Haven’t updated this blog in months but figured I’d at least announce I’ll be at AX this year. I even get the honor to crash with the Great Omo, Momotato, and Alexd to boot; all awesome gentlemen in their own right!

I honestly can’t believe the amount of events going on this year but much to say, I’ve already gotten my schedule figured out. I’m pretty much giving up on seeing 1/2 the guests to go to AKB related events and will only most likely see 3-4 anime-related guests at best (Hocchan! May’n! Mamegu!). I guess ’tis the way of becoming an idol otaku, for better or worse.

I have no honest plans of any meetups but depending if I’m free or not, am more than willing to go to some (I’ll need to bug Omo since he’s always in the know). Given my somewhat tight schedule, however, who knows if I’ll even be free or alive to do so!

I’m trying to keep my expectation low, so any mishaps won’t ruin the overall experience but I cannot say I’m not excited. Considering this is my first AX, there’s just so much potential awesome waiting to happen! All of which, I’ll hopefully try to blog live-ish about via twitter and qik if time (and reception) allows!

So for those that are going, if you happen to see some asian guy in a Nana Mizuki Live Diamond baseball jersey or some AKB branded t-shirts, do stop me to say “hi” if you wish. And since my ugly mug can be found at multiple places (check my old Otakon posts for example), don’t blame me if you stop some other asian dude wearing similar clothes

Surprisingly, this will probably be a short entry on Day 3 and my overall thoughts on NYAF simply due to the fact I’ve forgotten 50% of it already. Seriously. My brain literally is drawing a blank for random parts of the day and trying to remember the other days is already becoming a blur.

So without further ado, Day 3 of NYAF 2009. Day 3, just like the other days, still involved me getting up early-ish due to being generally paranoid plus I wanted to make sure I got good seats to Yui Makino’s Q&A. Arrived on-site around 9-9:30AM, picking up yet another Yui Makino autograph ticket (not for me!) killing the rest of the time in the VIP line trying to stay up and get cell phone service. I don’t know what it was, maybe the sake or lack of sleep finally catching up with me, but I had to drag my sorry self to the actual panel room where Yui Makino’s Q&A was being held when they let us in around 10AM; thankfully it being in one of the bigger room, I had no issue getting whatever seat I wanted. Trying not to fall asleep, spent the rest of the hour and fifteen minutes just waiting eventually at one point, seeing Omo and his crew make it to the panel with a few minutes before it started. There were some great podcast moments that I know wah got during that time, but look forward to those whenever he releases them, if ever.

On the actual Q&A itself, it was pretty boring to be dreadfully honest. Omo pretty much touched on the major points and I completely agree with him as well. Just to add on though, I’m surprised no one asked for Yuuchi to say x line(s) from y character in series z, which is usually a staple (and sometimes awesomely amusing) question with seiyuus and the audience. I know at Rie Tanaka’s last year, there were a few. Really the only other thing I could possibly mention is that I personally thought Yui looked her best today out of the multiple times I saw her prior at the con; probably most likely due to her having her hair down or something (yea I’m a sucker for simple hair styles and females with long hair).

After the Q&A finished, I believe we just bummed around the dealers’ room for a bit since Yui Makino was going to be in another panel where Japanese and American voice actors/actresses talked shop. Once again, check Omo’s post if one is curious as I pretty much just tagged along following him and his crew around. We did happen to catch the tail end of the prior panel while waiting, which was Voice Acting 301 with the American VAs giving tips to the audience plus having them dub parts of Animation Runner Kuromi 2. I thought that was pretty cool and even though I don’t care for dubs much, I thought the audience did a good job given the time frame and whatnot.

Surprisingly enough, on the “East vs West” Voice Actors/Actresses panel, I learned the most about how things are done over here in the states versus anything in Japan. Part of it mostly due to the fact that I generally know the ins-and-outs on how the Japanese do it, the panel was pretty educational nonetheless. One of the biggest tidbit that was a bit shocking to me, as it was with Yucchi, is that American VAs generally do cold reads; i.e. they only get the scripts when they actually start recording. I figured they would get something to work with prior, like how the Japanese get the scripts ahead of time, but I guess not and all I can say is, more power to the American VAs for doing as well as they do.

After the panel finished, including the VAs taking group photos for themselves, we hauled our arses to Alex D’s car so we could make our way to Webster Hall for AKB48′s concert. Took about 30 or so minutes to get there but boy, there was already a line up to the next intersection! Waiting involved a lot of trying to stay conscious and getting split up with the group as Omo and StarCreator had “VIP” tickets for special seating while Alex D waited with paranda a little further up in the line. Pretty crazy how long the line was getting although from overhearing random conversations, seems it was a 50/50 split about whether or not people knew who AKB48 were. Still, I thought it was impressive how many people were going given the circumstances at hand; fear the power of “everyday idols” I guess?

Anyway, around 4:30-5PM they started to let people into Webster Hall. On my way to the actual main area, stopped by the booth they had setup selling various AKB48 wares including CD+DVD singles, posters, and photo sets of the girls. The photo sets were probably the scariest in my humble opinion cause you could buy all 12+ (forgot how many they had out exactly) at $3.25USD per photo if you wanted! If I was a crazier man, and still had a job, I may have done it but while they are cute in their own ways, I knew I had to avoid doing so at all cost; explaining why I have photos of under-aged girls (even if they’re an idol unit) was a bridge I did not want to cross, if possible. After scoping out the various goods, eventually made my way to the main hall which was setup with a stage at the back center while the rest of the area was standing room only with a second floor for the VIPs guests (aka Omo & StarCreator) who could also watch and chill (and sit!) at their leisure.

On the concert itself, honestly it’s all a blur to me other than that it was awesome! Youtube would probably be the best place to go to see just how crazy and lively it truly was! On the various songs and acts, minus the constant fluttering of skirts which was awesome onto itself, I enjoyed the full group songs and pop-rock unit song probably the most. On the pop-rock unit song, one just cannot beat tight leather on good looking females, period. But yes, definitely a crazy concert with two encores that lasted a good 1.5-2 hours which I thought was pretty amazing considering the girls had little to no breaks besides for quick costume changes. Overall, as I’ve mentioned like multiple times already, the concert rocked and color me impressed with AKB48′s stage presence as songs I don’t think I would have liked normally were actually pretty good live. Now I wouldn’t call me a new (crazed) AKB48 fan but I will definitely be looking into their various music and other media in the future. I think as others have mentioned, and when the money starts to flow again, if I can pinpoint one or two as my “favs” I may make it alive as a potential long-term fan otherwise don’t know how long I can keep up with such a huge group! Nana Mizuki and Minori Chihara already kill me as is darn it XD

Potential financial suicide (again) aside, after the concert and multiple encores, eventually met up with the usual crew for some much needed dinner. For the random food antics, I once again point to Omo’s and will add that Otafuku was worth every penny (plus was like 5 mins from the yakinuku place we ate at the day prior). Definitely going back next time I’m in the city (which is like never, but still)… There are a few random things I could still mention, like getting lost again going to the subway and instead catching the tailend of AKB48 boarding their bus, but for me dinner wrapped up this year’s NYAF for better or worse.

Just quickly skimming my posts last year about NYAF, including my final thoughts, and unsurprisingly enough they are still the same, a year later. NYAF is still too new of a con (although the management group does NY Comic con so wtf) that things like general management issues, little to do between panels, badge privileges, and lack of (good) guests keep coming to my mind anytime I think of it. I want to say hopefully with NYAF merging with NYCC next year, things will be better but honestly I have a feeling they may get worse. I mean if at the small con level there were all these issues, god forbid what may happen at a major level that is NYCC!

I think if I do end up going to NYCC/NYAF/whatever next year, I’m going to try my luck as press. Given the fact it’s easy as cake, at least for NYAF, to get a press badge, I’m hoping it won’t be that bad for NYCC but who knows. And if not, unless they have some really uber Japanese guest(s), I’ll probably just pass and save myself a few hundred dollars and a lot of potential headaches… all of which NYAF VIP was suppose to do this year but miserably failed at instead.

Omo was the one who noticed this first but I can’t keep talking about it since I find it hilarious at so many levels! And the sake wasn’t even that great either!

Before I get to maihime sake and eating out with some of the blogger crew, let me step back a bit to continue off from my initial Day 2 report. Arriving back on-site around 5PM I ended up roaming around a bit until I ran into Omo and wah who just got out of Tomino’s autograph session. All I can say is wah lives up to the expectations and expect something AWESOME from him soon ^_~

After meeting up with the rest of the usual crew, we eventually headed to JP & Hinano’s MMO panel. See their post about it but overall I thought it was alright and they got a good turnout… even with someone like me who fell asleep towards the middle! Maybe next year when they do their vocaloid panel it’ll be at a better time where I won’t fall asleep but another good panel from them nonetheless.

With their panel over and nothing better to do, we ended up seating on a bit of the blogger roundtable hosted with like 5-8 bloggers. Crazy stuff and it seem somewhat interesting but honestly since I’m more solo and with the old vanguard(?), it was “meh” for me. I guess old timers like myself don’t like to change much even when I know the advice given is good.

Hungry pains started to hit most of us while we were at the blogger roundtable panel, so instead of learning anything meaningful, we left for some well deserved food. The place this time being the excellent Yakiniku West where there was A LOT of meat eaten. Too bad we didn’t take photos of everything ordered or the fun of us making several inch flames from the fat of the cooking meat, but at a total of $360 for 8 people I believe it was a great dinner had by all. The various sake Alex D & Omo ordered were good stuff and I know DS had no issues enjoying them all ^_~ Beside some major drinking happening, it was the usual fun fanfare of like minded individuals just chilling back and having an great time with various con and Japan traveling stories going around by most there.

And just like every other time after a great dinner, we eventually went our separate ways with everyone heading home to prep for the last day of NYAF. Overall my initial thoughts of Day 2 still stands (concerts = cool and 3 Yui-chin autographs = pimp) but with the addition of a kick arse dinner, I can say even with the various ups and downs, it was so far the most enjoyable day at NYAF. And while I don’t doubt tomorrow won’t be fun with the various Yui Makino panels and AKB48 concert at Webster Hall, with everyone being drained and working Monday coming up, I just can’t see too much happening outside the norm? Hopefully I’ll be delightfully proven wrong but we’ll see!

I think the day when I don’t have to get up early to go to a convention will never ever happen as long as I’m interested in seiyuus and Japanese music/idols in general. Much to say, Day 2 of NYAF 2009 so far has been all about Yui Makino and AKB48.

Top post image I’ll have up later tonight since I did not feel like taking a loot shot while in McDonalds ^^;; Anyway, the day itself started well enough with me arriving on-site at 8:30AM and NYAF actually having two lines to let people in; general attendance and VIP. So finally +1 for NYAF and its VIP privileges as I was able to be like second in line (under VIP since VIPs are suppose to get in first) for Yui Makino’s concert at 11:30AM when they let us in at 10AM. While online waiting, met up with Omo and the usual crew from yesterday, finding out they got onsite roughly the same time I did however they drove up from NJ to do so! Also ran into one or two folks I met last year during the whole Rie Tanaka affair.

Chilling back with old and new folks to kill the time, the staff eventually let us in around 11AM. And boy, VIP finally paid off as we got literally front row center seats to the concert! It still didn’t make up for the powered down version of this year’s VIP but getting good seats was a decent start. They showed a ANA commercial as well as a quick intro video of sorts with Yui Makino (answering questions about her roles, career, showing video from other overseas appearances, etc) as everyone slowly settled in, the concert starting shortly after. I won’t go into what was played or my thoughts on the music itself since I’m not Omo but overall it was a good solid concert. Yui is definitely a strong performer live with hearing and seeing most of her anime tied-in songs was a treat not soon to be forgotten. And yes, she’s definitely cute as a button BTW ^_^ I could probably go on and on about Yui Makino if I really thought about the concert but honestly, it was a nice way to start the day. Also couldn’t beat being in an audience photo with her with our group literally right behind as well as getting random high-fives with her. If you happen to see any photos with Yui Makino after the NYAF concert posing with the audience, look for the guys with the blue glow sticks; that’s us!

The concert now over with, we headed to her autograph line to find it already decently long. And obviously with our luck, VIP did nothing again as everyone was in the same line; unlike last year where there were two lines, or at least all VIP went first prior to normal attendance. More random conversation with wah recording as usual kept us occupied as we waited for her autograph session to start. Nothing too blackmail worthy although getting wah to (badly) propose to Yui Makino kept us more entertained than it should have. On the actual autographs themselves, it was weird how they were screening what items were OK or not; basically just CDs, DVDs, and some character related items. Strange shit but I think eventually the staff stopped caring. I was after Omo so it was cool seeing Yui’s reaction to the bunch of roses he bought her, but Omo is PRO in this regard so yea. Myself was a quick affair getting her to sign my Undine CD and giving a quick handshake and thanks for the concert…

… now on my second and third turns… it was still the same ^^;; And yes, I went three times due to having two tickets myself and one Omo gave since he wasn’t going to use it. Second time around got her to sign the CD single that was being sold at NYAF (and isn’t released yet in Japan) while the third got her to sign one of the photo cards (got to frame that when I get back). All pretty quick and easy, and surprisingly enough no one really noticed me going three times over LOL.

With Yui Makino’s autographs done, split up with the group as some went to eat, others to check out other panels, meet folks, etc. I ended up going to AKB48′s mini-concert stage only to painstakingly count down 45 minutes crushed like crazy until the concert started (and I could actually get up and move around). The concert itself was pretty quick, actually only like 20 minutes tops, but overall was pretty enjoyable. I was surprised how many fans there were but AKB48 songs were pretty catchy in that Morning Musume type of way. The girls themselves were pretty cute and I was not one to complain about cute girls in skirts singing and dancing for the enjoyment of others ^^;;

I could add a bit more about the concerts, or how specifically NYAF is still rather disorganized at times, like having audio and seating issues but at this point, it seems like I’m beating a dead horse. Plus Day 2 is only half done thus far, so who knows what craziness is left. I will leave off with a quick “WTF” moment that just happened a few hours prior. Had to hit the can at one point, so went to the nearest restroom. No big deal so far as there was no lines and open stalls. So doing the mental game of which open stalls I’m suppose to choose when others are using the corner ones, I ended up going to the one on the right, next to a old man in a neon pink dress shirt… only to wait for the regular full stall instead since I forgot I’m wearing button jeans, and it’s a pain un-doing them in the normal stalls especially with others around you. Anyway as I was waiting, the old man finishes and goes to wash up, passing me. It was then I realized he was Yoshiyuki FRICKING Tomino! I thought there’s just no way since I only got a quick glance at the corner of my eyes as he passed me, but I later confirmed this as one of the guys getting an autograph from him (right after) let me know.

So yes, I was next to Yoshiyuki Tomino in the men’s bathroom too embarrassed to do my thing thanks to my jeans. Just got to love cons huh?

So there would have been some live twittering today if it wasn’t for the fact apparently T-mobile sucks around the Javits Center! Reception has been fine everywhere else as far as I can tell, but it was pretty touch and go while at Javits; if I didn’t happen to run into Omo as soon as I got there, it would have been a pain trying to find him and others otherwise!

Since I am already complaining, I guess I may as well get the rest of them out of the way first huh? Really my only other major complaint is that having the VIP Pass does jack versus last year. Seriously. Omo will vouch as well, but last year if you had a VIP Pass (which btw, was like $50 cheaper too) you were essentially king. Front row guaranteed at basically all major (guest) panels, tickets to some/all (depending on the package) autograph sessions, etc. Maybe this will change tomorrow since that’ll be the most important for me but overall this year’s VIP Pass access privileges stink. It seems getting a Press Pass, which is apparently insanely easy to do, would have been better as privileges seem about the same (but cheaper/free with Press Pass).

Actually, now getting my thoughts vaguely together right now at 1:30AM there’s one another complaint I have, which is more in regards to Yui Makino’s autograph sessions. Unlike last year, which really involved blood, sweat, and tears to get any given guest autograph ticket, at least Yui Makino’s is cake. Even if you miss getting it during the initial handouts during the mornings, you can simply buy her latest CD single for $12 which comes with an autograph ticket. Understandably if I just did regular admission, that would be a god send. Plus it’s nice that they’re giving her fans as many chances as possible to get an autograph… but gosh darn it, I wanted to feel special since I spent a lot on VIP to get the extras (tickets included) ahead of time! I guess, however, at the end of the day I’m just really disappointed with VIP in general and can only pray it’ll get better over the weekend.

Now on the actual convention itself, it was pretty low-key today. Then again usually the first day, especially if they fall on a weekday, are generally slow. Arrived on-site around 1PM and after running into Omo literally as I walked in, met up with starcreator, Alex D, and wah.

With a good sized group now together, we explored NYAF to see what they had to offer this year as well as get our various stuff (VIP extras, misc tickets, etc) together. I won’t go into what’s really new with NYAF since unless you’ve been to previous ones, it won’t really matter but I will say it’s a bit more spacious if anything else. After a bit of exploring and the others buying random stuff (artbooks and CDs. Apparently one booth had it if you bought any 2 CDs, one of them by Lia, you would automatically get an autograph postcard of sorts by her), we headed to Opening Ceremonies which lasted all of five minutes with it ending with Tomino cutting the opening red ribbon.

Bored out of our minds with a lot of free time to kill, we all pretty much just roamed around running into random bloggers (RT and SDS for example) throughout the day. Also had random er… “deep” conversations with wah recording at various points for a future podcast, which I can only say will be bad blackmail in the future! Eventually we settled down at one point to check out FUNimation’s panel which didn’t off much in news for myself, although I guess them releasing Initial D the correct way is nice enough.

More random roaming abound, we eventually got some lunch at the always awesome Go Go Curry before heading to Tomino’s keynote panel. And before I forget, wah and I bonded a bit as he gave me random pointers for when I head to Japan as well as all of us hearing about his plans to signup for JET so he could go back to the land of the rising hentais.

Wah induced joking aside, after lunch we headed back to the convention to only see the Tomino line snaking through most of the con! Unfortunately VIP Pass Power did jack as it’s only useful for any main events in one hall but thankfully, other anibloggers were already in the front of the line (including moritheil of animediet) so… yea ^^;; I won’t go into details but all I can say is NYAF semi-failed as they eventually needed to move Tomino’s panel to the main events hall but at least we still got decent seats at the end. On the actual panel, Tomino was a very cool guy (surprisingly enough) and gave a nice keynote speech similar to one he gave a few months back (can’t find the link off bat). Also at the end of the panel, he was kind enough to do a few quick handshakes and photos op as well, which was something I never expected given his colorful internet history. Honestly the only bad parts of the panel was NYAF’s part as apart from the line issue, the initially translator they had for Tomino sucked. Like I could have done as good if not slightly better job than him. Talking to Omo and the others afterwards, I did find out Tomino has a slightly different way of speaking that makes normal translation a little bit different but when Tomino himself makes jokes about the translator, you know something is off. Thankfully the two other translators they had did perfectly fine and took over at various parts.

I believe after Tomino’s panel, more random wandering and running into other bloggers occurred until Cencoroll’s premiere at 9PM. Oh, we did check out aniplex’s panel which was pretty much nothing altough they had a really cool PV for Garden of Sinners that Sony specifically made. So at least that was something. Also I believe Alex D went to Tomino’s autograph line inbetween to get his Zeta Gundam Boxset box signed, which looked really nice when he showed us. I believe we ran into animemiz then as well since she was getting Tomino’s signature too.

Anyway, while waiting on the correct line (whoa they actually split it off to normal and VIP/Press lines) chilling back with everyone for Cencoroll, JP & Hinano dropped by as they were running to the AMVs. Probably the quickest “hi and by” I’ve seen in awhile, they later on said Hinano’s AMV will probably not win as they even admit there was 1-2 better ones in her category. I think when you self admit to giving your own AMV a pity vote, you know your chances aren’t good ^^;;

After the quick meet and greet by the the two, we eventually got let in for Cencoroll. Some technical difficulties aside, the short 30 minutes was pretty good IMHO considering one person did it. No real major plot but it was something if ever fleshed out, could turn out to be a good anime. Really the only disappointment was them not letting the audience hear the awesome ED song “LOVE & ROLL” by supercell, which I play daily. I will say, though, it wasn’t totally their fault since they had the Cosplay Variety Show on literally right after Cencoroll plus they were already running a bit late as is. I believe you’ll be able to hear more thoughts on this by myself, Omo, and wah once wah puts up his podcast on this as well.

With Cencoroll done, it pretty much wrapped up the night for the majority of us. Although all of us being guys and starving to death, there was no way we were going to leave without getting some food! With that in mind, we ended up going to the much famed street carts off of 53rd and 6th. Been awhile since I had them I believe, but god oh god they’re still as fricking awesome as I vaguely remember!

Stomachs full, the group I was with finally parted ways as we prepared ourselves for Day 2 and what craziness it may bring. Overall, as I mentioned earlier, Day 1 was pretty low key with the usual ups and downs you’ll find at any con. Obviously for myself, the whole VIP thing is kind of annoying but we’ll see how that plays out over the weekend. Otherwise it was great seeing old and new faces again with the highlight being spending some quality time with the infamous wah himself (and not wanting to kill myself afterward either)!

For Day 2, it’s pretty all about Yui Makino for the most part. Plus trying to check out AKB48 and JP & Hinano’s panels as well. And even though VIP should allow me to walk in and get good seating for Yui’s concert at least, I ain’t taking any chances and am heading out there for 9-10AM to ensure I get some front row action! If anything else, at least with two autograph session tickets, I should theoretically not have any issues getting my Undine CD and probably photoset (which I picked up as well as with her latest CD single that NYAF’s booth were selling) signed as long as I follow my usual strategies. i.e. get there at least 1 hour early, camp, and forgo eating as needed. I’ll also have to cut in/out of Tomino’s and AKB48′s panels to get the autographs but since I’m not a huge fan of either, no real big deal for me.

Since it’s like 2:30AM now and I need to get up in about 5 hours, I think that will be it for now so look forward to my Day 2 post hopefully in the next 24 hours!

Yet again I am making the trip up to NYC for this year’s NYAF. This time, however, I’m doing it in style as I put down the cash for the “VIP” badge to save on a lot of potential hassle and early mornings that may occur otherwise.

Honestly, compared to last’s years there’s no real big draw for me to go. Yes, the guests are equally as good as last year’s but for some reason I don’t feel so invested and excited in going. No doubt in my mind that it’ll be awesome to see and hear Yui Makino sing for her first(?) time in the US as well as hear from the great man that is Yoshiyuki Tomino. Also finally seeing what the hype of what AKB48 is all about should be entertaining at least, but compared to the years of Otakon it feels all low-key to me.

Maybe because it’s “local” (NYC is like 45 mins from where I am in NJ) and relatively “small”, I don’t feel the need to get ready until the last minute nor make any real concrete plans. And maybe that’s a good thing, as it’ll be nice to casually go to a convention without the need to get in line 9034 minutes early to catch something or worry about the schedule being too jammed pack.

Anyway, as is my usual anytime I go to a con, anyone up for a meetup? I suspect I’ll run into at least the usual local area bloggers (omo, JP & Hinano, animemiz, Hisui & Narutaki, and DS?) but anyone else going? I know wah is going as well and I honestly got to meet the guy again since it was rather brief when I met him like 2 years ago at Otakon? Since I’m pretty laid back (lazy) about everything, I figure someone else will get this together but let me know if you’re going. Always good to meet new and old faces!

Oh and before I forget, my current schedule in terms of NYAF panels and whatnot are:

Friday, September 25th 2009:
- 2:00PM – 2:30PM – Opening Ceremonies
- 5:15PM – 6:15PM – Yoshiyuki Tomino Keynote

Saturday, September 26th 2009:
- 11:30AM – 12:30PM – Yui Makino Concert
- 12:30PM – 1:30PM – AKB48 Q&A
- 1:45PM – 2:45PM – Yoshiyuki Tomino Q&A
- 2:30PM – 3:30PM – Yui Makino Autograph Session
- 3:00PM – 3:30PM – AKB48 Perview Concert
- 6:30PM – 7:30PM – Japanese & Korean MMO Games

Sunday, September 27th 2009:
- 11:15AM – 12:15PM – Yui Makino Q&A
- 5:00PM – ? – AKB48 Concert at Webster Hall

So yes, I’ll have A LOT of freetime to kill XD

Final day of Otakon 2009 was all about the concerts, plain and simple.

Let me say up front I knew and still know jack about Becca and Naomi Tamura but they do put on one heck of a concert if anything else! Once again I started my day getting up with not enough sleep but trucked my tiring self to the two hour wait on Becca’s line for her concert, since right after would also be Naomi’s. Failed attempts at blogging, hearing the practice run by both artists, and trying to stay awake kept me going until they started to let people in around noon.

On Becca’s concert, overall I thought it was good. It was nice actually hearing songs that were completely in english and didn’t have my brain trying to translate with my crappy knowledge of Japanese. It did feel a bit weird not being motivated to cheer on the artist as the previous two concerts, we were all up and in arms doing the wotagei thing.

After Becca’s concert, I was a bit surprised how empty the hall became since it seems a good 1/3 of the audience was only there for her. I guess with the younger generation, it’s easier for them to like artists that actually speak english versus trying to understand the strange language that is moonspeak. Not that I complained since it helped me get better seating (I was already in the second row but got a better view of center stage) although I did feel bad Naomi Tamura wasn’t getting the crowd I thought she should have.

On Naomi’s concert, very good music and she had the audience as pumped as you could expect on a Sunday. Honestly the bigger surprise was seeing Nana Mizuki’s band Cherry Boy’s Kenny there playing guitar for Naomi! Jabel mentioned something to me prior but it didn’t click until I actually saw the man himself on stage. And whoa, seeing his skills live versus on Blu-ray or DVD sure is a world of difference and really helped make the concert 5x better than it already was. Also loved Naomi singing Jackson 5′s “I’ll Be There” (I think) in memory of the King of Pop, which was good once you get passed the englrish.

After her concert, I thought about going for the autographs but once again opted out (and once again was told I should have gone as both Becca and Naomi stayed to sign everyone’s stuff). Ended up meeting with Omo yet again to eat lunch with a few people at California Tortilla, which was alright. And before I forget, while we were waiting for people we saw two “epic-ish” events. One was my top post photo of the word “AWESOME” being taped(?) on the glass ceiling in the convention center with people stopping, pointing upwards to it and shouting “point” or “more” for like 10+ minutes straight. Second was a random group that was cheering and had a guy on bagpipes playing while leading the march; albeit he was good but it was just so totally random.

Convention weirdness leveled up aside, with concerts done and food eaten, it was finally time to say goodbye to all the cool and interesting folks I met at Otakon. Luckily it wasn’t a big fanfare although it’ll be cool to hang out with everyone again at next year’s Otakon (or this year’s NYAF for those in the area). Good times, good times.

Final remarks, thoughts, expenses, etc on my next post! I’m beat from pulling three (crappy) Otakon post in the span of three hours and need to pack for my trip to CT tomorrow as well as tidy up some random loose ends at home! Stayed tuned?

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!

I think when you get unfortunately woken up at 6AM after way too little sleep, you just know it’s going to be one of those days. If it was any other day, I probably would have just tried to crash and put off as much of whatever I have to do as I could, but this being Otakon meant the complete opposite. And it with the motivation to see a lot but have little will power to do so in the morning, I started off Day 1 of Otakon 2009 wishing I could sleep more. A LOT more.

Cursing the fates for this year’s Otakon crazy schedule I hauled my sleeping butt to the convention center around 9-10AM to attend Yutaka Yamamoto (aka Yamakan) first Q&A session at 11AM. This unfortunately meant missing Kikuko Inoue‘s first Q&A session since they were being held at the same time, but given the fact I wasn’t sure if I was going to make his other session tomorrow, choices were made. What was asked and answered I’ve completely forgotten by now but I can say it was definitely the right choice to go to his panel as Yamakan is pure class act, thoughtfully answering everyone’s questions without sweating one bit. Really just an awesome guy that doesn’t mind being truthful yet insightful at the same time.

After Yamakan’s totally kick arse panel which helped waken my sorry self, ran to Kikuko Inoue’s autograph session that was two hours away. Yes, two hours early. Pretty much my golden rule for cons when one must line up to attend X-panel especially if it is someone(s) famous; obviously Kikuko being no exception. Being one of the first 20 in line, it was a peaceful wait time as I chilled with other fans getting to know them a little and seeing what others would get signed. Things ranged from DVDs to LDs (yes I kid you not) to games to even photo albums of her (younger) self. On the actual signing itself, pretty straight forward although it was pretty cool they were allowing photos with Kikuko (even though it had to be in front of the table versus behind) if you wanted; my group being the “veterans” we are went for a group photo to save time and to allow other fans the same opportunity.

With Kikuko related goods signed, some of us split ways while Jabel, Omo, and myself headed to the dealers’ room to get Kannagi volume 1 that was recently released in only a few places. $37USD for half the season definitely was not a bad deal and not too much higher than MSRP price. A bit more lurking around the Dealers’ room, really didn’t find anything else I wanted so headed to the panel where Kikuko Inoue’s second and final Q&A session was going to be held. Sat in on the previous panel which was showing some “great” HK fighting scenes from different movies but nothing I really cared about. When the panel did finish, however, I hauled arse to front row seating so I can get the most for my money, scoring the middle of the front row.

The Q&A, I have to admit, was probably one of the best seiyuu related one I’ve seen so far since I have started to go to cons. I think a lot of it had to do with how relaxed the Q&A was but also how it ended up turning into a talk show of sorts mid-way through thanks to Kikuko pulling in Hidenori Matsubara to the front as he was attending the panel to (assumingly) kill time. There were a lot of highlights to the Q&A but I am sure they are either posted by now or will be shortly by others. I can say however, one of the easiest highlights that sticks out in my mind was when the audience got Kikuko Inoue to sing randomly for us; she belted out the AMG opening song (god don’t remember if its the OVA or TV one), Eva’s “Zankoku na Tenshi no Te-ze”, and the choir to Ranka Lee’s “Saikan Hikou” (no kira pose though). Also getting her to explain her Forever17 club was hilarious in its own right. I can easily say if I had to leave or the con had to suddenly cancel, I would have been satisfied at that point; that’s just how great the Q&A was!

But as with all great things, the second Q&A did eventually end. For some of the group I was with, it was a made dash to her second autograph session while the rest of us headed to line up for MELL’s concert at 7:30PM. Thankfully with a decent sized group, lining up for anything becomes a lot easier to handle since you have people to chill with and one can step out for a bit to do other things if needed. If I had to say there was any issue with lining up for MELL’s concert, it was simply us semi-listening to random folk (that I at least thought) was Otakon staff telling us about no bags and moving the line over a bit (we were in the beginning of the line, more or else). The bag thing was fine, not a big deal (at the end, the dude was someone also lining up as well. Probably some n00b who doesn’t do this much) but moving the line was a little annoying as we almost lost our spots. Thankfully, the other folks in line after us (who were told to move over as well) knew so there was no major issues but it was pretty stupid some random people try to act like they can do or ask what they want (or at least that we’re stupid enough to listen). I know now that unless it’s Otakon or the convention staff, I should really take whatever people say with a grain of salt. Heh.

Weird line issue aside, MELL’s concert was pretty epic. No where Jam Project EPIC but great nonetheless and probably the best concert out of the four over the weekend. Once again I don’t remember the set list but 3/4 of her songs were from popular anime like Rideback, Sky Witches, and Black Lagoon. What I do remember was the awesome wardrobe malfunction that resulted us in the front rows to see a bit of black if I am not mistaken. Funny thing before MELL went to fix the issue was I semi-thought it was part of her act; it was only when she was holding onto said piece of clothing that it became obvious that was not suppose to happen. Anyway good songs overall and Mell kept things going pumping up the crowd and like, making the concert a great way to end the con related events for the night…

… except it got even cooler while we waited for her autographs. The cool Mell related part was that the fact she actually stayed the whole time to sign everyone’s merchandise. We were towards the back of the line and she got to us around 11PM, a good hour or so after her concert ended so props to that as she must have been tired from flying in and preparing for everything. It did stink that they quickly ran out of her CDs completely (probably within 10 minutes) but still came away with a signed photo of the lady (plus a Tshirt and drawstring bag), which is currently framed and looking good. The other thing that made the night “cooler” or at least funnier was while we were waiting in line for Mell’s autograph/goods, her crew was taping the folks in line asking what they thought of the concert, etc etc. Fine and dandy but if they ever got to our group, we all wondered WTF they would have thought as we had one guy wearing a Jam Project tshirt, another with Nana Mizuki, one with MOSAIC.WAV, and one other with Puffy Amiyumi. Much to say they didn’t say anything to our faces when they did reach us although they probably got a kick out of that and Omo doing a bit extra for the camera ^^;;

There was another mini-meet with MT folks (or at least Omo’s friends) that I went to, once again at Pickles where I killed my lifespan again by eating fried foods to end the night. It was all worth it though as man, that bar’s french fries and fried pickles are insane! Loaded with fried goodness and tired way beyond belief, everyone parted ways and I headed back to the hotel to crash so I could be someone coherent for the next day’s events.

For the first day of Otakon, I think this must have been my busiest as I was all over the place getting on lines, attending panels, getting signatures, meeting folks, etc. I must admit 1/2 my con goings usually involve waiting on lines anyways, but you gotta do what you gotta do if you want the good seats and/or signatures! I do think, however, if I wasn’t with the people I was with, there just wouldn’t have been any way I could have done everyone solo so a big thanks to everyone I hung with on Day 1 for making the con 100x better than it would normally be. Also big thanks to Jabel for letting me use his con photos to help make this post prettier!

Day 0 of Otakon 2009 has come and gone. At the end of the day good times were had, badges were picked up, plans for the con were made, and money for Nana Mizuki was taken.

Yes, that’s correct. Money was made in the name of Nana Mizuki.

Before I get to how money was lost again due to the Nana Mizuki kingdom, let me step back a bit and highlight the random ongoings of Day 0 of Otakon 2009.

If one has been following my twitter most of this will be a recap, but there should be a few random tidbits I didn’t write about as well.

The drive itself wasn’t too bad although how I made it without going nuts on a straight 3.5 hour drive down is beyond me. All I can thank is Monster (the drink), my Zune, and the hot weather for somehow keeping me up during the drive ^^;;

After meeting up with some of my roommates at the Renaissance, we headed to Five Guys for some quick food that would keep us alive while waiting in the pre-registration lines. And boy, thank god we had something as the lines were longer than the previous two years! Maybe I got lucky the last two years but this year, we had to wait a good 1.5 hours to get our badges… which would have been fine except I was sweating like a madman the whole time. I wouldn’t be surprised if I sweated out the Five Guys I ate while in line!

Anyway, after getting our badges it was a quick return to our hotel room to relax a bit before meeting up with Omo and random members of the MegaTokyo forums. The dinner itself was fine, nothing too special at Tir Na Nog, an Irish Bar & Grill. And while I did not talk too much to the other folks there, it was great catching up with Omo and his mis-adventures in Japan from a few weeks ago. Plus it was nice just to chill back with like minded individuals as we discussed plans for Otakon and other conventions in the future.

Great discussions aside, after dinner we split up as most of the MT folks lined up to get their badges while the rest of us chilled in the Hilton lobby for a bit. More discussion of Otakon, conventions, future plans for trips to Japan, and other “otaku” stuff kept the time at the Hilton lite and laid back. I may talk more about what Omo, Jabel, and myself talked about down the line but we’ll see depending on how the stars align ^_~

Eventually the MT crew finished getting their badges and it off to some light drinking at one of the local bars, Pickles, to cap off the night. More the usual otaku and general BS abound but just like the rest of the night, it was a nice way just to relax and prepare for the onslaught of Otakon the following day.

Drinks had, stories told, and good time had by all we parted ways a bit after midnight to get ready for tomorrow’s festivities. Well, almost all of us as I had to discuss with Omo and Lal about some Nana Mizuki related goods Omo mentioned a few weeks back ^^;; I won’t go into their mis-adventures in Japan since I wasn’t there, but Omo being the good man he is, and with the help of Lal picked up some of Nana Mizuki’s Live Diamond goods for me and it was high-time I paid them for it. And while they could not get me everything, overall I was pretty impressed with like the 70% they did manage to buy.

With money, goods, and thanks exchanged we parted ways back to our respective hotels. Some a bit richer while others a bit poorer, but overall I believe an excellent night had by all. I would talk more about the Nana goods but I believe danie has that covered rather thoroughly ^^;;

But yes, Nana Mizuki merchandise = both happy and sad Moy.

…. and I apologize in advance for the free flowing post. It’s way too early for me on a Friday morning (7AM) when I am vacation to try to write an coherent post. Figured, however, at least a few folks wanted a “live” report of sorts from the horse’s mouth about Otakon and whatever ongoings while I still remember everything ^^;;

Expect more updates depending on time and internet access! Also for those at or are going to Otakon, a few of us are thinking (epic) karaoke at the con this Saturday night similar to last year’s? Anyone interested, let me know!