1 12:30 PM
We finally got up this morning. Joe stayed with us last night and was the first to wake up early...about 6 AM. His brother, Peter, decided to attend Fanime for just one day. Peter got here about 7 AM to get in line for his badge. It wasn’t a long wait. When the registration line started to move, it only took him around five minutes to get it done. Joe went down to keep him company for a little bit and came back up to the room. His rattling around woke up everyone else. After Peter got his badge, he got in line to get his An Cafe concert ticket. It was a good thing that Joe came back up because we all slept in late and now that it’s morning. We needed to eat breakfast. Everyone got up and got ready. So we went downstairs and off to Jack’s for breakfast. That was first Jack’s that was a little jacked up.

Anyway, when we finished eating, we sent back to the convention center to meet up with Peter who was still waiting in line for the ticket. Lawrence, Richard and I decided to wait outside and enjoy watching cosplayers while Joe met up Peter to give him his breakfast. Instead of waiting in line, Peter came to meet up with us while Joe stayed in line for him. Peter ate his breakfast with us. After that, we met with Joe in line. Joe was a couple people away from getting the ticket for Peter.

After Joe got the ticket, the plan was to got to the cosplay gathering for DOAX (Dead or Alive Extreme Volleyball) at the Hilton’s pool area. On the way up there, we met this dude looking for the pool also. So we kinda followed him, but to dead end. The pool was through the gym, but we didn’t know that because we didn’t read the sign. When we got there, we met up with another group of dudes and told us that nobody was there still. It was very awkward waiting in the gym for the DOAX girls to show up, especially when there were people exercising in the gym and with everyone there joking around about the situation. All of a sudden, one the other guys there received a cell call from a buddy of his—I assumed. The cosplay gathering was changed to the Marriott’s pool instead. And like a bunch of “sex-starved” otaku, we we all raced haphazardly out of the gym to the elevators. And somewhat like the Marriott’s elevators, the Hilton’s was packed too. Lawrence was split from the group in the elevator. Before the split-up Joe quickly handed the digital camera off to Lawrence. We were hoping that Lawrence would make it there before us. Richard, Joe, Peter and I caught another elevator down to the second floor. We took the “express lane,” the area underneath the main convention concourse, to the Marriott. I call it the express lane because it’s practically empty with people as compared main concourse. The main concourse is like the 405 Freeway in Los Angeles during rush hour.

We finally made it to the Marriott, and as always, the elevators were full. We took the “bat cave” way up the stairwell. Off we went. And we met up with Lawrence. WTF! We though he was already there taking pictures, but NO! We heard from some other guys that there were only three girls there. So we went to the pool anyway to take some pictures. We finished rather quickly because there were only three girls there.

After the cosplay gathering, we went back to the front of the convention center to take some more pictures. We also took care of some business and to kill time until it was time for the Maid Café to open.



11:15 PM
We walked up to the Maid Café and ordered. It wasn’t quite open yet, but we waited until we were seated. This cute maid showed us to our seats. She then delivered our orders to our table. They were just plain adorable...all the maids I mean. While we were eating our meal, this one maid came down to sit with us. She wanted to draw a picture for us so Lawrence had her draw a rabbit. When she was done, she drew a turtle with Lawrence’s head at his request. Later on another maid came with a lollipop and played “Jankenpo” with Joe. Joe won the lollipop. Alex and Tami joined us at our table. The maid service was just excellent and is something we weren’t used to, or at least for the normal American otaku. Damn! They were just plain cute.

When we finished the Maid Café, we went to the dealers hall and roamed around. I bought some more stuff. I met up with the guys and told them I was going to kick it at the tables. While I was waiting, I was writing this blog. When Alex and Tami finished their meal, they too went to the dealers hall. That’s when Alex found and joined me at the table out back. We just lounged around talking about this and that and so on.



After several minutes we left ahead of Alex and Tami so we could grab Peter and Richard to go the “Older Titles for Newer Fans” panel. I found it very interesting. They showed clips of Bubblegum Crisis, The Dirt Pair Movie, The City Hunter Movie, Maison Ikkouku, They Were 11, Gundam 0080 and Macross Plus. There was just too much to show in one hour. The panel started 15 minutes late because of the previous panel. So at the end, everyone moved across the hall to another room to finish up the questions and answers session. The host had an “Anaheim Electronics” shirt. I want one. Only Gundam fans would know about Anaheim Electronics. At the end of this panel is when we parted ways with Alex and Tami.

We took an hour breather to refresh and take more pictures before going to the next panel, “(Im)Possible Cosplay Structure.” When we got in line, Peter and Richard went to the gaming hall. Lawrence went to the dealers hall. There was a lot of people at the panel. So we went to the end of the line. The panel was basically talking about how to structure your costume so that it it’ll stay put. Joe and I left half way through it because it didn’t pertain to us.

We had another hour to kill for the panel I wanted to go to, so I thought. After taking a small break, we met up with Lawrence up in the room and went back down to go to the “Share Anime Collections Online” panel and took some pictures along the way. When we found Panel Room 1, the other panel was going on. I realized I made a mistake. The panel I wanted to go to was a 6:00 and not 5:00. So we made the decision to eat dinner at the Hilton. Nobody wanted to walk to a cheaper place and I concur. So we had dinner.



After dinner, it was time to get in line for the Antic Café concert at the civic auditorium. So went to find the end of the line. That damn line stretched up Market Street, around Park Avenue and down Alamden Blvd. The end of the line was 100 feet or so from Hilton, which we came from. We could’ve just walked up Alamden instead of walking all the way around. Not long after, the line started moving. And it went rather quickly. At no time we were at the Tech building again. I called up Richard to meet with us. So when he did, he warned us that security was checking all bags for camcorders and cameras. Anyone found with a camera wasn’t let in.

We got balcony seats again at the An Café concert. What can I say. Up to the start of Fanime, I thought An Café was a JPOP band. Boy was I wrong! Event though there was a Youtube link on the Fanime site, I never bothered to check it out. But last night, Lawrence and I went to watch JPOP/JROCK music videos for a bit. One video was from An Café. They rocked out! As well as the concert. It wasn’t as intense as SKIN at their concert at Anime Expo last year. It was more like Back-On’s concert in Houston. But they rocked the house down! Too bad nothing was broken. Lawrence said that during the concert, there was some girl in the audience who was trying to be held up, but she was dropped. After the concert we went back to the room. End of day three. I’m beat and sleepy now. It’s one in the morning. The guys went to the hentai room.

Saturday is going to be the most busy day. We woke up feeling refreshed and hungry. For a cheap start, we went to McDonald’s for breakfast, but it filled us up. Afterward, we made a stop at Walgreens to pick up some supplies. On the way there, Joe finally called and told us he was at the convention center. As far as we know, her was getting is badge. When we finished at Walgreens, we took the scenic route back on Market Street.

When we got back to the convention center, Joe was already waiting for us at the front of the fountains. He was already doing his job...taking cosplay pictures. That’s why we voted him as the club photographer. We stuck around the front for a little bit and we decided to go to the dealers hall. There was nothing new, except a lot more people. There was still actually a line to get in since it was still the morning hours. I browsed around for a bit then Joe and I went to the back area to sit down to chill. I took a little break while Joe got back up and went around shopping. Lawrence and Richard were also shopping, but I think Lawrence was looking around for more deals. We regrouped shortly after.

We were on our way to the Cosplay Posing panel in the Hilton. I thought that the panel was at the Marriott end of the convention center only to realize I was wrong. So we made a B-line to the HIlton. The Cosplay panel was a quarter done. For the remaining 45 minutes, we stayed and listened. The rest of the panel was very interesting. They were talking about how to do poses, correct the poses and gave a lot of tips for would-be photographers.

The next panel we went to was the Broccoli Entertainment panel. It was okay and somewhat interesting. We learned about the new products that will coming out. The next major release is Cosmode USA. Cosmode USA a parallel magazine to the Japanese version featuring cosplayers. Jon Kung, the marketing directior, also said the 20% of the magazine will feature American cosplayers. It will be out by late July, but a small shipment will be made in time Anime Expo in Los Angeles this July. “sola” from the “sola Project” will also premier as a manga of the anime this coming late July. I missed what was premiering next, but after that a manga, “Honoka, Level Up” will premier in August. After the announcements, Jon was taking questions and answers from the crowd and asking what licenses they might get.



After the panels, we made the B-line to the Loli-Goth Fashion Show at Stage Zero. We took the express route, underneath the concourse, to get the the stage that sooner. We stuck around for a little bit until the crowd got to much. This wasn’t for us. Next was Artist Alley. We just walked around browsing at all the artwork. I do admit that a lot of the art was art gallery quality even though they were amateurs.



When we finished Artist Alley, we went back outside to meet Alex and Tami to have a late lunch/early dinner. We were an hour early, but we made up for it by taking a lot more pictures. While we were taking pictures, some religious radicals showed up in front of the convention center. They were trying to convince con-goers of their evils. Soon after, a cosplayer who came as Jesus came out of the convention center to meet the radicals. It became a big mess. All the con-goers were chanting “Jesus, Jesus” over and over again. Cosplay Jesus stepped on a pedestal and the crowd became more animate. A Wolfwood cosplayer, from Cowboy Beebop, also showed up to preach his version of “the way.” It was just plain hilarious what happened...I guess to some people. Even some parents of some con-goers that were sitting nearby gawked at the those religious radicals. The event that turned in favor to the radicals are when some congoers who cosplayed Spartans (300) showed up and started poking cosplay Jesus. It was just bad taste for them to show up. I didn’t know the whole story of what happend, but that event was just... Eventually the local law enforcement came by to break up the crowd. It’s a good thing that everyone dispersed quickly. We all know how hardheaded “otaku” could be!

Alex and Tami met up with us after they spotted Joe and Richard. Since there was more of us, we couldn’t stick to our original plan. Instead, we walked down Market Street to find a restaurant to eat in. While we were walking, we found Gordon Biersch. Instead of eating inside the restaurant in which we had to wait 20 or more minutes, we ate outside in the patio instead. The seasonal beer they offered was excellent. It went down real smooth. The restaurant prices were average for food of that caliber.



When we finished, we saw the long, long masquerade line across Market Street. We got in line across the street. Alex and Tami went back to their hotel for a little bit and came back in line. Richard went back to the hotel while Lawrence and Joe went to take pictures down the line. I was holding the spot while I write this blog. I was getting real cold. Richard was supposed to get my jacket, but the line started to move so he stayed in.



Luckily we got to go to the balcony section of the masquerade. I set the video camera and recorded the entire masquerade, from the pre-show, the fashion show and all 46 skits. Damn it was long. But it was okay, it wasn’t too great. There was a combination of good, okay, and some excellent skits. I do believe that two of the skits were non-anime. They were doing skits on Avatar. WTF!!!! This isn’t a Nickolodeon con. It’s an anime con and Avatar IS NOT ANIME. IT IS ANIME-LIKE!!!! Get through your heads you clueless newbies!!!! We stuck around until they asked us to move out. They were announcing the award to the skits. We left the auditorium and went back to the convention center. Richard came down from the room to give me my jacket. We went inside the convention center to see what’s going on, but Alex and Tami left soon after when we sent into the gaming hall. Afterward, we wandered aimlessly and went back to the room. That’s the end of day 2. We only went to the room once today therefore no timely blog. Richard and Joe went to watch videos and hentai. Lawrence and I went to go watch JPOP/JROCK videos.