Anime Expo 2006 Day 2/3 [of 4]
On Sunday I was prepared with a casual punk loli-esque outfit for the gothic lolita swap meet. No picture but basically I wore the plaid K-Star skirt I bought from a seller on livejournal as well as the skull top that Sarah bought me for my birthday :] Not much happened during the beginning of the day - just walking around and the like. But at 1:00 I went to the lolita swap meet at the Celga booth organized on the egl community. I looked around for a while and Richard sat in the back holding my stuff (I felt kind of bad for him but... at least he got to talk to some other guy about games or something! I think he was also waiting for someone in the lolita meet). There was one seller who held up a tote bag and announced that it was Baby, the Stars Shine Bright! And more importantly, it was only $5! I jumped on it and Richard paid for me because I only had large bills at the time :] No picture YET but most people who I see often know what I'm talking about because I take it with me everywhere :] I was really tempted to buy a Meta blouse for only $30 but I wasn't sure what I had to match and I wanted to save my money, so despite the good deal I passed.
Among the other items of interest were some well-priced jumperskirts that I couldn't afford, a swimsuit from Meta (I think) that I wish I could afford, and some affordable pieces that were... way too big for me ._.; Many of the lolitas on egl community have larger measurements than I do (b/w/h = 31/26.5/31.5 or so, give or take half an inch) so despite the great price they were offering, I couldn't buy the pieces I wanted~ ;o;
Sarah came and looked around a little but didn't buy anything. Eventually we grew bored of looking at things we couldn't buy. We walked around a little longer and I picked up Pump It Up for only $20! According to list price I got it about 66% off~ So I was happy. Richard was going to pay but I felt bad so I made him give me my wallet back. haha XD
By then I guess I was looking pretty tired... So, we headed to the Hilton again where we found out there were four James's there o_o; Richard also offered us lunch. I took a kimchee bowl-noodle and Sarah ate instant chow mein that tasted kind of bad... so she traded for Richard's hot and spicy bowl-noodle. But, none of us really ate all of it (I leave the soup because it's got so much sodium!) so Richard ended up pouring all of it into one bowl o_o; It was... kind of awkward-looking and we all warned him of the dangers of hypertension (if you include all three sets of food it would be 226% of your daily recommended sodium!), but he took a few sips anyway... Apparently it tasted only like the hot and spicy bowl-noodle. XD; Anyway he didn't bother to finish the rest and we went back to the convention center.
It was almost time for the Azumi panel so Richard and I went up to the place it was supposed to be held at. We got in and had pretty good seats! :] Luckily, we were able to take pictures of the panel, unlike the CLAMP or Mana panel and such, so I can finally get you some pictures of Day 2~
There was a surprise! Not just Kitamura-san was there but also... Matsumoto Minoru who played Saru!
Kitamura-san talked about a lot, including the troubles of working with a young cast - apparently they were all weak! It took a while to get them to learn how to "fight" haha. He also mentioned he didn't like the original script written for the movie. And poor Matsumoto-san broke his foot twice and his leg once during the shooting of Azumi! Apparently it wasn't doing anything dangerous either~ 1) He jumped over a "dead body" - so not that big of a jump, and broke his foot. 2) He was going to go clubbing with the cast and as he was coming down the stairs he broke his foot again! 3) He was out at karaoke and he broke his leg. I felt kind of bad for him ^^; The movies Godzilla and Versus were also discussed along with some of Kitamura-san's earlierst works.
After the panel I took a couple more pictures and then I was able to take a picture with Kitamura-san himself! I don't like the way I look in it but I'm glad I got to take a picture :]
My friend says it looks like he's my dad or something o_o;
After the Azumi panel was over we went to the signing. There was a long line and we almost didn't get to get an autograph but we got lucky. Unfortunately we were only allowed one autograph per person so I could only get one extra for a friend - Kathy and Katherine are going to have to share I guess (thanks for waiting in line though, Richard~). I really wanted to get my DVD signed but they checked it out and said it was bootleg. I thought it was real! Kathy bought it for me, so it didn't even occur to me... I really thought it was legitimate~ So it wasn't my fault! Haha. So I got a signed poster instead. Sarah also got a signed poster. The signing was done right in front of the display that had Azumi's outfit. It was really beautiful and I wish I could have it. Despite the costume contest at the masquerade this year, I didn't see any Azumi cosplayers ^^;
So pretty!
After the signing we went to the hotel again to drop off our stuff and Sarah said she would come up to the Lemon Drop Kick concert with us - Richard was too tired so I told him I'd meet him back at the lobby after it was over. I was nervous we were going to be late but we got there in time and there weren't too many people either. Sarah was planning on staying with me, but, we met up with Michael and Diego after reaching the balcony so she left. While we were waiting for Lemon Drop Kick there was an open mic and everyone told dirty jokes. XD But soon LDK was on!
I was really looking forward to this. They added me on myspace a long time ago and I loved their music and their look! I found out through the AX website that they would be playing and it was one of the best experiences I had at AX :] I took tons of pictures as well as a video of their performance with my camera (Sorry because it's my camera it's kind of bad sound quality) that you can veiw here. But if you want to see pictures instead, here's a few:
Hal (b) and Kevin (g)
Miyako (vo)
Justin (dr) and Hal (b)
Jeff (g)
But besides the music being great, I must say that Lemon Drop Kick is one of the nicest bands I've come across ever! Not only did they take the time to autograph everyone's FREE CD's that they gave out, but.... they remembered to give me extra copies! I had asked for a couple of extras to send to Kathy and Katherine because they did not get to see LDK in SF... and so when I was getting my CD, they were like "Oh, you're the one who wanted some extras right?" I had only asked for two but they gave me a total of FOUR extras. The four weren't autographed because I didn't have time to ask them for each one, but it was really great of them to remember :] AND! They found an abandoned cell phone left on stage and waited until someone came to pick it up.
After LDK, we headed back inside and found that the Naruto voice actor panel was in progress. Mike and Diego went to see that while I went back to the hotel to meet up with everyone again. At the Hilton, Richard was playing Megaman and... died... a lot. XD; But it was fun to watch. Then we found it was about time to go again and left.. after which we DIDN'T get lost! : D [end day 2]
[begin day 3]
On Monday my dad drove me to AX with Mike. He was also taking my sister Mei and her freind Tiffany to Disneyland. So we got dropped off really early and just walked around for a while. I called Richard, who wasn't going to be there until around 1:30 or so. We talked for a while and some parts were really confusing! But it was fun :] Eventually, Mike and I went up to the arcade. To my surprise they had Drummania there! But it was 10th mix so they didn't have N.G.S. They had it on Guitarfreaks but since I kind of suck at that I decided not to play it. I was about to try Drummania but then some crazy guy came and got S on all the hardest songs! After watching him I decided I didn't want to anymore. Besides, Drummania and Battle Royale cosplay would look kind of funny. XD
We walked around for a while.. met up with Sarah.. walked some more.. and then we got a call from Richard that he was at the Hilton. But Roscoe wanted to go to the 7-11 and I kind of did too because I wanted a cheap dinner, after all. So Roscoe, Diana, and I started walking. About halfway down the street they made me take off my jacket because I looked like I was dying or something. So I did and we reached the 7-11, where we picked out slurpees (felt so good in the heat!). Instead of buying a cheap dinner at the 7-11 though I went down the street to the Quiznos. I picked out a sandwich and we got back to the hotel. Everyone was like “Alina you look horrible.” And then they were like “You have to get some rest so you can use the bed.”
While everyone else was watching Japanese TV and playing video games, I realized I WAS really exhausted and Richard said I looked like I was dying. He was really nice though and stayed by my side holding my hand :] It was like some Asian drama where the girl is dying of like… AIDS or something~ XDDDD But it was sweet nonetheless. I ended up falling asleep a couple of times but each time I woke up he was still there. I felt kind of bad that he was just sitting there when he could play video games or whatever but he said it was okay ^^; After I got up I was kind of leaning on his shoulder and… I fell asleep AGAIN! But this time Richard got up and I fell over! XDDD It was really embarrassing but kind of funny. But what was more funny was...! I was kind of resting and Richard was like "You're so cute, Lisa" or something like that~ Then all of a sudden I realized... "Wait who's Lisa??" And Kaori almost killed him. But after he insisted that it was because Simpsons was on the TV and he was watching the episode everything was okay. XD
We decided to go back to the convention center. Sarah got dressed in a leopard costume, while Diana was in Nobuta cosplay. Sarah was so cute in the leopard cosu.. she was trying to hop in circles around us but it didn't really work out so well. XD
Rawr
While walking around in the Dealer's Hall, Sarah was taking a picture of some cosplayers. But, Richard kind of jumped into the picture so as punishment, one of the cosplayers did this.
I think Richard was trying to beat him away with that free fan we got from the renai game booth. But I was tempted to say something like.. "Richard! You're cheating on me??" XDDDDDDD
Sarah and Ayu liked these two guys but were too shy to ask for a picture. So they made Richard go take a picture of them instead! It was kind of awkward and I think the guys were like WTH but it was still funny. XD I ended up going with him just because he looked like he really didn't want to ask them ^^;
"....."
We found a Battle Royale cosplay group - there was Kiriyama, Mimura, and Motobuchi! They asked to take a picture with us. So we did!
:] Motobuchi looks exactly like in the movie!
Afterwards we talked about our costumes and such - apparently the group made all of their collars themselves! They turned out really good, especially for homemade. The cosplayers were really nice, and after we admired each others' costumes we continued exploring Dealer's Room. We then saw another cosplay!
The iPod man!
I believe I saw him with an "out of battery" sign as well on a sepearte day. But of course there was another cosplay that was a kind of "must-see" at AX this year...!
yo yo yo XDDDD
Well anyway we went back to the Hilton and I ate my Quiznos sandwich, and then Ayu, Sarah, Kira, Diana, and I went down to the lobby to take pictures! Unfortunately I felt dizzy for the first time in my life so I don't think I looked my best. XD;
Nobuta and Yuko
Sarah and me
Sarah, Kira, and Ayu
Sarah really likes this picture of me
Group picture
This was back at lunch but I just thought I'd throw it in as my emo-onigiri-eating skills? XDDDD Because Anders says I look emo... o_o;
At the end of the day I had a migraine so Richard ran to the nearest place selling advil and got it to me before we left. We ended up having to take like 4 detours so we didn't get home until very late.
