Anime Expo 2010: CON REPORT OF DOOM
Hello, sexy beasts. Without further ado (other than this: A Lesser Beauty Ch. 17: Vices is up if you live under a rock and didn't get my internetz spam about it) welcome to my nauseatingly boring and mostly embarrassing mini-rundown of Anime Expo 2010. The full photo album is up on my Failbook.
Seeing as how I am now a working girl, slave to each tantalizing paycheck, I decided Thursday and Friday of AX were out of the question, even though it looks like the Friday-Saturday combo was much better than the Saturday-Sunday combo in terms of con attendance and overall Awesome Shit factors. Since I live so close to downtown L.A. (about 15 miles from the actual LA Convention Center), last year we decided to drive in both days, save money and stay at home. This time around, I wanted to fully submerge myself in the world, wanted to get it all squished up between my toes and into my lungs. That, clearly, would only happen if I shelled out for an overpriced hotel room. So, after an exhaustive day playing undercover agent, I picked up a friend and we headed downtown to the Figueroa.
I was super paranoid about staying at the Fig because of some crazy shit I read from previous AX attendees about the owner bitching them out, about treacherous showers, about bizarre water pressure, and a coffin-shaped pool (trufax, actually), but everything was more than fine. The only eyebrow raising, shitty thing they did was make guests wear red wristbands to keep other con-goers out of the rooms. Which, let's be honest, makes sense but is still fucked up: if I want to have a new a friend over, why can't I if he in his sexy Kakashi outfit aren't staying over? I understand it was to keep registered guests to exactly that, but it didn't contribute to the fun, happy atmosphere. Anyway, we checked in with little fanfare, brought up our fifty million bags, and then decided to head to South Hall to pick up our badges.
Last year I hardly saw the outside of the LACC. We drove straight in to on-site parking and, when we left, got on the nearest freeway onramp. This year was almost a completely different experience, crossing Olympic with cosplayers while denizens of downtown L.A. stare which unabashed horror. The Fig is pretty close to the thick of it, just across the street from Nokia Live, but walking that half a mile with the eyes of the entire world on you is an extremely bizarre experience. Like walking into an actual anime, or some weird half-dimension where this place you know and love so well has suddenly been transformed into something unspeakably awesome. So we're walking walking walking and I'm trying to haul ass because I know the KH meet-up was going to be happening soon, that registration was going to close at 6, and it was something like 5:15. There was no line whatsoever, picked our shit up while oogling cosplayers. There were people there, just not airport-packed, more like the winding down of the day. At this point I'm dragging ass--hungry, tired, sweaty--and a steady stream of KH cosplayers alerted me to the fact I'd somehow missed the meet up. This is when I saw the only Xion I encountered in the three days I was at AX:
In the main foyer there was this chick who was Chihiro last year, and she had this giant ass thing with her. I had no idea what it was from until I showed my brother, who knew instantly: Bioshock.
So we decided to take a seat against some glass and chill a little while my head stopped spinning from all the awesome. That's when this video happened. The Riku I refer to in here actually appears to be a Zexion. Pardon my weird bursts southern accent--I picked it up on my undercover job (long story). Since my Kodak broke, I was using a loaner, so I had no idea about judging distance--how close it would be to my face, namely. THAT SAID, don't say I didn't warn you:
He was easily the best Kakashi I saw the entire con, even if his real hair was showing.
He came back in and posed with this large ass group. It's hard to tell from this far away, but the Hinata was Byakugan'd out really legitimately, all veiny and gross.
Shortly after this, it quickly became apparent we were starving to death, so we wandered over to Nokia Live, harassing cosplayers via camera along the way. We decided on overpriced Mexican, nom'd along with some cosplayers from things I didn't recognize, and hurried out to see whatever "Laser Show of Awesome" AX had set up. I think they were handing out glowsticks to people with badges, but there were literally over 9000 people in the plaza. You can sorta tell from the video, but the Staples Center (LAKERS 2010 NBA CHAMPS, FUCK YEAH) is across the street, the Nokia Theatre mostly in the background. They'd set up this huge stage, had various anime theme music blaring at a deafening volume, and had these Rainbow Brite looking girls teaching the uncoordinated crowd dance moves that would've been challenging to toddlers.
After the lasers, we decided to--don't judge me!--see Eclipse at the theatre on the other side of the Mariott/Four Seasons. It was that or Airbender, so, being the masochists that we are, we settled on the one that would draw more spectator ire. It was hilarious shit. In fair Verona, where we lay our scene:
In hindsight, we probably shouldn't have stayed out that late, got back to the room and realized we had to make candy for the decora getups we were supposed to wear for the dance on Saturday night, theme: Harajuku. After waking up at 5 a.m. that morning, I was up until 3:30 a.m. making necklaces out of neon beads. And then I got up at 7 a.m. to shower and get all ninja'd out.
Walked into insanity as the exhibit hall opened up. I don't know how we managed to spend most of the day wandering around in there, but that's exactly what happened.
So before AX started, I saw some notice from *Atomic-Clover on deviantart that she'd be selling this doujinshi she'd done the art for. I guess I don't parade this around, but her art of Axel in a leather jacket (that I now own, yay!) has been astronomically important to some of the stories I've written (see: Fortunate Son and A Lesser Beauty. I was determined to find the table she was sharing with ~Nijuuni. For some crackheaded reason I decided to start at the back of the Artist Alley and work my way to the front... so, two hours later I found their booth in the fucking first row AND they were nowhere to be found. My fellow ninja kept asking me what the hell I was looking for. My response: "I'll know their art when I see it." I was reminded distinctly of going to shows back in the day, standing at merch tables and not knowing if the kid sitting there was in the band or not. We were fans of the music, never made it about the people who played it. We wandered around for awhile, periodically checking in. Eventually I spied people and hurried over and played the role of low-key fangirl. They were both very nice, signed all the art I bought. Clover was super, super nice and allowed me to shove a camera in her face. I didn't name drop or anything, definitely didn't introduce myself, and they were both genuinely nice despite how many times I said, "You're like... famous."
Eventually I got tired of walking around and trying to buy things that I shouldn't want, so we headed toward West Hall (I think?) to find the Chibi Masquerade. En route we passed some interesting things, not all of them pictured here.
This picture was not posed. I happened by, was like omg, and asked for a picture. Pence started to get up to pose and I told them not to worry about it. The results were legit.
After Chibi Masque we wandered around and saw Ven, who some KHR cosplayers told me was "famous" on dA.
Pedo Bear was hanging out in the arcade, I tapped that ass and after we posed for the picture above. Ambling along back to the Exhibition Hall, I found the most perfect Kairi EVAR.
Further down the hall were these cute decora girls, one of them pissed offishly holding a Pikachu.
There were a shitton, no shit, a real shitton of people cosplaying from FFXIII. I saw over 9000 Lightnings and Vanilles, but I liked this Vanille the best. Something in the pose, I think.
AND THEN WE SAW SOMETHING AWESOME. Steampunk!Sora. Also some kind of Riku, not really sure what kind, but STEAMPUNK!SORA! Later that evening they'd be winning some award at the Masquerade, can't remember what. That's sort of a long story -_-
There were a couple people who asked for our picture even though we weren't really... you know, anyone. We were Random Leaf Jounin, but that didn't stop SUPER OTAKUS from coming up and asking for pictures. One artist in the Alley actually though I was some kind of Kakashi and hooked me up with a free pin of his gorgeous face. I was like ALRIGHT, YEAH! Anyway, guess who else was there? Anti-Roxas. Yes, that Anti-Roxas, you know of whom I speak.
Even though this Lightning didn't have a bad ass weapon, I think she was my favorite. All the other ones were too smiley.
I also saw The Only Male KH Cosplayer in Attendance: Jailbait!Axel. He was much more jailbait-y in real life, I can assure you. Note the slight hip thrust.
This Lulu might've been my favorite of the entire con. She looked good, felt correct. A+!
Now, by this point we were super tired. I was running on four hours of sleep, had spent an obscene amount of money on uselessly awesome things, and I wanted to get wasted. We decided to head back to the room to get ready for the dance.
Before we even left the Exhibition Hall, though, I got distracted by cute ass Tidus.
There were a couple Aangs (excuse me, ONGs) wandering around. This dude was my favorite. I almost like him better than the chick from last year who had one of those giant blue exercise balls... as the air scooter. AMAZING. She was legit, but this guy was legit, too.
I don't know if you can tell from here, but the South Hall lobby was a fucking madhouse around 5pm.
So at this point we were still trying to leave to get dressed in the harajuku gear, but there were too many awesome things to look at. At the end of this video, you can hear my inner fangirl emerging once more.
I took a quick blurry picture of Misa before she disappeared...
...but my true target were these beastly monstrosities. AKATSUKI, I LOATHE YOU ALL. Except, damn, look at that Kakuzu. LOOK AT HIS EYES, JUST LOOK AT THEM. THAT IS DEDICATION.
Quick picture of Queen Beryl's tits before I darted outside... and was assaulted by press too dim to realize I wasn't really cosplaying as anyone. I had about 700 pictures taken THIS CLOSE to my face, but I pulled out some handseals and felt sorta cool.
Back at the room, after getting stared at by everyone with eyes--and we were dressed sorta normal compared to most cosplayers--we prepared for an evening of coma-inducing debauchery. We checked out the all age dance first, and that was cute, sorta boring, ate heart-attack causing food at ESPN Zone while that LAZ0RZ R COOL show went on at the same deafening level next to us. At that point, still too early for the 18+ dance, I decided we should see if there were any standby tickets for the Masquerade out front. Event Staff said they'd run out and to check in South Hall... which was alllllll the way back at the far end of the LACC. Not that far, but after walking around all day, it sounded like a plan for insane people. Also, I was convinced (according to the program AX handed out) that South Hall would be closed. We walked around blindly, got more pictures taken of us dressed as freaks than we did as ninjas, and then spied some people with tickets getting in to the Masque. We decided to suck it up and head over to South Hall. Passed drunken cosplayers, passed a bunch of caramelldansen cosplayers, passed strange groups of con-goers playing strange games in the LACC hallway, and then found a pile of tickets at the Events booth. Masque went from 8pm to midnight, and at this point it was 11pm. We haul ass back to Nokia Theatre and get let in right as they're announcing the winners. Shit is fun, we head back out to go to the rave/dance/insanity at Club Nokia... and run into my fucking boss. I work two jobs, and this was the boss of the job I've had longer, out on the town with her husband and family friends. There was a moment where their eyes slid past me, unable to recognize me under the layers of otaku fare I'd piled on, and I could've walked away. I didn't, of course, and made a little scene. They were charmed, though, so that's good.
Went back to Club Nokia (no I.D. check, heh) and was met with what can only be described as pure insanity. It was sweaty, it was loud, and there were really over 9000 people in there. I've been to Club Nokia before, and it has never looked as insane as this. You can't tell that well from the video, but there are tons and tons of kids in here. I definitely saw a Roxas at the bar, and my heart was full of joy. There's a caramelldansen line that went around and around and around while we were there (I think there's some of it at the end of the video).
We stayed long enough for some dude who was clearly on drugs to give me a light show (later I saw him in the arcade, totally going apeshit on a game), for my friend to feel eight kinds of nauseous, for me to get hit on... by a dude who ended up working the Exhibition Hall on Sunday and hooked me up with a discount, lol. Anyway, anyway. I definitely required some illegal substances, but had none at my disposal and didn't want to feel like shit the next day, anyway. We left and crashed so hard I still had stickers and fake eyelashes on when I woke up. Sunday was much, MUCH more of a sedated atmosphere, the halls all cleared up of people and less like a busy anime airport and more like a high school right after classes let out for the day.
We decided to have one last hurrah at the Exhibition Hall before checking out some panels and ran into these cute kids.
Pretty sure these chicks won Honorable Mention at the Masque.
This was my favorie Ciel of the con:
On the way to Self Defense for the Otaku, I ran into this bad ass Sora.
...And this Sora. I lol'd for a long, long, long ass time.
We chilled in the Exhibition Hall and bought a shitton of more stuff right up until they closed at 3pm. Final purchase: a moogle plush. The most concerning thing of the day: at the same time the Exhibition Hall closed, they also stopped selling food on the premises. Why? I don't know. We were starving, but every single overpriced food selling joint in the LACC was closed, and they had some sort of rent-a-cop enforcing it. Luckily, there were about 12 bacon-wrapped hotdog vendors dutifully ringing their greasy street food bells outside. Best $3 I have ever fucking spent, no lie, especially compared to the ridiculous $8 chicken wrap I got in the con that tasted like flavorless ballsack. ANYWAY. We went back inside to stare at cosplayers and attend closing ceremonies (got to see a bunch of the special guests, including Danny Choo, who gave a very moving farewell speech on pursuing your passion--made me wish I saw his panel). After the jackass dude who runs AX made us do some jackass shit (I'm serious, he sounded like a total jackass), we filtered out and I saw some sorta fail KH cosplay that I wanted a picture of anyway. Roxas had Axel on a leash, and that was fun, so I asked for a picture. The following ensued:
Parking at the Fig was $12/day, same as on-site con parking, so I moved the car over for Sunday. There was a weird finality to leaving down the escalator, making our way into the parking garage. This is the last Anime Expo I will ever attend as an actual L.A. girl. I had so, so, so much fun, but there was that sad, fuck feeling at the end of it all. I'm glad I went, though. Glad I decided to cough up the extra money to stay in Los Angeles as opposed to driving home. The way the air felt, the way it smelled, like there was a real, tangible electricity to it. That's the fever of thousands of people, and it's infectious, exciting. Made me feel happy to be alive.
Things I Didn't Take Pictures Of:
50 billion Hetalia cosplayers. Someone please explain to me the appeal of this fandom? IDGI.
50 billion Vocaloid cosplayers (with the exception of that little blonde chick who snuck in up there). Again, IDGI.
50 billion of those Gurren Lagann chicks, Yoko or whoever with the bikini top and huge ass gun. SO MANY of these girls at AX, I can't even tell you.
50 billion of those yellow cat-helmet black jumpsuit chicks from Durarararrararararar or whatever. I might need to watch an episode to see what the hype is about.
Disparities between 2009 and 2010:
Needs moar caramelldansen (don't get me started--I listen to that shit in the morning to get me excited for life)
Moar Hare Hare Yukai. I did see some groups doing it, but nothing compared to last year.
Almost no Ouran Host Whatever High School Club. A shitton last year, almost none this year.
Very few Haruhis compared to last year.
So much more Hetalia, Oh god. So, so, so, SO MUCH MORE.
Next to no KHR cosplay. Last year there was some, including this amazing Gokudera and awesome as all hell Ryohei (who was there this year too, but I only saw her once), but this year there were a couple fail ones, and that was it. Sad trip. Oi, Pou, remember how many Yamamotos we saw last year? I only saw ONE.
No Crunchyroll booth this year
Felt to me like the Artist Alley has significantly expanded. Took me forever just to walk through it all once.
There were a lot more functions held off LACC property and over at Nokia Live: AX Idol and the Masquerade were both at the Nokia Theatre. I can't imagine how much money it would cost to rent those spaces out for four days of programming. I mean, the theatre is a cool venue, sure, but it's sorta... inconvenient, almost, when everything could've been held right there at the con, and money probably could've been saved. I'm interested in what the reasoning behind this move could've been.
I don't know if there were dances last year, but Club Nokia was pretty legit, not going to lie. If this happened in 2009, we really, really missed out.
Misc.
I heard Event Staff were nazis about where you could and couldn't sit, but I didn't have a problem with this.
There was one booth in the Exhibition hall selling plushes for up to $75. I was sorta... shocked? I didn't see why a plush would be that much, especially when booths a couple rows down were selling them for an easy $15.
Big WTF moment: last year I saw people with Hi-Chew bags. This year I was determined to get some crazy ass flavors of Hi-Chew, found the booth and had a free sample... but they weren't even selling any. I was suuuper bummed.
Booth worker on his cell having an otaku-degrading conversation: "These people trying to have conversations with me and they don't shower and it smells like something died in their mouths."
Reported teenaged bathroom stall convo at Club Nokia: "I'm coming down already! This sucks!"
My friend (who was repeatedly mistaken for Iruka at the con, once by a Yaoi-flag-waving Naruto that asked us what we thought of her flag before obscenely tonguing it) accidentally dropped nachos all over the floor of one of the elevators at the Fig. If you saw this, it was her, not me, I swear.
Here are some pictures of AX I didn't take, I found them somewhere on the internetz, but they are pretty awesome and need sharing.
I guess Jacob was there on Friday. If I saw this, I would've died.
Close-up of the good Hinata. Mmm, Kakashi.
This Neku, the only TWEWY cosplayer I saw, hopped in my pictures up there. I knew then he was legit and wished I saw him earlier.
No comment.
LOL FOREVER. Passed this massage area that was conveniently located next to the arcade. Last year the arcade area was where there was a bunch of caramelldansen going on, where the entire area got rickrolled by a group of energetic bare-chested boys, and where I saw an adorable Sora GET ON HIS KNEES IN FRONT OF A RIKU... to drink from a potion bottle. Good heavens.
From the laser show. This is currently my wallpaper.
This Super Yaoi Brothers skit was suuuper popular at the Masque. I didn't see it, but I think they won an award but were asleep and couldn't pick it up.
And, to close, the most amazing thing I have ever seen. I can't believe this cute motherfucker was dancing around and I didn't see him once. WATCH THIS VIDEO, IT IS LEGIT. I've listened to this song probably 300 times in the last three weeks. Watch for Jacob, it's fucking hilarious.
I'm probably the only one still reading this. Do you know how long it took to make this fucking entry? God damn. Also, today I saw Inception. Also, the final chapter of My Girlfriend Who Lives in Canada is up. It is glorious.
AND THAT'S PRETTY MUCH IT.
Seeing as how I am now a working girl, slave to each tantalizing paycheck, I decided Thursday and Friday of AX were out of the question, even though it looks like the Friday-Saturday combo was much better than the Saturday-Sunday combo in terms of con attendance and overall Awesome Shit factors. Since I live so close to downtown L.A. (about 15 miles from the actual LA Convention Center), last year we decided to drive in both days, save money and stay at home. This time around, I wanted to fully submerge myself in the world, wanted to get it all squished up between my toes and into my lungs. That, clearly, would only happen if I shelled out for an overpriced hotel room. So, after an exhaustive day playing undercover agent, I picked up a friend and we headed downtown to the Figueroa.
I was super paranoid about staying at the Fig because of some crazy shit I read from previous AX attendees about the owner bitching them out, about treacherous showers, about bizarre water pressure, and a coffin-shaped pool (trufax, actually), but everything was more than fine. The only eyebrow raising, shitty thing they did was make guests wear red wristbands to keep other con-goers out of the rooms. Which, let's be honest, makes sense but is still fucked up: if I want to have a new a friend over, why can't I if he in his sexy Kakashi outfit aren't staying over? I understand it was to keep registered guests to exactly that, but it didn't contribute to the fun, happy atmosphere. Anyway, we checked in with little fanfare, brought up our fifty million bags, and then decided to head to South Hall to pick up our badges.
Last year I hardly saw the outside of the LACC. We drove straight in to on-site parking and, when we left, got on the nearest freeway onramp. This year was almost a completely different experience, crossing Olympic with cosplayers while denizens of downtown L.A. stare which unabashed horror. The Fig is pretty close to the thick of it, just across the street from Nokia Live, but walking that half a mile with the eyes of the entire world on you is an extremely bizarre experience. Like walking into an actual anime, or some weird half-dimension where this place you know and love so well has suddenly been transformed into something unspeakably awesome. So we're walking walking walking and I'm trying to haul ass because I know the KH meet-up was going to be happening soon, that registration was going to close at 6, and it was something like 5:15. There was no line whatsoever, picked our shit up while oogling cosplayers. There were people there, just not airport-packed, more like the winding down of the day. At this point I'm dragging ass--hungry, tired, sweaty--and a steady stream of KH cosplayers alerted me to the fact I'd somehow missed the meet up. This is when I saw the only Xion I encountered in the three days I was at AX:
In the main foyer there was this chick who was Chihiro last year, and she had this giant ass thing with her. I had no idea what it was from until I showed my brother, who knew instantly: Bioshock.
So we decided to take a seat against some glass and chill a little while my head stopped spinning from all the awesome. That's when this video happened. The Riku I refer to in here actually appears to be a Zexion. Pardon my weird bursts southern accent--I picked it up on my undercover job (long story). Since my Kodak broke, I was using a loaner, so I had no idea about judging distance--how close it would be to my face, namely. THAT SAID, don't say I didn't warn you:
Click to viewHe was easily the best Kakashi I saw the entire con, even if his real hair was showing.
He came back in and posed with this large ass group. It's hard to tell from this far away, but the Hinata was Byakugan'd out really legitimately, all veiny and gross.
Shortly after this, it quickly became apparent we were starving to death, so we wandered over to Nokia Live, harassing cosplayers via camera along the way. We decided on overpriced Mexican, nom'd along with some cosplayers from things I didn't recognize, and hurried out to see whatever "Laser Show of Awesome" AX had set up. I think they were handing out glowsticks to people with badges, but there were literally over 9000 people in the plaza. You can sorta tell from the video, but the Staples Center (LAKERS 2010 NBA CHAMPS, FUCK YEAH) is across the street, the Nokia Theatre mostly in the background. They'd set up this huge stage, had various anime theme music blaring at a deafening volume, and had these Rainbow Brite looking girls teaching the uncoordinated crowd dance moves that would've been challenging to toddlers.
After the lasers, we decided to--don't judge me!--see Eclipse at the theatre on the other side of the Mariott/Four Seasons. It was that or Airbender, so, being the masochists that we are, we settled on the one that would draw more spectator ire. It was hilarious shit. In fair Verona, where we lay our scene:
In hindsight, we probably shouldn't have stayed out that late, got back to the room and realized we had to make candy for the decora getups we were supposed to wear for the dance on Saturday night, theme: Harajuku. After waking up at 5 a.m. that morning, I was up until 3:30 a.m. making necklaces out of neon beads. And then I got up at 7 a.m. to shower and get all ninja'd out.
Walked into insanity as the exhibit hall opened up. I don't know how we managed to spend most of the day wandering around in there, but that's exactly what happened.
So before AX started, I saw some notice from *Atomic-Clover on deviantart that she'd be selling this doujinshi she'd done the art for. I guess I don't parade this around, but her art of Axel in a leather jacket (that I now own, yay!) has been astronomically important to some of the stories I've written (see: Fortunate Son and A Lesser Beauty. I was determined to find the table she was sharing with ~Nijuuni. For some crackheaded reason I decided to start at the back of the Artist Alley and work my way to the front... so, two hours later I found their booth in the fucking first row AND they were nowhere to be found. My fellow ninja kept asking me what the hell I was looking for. My response: "I'll know their art when I see it." I was reminded distinctly of going to shows back in the day, standing at merch tables and not knowing if the kid sitting there was in the band or not. We were fans of the music, never made it about the people who played it. We wandered around for awhile, periodically checking in. Eventually I spied people and hurried over and played the role of low-key fangirl. They were both very nice, signed all the art I bought. Clover was super, super nice and allowed me to shove a camera in her face. I didn't name drop or anything, definitely didn't introduce myself, and they were both genuinely nice despite how many times I said, "You're like... famous."
Eventually I got tired of walking around and trying to buy things that I shouldn't want, so we headed toward West Hall (I think?) to find the Chibi Masquerade. En route we passed some interesting things, not all of them pictured here.
This picture was not posed. I happened by, was like omg, and asked for a picture. Pence started to get up to pose and I told them not to worry about it. The results were legit.
After Chibi Masque we wandered around and saw Ven, who some KHR cosplayers told me was "famous" on dA.
Pedo Bear was hanging out in the arcade, I tapped that ass and after we posed for the picture above. Ambling along back to the Exhibition Hall, I found the most perfect Kairi EVAR.
Further down the hall were these cute decora girls, one of them pissed offishly holding a Pikachu.
There were a shitton, no shit, a real shitton of people cosplaying from FFXIII. I saw over 9000 Lightnings and Vanilles, but I liked this Vanille the best. Something in the pose, I think.
AND THEN WE SAW SOMETHING AWESOME. Steampunk!Sora. Also some kind of Riku, not really sure what kind, but STEAMPUNK!SORA! Later that evening they'd be winning some award at the Masquerade, can't remember what. That's sort of a long story -_-
There were a couple people who asked for our picture even though we weren't really... you know, anyone. We were Random Leaf Jounin, but that didn't stop SUPER OTAKUS from coming up and asking for pictures. One artist in the Alley actually though I was some kind of Kakashi and hooked me up with a free pin of his gorgeous face. I was like ALRIGHT, YEAH! Anyway, guess who else was there? Anti-Roxas. Yes, that Anti-Roxas, you know of whom I speak.
Even though this Lightning didn't have a bad ass weapon, I think she was my favorite. All the other ones were too smiley.
I also saw The Only Male KH Cosplayer in Attendance: Jailbait!Axel. He was much more jailbait-y in real life, I can assure you. Note the slight hip thrust.
This Lulu might've been my favorite of the entire con. She looked good, felt correct. A+!
Now, by this point we were super tired. I was running on four hours of sleep, had spent an obscene amount of money on uselessly awesome things, and I wanted to get wasted. We decided to head back to the room to get ready for the dance.
Before we even left the Exhibition Hall, though, I got distracted by cute ass Tidus.
There were a couple Aangs (excuse me, ONGs) wandering around. This dude was my favorite. I almost like him better than the chick from last year who had one of those giant blue exercise balls... as the air scooter. AMAZING. She was legit, but this guy was legit, too.
I don't know if you can tell from here, but the South Hall lobby was a fucking madhouse around 5pm.
So at this point we were still trying to leave to get dressed in the harajuku gear, but there were too many awesome things to look at. At the end of this video, you can hear my inner fangirl emerging once more.
I took a quick blurry picture of Misa before she disappeared...
...but my true target were these beastly monstrosities. AKATSUKI, I LOATHE YOU ALL. Except, damn, look at that Kakuzu. LOOK AT HIS EYES, JUST LOOK AT THEM. THAT IS DEDICATION.
Quick picture of Queen Beryl's tits before I darted outside... and was assaulted by press too dim to realize I wasn't really cosplaying as anyone. I had about 700 pictures taken THIS CLOSE to my face, but I pulled out some handseals and felt sorta cool.
Back at the room, after getting stared at by everyone with eyes--and we were dressed sorta normal compared to most cosplayers--we prepared for an evening of coma-inducing debauchery. We checked out the all age dance first, and that was cute, sorta boring, ate heart-attack causing food at ESPN Zone while that LAZ0RZ R COOL show went on at the same deafening level next to us. At that point, still too early for the 18+ dance, I decided we should see if there were any standby tickets for the Masquerade out front. Event Staff said they'd run out and to check in South Hall... which was alllllll the way back at the far end of the LACC. Not that far, but after walking around all day, it sounded like a plan for insane people. Also, I was convinced (according to the program AX handed out) that South Hall would be closed. We walked around blindly, got more pictures taken of us dressed as freaks than we did as ninjas, and then spied some people with tickets getting in to the Masque. We decided to suck it up and head over to South Hall. Passed drunken cosplayers, passed a bunch of caramelldansen cosplayers, passed strange groups of con-goers playing strange games in the LACC hallway, and then found a pile of tickets at the Events booth. Masque went from 8pm to midnight, and at this point it was 11pm. We haul ass back to Nokia Theatre and get let in right as they're announcing the winners. Shit is fun, we head back out to go to the rave/dance/insanity at Club Nokia... and run into my fucking boss. I work two jobs, and this was the boss of the job I've had longer, out on the town with her husband and family friends. There was a moment where their eyes slid past me, unable to recognize me under the layers of otaku fare I'd piled on, and I could've walked away. I didn't, of course, and made a little scene. They were charmed, though, so that's good.
Went back to Club Nokia (no I.D. check, heh) and was met with what can only be described as pure insanity. It was sweaty, it was loud, and there were really over 9000 people in there. I've been to Club Nokia before, and it has never looked as insane as this. You can't tell that well from the video, but there are tons and tons of kids in here. I definitely saw a Roxas at the bar, and my heart was full of joy. There's a caramelldansen line that went around and around and around while we were there (I think there's some of it at the end of the video).
We stayed long enough for some dude who was clearly on drugs to give me a light show (later I saw him in the arcade, totally going apeshit on a game), for my friend to feel eight kinds of nauseous, for me to get hit on... by a dude who ended up working the Exhibition Hall on Sunday and hooked me up with a discount, lol. Anyway, anyway. I definitely required some illegal substances, but had none at my disposal and didn't want to feel like shit the next day, anyway. We left and crashed so hard I still had stickers and fake eyelashes on when I woke up. Sunday was much, MUCH more of a sedated atmosphere, the halls all cleared up of people and less like a busy anime airport and more like a high school right after classes let out for the day.
We decided to have one last hurrah at the Exhibition Hall before checking out some panels and ran into these cute kids.
Pretty sure these chicks won Honorable Mention at the Masque.
This was my favorie Ciel of the con:
On the way to Self Defense for the Otaku, I ran into this bad ass Sora.
...And this Sora. I lol'd for a long, long, long ass time.
We chilled in the Exhibition Hall and bought a shitton of more stuff right up until they closed at 3pm. Final purchase: a moogle plush. The most concerning thing of the day: at the same time the Exhibition Hall closed, they also stopped selling food on the premises. Why? I don't know. We were starving, but every single overpriced food selling joint in the LACC was closed, and they had some sort of rent-a-cop enforcing it. Luckily, there were about 12 bacon-wrapped hotdog vendors dutifully ringing their greasy street food bells outside. Best $3 I have ever fucking spent, no lie, especially compared to the ridiculous $8 chicken wrap I got in the con that tasted like flavorless ballsack. ANYWAY. We went back inside to stare at cosplayers and attend closing ceremonies (got to see a bunch of the special guests, including Danny Choo, who gave a very moving farewell speech on pursuing your passion--made me wish I saw his panel). After the jackass dude who runs AX made us do some jackass shit (I'm serious, he sounded like a total jackass), we filtered out and I saw some sorta fail KH cosplay that I wanted a picture of anyway. Roxas had Axel on a leash, and that was fun, so I asked for a picture. The following ensued:
Parking at the Fig was $12/day, same as on-site con parking, so I moved the car over for Sunday. There was a weird finality to leaving down the escalator, making our way into the parking garage. This is the last Anime Expo I will ever attend as an actual L.A. girl. I had so, so, so much fun, but there was that sad, fuck feeling at the end of it all. I'm glad I went, though. Glad I decided to cough up the extra money to stay in Los Angeles as opposed to driving home. The way the air felt, the way it smelled, like there was a real, tangible electricity to it. That's the fever of thousands of people, and it's infectious, exciting. Made me feel happy to be alive.
Things I Didn't Take Pictures Of:
Disparities between 2009 and 2010:
Misc.
Here are some pictures of AX I didn't take, I found them somewhere on the internetz, but they are pretty awesome and need sharing.
I guess Jacob was there on Friday. If I saw this, I would've died.
Close-up of the good Hinata. Mmm, Kakashi.
This Neku, the only TWEWY cosplayer I saw, hopped in my pictures up there. I knew then he was legit and wished I saw him earlier.
No comment.
LOL FOREVER. Passed this massage area that was conveniently located next to the arcade. Last year the arcade area was where there was a bunch of caramelldansen going on, where the entire area got rickrolled by a group of energetic bare-chested boys, and where I saw an adorable Sora GET ON HIS KNEES IN FRONT OF A RIKU... to drink from a potion bottle. Good heavens.
From the laser show. This is currently my wallpaper.
This Super Yaoi Brothers skit was suuuper popular at the Masque. I didn't see it, but I think they won an award but were asleep and couldn't pick it up.
And, to close, the most amazing thing I have ever seen. I can't believe this cute motherfucker was dancing around and I didn't see him once. WATCH THIS VIDEO, IT IS LEGIT. I've listened to this song probably 300 times in the last three weeks. Watch for Jacob, it's fucking hilarious.
I'm probably the only one still reading this. Do you know how long it took to make this fucking entry? God damn. Also, today I saw Inception. Also, the final chapter of My Girlfriend Who Lives in Canada is up. It is glorious.
AND THAT'S PRETTY MUCH IT.