Saturday, July 9, 2005

Finally.

Comment Commentary

Mimmi- Sn00z30r3Z.

Shin- Well, evidently it's not working. I've gone down a rank. :P

--

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday..

We woke up a little early to go to panels in the name of free shit. Viz's anime panel and the Tofu Records one were at the same time (though Tofu went on for another fifteen minutes), so we hit Viz first, waited around and heard some announcements about recently aquired properties that did not interest me (aside from the Saikano OVA.. But I won't be watching that until I've read all of the manga). They only had two people at the panel.. It was fairly dull, since they couldn't really answer any questions.

Though one guy said that he heard that they were cutting Itachi out of the Naruto anime entirely. He had another pointless question, too.. But I forget what it was.

Once we realized that no free stuff was in sight, we dashed over to Tofu. We arrived just as they started handing out signed Polysics posters. Yay for me.

Of course, we had to work for them. Trivia questions. The first question was how they got their name (I remembered it right after the other person answered). The second one was "Which member is not permitted to speak?" I didn't really know that one. It was the keyboardist.. By process of elimination I figured it out, but I didn't remember her name.

And since nobody except for two people knew the earlier questions, the third one was just "What is the name of the Polysics album released by Tofu Records?" As this one was a major duh, a few more hands darted up, including mine, but since we were rather far in the back I didn't have much of a chance of getting selected anyway. So it goes.

We got a bit of free stuff- Tofu patches, Tofu booklets, and so on. I asked the hostess lady if I could steal one of the signed Polysics posters (since there were, like, 20 more of them), but she said no without giving a reason, and I gave up.

After this we met Shin. Don't worry, ladies, you'll get the sexy pictures later. The first order of business was reviewing all that we had seen at the con so far, and after that we headed into the exhibit hall, where we browsed and, again, tried to grab some swag.

After that we walked over to the gaming hall, where we broke out the DSes and played a bit of Meteos. Ethan managed to beat our asses senseless most of the time, but it was still a good time. There were some arrogant assholes over by us that started whining about how everybody and their mom at the con had a DS, but that was easily ignored.

Then all of a sudden these guys with lightsabers (including a Vader, in full costume) started fighting by the doors as a guy with a tuba played Star Wars themes. It was kind of funny when they started pulling out their choreographed moves.. But after that we left.

It was around here that Ethan lost his wallet, which contained over $100. He went up to the room to drop some stuff off, and I gave him my key, and when he came back he realized that he didn't have the wallet, which also contained the key.

We don't know what happened to it.. I subscribe to the theory that he got pickpocketed, but it might have just dropped out when we were playing Meteos on the ground. Either way, he parted ways with Shin and me around this point. I bought some Pocky.

And what did he miss out on? Shitty fanservice anime where everyone had D-cup breasts and they happened to flop everywhere. It kind of reminded me of last year, when we had nothing else to do so we watched Stratos 4- another fanservice show, but that one at least had a bit of integrity. Whatever we watched.. Dear God, it sucked.

After that I had to leave, but it was a cool meeting. Props to Shin for his pimpin' Bebop shirt.

Later on.. Hm. Ethan and I hung around the cosplay people, and watched Ghost in the Shell for a bit. About half an hour in, the Gonzo panel was starting, so we decided to go to that. Not for the free stuff, so much as it was Gonzo.

And it was a nice panel. They had creators and directors of various upcoming shows there, plus a translator. They showed trailers.. I can't remember the name of the one show that particularly caught my interest.. It was a remake of an American classic, and they had some really interesting texture work and color schemes everywhere. It's on the Geneon preview DVD, I think.. I might take screenshots later.

Then we went back to Ghost in the Shell. I had never really seen it before, and though I enjoyed it, it ended really abruptly. We didn't stick around for Innocence.

Instead, we hung out with more cosplayers. Since Sunday was Masquerade day, there was a really huge cosplay congregation outside the convention center. Oh, many pictures were taken.

We weren't planning on going to the Masquerade. It is, after all, a ticketed event, and that means lines. Ethan and I do not like lines. But out of nowhere these guys from up on the third floor dropped two yellow tickets, and they landed right next to me. I gave them a thumbs-up of thanks, and they flipped me off, and we got in the line.

Never in my three years of AX-ness had I been to the Masquerade. I didn't know what to expect.. But it turned out to be the thing where different people dressed up and did skits onstage. We got pretty nice seats- right in front of one of the screens- though we couldn't really see the stage. It was hosted by the guy that ran the AMV workshop who thought he was funny but really wasn't. He made a few decent references, but for the most part I was entertained by Jared the stage ninja and the podium, who appeared to have a face on it from a distance.

The skits started out pretty stupid- people just walking across the stage to music and cheap little jokes- but it got pretty good by the end. The one that got the most awards was the Metal Gear Solid 3 one. They took dialogue from the game and acted it out, which is simple, but they did it really well. Then there was the ever-orgasmic Katamari skit, where they had the prince, five cousins and the King of All Cosmos performed their choreographed interpretation of the opening video. It was awesome.

Another skit of note was a FFVII: Advent Children one, in which they made fun of Sephiroth and those other two silver-haired guys. When they showed up, the Team Rocket music started playing, and they had their own little speech ready, effeminate lisps and all:

Sephiroth: Prepare for nipple.
Other guy A: Make it triple.
Other guy B: Oh hell yeah.

..I guess you had to be there.

It took forever for the judges to ready the awards. Once they sent out the first wave, we just left and went back to the room. By that night we were dragging, and pretty ready to go home. But we paid for four days, and so help me God we would get our four days' worth.

Now for the pictures. Keep in mind that this isn't all of Sunday's pics- there's still 30 or so left over, which I'm saving for next time. My camera battery died during the masquerade, so I didn't get any Monday. So.. Yeah.

First cosplay of the day. These were far from the best Naruto cosplayers there, but for some reason I took a picture of these three. The Hinata was rather interesting- her character is supposed to be very calm and recessive, but the cosplayer herself had this weird look in her eyes like she would pull out a knife and shank you at any minute. Maybe it was the contacts, I don't know.. Either way, you can get a closeup here.

Why, what's this? Oh yes, it's Man Faye, scourge of the seven seas. And he's fighting with a gigantic GIR, which I saw many times over the course of the con. This was a fight to behold in person.. It was straight out of a movie.

Bwee.

We actually got a pose out of him. He lost weight.. He lost the fatness, and the fatness is 30% of his greatness.

I managed to get a better snapshot of Jango. This time it's not all motion-blurry. And there's another shot of Bender in the background.

Wrong con, guys. Either way, it was kind of funny to see an overweight stormtrooper. Alex decided to correct me. He is not a storm trooper, but a Scout. The end.

A view from our hotel room. We were on the fifth floor. Not very high, sadly. The real reason I took this picture was because I wanted to get a closer look at that guy's Nightmare sword.. But it turned out to be crappy up-close. Styrofoam eye and red poster paint. Yawn.

An ever-growing pile of swag. You can see the ferret plushie he killed three people for in the ADV cult crowd.

Now here's the good Nightmare sword. It caught Ethan's eye when we were by the pool-slash-eating space. This was about as close as I could get.. But some of the glory was lost when I resized it. It has blood vessels and lord knows what else hanging all over it, and the eye looks suspiciously real.

I have no idea who this person is supposed to be, and I have no idea why I took this picture. She kind of looks like she's from south central, flashing bling or gang signs or something.

I kind of felt bad for these guys. They stood on the little stage, and spend twenty minutes getting their equipment set up, and by then a crowd had formed. Turns out they played really crappy music, and people left quickly.

The Tetris guys were popular. On the last day I saw them have a danceoff/street fight. One of them apparently sold their suit. I would have paid good money for that thing, too.

Ethan with a shot of his Naruto headband. This is the kind of picture that arises when I'm bored and a panel hasn't started yet. Anyway, a bit of a story behind the headband- my brother went and bought the first one he found which, when unfolded, is one big square with the metal part in the middle. It cost him $35. Ethan got this one for $20, and he doesn't have to worry about folding it up right. The only plus-side to my brother's is that its cloth is darker and thus more badass.

The gaming hall pre-Smash Bros. tournament. This doesn't quite do it justice.. There was a good number of people behind me as well. We left once Ethan was put on standby, and came back at 1 AM only to see the tourney still going. It was mostly empty, though, with food wrappers everywhere.

This guy was kind of scary, actually. He wore a red shirt and red pants, and when someone asked he'd put on the hood, which had a really big flower taped to it. He was cool at the time, but looking at him here he looks creepy.

My new best friend. I almost actually gave him money. He had an oathe of silence until his revenge could be attained. All in all, I think he got like a nickel or something.

Is it wrong to be turned on by this? 'Cause if it is.. Well, I don't know what I'd do.

The best Link cosplayer in all of the con. Mostly it's the darker tunic, I think.. Much more like Twilight Princess Link instead of, say, Windwaker. That shield looked heavy, too.

Finally, some Jet Grind (Set?) Radio loving. This girl definitely stood out in crowds.. In a good way, though. She actually knew how to skate, too, though she had a hard time going down stairs (We watched her as she clung desperately to the handrail as she tried to go down a flight of stairs).

No, she's not crying, she was on her cell phone. I didn't bother asking her for a picture, so I just took one.

It's a.. Nice outfit.

I can't remember if this is the right Bleach guy or not, but one of them had a freaking big, freaking heavy sword. He let it drop when we were in line for the ANN panel on the third floor of the convention center.. It made a huge clunk sound that echoed throughout most of the lobby, I'd imagine.

My brother's headband. I tried wrapping it around my face cholo-style, but it didn't work. I couldn't figure out Tupac style, either.. Cripes, I'm so white.

The Samurai Champloo shirt I got for free at the Anime News Network panel.
Ethan's little Eva 01 figure. I think he lost the horn.. Correct me if I'm wrong, man.

..And my brother's Revolver Ocelot figure. Shin bought the same one when I wasn't there.

A shot from the second floor of the convention center. I always get vertigo when I'm on the second floor of that building or higher.. I don't have that problem anywhere else. Just there, for some reason.

omfg shin!1 I took this without properly warning him, so he deserves props for coming up with a good picture on such short notice.

I saw these plushies from across the exhibit hall and freaked. Too bad they were, like, $75 for the whole set.

One of the booths had a drawing board where you could doodle whatever the hell you wanted. This is just one of the five total. Mine's not on here.

Tokyopop always does bowling. This year they were promoting it in the name of their upcoming American-made release, We Love Halloween (or whatever. I wasn't paying attention). If you got a strike you could get any graphic novel you wanted, but if you got a spare you got to pick from a shitty bargain bin.

I got a spare, and ended up with some shoujo vampire manwha story. o_O

The top secret inner-workings of the Tokyopop booth. I am amazed that the FBI has yet to break into my house and confiscate my camera for taking this. Who knows what kind of valuable information terrorists could extract from this picture?

They had shirts, too.

Apparently, these Star Wars dudes were cosplaying for charity. It was rather lame, to be honest, but part of that might just be because I didn't get a picture of them posing- just standing around waiting to pose.

No better way to bond than through DS Download Play. I was the "host," since I have the cartridge, and I took the picture. That's Shin on the left with his pimp Bebop shirt, and Ethan on the right pwning us.

The Vader with the tuba background music. I couldn't find the guy actually playing the tuba for the life of me. Maybe we were all just imagining it.

Hehe. "Ho."

Not the best cosplayer ever.. But it added to the Katamari frenzy.

I repeat: PWNED.

That's it for today. I could technically do the other 30 pictures, but I prefer trickling them. That way there's a better chance of you lazy-asses actually looking at them. :P

--

Quick update on summer school: Only one more week, and I can't wait. I had to do a project with omega-dork today. He's gotten really unstable and I don't know why- he just constantly looks like he's about to break down and (try to) kill someone. I did the PowerPoint instead of the essay for a change.. He insisted on doing a game show at the end, since it was "such a success" yesterday.

A fun fact: It wasn't. It sucked.

Either way we didn't have the time for it. And there was much rejoicing.

EDIT: God damn, this is a long post. Too bad I can't write this much for homework. o_O
Comments (5)