NY Comic Con and Yatterman!
If you talked with a short girl wearing a green shirt and a Yatterman hat (that I slaved 9 hours to make Thursday night, lol) lemme know, because that was me! I'm super bad with names. D:
I didn't go see Jun in CA, but Sho in NY? Hells yeah. Totally worth the drive up from Maryland. If Japan really loved me they would send Ohno over. But anyway!
On my way to the Javits center I tagged along with a couple of girls who work for Activision. They're part of the new Marvel game that's coming out for the xbox? I don't really play on the xbox, though. We got to the center, said goodbye to them since they were professionals and I wasn't, and I headed to the waiting area.
There were lots of people in the waiting line (I heard some of the girls arrived around 7-8? Yeah, too early for me. :D ) Nothing too exciting while waiting to get in, although there was a rather hilarious guy dressed up as a Sith behind me. Also saw Sora, stormtroopers, guys with guns and uniforms I didn't recognize, the Flash, a guy in a prison suit, and TMNT. A bunch of girls who were Korean were in front of me, and we chatted on and off.
When the started letting people in, the crowd around the Nikkatsu booth was already around 4-5 people deep. VIP tickets? I hung out near the periphery for a bit, but since I already had a premiere ticket courtesy of lady_gemma (Thank you! I wish I had thanked you in person.) I went around to check out the Penny Arcade and VGCats booths. I got the Leo!Link being chased by chickens and Prof. Oak shirts for Jeff's b-day. Also went to see if the cast of Dead Like Me were at their booth, but they weren't there. D: Also saw large mascots, like the big gray one for Ugly Dolls and Mario.
So back to the much larger throng of people surrounding the poor Nikkatsu booth. Lots of people passing by wondering WTF was going on with no clue what Yatterman was. There were screams once in a while, too, which freaked me out. Once they started handing out tickets very few people got one. The staff started freaking, unable to cope with the Power of Fangirls. The booth was pretty small (second smallest size) and near the corner of two big pathways, and since I don't do well with crowds, I hovered around the periphery again, unable to see anything due to my less-than-5 feet shortness. XD I also couldn't really hear the guy in the pink suit (oh god was it pink) talking very well, so I wandered around for a few minutes.
When I came back there were people in tears and lots of disappointed faces. D: It didn't really click in my head that Sho would be appearing in the glass viewing box until I wandered back and overheard a con staff mentioning he was worried about the glass box security (with people flocking around it, partly blocking the walkway. So I was in the back, lol. The staff who were in/going into the glass box were totally fascinated with the crowd and some took pictures. And like some people mentioned there was a security guard who seemed to enjoy creating false alarms by coming in part way and back out again. And finally Sho came out, totally surprised at the large crowd in a News ZERO-like outfit. Lots of girls sang A.Ra.Shi's chorus, and he joined in with the hand movements at the end. :D Some people thought he looked tan, but I didn't think he was all that tan? But he did look healthy and super gorgeous as he does on TV.
Seriously glad that he was in the glass room, because there was no way he'd be able to get to the booth without being mauled by fans. Unless they had him hop over from the booth on the other side? XD But still, the serious lack of foresight/organization wasn't handled very well.
After that I went to hunt down where the IGN room was for the panel. I accidentally walked to the end of the hallway where they were having the panels and classes and such before realizing, duh, the theater. There were a lot more guys than girls when I got in line, I assumed they were Miike fans not previously tied up looking for Sho. XD Happened to get in line behind an Aiba fan (I don't think I got your name?) and then her friends showed up. Lots of Arashi talk and Jun seems to be at the bottom of list for most everyone, lol.
For most of the events I had a voice recorder with me, since those are easier to sneak than video. (I did not record the movie, as audio is pretty useless without the visual.) Inside the panel, Miike came out, talked a little bit (oh btw the translator for Miike and Sho the whole day was amazing, I admire her skills and accuracy!) and introduced the clip, the first 9 minutes of the film, full of action. Then there were was a Q & A with some predetermined questions and then questions from the audience. Since only Miike was there, they were all questions for him. There was an adorable little boy who asked what Yatterman is about, and Miike responded that it's really funny, a little ecchi (the translator used "risque", lol I wonder if the little boy understood) and that he should see it and grow up to be a good person. Awwwwww.
After that, while Miike was getting ready to sign autographs, they played the full version of the animated PV for Believe!!!! Totally not expecting that, so I only recorded the second half of it. Ohno animated just totally looks and moves like him. <3 <3 <3 And after that there was a bit of SakuRap that's part of the full song that they played, I think? Since I didn't recognize it, just the sexy Sho voice. :D My recording stops during the rap, and after 30 seconds we determined it was Sho so I recorded the last bit as well as I could.
Took the shuttle to the Directors Guild Theater and it was around 6 when I got there? I heard there were people already lining up at 3 in the cold! ): I hope you gals don't get sick! After a bunch of security dudes telling me to get into the wrong line, I got my ticket and was put in what we dubbed the "pen" next to the red carpet (that was super short, lol). I met zomboid, moogle_tey, and youkosiren. I was in the back, but on the side of the street, so I got a totally clear view of Sho coming out of the limo SO TOTALLY FREAKING AWESOME IT DESERVES CAPS AND KEYBOARD SMASH LIKE WHOA AGLAHWEUI34;LKFGH;ALKS HE WAS SO CLOSE <3 <3 and some photos of him sitting in the limo waiting to come out, a walking one, and a couple posing pics.
And then into the theater to get seats and defrost from the cold! There were mini posters with the Yatterman logo on the seats, and I spied some guys with paper red masks, but I had no idea where they got them from. One of the girls I was hanging with had been needing to use the bathroom and rushed over to it, and she spied Sakurai getting his hair primped. After a wait (staff trying to figure out how many seats were left, there weren't that many ): ) the Dude In the Pink Suit had us do the Yatterman call for Sakurai and Miike's entrance. Sho had changed from his newscaster!suit earlier into a vest and coat combo that was totally hot, not gonna lie. I managed to sneak one pic before I got scolded a ha. His greeting was in English and spoken well.
I've only seen like half of the first ep of the remade anime and knew about all the sexual innuendos, but OMG this movie is SOOOO cracktastic I LOVE IT. I'm so getting the DVD. Loooots of WTF, whut, and omg whut?! moments. I was pretty much laughing throughout the whole thing. The translators also did a good job translating, especially with the pachinko joke. :DDDD I won't spoil it. Also found out that my hat doesn't have all the seams and stuff it should, a ha ha, yay for working from 2 not so big pictures.
After the movie, a Q & A! Did not expect that! Sho's first response was in English, but not as fluent as his entrance speech. The next time he spoke, he asked if it was okay for him to speak in Japanese, so he's not as fluent as some people think. ;D But he still spoke well. I was able to sneakily record the entrance and whole Q & A for you ladies who didn't get to go. After the set questions there were audience questions. Those around me (including me) were really wishing that fans would know how to handle this. ALAS. There were a couple legit questions, but it's totally not cool to ask if Arashi is going to have a concert in the US after you JUST heard him say that he's surprised by the amount of fans and that he would tell the other members about it when he got back. Sho responded something along the lines of "I'd like to hear your thoughts about Yatterman. D:" And ALSO. Q & A is NOT the place to present a gift, especially since you know they're not allowed to receive them. I was totally disappointed that Sho left with that kind of image, of interest of him as an idol and not as an actor in the film that was just shown. :/ Although it was pretty hilarious that he was like :O and mouthed, "Machu Picchu??!"
Throughout the Q & A he would bite his bottom lip or both and it was really adorable.
I read some reports and did not see the glittery!uchiwa girl scaring our poor chipmunk, but I did wonder why he was about to get out, but then two security dudes told him not to get out, so he sat back down again for maybe 10 seconds before he came out for real. Maybe they thought she'd try to ambush him?? lol idk. Anyway I think I got some nice pics from him sitting, since the door was open and the window wasn't in the way.
After it was over, took the subway to Grand Central, but was 1 effing minute late for the train to my parents' place, so I had to wander around for another hour... but in that hour meet the two girls from Activision again! What a coincidence. I also talked with a girl on the train, because I saw she had the mini posters.
Pictures, vid, and recordings tomorrow. It's 5 AM and I'm effing tired from all of the standing and waiting in line. But today was a good day indeed. :D
Edit: Most pics still public, but media has been moved to an f-locked post.
Pics here!
I didn't go see Jun in CA, but Sho in NY? Hells yeah. Totally worth the drive up from Maryland. If Japan really loved me they would send Ohno over. But anyway!
On my way to the Javits center I tagged along with a couple of girls who work for Activision. They're part of the new Marvel game that's coming out for the xbox? I don't really play on the xbox, though. We got to the center, said goodbye to them since they were professionals and I wasn't, and I headed to the waiting area.
There were lots of people in the waiting line (I heard some of the girls arrived around 7-8? Yeah, too early for me. :D ) Nothing too exciting while waiting to get in, although there was a rather hilarious guy dressed up as a Sith behind me. Also saw Sora, stormtroopers, guys with guns and uniforms I didn't recognize, the Flash, a guy in a prison suit, and TMNT. A bunch of girls who were Korean were in front of me, and we chatted on and off.
When the started letting people in, the crowd around the Nikkatsu booth was already around 4-5 people deep. VIP tickets? I hung out near the periphery for a bit, but since I already had a premiere ticket courtesy of lady_gemma (Thank you! I wish I had thanked you in person.) I went around to check out the Penny Arcade and VGCats booths. I got the Leo!Link being chased by chickens and Prof. Oak shirts for Jeff's b-day. Also went to see if the cast of Dead Like Me were at their booth, but they weren't there. D: Also saw large mascots, like the big gray one for Ugly Dolls and Mario.
So back to the much larger throng of people surrounding the poor Nikkatsu booth. Lots of people passing by wondering WTF was going on with no clue what Yatterman was. There were screams once in a while, too, which freaked me out. Once they started handing out tickets very few people got one. The staff started freaking, unable to cope with the Power of Fangirls. The booth was pretty small (second smallest size) and near the corner of two big pathways, and since I don't do well with crowds, I hovered around the periphery again, unable to see anything due to my less-than-5 feet shortness. XD I also couldn't really hear the guy in the pink suit (oh god was it pink) talking very well, so I wandered around for a few minutes.
When I came back there were people in tears and lots of disappointed faces. D: It didn't really click in my head that Sho would be appearing in the glass viewing box until I wandered back and overheard a con staff mentioning he was worried about the glass box security (with people flocking around it, partly blocking the walkway. So I was in the back, lol. The staff who were in/going into the glass box were totally fascinated with the crowd and some took pictures. And like some people mentioned there was a security guard who seemed to enjoy creating false alarms by coming in part way and back out again. And finally Sho came out, totally surprised at the large crowd in a News ZERO-like outfit. Lots of girls sang A.Ra.Shi's chorus, and he joined in with the hand movements at the end. :D Some people thought he looked tan, but I didn't think he was all that tan? But he did look healthy and super gorgeous as he does on TV.
Seriously glad that he was in the glass room, because there was no way he'd be able to get to the booth without being mauled by fans. Unless they had him hop over from the booth on the other side? XD But still, the serious lack of foresight/organization wasn't handled very well.
After that I went to hunt down where the IGN room was for the panel. I accidentally walked to the end of the hallway where they were having the panels and classes and such before realizing, duh, the theater. There were a lot more guys than girls when I got in line, I assumed they were Miike fans not previously tied up looking for Sho. XD Happened to get in line behind an Aiba fan (I don't think I got your name?) and then her friends showed up. Lots of Arashi talk and Jun seems to be at the bottom of list for most everyone, lol.
For most of the events I had a voice recorder with me, since those are easier to sneak than video. (I did not record the movie, as audio is pretty useless without the visual.) Inside the panel, Miike came out, talked a little bit (oh btw the translator for Miike and Sho the whole day was amazing, I admire her skills and accuracy!) and introduced the clip, the first 9 minutes of the film, full of action. Then there were was a Q & A with some predetermined questions and then questions from the audience. Since only Miike was there, they were all questions for him. There was an adorable little boy who asked what Yatterman is about, and Miike responded that it's really funny, a little ecchi (the translator used "risque", lol I wonder if the little boy understood) and that he should see it and grow up to be a good person. Awwwwww.
After that, while Miike was getting ready to sign autographs, they played the full version of the animated PV for Believe!!!! Totally not expecting that, so I only recorded the second half of it. Ohno animated just totally looks and moves like him. <3 <3 <3 And after that there was a bit of SakuRap that's part of the full song that they played, I think? Since I didn't recognize it, just the sexy Sho voice. :D My recording stops during the rap, and after 30 seconds we determined it was Sho so I recorded the last bit as well as I could.
Took the shuttle to the Directors Guild Theater and it was around 6 when I got there? I heard there were people already lining up at 3 in the cold! ): I hope you gals don't get sick! After a bunch of security dudes telling me to get into the wrong line, I got my ticket and was put in what we dubbed the "pen" next to the red carpet (that was super short, lol). I met zomboid, moogle_tey, and youkosiren. I was in the back, but on the side of the street, so I got a totally clear view of Sho coming out of the limo SO TOTALLY FREAKING AWESOME IT DESERVES CAPS AND KEYBOARD SMASH LIKE WHOA AGLAHWEUI34;LKFGH;ALKS HE WAS SO CLOSE <3 <3 and some photos of him sitting in the limo waiting to come out, a walking one, and a couple posing pics.
And then into the theater to get seats and defrost from the cold! There were mini posters with the Yatterman logo on the seats, and I spied some guys with paper red masks, but I had no idea where they got them from. One of the girls I was hanging with had been needing to use the bathroom and rushed over to it, and she spied Sakurai getting his hair primped. After a wait (staff trying to figure out how many seats were left, there weren't that many ): ) the Dude In the Pink Suit had us do the Yatterman call for Sakurai and Miike's entrance. Sho had changed from his newscaster!suit earlier into a vest and coat combo that was totally hot, not gonna lie. I managed to sneak one pic before I got scolded a ha. His greeting was in English and spoken well.
I've only seen like half of the first ep of the remade anime and knew about all the sexual innuendos, but OMG this movie is SOOOO cracktastic I LOVE IT. I'm so getting the DVD. Loooots of WTF, whut, and omg whut?! moments. I was pretty much laughing throughout the whole thing. The translators also did a good job translating, especially with the pachinko joke. :DDDD I won't spoil it. Also found out that my hat doesn't have all the seams and stuff it should, a ha ha, yay for working from 2 not so big pictures.
After the movie, a Q & A! Did not expect that! Sho's first response was in English, but not as fluent as his entrance speech. The next time he spoke, he asked if it was okay for him to speak in Japanese, so he's not as fluent as some people think. ;D But he still spoke well. I was able to sneakily record the entrance and whole Q & A for you ladies who didn't get to go. After the set questions there were audience questions. Those around me (including me) were really wishing that fans would know how to handle this. ALAS. There were a couple legit questions, but it's totally not cool to ask if Arashi is going to have a concert in the US after you JUST heard him say that he's surprised by the amount of fans and that he would tell the other members about it when he got back. Sho responded something along the lines of "I'd like to hear your thoughts about Yatterman. D:" And ALSO. Q & A is NOT the place to present a gift, especially since you know they're not allowed to receive them. I was totally disappointed that Sho left with that kind of image, of interest of him as an idol and not as an actor in the film that was just shown. :/ Although it was pretty hilarious that he was like :O and mouthed, "Machu Picchu??!"
Throughout the Q & A he would bite his bottom lip or both and it was really adorable.
I read some reports and did not see the glittery!uchiwa girl scaring our poor chipmunk, but I did wonder why he was about to get out, but then two security dudes told him not to get out, so he sat back down again for maybe 10 seconds before he came out for real. Maybe they thought she'd try to ambush him?? lol idk. Anyway I think I got some nice pics from him sitting, since the door was open and the window wasn't in the way.
After it was over, took the subway to Grand Central, but was 1 effing minute late for the train to my parents' place, so I had to wander around for another hour... but in that hour meet the two girls from Activision again! What a coincidence. I also talked with a girl on the train, because I saw she had the mini posters.
Pictures, vid, and recordings tomorrow. It's 5 AM and I'm effing tired from all of the standing and waiting in line. But today was a good day indeed. :D
Edit: Most pics still public, but media has been moved to an f-locked post.
Pics here!