Dealer's room: I buy everything in twos...
Breakfast burrito from the hotel cafe was super yummy and filling. I think I ate too much.... ^^; I took my time getting into my Kikyo cosplay since there was a Pokemon movie marathon on Cartoon Network and Pokemon 2000 was on. ^^; First stop was the dealer's room. I picked up two copies of "The One I Love" by CLAMP for Theresa-neechan and me. I also bought two sets of 'Death Note' movies for Christine-neechan and Alby-kun. I got two Moogle pins for Theresa-neechan and CB as well as a Kurama pin for myself. I also picked up the Yu Yu Hakusho movie dvd. ^.^ The Death Note notebooks were too expensive ($20-30) so I decided to pick them up at Chinatown. Or at least wait until sunday. The official release date of 'Crimson Spell' by Yamane Ayano-sensei was in several weeks, but Kitty Media had them available at their booth. Yay for at-con releases! ^.^ I was going to pick one up for Pearl-chan, but she already pre-ordered it. Yay for amazon releases!
In the midst of my shopping spree, I caught a part of the Kendo demo through the curtains. Sugoi...kendo.... *_*
"Me too!"
The 12012 Q&A session was next. My fav member is the bassist Enya Tomoyuki-san. His fav song out of all their releases is 'Butterfly' and he is just too cute. Also, he is a fan of Johnny Depp and his merchandise is all over his room. ^.^ The writing of their songs is the collaborative effort of the entire band and they take their fashion trends from movies. On their spare time, the members like to eat, sleep, shower and play video games. ^-^ Their fav animes? One Piece, DBZ and RomeoxJuliet. Secret for their awesome skin? Drink water, eat alot, breathe in 'good air' and milk. ^.^ A funny part was when there was a period of time when someone asked a question, the last member to answer, the guitarist Suga Yusuke-san would pause then say 'Me too.' We (the fans) came to expect that. Someone then asked, 'What is your favorite English phrase?' Of course Suga-san said 'Me too.' Other members said, 'maybe,' 'accordian' and 'friend.' *aww from fans* ^.^
Kagome kills Kikyo!
At about 2pm, I headed out to the Ikeda Toya and Gomi Daisuke signing. After asking the staff for permission, I gave them both pringles (the kind with trivia questions printed on them. ^.^) Since the signing line was so fast, I made it back for the end of the Q&A session. Afterwards, I headed to the lobby of the Expo center and stumbled into a Kagome cosplayer. We recognized each other since we met and took pics together several times (since we were both cosplaying from the same anime. ^.^)
We took 'Kikyo shoots Kagome' pics as well as 'Kagome shoots Kikyo' pics. Her friends who were Kagome fans cheered as she proceeded to point the arrow at me. ^^; Afterwards, I hung out with her friends for awhile.
It's from Shakespeare! He is even in the anime!
Kagome joined up with me and we went to the RomeoxJuliet panel where they showed episode 1 and 2 which were awesome. Curio is the smex. *fangirl squeal* ^_^ Gomi-san and Ikeda-san answered questions about the anime. They noted that the inspiration for the anime is from Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet.' The characters are from the play, there is tension from who belongs in which family...and of course there are recognizable scenes throughout the anime that relates to the original. However, the similarities end there. Revolution is a key theme in the story, which was absent in the original. They also wanted to utilize the media of anime to the fullest as oppose to live action or even stage performance. They have winged horses! And Juliet is a crossdresser named Ordine or Odin AND a vigilante named 'Red Typhoon.' That girl gets around. ^.^
One of the first questions that was asked was something that had been on my mind ever since I watched the anime: how does Juliet fit all her hair under her wig? Their answer? 'Its a miracle wig!' O.O I want one of those.... ^^; Since everyone knows the story of 'Romeo and Juliet,' there was of course many questions about the later episodes as well as the ending. As mentioned before, though key moments will be apparent in the anime (like the famous balcony scene,) differences between the two medias are there. Like the important role the character 'Willy Shakespeare' will take on in later episodes. Yes, Shakespeare is also a character in the anime. ^.^ Their answer to many of the questions on plot was always, "Please continue to watch the anime." Of course! ^-^
When Kikyo loses the shikon no tama. O.O
After the panel, Kagome left to look for her friends and I decided to go back to the hotel. After walking to the lobby, I discovered that I lost my shikon no tama necklace. O.O I was devastated. I retraced my steps and went back to the Main events room where the RomeoxJuliet panel was held. Nothing. Just then, a girl appeared. "Are you looking for this?" O.O It was the necklace! I was so excited that I might've scared her with my enthusiasm for getting my necklace back. I offered pocky, but she refused. I thanked her profusively though. What an awesome person! ^.^
Yes, I get the irony of me, Kikyo, losing the shikon no tama. Never again!
Moeeeeee!
Dinner was Outback steak salad with soup and they delivered it to my door. ^.^ I watched a part of Pokemon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew as well as the end of Pokemon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea before I left for the masq. I was halfway to the con building before I realized that I forgot my bow. ^^; I rushed back to the hotel and met a guy named X on the way up to my room. I saw him again in the elevator on the way down. I explained that I came back for my bow and exclaimed over him being on con staff. Privledges...suogi. ^^;
Renge-chan from Ouran Highschool Host Club was the MC and she was so in character. Since I was late, I didn't see all of the skits. But there is always youtube. ^.^
The Melancholy of Haruhi - The popular dance that took over the world.... Fav. moment: "The otaku will get me!" lol
Yu Yu Hakusho - I wish I saw this skit.... Kurama: "I am not gay!" Of course not! He is my love. ^.^
Kyou Kara Maoh - Yuri and Maoh!Yuri...just like Yugi and Yami!Yugi.... Yaoi couplings 4eva. ^.^
Kingdom Hearts 2 - Totally wish I saw this live. Won 2nd place. ^.^
Evangelion: The Musical - Wish I saw this one live too.... ^^;
Tekken 3 Promotional Item - lol ^.^ Saw this one since it was when I arrived.
Fruits Basket - My ultimate fav. They won Best in Show as well as a Judge's Award for fav song. ^.^
Gundam Seed: What is seed? - They got Honorable Mention. Also a fav. It's the head bopping. ^^;
Puppet Skit - It has Gravitation, Princess Mononoke and Final Fantasy, though not in the way you imagine. Kawaii!
A car decaled from Initial D was featured during the hall cosplay results announcement. I don't know if it won anything, but I truly wish I got a pic of the car. It was awesome! (X mentioned that he wants to take it out and see how well it drifts. ^^;) The amvs for this year were awesome. One of my fav. from Gravitation did not win, but once I find it on youtube, I will link to it. ^-^ My ultimate fav was from Loveless, and it won in the drama category. Yay! Truly, that amv was awesome...it had everyone dancing in their seats!
As a game, the judges of the masquerade each picked out an audience member and quizzed them on various Japanime questions: like who are the four gods in Fushigi Yugi? At the end, Rock Lee won the contest. ^.^
"I'm straight! Really!"
Before they announced the winners for the masquerade, I left for the yaoi manga panel. X came with me though I did not in any way force him to attend such a panel. ^^; Frank Pannone of Media Blasters talked about upcoming series and I asked about the Biblos/Libre licenses issues. However, he was not inclined to answer when it will sort out. I wanted to know when the manga will be shipped out again, especially the 'Finder' series by Yamane Ayano-sensei. He said I was the 3rd person to ask him about the 'Finder' series that day. ^.^ Of course he had a stack of manga for us. O.O He threw the first book which X caught and gave to me. (More like he wrestled with a bunch of people before he finally got it. ^^;) It was 'A King's Lesson' by Futaba Aoi-sensei and Mitsuba Kurenai-sensei. Yay! ^_^
 In order to get manga for his female friends, two straight guys decided to 'entertain' us: one took off his shirt before kissing the other one. O.O He grabbed a stack of 'Level C' manga...although I think he was only suppose to take one. But they kissed so who cares. ^^; I'm not really sure what happened next, but the guy (who took off his shirt) got upset about something concerning his girlfriend and he left the room. I don't think his girlfriend was even there. Pannone asked that his friends bring him by the Kitty Media booth later on and he'll provide him with some complimentary hentai. O.O Lucky! 'Level C' and hentai.
At the end of the panel, Pannone signed my 'Alien 9' vol. 1 manga (that X was reading throughout the panel to distract himself from words like 'buttsex.' ^^;) Pannone confirmed that he only partially worked on vol. 4 of 'Alien 9: Emulators.' He also said that he really enjoyed working on the series though and that the interviews with the mangaka at the end of the vols. were only featured in U.S. editions. ^.^ Pocky reward!
More flashing lights please!
We headed back to my room to drop off my stuff and change. Then we headed out to the dance/rave that was underway. *_* After getting some light things (glasses and a stick that wasn't a glowstick,) we met up with X's friends and danced until 1am.
Though X was staff and he gets free room and food, he had to share with 5 other guys. I relinquished one of the queens to him (since my room had two beds) and we fell asleep after watching Ghost in the Shell.
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