu Eien, and others) They went through the entire character list, showing pictures and giving descriptions. The panel was very laid-back, with the Q&A session consisting of questions given by people still sitting in their seats. It sounded like a great game and it seemed to keep the feel of Japanese ren'ai games, even while not including explicit material. My recommendation: I'd buy it. That's all I need to know; isn't it all you need to know? ^_^ I don't have the URL nearby but just Google Okashi Studios or Shira Oka and I'm sure it'll come up. The site has some good information on the game. Check it out! </end of advertisement> After the panel, everyone from the Shira Oka forums got together and took a picture (which I snuck into). They talked about various things they had mentioned online and just kept talking for an hour. I felt a bit left out then, since Vincent turned out to be a member of said forum and I wanted to wait for him to finish before heading back to the hotel. It turned out that one of the panelists hadn't eaten since the previous day and was looking for a good restaurant to visit. Of course, V said that we (he, myself and a Deverouge [?]) should take her to Islands across the street. Whatever, I was feeling kind of hungry. I'm just not great with social interaction. That fact aside, I had a really fun time. We all got to know each other, I cracked a couple of jokes, it was great! After about an hour spent at Islands, we headed back to our respective hotels. I don't remember what I did from about 9:30pm on, but it couldn't have been important enough to write here anyway. Let's say I hacked into the hotel's computer mainframe, flooded the ballroom, and invited everyone to a pool party. Yeah, that sounds good. That's a wrap for today's AX insight. Is it getting weirder with each post or is it just me? Anyway, there were many up and downs on Sunday. I never did get around to seeing the DrMaster panel, Carl Horn's Dark Horse panel, ADV's "Welcome to the NHK!" premiere, or the Newtype USA panel. I think everything else made up for it, though. Oh, one quick, unrelated mention: If you live in the Phoenix area, go to Meetup.com and search for the closest anime group. Some guy finally put one together and I'm trying to support it as much as possible. The first meeting is this Saturday, and he's even throwing a barbecue in combination with the viewing party! If you can make it, let him know ASAP; if you can't, tell a friend. Aaaaand... I've got nothing else for now. I can't wait until I start making random posts about things that pop into my head. If done at the right time, it could be incredible! For now, good night and good luck. I can't believe I almost forgot! Here are the new One Piece voice actors: Luffy - Colleen Clinkenbeard Zoro - Chris Sabat Sanji - Eric Vale Robin - Stephanie Young Nami - Luci Christian Usopp - Sonny Strait Chopper - Brina Palencia Tags: anime expo
Current Location: home
Current Mood: ecstatic
Current Music: "Motteke! Sailor Fuku" by Hirano Aya, et al.
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Yes, this was my Haruhi concert experience at times too, including the glowsticks and SOS-dan shirts.
Hey, it's time for another installment of "Why Am I Still Worn Out From an Event That Occured Three Weeks Ago?"! Today's answer, #42: I did so much in those five days that my body couldn't slow down fast enough, and I kept running around like a mad-man for two weeks following! Thanks for playing! ... No, seriously, I couldn't bring myself down from the excitement of that weekend. What's really funny (is it really?) is that Saturday had a lot to do with that fact. And with that, my smooth transition into tonight's post has succeeded!
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Ah, Saturday. The second official day of the con. Despite actually getting getting to sleep at a decent time the night before (midnight isn't too bad), I didn't wake up until 9am when my alarm went off. V was still sleeping (I have no clue when he got up any of the days, nor where the "incent" just went, for that matter) so I showered, dressed, and took off for my first event of the day. I found the room where the Geneon panel would be held at about 9:45am, entered the room, and took a seat near the middle of the room. I was shocked to see that the room was empty, save for less than ten people scattered around the room. I was then approached by a staffer and was told to go wait outside in the line. ... "There's a line?" I guess I probably shouldn't have said that. In any case, I left the room and noticed that the line I thought led to Artists Alley did indeed come right to the doorway I was standing in. As you can imagine, I hurried to the back of the line, not daring to meet the stares of everyone near the front. When the panel room opened to guests, I was still able to get a seat (I heard that some panels were completely filled; I wasn't at any of those, I guess), as well as a cute pencilboard from Strawberry Marshmallow at the door.
The Geneon panel opened with a slideshow presenting trailers of some of their recent series and TV blocks on Fuse and Imaginasian. They also showed a couple of slides advertising a Hellsing pocketwatch ("Only 666 available! Ha ha ha!") and Story of Saiunkoku before getting to the main announcements. First they mentioned that Fighting Spirit (Hajime no Ippo) will soon be released in two brick sets. Then they showed a series of three trailers, later naming them as the Shakugan no Shana OVA, Seirei no Moribito, and Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha (1st two seasons). Shana will include a box for the entire series, which doesn't really matter to me as I don't own the series. (Maybe I'll pick it up eventually but the first episode at PAF just didn't catch my interest) Seirei no Moribito was licensed by Geneon even before it aired in Japan so I have no clue what it's about, aside from a swordswoman protecting a girl who looks like some kind of royalty (as seen in the aforementioned trailer). Nanoha is famous in online circles; it's been hailed as the gratest mahou-shoujo series since Cardcaptor Sakura. I guess I'll check it out when it's released next year. Finally, they did the inevitable Q&A session, which I almost skipped until I realized that the ADV panel was in the same room right after Geneon's panel ended. I just pulled out my goody bag (I still had a few things from the dealers room in the bag with my schedule) and entertained myself while listening to people ask why Geneon hasn't licensed certain series. Oh, one thing to note about that panel was that it was being recorded for the "G-Spot podcast" (Just who named it that, anyway?!), so the panelists would occasionally pipe up with "witty" comments. I guess that explains the weird conversation they had about the Hellsing watch.
The ADV panel was basically the same as the Geneon panel, minus the podcast funnies and swag. I must admit, though, it was nice being able to recognize a couple of the panelists (John Sirabella [CEO] and David L. Williams [some vaunted flunky]). I didn't write much down from this panel so it must not have been too important. They did show trailers for their announcements though, like Geneon did. The first was Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora, which they even screened on Sunday. It looks okay but the animation was a bit forgettable (case in point, I don't remember anything from the trailer). The next was Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann, which is a fun series from the part of Gainax that made FLCL. I've seen a few episodes and highly recommend it. The final announcement was for the Devil May Cry, which has been mysteriously fansub-free since it began. I've never played the games anyway so it wasn't a big deal for me. Overall, my favorite announcement was for Gurren-Lagann, and it wasn't even on my top 10 most-wanted licences list! I was disappointed. Diappointed enough for another couple of hours in the dealers room! Ah, that place was incredible... but I've already talked at length about it. Let's keep trucking, shall we?
I returned to the same panel room for the Right Stuf panel at 2pm. (For those of you keeping track, that means I spent two hours in the dealers room.) Shawne Kleckner, CEO, was the only panelist. A bit unusual but I was still glad to finally see him in person! He showed a trailer for "The Third" and mentioned that a box will be included with a volume about halfway through the series. Adding to that, he said a limited run of "To Heart" volume four will include a box, marked with the number that you received. He then talked a bit about the history of the company, showed a slide for the newly-renamed anime arm of Right Stuf (Nozomi), and finally moved on to the new licences. A trailer was shown for Victorian Romance Emma, after which Mr. Kleckner announced that he expected the first season's boxset (Japanese-only, like Gals season 2) to be released in February 2008. The second season, which is still airing in Japan, should follow about half a year after the first. He added that both boxsets would be up for pre-order following the panel (they're repeating the "Get your name on our DVDs!" promotion for this series). He surprised everyone by following up that announcement with a trailer for Lost Universe, a long-lost ADV title that has been said to be like Slayers in space. Like Emma, it will also be released in a thinpak boxset, either late this year or early next. Mr. Kleckner followed the unexpected announcements with a Q&A session. I asked about his plans for digital distribution (like what Viz and ADV are doing on their sites) and he said that all he could talk about regarding non-DVD distribution was the inclusion of Right Stuf titles on the Anime Network. But hey, I got a free Shingu t-shirt and Onsokamaru (Ninja Nonsense) pin just for asking a question! Overall he seemed like a very down-to-earth guy, for the CEO of an anime company and major online store.
After that great experience, I figured another visit to the dealers room was in order. (I'll use any excuse, eh?) At about 3:40pm, I decided to head on over to the line for the SOS Brigade Invasion Tour, one of main reasons for attending this year's Expo. I wandered around for a bit before finally finding the people handing out tickets. Why they felt the need to require tickets for a free concert, I'll never know. I moved toward the line and headed to the back. Walking... walking.... walking.... to the end of the parking lot. O.o I suppose that's when it hit me just how popular Haruhi is in America. The line grew three times that size before we got inside, and during that time we were moved backward, forward, backward again, and finally just left in the same place for the rest of the time. There was a vendor that walked by a couple times with a cart full of 32-ounce cups of lemonade. I thought about buying one until I heard a person 20 feet ahead of me buy one. A 32-ounce cup of lemonade... for five bucks?! For that price, I just stuck with my warm bottle of soda. One point of interest for AMV fans: Suberunker, the creator of such famous AMVs as "The Wizard of Ozaka" was standing just two people ahead of me in line! That was so awesome! I guess you can meet just about anyone at Anime Expo. BTW, he was the one I heard about the AMV contest fiasco from. Anyway, the line finally started moving inside at 5pm. The concert itself began at 5:30pm, the time it was originally supposed to end. I didn't mind; my other panels for the day weren't that important.
The concert was incredible! Yuko Goto stepped on to the stage at 5:30pm and sang the opening of Haruhi episode zero, "Koi no Mikuru Densetsu". The English VA for Mikuru came out afterward and they had a shared voice-acting session (they sound so similar!), accompanied by a translator of course. Everyone cleared out as Minori Chihara took the stage. Her normal speaking voice is so high and cutesy that I didn't recognize her until she said her name. She performed both of the original songs from her character album. This was an interesting part: my favorite of the two has always been the faster "Yuki, Muon, Madobe Nite" but hearing her sing live, my favorite changed to the slower and more emotional "DELETE?". She also moved up to number two in my list of favorite singers (after Halko Momoi), just because of that one song. If you can still find the live performance on ANN, watch it. It'll blow your mind. But I digress. After Chihara-san's performance, Aya Hirano came on to the stage, said a few things that only a few people (myself included ^_^) caught due to the lack of a translator, and began performing "God Knows", followed by "Lost My Music". She used to be my favorite seiyuu of the three but honestly, I prefer Hirano-san's recorded singing over her live singing. Ah well. Minori Chihara then came back on-stage, followed by Yuki and Haruhi's English VAs. They did the same "recording session" thing as the Mikuru VAs had done before, with the Japanese actress speaking over a scene, followed by the American actress doing the same scene in English. Johnny Yong Bosch was even brought out to join the session. Unfortunately, it would seem that whoever wrote the scripts for the event forgot that he doesn't play Kyon!!! That was a bit odd but I got over it soon enough. To wrap up the concert, all the VAs (and contest winners from the previous day) gathered on the stage to perform the Hare Hare Yukai dance! Three times! It was a very fun event, even though it didn't have the "concert feel" that I had expected. I guess I thought it would be more like the event in Japan, where Hirano-san and Chihara-san actually played guitars while singing "God Knows". As I exited the arena, I saw a souvenir booth which basically had all the Haruhi goods from the Bandai booth in the dealers room: the first 2 DVDs (in LE and RE flavors), the four CDs already released by Bandai, and the LP of "Hare Hare Yukai". Didn't buy a thing there.
I got of the arena at 7:30pm, exhausted from the excitement of the concert. I didn't really care what else was going on at the con; I headed straight back to my room and threw myself down... in front of my computer. Yeah. No rest for the weary, I guess. I wrote about some of the things I had seen that day into a Word file (since I was still having internet problems). I wrapped up the night with some StepMania and manga, before collapsing into my bed.
So ended my second day at Anime Expo 2007. Not too bad really, though very long. I didn't even realize until I got back home that I completely forgot to ask about the "Welcome to the NHK" box at the ADV panel. I guess I'll find out in a couple of months, when all the December cover-art goes online. Plus, I have the AoD guessing game for the English cast of NHK on Monday, which should take care of any disappointment left in me. Meh. I can't think of anything else right now. Going to sleep. Don't let the dancing baby humans bite.
EDIT: Obviously, I didn't get this journal posted until Friday morning, rather than Thursday night. My internet connection went down and never came back up. No worries, though; I'll still post tonight's entry. Tags: anime expo
Current Location: home
Current Mood:  rushed
Current Music: "COOL EDITION" by Kuwatani Natsuko (Asakura Ryoko)
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Hey, this ties in with the dealers room and the night panel I
attended! And yes, I did find a body pillow there... Due to the LiveJournal outage yesterday, I wasn't able to post the second part of my AX series. I'll try to get two parts up tomorrow so the schedule doesn't get too messed up. But you didn't come to read all this superfluous blithering; you came to read about Anime Expo. Friday, June 29, 2007
Ah, the first day of the con... So much to do, so little time. But no worries; there's a bit of a break between most of the events. The first event of the day was the opening ceremony. Skipped it. I had more important things to take care of at that point, namely waiting in line for the dealers room. "The OP starts at 9am, and the dealers room will open at the same time." This is what I thought Thursday night and Friday morning. I then found out, after having woken at 7am and getting in line by 8am, that the seating for the OP started at 9am; the ceremony itself started at 10am. That's right, I spent two full hours in that line! On the plus side, I was able to start and finish the first volume of "Strawberry 100%" while standing there. I highly recommend that series, BTW; what I don't recommend is reading it while cramped between a couple of groups of cosplaying otaku... Hey, at least we were all Jump fans; Naruto cosplayers in front, Bleach cosplayers behind, Strawberry romcom/fanservice in the middle. ^_^ But I digress. After waiting all that time to get in, I was able to go into the dealers room with the first group. On my way in, I made a mental note to keep an eye on the time, as the Viz panel began at noon. It may not have been a big panel, but at the very least they would have swag. All thoughts were swept away completely as I entered Heaven. Ah... such a sight... Of all things, I should have taken photos of that room. If you're familiar with the Phoenix Civic Plaza (or any good convention center, really), you know what the area looks like when all the rooms of the main area are left connected rather than separated? It was many times that size. It was overwhelming the first time I saw it. I almost forgot that there hundreds of other people running in from behind me. I ran to the first booth I saw, just so I'd have a chance at rare goods. I chose wisely. The main item that caught my eye was the first-pressing of "NHK ni Youkoso" volume six, which included the full version of the game Satou and Yamazaki make in the series. I would have bought it right there if not for the exorbitant price. They wanted $18 for it! Let me explain first-press items: just as it sounds, it's the first release of a manga or DVD, but it usually includes a special item for no additional price (excluding LEs, of course). That means this thing cost about 500 yen ($5) in Japan! I guess they knew the rarity of the item they had their grubby little hands on. As a follow-up to this, I returned to the booth daily to make sure it would still be there on the final day, when almost everything went on sale. It was there everyday except the final day. No big loss, though; that booth didn't discount anything anyway (well, I guess the only loss was my acquisition of that precious, rare item...) I digress yet again. As I said before, I planned on getting out of there by noon for the Viz panel. I would then remain in the same room for a panel put on by Seven Seas manga at 1pm. At 3pm, I would "Take the ADV Challenge", as the panel called itself, before finishing the day at the SOS Brigade focus panel (4:30pm). Seemed like a good plan at the time. As it turns out, plans don't always go the way you want them to. I finally left the dealers room (the first time, mind you) at 5pm. My entire day was shot. While I had picked up a good amount of swag and spent much more than I had planned to, I had really wanted to check out those panels, especially Seven Seas (I'm very interested in Sota-kun ["I, Otaku"] and their light novel line). Too late for worrying over that, I thought. Que sera, sera. As I pondered how to translate that into Japanese ("Unmei-mono wa hitsuzen da na"?), Vincent called me to remind me of a panel he told me about earlier (he decided to join me in the front of the dealers room line at 9:55am). I had only been slightly interested to begin with but I really wanted to make it to a panel that day, and the room had brought a sort of interest to the front of my mind. I speak of the JAST panel, one put together by a company that concentrates mainly on translating and selling Japanese galges (dating-sim games). I went to it, and found it enlightening. Okay, so they checked our IDs (drivers licenses, not con badges) at the door; there's nothing too shady about that, right? Anyway, it turns out that a new employee was in charge of the panel, one Shingo from the Heisei Democracy blog/news-site! Considering I read his comments daily, I was ecstatic at getting to hear him speak live. He talked about some of JAST's upcoming games (they have RPG galges?) and announced two that will be coming out next year: Kazoku Kaikaku (Family Project), which features the voice of Wakamoto Norio, the most famous seiyuu in Japan; and Princess Waltz, which has apparently beat out even such well-known games as Kanon and Fate/Stay Night in popularity (it also features a card-based play mode). Interesting stuff, to say the least. I received two free JAST game trading cards (from a newly premiered series of about 50), a fold-up poster advertising all of JAST's games, and a packet of tissues. Nice and subtle. (BTW, I might include all of these in the pictures on Saturday) I then went back to my hotel room and rested (AKA sorted through my new stuff) until about midnight. I think it was that night that I was able to break through the hotel's server well enough to leave a message on the class forum. Other than that, I wasn't able to use the internet to post anything (hence the silence). And that's what went down on Friday. Wow. That sounds a lot better than what I've been telling most people ("Heh... I, uh, spent the entire day in the dealers room...). I never did get to the video room to see the Death Note movies either. Meh, that's fine. One thing I should note is that the AMV contest went on that night. Or at least it should have. From what I heard later, some idiot stole the DVD with all the AMV entries on it. After hearing this, some other idiot (who is believed by most to be same person, considering some of his comments earlier in the day) ran to his hotel room, grabbed a DVD he happened to bring along with the craptastic AMVs he had ever put together. Sounds to me like a fun time was had by all. Including myself, of course, having decided beforehand that there was no way I was going to wait in another huge line that day. I'm not going to post every little detail about the dealers room but I'll try to fit in as much as I can this week. One place you might want to check is ANN's "Exhibit Hall" gallery at <http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/convent ion/2007/anime-expo/dealer's-room-galler y>. If you have any questions about specific booths or items, ask away in the comments section. Until tomorrow, bye-nii! Tags: anime expo
Current Location: home
Current Mood: rushed
Current Music: "Gold" by KAT-TUN
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 Hey, look! It's the Long Beach-- wait, something's not right...It's time for the official Anime Expo 2007 rundown! Yes, I finally got around to doing this. I don't really know why but I just haven't felt like writing for the past few weeks. I'm chalking it up to post-AX syndrome (heard about it somewhere, agree completely). But enough about that. I have plenty of other topics to mention eventually (including the recent Suncoast Animania event and the Borders Pottermania event) and this one is still the most prevalent and expected. I'll attempt to post about one day of AX every day this week. Today will be Thursday, and Friday will be the final day-by-day post, talking about Monday. I'll wrap it up this Saturday (if all goes as planned) with pictures of the stuff I got and how I feel the event went overall. Let's do this thing! Thursday, June 28, 2007
We left for California at about 10am. I had wanted to get there by noon to beat the registration rush; it obviously wasn't going to happen. The late departure was also one reason why we couldn't stop by Kinokuniya Bookstore on the way (the other reason being that Vincent was following a very imprecise map already). On the road, we decided to start the hijinks, mayhem, and debauchery we knew would be the standard all weekend. We guessed at which cars or drivers looked like they might be headed to the con. I even made a sign eventually (after some not-too-subtle hints toward it from Vincent) that read: "Going to Anime Expo?" One car-full of people actually said yes. After some quick sign conversations, we all decided to stop in Blythe for lunch. We met in the McDonald's and had some interesting conversations (mostly about favorite series and characters, and cosplay schedules). In case you were wondering, I didn't get contact info from any of them (I think Vincent still has one's phone number). I don't even remember their names anymore. Hmm. That's that, I guess. Moving right along, we followed their car all the way to Long Beach, though we had to split up at one point since they were staying in a different hotel. We decided to pick up our badges at the convention center before doing anything else. The pre-registration line wrapped a few times in front of the building but we were inside within half an hour. Picked up my badge, got my swag bag, and left. Speaking of which, that bag had nothing in it! Sure, it had my schedule (which I was very thankful for all weekend) but no swag! I saw people with all kinds of stuff! Me? Nope, got ripped off. My first AX complaint occurred before the con even started... After that, Vincent and I headed to our hotel and dropped off our bags. Okay, I guess I should say we dragged our bags upstairs to our rooms and dropped ourselves. It was pretty late at that point, about 7:30pm. We went for dinner at one of the strangest restaurants I've ever been in. The outside was almost oval-shaped. The inside was filled with pink lighting. The name: Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles. You can laugh now. I'm sorry but I have never once in my life thought, "You know what I'm jonesin' right now? Chicken and waffles. Add some syrup to the chicken, some hot sauce to the waffles, maybe even mix 'em together! Whoo, party time!" No. Not even once. Weirdest restaurant ever. Admittedly, I did have some chicken and hot sauce, but that's where I drew the line. I guess maybe I'm just not their target customer. The weirdest part though? Part of me wants to go back and try the waffles... T-T You can guess what happened after that. We headed back to the hotel, unpacked our suitcases, and settled down to watch some anime. Ah, two full hours of "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya". That hit the spot after Roscoe's. BTW, I'm glad to say that Vincent enjoyed what he saw of Haruhi. I've hooked another fan! **does the Neko-Nyan dance** I finally went to bed at 1am that night. I probably shouldn't have stayed up so late considering my early morning the next day... And that's Thursday. I didn't take any pictures at the con so the only pictures you're getting before Saturday are screencaps. Still, I'll try to make them good screencaps. See you all tomorrow! **hopes nobody knows what the Neko-Nyan dance is** Tags: anime expo
Current Location: Home
Current Mood: accomplished
Current Music: "Sentimental" from Midori no Hibi
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I still don't know how for sure how I'll use this site but for the time being, my thoughts are concentrated elsewhere. I'm heading to the one place in America that anyone who calls themselves an anime fan must go before they die. Yes, I'm speaking of Anime Expo. ... Oh, you didn't see that coming? Even with the clues? But I -- ... Right. Moving along, I am indeed headed to Anime Expo next weekend. I'll be leaving Thursday morning (06/28) and returning Tuesday evening (07/03). I'll mainly be checking out industry panels (I can't wait to see what Funimation and Tokyopop have in store) but I'm also looking forward to the SOS Brigade Invasion concert and the Momoi Haruko concert. Whoo! First time Momoi-san has appeared in America and I'll be able to see it live!!! Oh, and Hirano Aya-sama along with Minori Chihara and Yuko Goto? That will be quite the fun-fest as well! I'm really looking forward to getting concert swag too. \(>_<)/ Besides those events, I'll be checking out the dealers' room (where I look forward to losing all my hard-earned monies) and the video rooms (ADV is premiering the "Welcome to the N.H.K." anime! Wouldn't miss it for the world!). I have some thoughts on certain events that have been alluded to for awhile now, which will come to fruition next weekend: Funimation: They haven't announced any big titles recently. There was one that they said recently was still being fought over by themselves and another company. I won't mention it here as that would invite a 'host' of speculations. ^_^ Also, they mentioned at a previous convention that a "big One Piece announcement" would be made at AX. There isn't much left that they could announce. There's already been news of the broadcast, the lack of DVD edits, the DVD sets themselves, and even a new voice cast. Maybe they already have one of the movies in the works? Oh, I know: they've paid off some Spanish-rights-holders and given Zoro his name back! Okay, I kid. Still, I can't miss this panel. Bandai: What can I say? I loved their release ideas for Eureka Seven and was astounded at their licensing and treatment of Haruhi. I expect great things for their future. They seem to be eating from Pizza Hut a lot recently; I wonder if it has incited any 'rebellious' feelings within them? Alright, I just can't hold this one back: they need to license Code Geass. They also need to cross-promote with Pizza Hut somehow. Maybe put PH coupons in the DVD cases, and put C.C.'s image on the pizza boxes? I would buy those. They would be very welcome among my figures! Also, a Lucky Star license would make my weekend. They got Haruhi from KyoAni, they can get RakiSuta just as easily. ADV: They licensed a little title named Keroro Gunsou (Sgt. Frog) half a year ago. Whatever happened to that? I need my "Afro Gunsou" now! Give it a Toonami broadcast or something. Just announce something, please! Also, I want to see the "Welcome to the N.H.K." cover art. Maybe the box too. I have welcomed this release with open arms ever since it was announced; they'd better not let me down. Besides all that, I can't think of anything I want them to license right now. Geneon: Their DVDs are too expensive. I'll drop by to compliment them on their superb handling of the Higurashi and Black Lagoon packaging, but then I'm gone. Sorry Geneon, but I'm only a poor otaku. (Please disregard the previous "well-earned money" line during this paragraph) Viz: The veterans of the anime industry. Sure, they might announce "Honey & Clover" or NANA at their panel. What I want to know is how they plan on treating Death Note and Eyeshield 21, both coming out later this year. I also look forward to any manga announcements they might have. AnimEigo: It's been a long time coming but I think they're supposed to finally have some news on Yawara at AX. It's about time, really. I only hope it's news that will please all the poor American otaku. (Once again, disregard said previous statement) Tokyopop: They seem to have recently licensed a veritable ton of manga, including Guardian Angel Gettan (R.I.P. Gutsoon), Your & My Secret (from ADV, apparently alive but not kicking much anymore), and Futari H (TP seems to have gotten gutsy recently, with Yubisaki and N.H.K. under their belts, so to speak). I'm hoping they might also share some information on the recently-announced "ultimate editions" of such classic series as The Demon Ororon, Fruits Basket, and Battle Royale. Oh, and the N.H.K. novel. I don't know what about it, as we already have a release date and cover art. I guess I just want to know that it's safe (unadapted, unlike the Crest of the Stars novels). TRSI: I've heard they have a big announcement to make, possibly even a license. Perhaps the as-of-yet-licensed OVAs of Genshiken? Lucky Star? (While Bandai would be great for this series, TRSI would point out all the references made throughout the show) Yakitate Japan would be an interesting choice, though I don't see that happening. Dark Horse: I heard that Carl Horn would be there. I need to pay my respects. Seven Seas: They delayed their "Light Novel" line until fall so they could do more promotion for it. I haven't seen a single advertisement yet. You know what would make for some awesome promotion? Licensing the Haruhi light novels. Whether it's this or not (more likely not), I'll see what they do have in store. They need something big to make up for that recent "Nymphet" fiasco. I'm pretty sure those are the only ones I'm looking forward to. I'll bring my laptop with me on Day One to see if I can properly use it in their rooms; if so, I'll be posting live from the panels. If not, I'll write the best notes possible. Might even take pics. Look forward to it. Tags: anime expo, travel
Current Location: Edge of my seat
Current Mood: hopeful
Current Music: "Leaving on a Jetplane" by Sophie Barker
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