I woke up first to finish writing the previous day’s blog. So by seven Lawrence and I went to eat the deluxe breakfast. We left the other two to have time for themselves and to do whatever they wanted so as to not tie them down. Our buddy Rehan was there and hooked us up with a free omelet. Wether it really cost anything... I took this time to catch up with him since I only see him once a year.

When we arrived at the convention center, the first panel I wanted to see was the How to Report and Anime Convention. It was very informative...from a child’s point of view. The person on the panel was a sixteen year old teenager. He showed a slide show and some videos of what he’s done. From what I seen, what he did was fun, spontaneous and a bit obnoxious. It’s the kind of reporting that gives anime a bad name in the mainstream. But for younger ignorant okatu, it would be just fine. Some of the videos showed that he wasn’t taken seriously a lot as press, threw a fit and had “unbelievers” go to his mommy…sorry, manager. It doesn’t mean that if you’re press, be an ass. You just have to grow up sooner and play the system. What he basically showed was his inexperience which dumbfounds be how he got his own panel anyway. Is AX that desperate for panels? I think not.

Aft that, we went to the Toradora US Premier. The line was really, really long. But it moved quickly. The voice actresses for Ami (Eri Kitamura) and Minorin (Yui Horie), as well as the producer was at the panel. They showed episode nine as the premier, because of the seiyus. There was also a short, but entertaining question and answer session. I wish we could take picture, it was forbidden. After the panel, off to the Nokia theater for the Sophia concert. It was just one thing to the other.

So again they gave out free tickets. Now, we realized we were jipped into buying tickets. When the concert began, it was. Beni who showed up. Aside from the chaotic seating arrangements, we thought we went to the wrong concert or the tickets were a misprint. No, Beni was an opening act for Sophia. Sophia’s concert was pretty good, though not as hard has MELL’s last night. The singer talked too much during the concert which was already long enough. But it was cool. The group leader was in a play that we wanted to see but totally forgot about. At the end of the show, it was revealed that he was going to be in the Masked Kamen movie.



The next stop is the ESPN Zone to meed up with Danny Choo. For a time, everyone was waiting in the lobby, then it got delayed another 15 minutes to 3:30. When Danny arrived, it was an utter stampede inside. The room we were in was packed to the rim and overflowed to the second floor. Man, it was crazy. We heard what he had to say and chilled. So when the herd thinned a little, we got in line to meet him. It was cool to finally meet one of my personal idols who gave me strength to move on in my hobby, the the dollfin stuff though. Then it became our turns to get his autograph, shake his hand, chitchat and take a picture with him. But because of the crowd and time limits, we left to get drinks and not stick around.

After we got our drinks, we bumped into my old friend, artist Don Yee. We got caught up on a lot of things and reminisced about the good 'ol days and the predictions we had about anime from back in the day. After our short reunion, Lawrence and I headed to the dealer's hall to meet up with Tim and Susan. We took the long way there to take pics.



We were to meet Tim and Susan at south hall entrance so we could go back to the hotel together. Lawrence and I waited and took more pics. So after a while, we heard that they were already at the hotel, so we left to the shuttle stop.

When we got back to the hotel, we took a breather before the masquerade. But before that, we were deciding on where to eat. Back and forth, until we decided on Subway. “Who’s on first?” Sorry, it’s an old joke for us older folks. After dinner, we missed a shuttle because it was full. We were already late, so we caught the laser light show. We got tickets for the masquerade, but still watched the show. Tom had business to take care of at the Nokia Theater and couldn't come back out. Susan followed. Lawrence and I finished the show to catch the last half of the masquerade.

As far at the masquerade was concerned, I wanted to leave after the skits, but couldn't. It was assigned seating and we were in the middle of the row. The Nokia seats were small, if it weren't for people on each side. My ass was sore after the masquerade. I had to moving room.

When it all over, we waited for the bulk of the people to catch the shuttles. We eventually got in line, but we were two to three shuttles away. I was the last on one shuttle, so I went ahead. I needed to get another key anyway because I lost mine. So everyone caught up eventually...within ten minutes. So we called it the night after eating late snacks.

We woke up as usual. Prepared and moved out. Okay, not. I woke up after a medium night’s rest. Really, I was rested. But anyway. We all woke up and ate our food. I wanted to, but all I wanted was coffee first, which I forgot to brew. I was too caught up on cosplaying for the first time in 4 years.

The first panel we wanted to see was Morita and the premier of a Bleach movie. So we got in line. When we got there, it was announced that there was going to be a 30 minute deal. So I went off to get coffee and and a sandwich. When I got back in line, Tim and Susan joined us. Then the panel started. It was cool, but long. After the showing, RSP sang again and Morita took questions. It went over time.


rt-lt: Saki, Ai, Morita, translator

When the panel finished, out next plan was May’n and Megumi Nakajima’s concert. They’re the ones who sang songs for Macross Frontier. It was Tim, Lawrence and I that went. Susan went back to the room to chill. Man, seating was drag in the Nokia, only when the concert started. Me, personally, I did not want to stand up, but everyone did. The chairs were somewhat small for me…no leg room. The concert was totally awesome. I finally got to see May’n sing. Even tough I very much liked her sining, I just can’t get this feeling that see seems a little stiff performing. About midway through the concert, Megumi was introduced. The whole feeling of the concert changed. It suddenly felt brighter and livelier. It was because of her bright outfit. To out total surprise, the surprise guest was no other than Yohko Kano, the well-known composer. She play the piano for Megumi. It just sent shivers down my spine when they performed “Oboeteimasuka?,” and original Macross song. Near the end, May’n came back and did all duets. For me, it was when they performed “Lion” that almost made me cry. It was so emotional for me to hear them perform that song. As for all good things, it had to end. Oh yeah, it ran late too.

The next plan was to see Danny Choo’s panel. By the time the concert finished, the panel only had 20 more minutes. Instead, we went to the Exhibit Hall for the first time. So we finally made it. Personally, I wasn’t looking forward to spend more money. I didn’t, 30 at most at this time. After the Hall, the three of us ate dinner as Lowry’s. When I order the prime rib bleu, I was expecting steak, but it was in a sandwich. I guess I ordered wrong. But it was delicious. When we got back we ate some more then we decided to go back to catch the Laser Light Show.



Back at the Nokia, the show was about to begin. Suddenly, there was an AX Staff member passing out ticket to MELL’s concert. She sang the opening songs to Sky Girls and Black Lagoon. It turned out to be a real live. It was out for live of the convention. The pounding drum beat and the awesome guitar riffs moved me. It was unlike X Japan last night…syncing their playing to pre-recorded music for the video shoot. So it was awesome. I felt so refreshed after the concert.

So now, Lawrence and I went off to catch the Vocaloid panel. Honestly, I found it interesting, sans the technical problems they had at the beginning. The music was good. The videos were good. But they had to turn down those damn light. That made me loose my newly gained energy and I was beginning to fall sleep at the panel.
This time we decided to catch the late shuttle back. Bad choice. It took forever, there was less shuttles, there was no crowd control and so on. So because of that, we missed the first bus. Oh well, that’s AX for you.