Initially I wanted to be Kikyo first and Chun Hyang in the evening, but since I needed to wake up extra early, I decided on the 'simpler to put on' cosplay of Chun Hyang. Why did I need to wake up extra early? Well, I wanted to go to the Nana Kitade/MUCC concert that afternoon. Let me explain....

There were only a limcited number of tickets to see the concert. They're free, but they are given out at 8:30am (when the con center opens) at the top floor of the center. There were two concerts, one on friday and one on saturday. The ticket you pick up that morning is for the concert you'll see in the afternoon. On friday, I heard the tickets were gone by 10am. Hence, I'm up at 7:30am getting dressed in my cosplay.

Box, check...cd, check..time to wait.

I got to the convention center at 8:35 and rushed to the top floor. There were already lots of people, but the long lines were going very fast. (After all, they only needed to hand out tickets.) I got my ticket (yay! ^.^) and headed down to the Makoto Tateno signing.

The signing was at 10am and I was there before 9am. There were people waiting already, but it was still not so long. I happily joined the throng. Long lines were already forming for the MUCC autographs at 11am and Yoshiki autographs at 2pm. O.O Hard core.... Good thing I wasn't planning to get MUCC's and Yoshiki's autographs. (I would be waiting on lines all day....) By the time the door opened for the Tateno-sensei's signing, there was a super long line for all the signings. Since it was one item per person, I got Pearl-chan's Yellow box signed. I was happily informed that Tateno-sensei will be signing at the DMP booth at 1pm. *adds that to the schedule* Before I went anywhere else, I dropped off the box at the hotel.

Giant teddy! Jenn-chan! (Not same person.... ^-^)

I went to Otakon by myself, but I found out that one of my friends is a cosplayer who will be going and Jenn-chan, my non-cosplaying (but still awesome) friend will also be there. (She arrived that morning. ^.^) I got in touch with my cosplaying friend and met him after the Initial D live action movie. (I caught the end of the movie and Jay Chou looks cute as usual. ^.^) My friend's sister is also a cosplayer and she makes all his outfits. (Cool! I want a sister like that! ^.^) Initially, he was suppose to be in a bear outfit from Fullmetal Panic! Fumoffu, but his other friend was in the costume. Instead, he wore an army outfit from the series. ^.^ After meeting up with him and his friends (sister included,) I started walking with them to the AMV room while stopping every once in awhile for pics. That's when she appeared...out of the blue. Jenn-chan! Hugs and a pic later, I headed up to the Ayako Kawasumi panel. (By myself since we all have our own plans. ^-^)

Ayako Kawasumi: seiyuu of many voices

I saw Masao Maruyama sitting across the aisle from me, but couldn't bring myself to ask him for his autograph...since I left my CCS pic back at the hotel. ^^; I have his other autographs though.... ^-^ Ayako Kawasumi-san (Melfina, Outlaw Star) is sooo sweet. She wore a kimono and remarked about how surprised she was of seeing all the cosplayers. The fans asked questions and requested her to speak in her different voices. I'm in awe at the wide range of voices she had. Her own speaking voice is soft, but she can be very forceful when she wants to be. (She hurt my ears shouting in Lafiel's voice, Banner of the Stars ^.^) When asked about her voices and her knowledge of chracters, she said that "I do need some confidence that I know the character, but if I'm overconfident, I can't handle things in a collaborative manner." Collaboration meant working with the director and the other actors to work out her performance and the way she responds to others. (Unlike NA dubs where VAs are recorded separately, Japanese VAs are recorded in a group.)

...and more waiting....

Nana Kitade's and Ayako Kawasumi's autograph sessions were at the same time. Unfortunately, I knew I would only be able to get one or the other. I decided to get Kitade-san's autograph since I have her cd. Good thing too, it appears that we can only get one thing to sign and it must be an official item. They sold posters and cds at the door though so others who needed something won't need to run for the dealer's room. ^-^ In order to keep people from selling the cds/posters on ebay/auctions, they required everyone to write down their name on a piece of paper so that Kitade-san can add it with the autograph. (So that's why artists/VAs want your names on the stuff...not just to make it more 'personal.' ^^;)

I was done by 1:20pm, so I ran for the dealer's room. (Why am I always running somewhere?) There was a short line for Tateno-san's signing so I got her to sign my manga and a poster. I told her that my fav. book was Yokan and she smiled and replied that she is working on a continuation. O.O I even got to take a picture with her! I grinned happily and bowed away. Yay! Yokan will be continued! Even if I didn't get the book I wanted signed, I'm so happy to have met a fav mangaka. ^-^

Anime shopping is fun....

Finally, I was able to go about the dealer's room without needing to 'rush' through it like the day before. (I was still on a schedule though since I needed to get ready for the Nana Kitade/MUCC concert at 4pm.) I bought two FMA keychains for myself with charms similar to the clip I have on my bag. I also bought several wallscrolls for my godsisters and t-shirts for my friends. (A friend from my old church requested a Totoro shirt. ^-^) Shopping done, I headed back to the hotel to change for the concert.

I changed, ate and dropped off stuff. O-kaa-san drove me to the concert place since I was too lazy to walk and I was running late. (It was still hot outside too. ^^;)

EGL Nana...

The concert took place at a bar called 'Ram's Head Live' with a large stage. Before we entered the bar area though, everyone was required to show ID. People 21 and over got a purple bracelet (so we can drink) and everyone else got an X on their hand (so they can't drink. ^^;) There were no seats so everyone stood around the stage and at the railings of the balcony area. I doubt that there were more than 2000 people at the concert so I consider myself pretty blessed to be able to get a ticket. Nana Kitade-san clothing style is EGL (elegant gothic lolita) and she is so cute. She opened the concert with 'Indelible Sin' from the first ending of FMA series. She also sang the opening song from the new anime, Demashitta! Powerpuff Girls Z. ^.^

(mini rant)

I really enjoyed the songs, but I could've smacked the people standing next to me. They kept on saying 'She is not really singing,' and 'I wish she would just go.' They kept on picking at things and annoying the hell out of me. I rolled my eyes when she left and MUCC came out since they remarked, 'Yeah, time for the real concert!' There is no need to defend Nana Kitade-san since her reputation is not based on me and the idiots that I ended up standing with. But, their talking bugged me...kinda like speaking during a movie...only worse since it's critizing the movie while watching it. >.< Back to the concert...

...and rock MUCC

I stood near the back of the crowd (to the right-front of the stage.) Good thing I wasn't in the middle since a moshpit in the crowd. People was pushing/slamming/knocking each other around, which wouldn't matter unless they knocked into me. The good thing about it besides watching the chaos form was that somehow, the pushing of people back and forth allowed me to inch forward towards the front of the crowd. ^-^ MUCC was like the D'espair Ray band, loud J-rock music. I really like some of the songs and picked out some strong melodies. Good guitar solos (though I really like the bass player. He looks young and cute with blond hair. ^-^)

Kikyo and Kagome: showdown of the last century

Dinner was more instant noodles and than I changed into my Kikyo outfit. The next panel I wanted to attend was the Fullmetal Alchemist panel. On the way there, I took a picture with a Kagome. Since she had a bow as well, I lent her one of my arrows and we posed aiming our arrows at each other. I got to the room early and caught the end of the Ren'ai Gaming panel which were about computer dating games. From what I can tell, the company is translating some of the Japanese dating games into English and/or they are producing a Japanese style dating game in English with a Japanese song. One of the panelist sang the song for us. It sounded really nice. ^-^

SIT!

For some reason (I can't really recall,) I wasn't really into the FMA panel. O.O I left early and started to wander around. The masquerade was underway, but I couldn't bring myself to walk two blocks to see it. Instead, I took some pictures, got my pictures taken. Than, I was spotted by the same Kagome as before. We started talking and of course, people wanted our pictures. We did our usual pose and I ended up staying with her and friends and talking. Every time we posed, her friend would cheer for me saying 'Get her, Kikyo!' ^.^; From time to time, Kagome would say, 'I like you...but Inuyasha is mine!' I finally replied, 'I'm really dead anyway, so you can have him.' ^-^ Over green tea pocky, we laughed and Kagome demonstrated her 'sit' necklace. She wore an Inuyasha necklace and had a small electronic sign that stated 'SIT BOY'. She would fall on her face every time her friend shouted out 'Sit girl!' Others stopped by and talked with us and two guys even fell to the ground when Kagome said 'Sit boy!' ^^; It was totally funny and I talked with them until 10pm.

I must mention this because it was so awesome...I saw Wesley from 'The Princess Bride'. He had a 'rodent of unusual size'...to which I remarked 'That is an unusually small 'rodent-of-unusual-size'.' ^-^ When I asked him if I could take his picture, he said 'As you wish.' *fangirl squeal* (I also got to pet his rodent. ^.^)

Uncut = hugs and doggy love

11pm was the 'Voice Actors Uncut!' panel. There was already a line outside even though it didn't start for another hour. The Hellcon ppl were first and I met the one nicknamed 'Lion'. I enjoyed relaxing and talking with others. When it was time to go into the room, we were instructed to not take pictures. Recording devices of any kind were not allowed, Why? 'Uncut' means that the VAs are free to say/do anything and anything must stay within the room. What happens exactly? Pure and utter chaos. ^.^ People are allowed to ask anything and the VAs answer as they wish. To describe the event will defeat the purpose of the panel itself so I'll only say this: Yuri Lowenthal and dogs, Mike McFarland and fanta, Monica Rial and hugs. There is more, but I can't think of them at this time. ^^; No pics since as said, no cameras allowed. (I think the panel was suppose to be 18+ so I did get a stamp. ^-^)

Panel ended at 1am and I got Yuri's and Christine's autographs. Yuri said that it was his first time eating pocky. (I'm pretty sure he said 'first time eating' and not 'eating this kind' of pocky. ^^:) Went back to the hotel, showered and watched Cowboy Bebop. (I think it was the last episode.) -.-ZZZ