Otakon 2009 – Day 2 – Yamakan Stalking with Kanon Wakeshima

Surprisingly, got some good sleep for Day 2 of Otakon 2009 waking up at 9AM with little planned or to do… or at least so I thought. Thanks to my roommates and how the stars aligned, Day 2 became what I will be calling “Yamakan Stalking 101″ with Kanon Wakeshima and karaoking as side dishes ^^

So apparently Yamakan was having a special autograph session in the Dealers’ room between 12-1PM only for those that bought Kannagi volume 1 R1. Well, I bought it yesterday so with little else to do headed to the Dealers’ room to wait for the man himself for the 423th time that weekend. Luckily I became buddy buddy with the folks setting up the event as myself and the guys I was with were first in the line to get our gear signed. But prior to letting the DVD holders get in, apparently there were some cosplay photos taken with the professionals Aniplex/Bandai hired along with a random Zange that happen to be there (and was ironically the best Zange at the con). I only mention this since the cosplayer who was Tsugumi got Yamakan to sign her outfit which I thought was pretty hilarious at the time. On the mini-signing itself, it went pretty quick as I ended up going online three times; first time for Yamakan’s signature, second for Satoru Shimizu who was also there and I didn’t know was the producer until AFTER I got out of the line, and third to get a photo OP with the two of them ^^;; Crazy stuff and I hope I didn’t offend Satoru too much when I initially skipped him but they seem pretty cool about it so…

With Yamakan’s signature gotten on the Kannagi DVD, I headed to his actual autograph session that was a bit later after some quick eats at Saladworks. Chilled back with the usual folks I have been seeing on line like W-General while waiting for the session to start. Pretty little fanfare at the autograph session although Yamakan did start to hum/sing a bit of “Koi no Mikuru Densetsu” when he was signing Jabel’s Haruhi Vol 0 R2 disc and “God Knows” when signing my Haruhi Vol 6 R2, which I thought was cool.

My last signature for Otakon gotten, I ran to Kanon Wakeshima’s concert line which was packed with people! I believe her concert was the most packed out of the four as the main events hall where the concerts were held was literally full to the max! All I can say is thank god one of Jabel’s friend Lisa is totally into Kanon and camped out at her line for four hours to get us front row seats (second row right in front of the stage). Awesome work Lisa! Prior to Kanon starting, they had another group open up for her, a local band called Geist. They weren’t too bad although I initially got confused if the lead singer was a guy or girl (girl) due to her singing voice and looks. On Kanon’s actual concert, it was good although I was a bit surprised on her style of music since I was expecting something different based on what I heard before. I will admit her opening song and moves were good since the clock-like moments synced perfectly with the song’s beats.

After the concert, I know Jabel and Lisa went to the crazy line to get her autograph (a line, btw, that started even before she finished her last song!) but I didn’t want to try given how long it looked (later I was told I should have gone for it and that apparently, Kanon has porcelain skin). Instead I ran to stalk Yamakan more checking out his second Q&A session which ended up being better than his first due to stuff he said that should not be leaked on the internet ^^;;

Yamakan stalking finally completed, met up with what was becoming the usual con crew to get something to eat. Ended up going to Potbelly for some sandwiches, which totally rocked and will be going back to next year without a doubt! Stomachs full, we headed to Otacafe to chill and karaoke although the karaoke took awhile due to the usual lines and the two hour in-between session for “j rock groups” which consisted of Geist (the same one that opened for Kanon) and Reni. On the the crew I was hanging with’s karaoke abilities… well, the below two videos should say how EPIC it was:

Cool Joke’s “UNDO”

JAM Project’s “SKILL” (album version)

Minus karaoke epicness, there was also the usual meet-up of various anibloggers for the second time including folks like Os, super rats, Alex Leavitt, and Link to name a few. I want to say after the Otacafe, it was back to the bar again but I believe at this point we were all dead tired and headed back to our respective hotels to get ready for the last day of Otakon.

Overall, Day 2 was pretty relaxing with not too much going on and felt more or less just an opportunity to see and chill with folks I don’t normally see. Got Yamakan’s signature 2x, met more folks, saw Kanon Wakeshima live, and watched karaoke EPICNESS. Honestly, it was great way to spend the second day considering how beat I was from the previous day and really the only complaint I have was not trying for Kanon’s autograph so I could have saw the beauty up close!