Morning signing: No line? You gotta be kidding!

I woke up around 10:30am. I pulled on my brand new Asuca Hayashi dress and spent the next half hour working with the super-long obi. >.< Fatigue and hunger does not make a good combo for typing intricate bows. -.-; After managing a presentable bow, I left the hotel room and headed to the convention. By that time, Pearl-chan and P-chan had woken up already and we planned to meet up later. The first event I wanted to be at was the Funimation Actors signing. Vic Mignogna (Edward/FMA,) Caitlin Glass (Winry/FMA,) Colleen Clickenbeard (Riza/FMA,) and Laura Bailey (Lust/FMA) were there. I hoped that the signing won't be as crowded since it��s so early in the morning.... There were still tons of people, but it didn't matter much since I was able to talk to some really nice fans. ^-^ While I was waiting on line, I realized that I forgot something important...the pocky. *smacks head* Let me explain, I plan to make an impact on Japanime celebrities by bringing them green tea pocky. (I sorta started this last year when I bought pocky for Vic at Otakon. ^^;) Grabbing my cell, I contacted P-chan and Pearl-chan and asked that they bring 4 boxes to the convention center. They did, but by the time they arrived, the con staff had closed the line for the signing. There were other chances for their autographs so Pearl-chan and P-chan left for the dealer's room after giving me the pocky. (Thx again, you guys! ^-^)

When I got to the table, I saw that Vic was selling his cds. I wanted to buy one...but decided not yet. *bakabakabaka* >.< Someone (I forgot who) thought I was asking them to sign the pocky box, but I cleared that up really quickly. ^^; Anyway, they all loved the pocky and I even got a pic of Colleen and Laura eating it. ^-^

Plushies! ^-^

After the signing, I stopped by the artist alley to check things out. Then I joined in the shopping spree that was already underway in the super-crowded dealer's room. *happy sigh* It's an otaku paradise full of everything you ever wanted.... I spent some time gaping at the gundam kits, pointing out various models to P-chan...who has no idea what I'm talking about. ^^;

My first purchase for myself was a two book manga set by CLAMP, 'Man of Many Faces' for $10. ^-^ As requested by my anime-loving co-worker, I went in search of the elusive pj-Naruto plushie. Alas, the dealers I spoke to have may have heard of the item but have sold out in past conventions and/or stores. I didn't give up though! Ganbatte! ^-^ Instead, I found another wonderful Naruto plushie. According to the dealer, the plushie is good for throwing at people...though isn't all plushies good for that? ^-^; In either case, this kawaii Naruto plush had a ninja star and backpack which can be detached by velcro. The headband is removable too. Of course, I had to buy it for Jenn-chan. ^.^

In the same booth, I found Yu Yu Hakusho plushies...as well as a Puu plush! O.O In my entire Japanime life, I have never seen a Puu plush before...though I knew it must exist since Puu is such an adorable creature. I contemplated for a full 3 minutes about whether or not I should buy it. It was $15 which is typical for a plushie that size (it was life size Puu...which is small enough to sit on your head ^-^) and there was only one left.... I was leaning towards really wanting it and (stupidly) thinking I can buy it later when P-chan grabbed the plushie and bought it. I immediately thought 'Oh wellz, she is giving it to her bro...afterall, they're both YYH fans....' ^^; Why did I think this way? Well, P-chan wanted to buy shirts for her bro...so that��s what I assumed....

It was about 3-4pm when we decided to leave the dealer's room and head back to the hotel. First, I wanted to change out of my cosplay dress so we could go eat food. Meanwhile, Pearl-chan was looking over the stuff she bought...mostly computer (dating sim ^-^) games. P-chan than revealed that she had bought the Puu plush for me. O.O *fangirl squeal* Domo arigato, P-chan! I was (and still am) so happy. ^-^ Yay! I have Puu! *dances around the room* P-chan took pics of Puu sitting on Pearl-chan's head *giggles* while I changed and washed a portion of the cosplay skirt (stupid me, stepping on my own dress.) Then we went to Outback for some much needed food sustenance.

Hall cosplay and Walmart

I left Outback at 4:40pm so that I could go back to the room and change for the Hall cosplay competition at 5pm. I was still working on my obi when the girls came back from the restaurant. ^^; P-chan and Pearl helped me finish getting ready and we headed out to the Embassy hotel where the competition was taking place. I handed in my typed entry form (which I typed in a dazed at 7am that morning ^^;) and reference pics to the person in charge. We took some pics and then the others left for Walmart. (Needed to restock on stuff. ^^;) Turns out that I didn't have to wait very long before they called me up. I was soooo nervous. They asked about how I made the dress (giving credit to my godsister who helped me design it and o-kaa-san who assisted in the sewing) and the details behind it. The judges took some pics, commented on the length of the skirt, complimented me on the wonderful cutting of the transfer papers (thx, Pearl-chan! ^.^) as well as noticed the hair clips I made to match the ones in the video. Soon, I was out of the room. *sigh of relief* I'm truly not cut out for the spotlight. My stage fright thing is such a hindrance. ^^; Since the others were still at Walmart, I headed over the con center.

Osamu Tezuka legacy

I got to the convention center in time for the last portion of the Launch party...which was just some intros and comments about/from the guests. It was funny since the host basically had an ongoing comedy routine with the 'computer' or basically the video screen (that's monitored from the back of the room. ^-^) It was creative and interesting. I stuck around since afterwards was the 'Guests of Honor' panel with Masao Maruyama and Rintaro, directors/producers who worked with Osamu Tezuka, the father or all anime. Yay for Astroboy! ^.^

Masao Maruyama-san (left) and Rintaro-san (right)

They introduced Maruyama-san first and showed alot of anime previews. Then, they introduced Rintaro-san and showed more anime previews. (Some I knew, some I saw in Japan and some I want to see. ^-^) By that time, Pearl-chan and P-chan returned from Walmart and joined me at the panel. Fans asked questions about the previews that were shown as well as the possibility of continuation of current series. After the panel, we rushed to the signing line and got a good spot. I got both Rintaro-san's and Maruyama-san's autograph on an X picture, since they both worked on the X movie. ^-^ (Btw, no pocky since I forgot to bring them from the hotel room...also I decided it's too silly to give such legends pocky. ^^;) We headed back to the hotel afterwards to change for the D'espairsRay concert.

Old School Anime

Before heading over to the concert, P-chan and I headed to the Embassy to check out the karoke contest that was taking place. When we arrived, we were greeted with a familiar tune...'Ai no Senshi' from the Sailor Moon S series. ^-^; The dude that was singing it was fantastic. Takes a real man to sing Sailor Moon. ^.^

Con staff idiocy

Do as I say, not as I do. Kids, breaking rules is wrong...but sometimes sneaking into a concert is needed when you got kicked out for a stupid reason by a power wielding, hotheaded Asian dude who thinks he is all that. XP *fumes*

I won��t go into detail about this ��cause it��ll just piss me off again. First we had trouble getting into the building. Then, I got kicked out of the concert since I took a picture (with a flash.) *headdesk* >.< P-chan followed me out and we went back to the room. After I changed into my cosplay dress and P-chan grabbed a coat, we snuck back into the concert. ^^;

Turns out the freakin�� pic that I took was of the wrong group. *smacks head* Suicide City was the opening band and they played until 12am. Alot of ppl left during intermission but I convinced P-chan to stay. Good thing we did because D'espairsRay came on and played until 2am...encores and everything. ^-^ Since so many ppl left before, P-chan and I got a seat closer to the front and ended up standing in the middle and dancing. The band threw drumsticks and empty water bottles at the audience and sprayed water (from their mouths. ^^;) It was awesome and I totally enjoyed it. ^-^

According to Pearl-chan, my snores were killer that night, but I was totally knocked out so I didn't notice. Gomen, Pearl-chan.... ^^;