One thing I did forget to note, was the very first thing several of us did on Day 2. Early in the morning...well, early enough, it was listed on the anime viewing schedule, a dub of Pretty Sammy's TV series was to be shown. Note that I said a DUB of it was to be shown. Being fans of the series, as it's a spin off of the series that we all loved to death at one time, that being “Tenchi Muyo!”...not to mention featured cute Sasami as the main character, we had to go check this out.

Getting to the damn room was a minor quest in and of itself. It was in an obscure corner, and not very well labeled; yet find it we did. When we got in, we wound up watching an ep or two of Detective Conan, dubbed. I'm not really a fan of the series, but I know that many are; and it's very popular in Japan given it has over 400 eps and 11 movie. So we endured that, and managed to make it through to Pretty Sami.

Five minutes in, we got up and left. It wasn't that it was badly dubbed, you see, it was that it wasn't dubbed at all. I suppose it really was too much to hope that Geneon would have dubbed something like that. It's not like they paid much attention to who subbed it and how to begin with either. Seriously, QA in the industry has a lot to be desired sometimes, but here recently, you have to understand that a lot of times it's actually the Japanese license holder that's making the bonehead decisions anymore. This forces the US licensee to do something they'd otherwise rather not, but they do have to make money; of this there can be no doubt. And so, they go along with it...though they know how stupid it is. I mean, it's either they do it, or someone else will, and how will they make money off of it if someone else gets it?

Day 3:

Ah well, in any event, it was time for day three. Day three I dedicated myself to the pursuit of Rozen Maidens, specifically Suigentou, in the hopes to take photos with them, as that would be lots of fun. Especially for members of the channel; who I knew would enjoy the previous pics of Unlimited Desu Works, and the like. Unfortunately all I found was this lovely little Suiseiseki, who both watered me, and took a pic with me, though she was a little shy about that. She was utterly adorable though, and her costume was lovely...she fit the part perfectly.

Thing is I think the Rozen Maiden gathering was the day before, and I missed it entirely. As was the Sailor Moon gathering, and THAT is a riot of color I really wanted to get again this year. I missed them both though; however I DID wind up seeing the Xenosaga gathering, which kinda made up for it; but you know? It really sucks when you completely miss out on something you really wanted to see and have fun at.

Regardless, there was fun to be had, both inside and outside the convention. There was, however, a main event that I had to be ready for, and that was the Anime Expo cosplay. I'm probably the only person who makes their recordings available to the general public. All these press guys you see with the ability to record in the back and side? Good luck getting anything from them. Oh sure, someone somewhere probably knows somebody who has access to it, but for everyone else? There is no way in Hell. Tried posting inquiries on their forums...that failed. Tried asking their press department about others who might have access...that failed. Hell, I tried asking on the Somethingawful boards, a place I know has psychotic fanboys, about anyone else who might have recordings besides me (not to mention offering mine in exchange.) Nope, got laughed off those boards, and they will never get any of my recordings posted on their site again. So, honestly, there wasn't much way to get recordings of Anime Expo, and so I long ago decided to do it myself, and make it available to all.

What I've been doing in recent times is encoding and making a torrent link out of the event, and posting info to it on Tokyotosho. It's never been extremely popular, but it's been popular enough that I continue to do it; and if there's any special requests for it, say on the forums of Dragon's Anime, we've filled those as well. Imagine if someone had done it during the time in 2002 when Inoue Kikuko came out and sang for us? We've probably lost that memory for all time, and that's what cemented my desire to get a video camera to record these events.

So, anyway, I change out of my Dark Priest outfit, and hit up the aforementioned IHOP from expense Hell, before continuing on to the line of the Cosplay with several friends. The great thing about going with this many people is that we can always secure at least ONE seat at the middle-edge which is the best spot for recording. This year, I was going to use my Tiffen Steady Stick, which allowed people to use themselves as a tripod, and thus, eliminates that problem about setting up a tripod in the middle of the walkway. Fire hazard, you see. But, recently, Anime Expo has been a little more lax in these matters, and so it was decided that I use my tripod and mechanical turret. The damn steady stick lost a few parts anyway...I may just retire it.

So, how was it? Put bluntly, this was the best Cosplay I'd seen since '99. And it was the best video I ever recorded...I say this without a hint of ego or pride; this is the best I've ever done. I think perhaps I should invest in a microphone later, but right now...there really is no need.

What was fantastic about this Cosplay was that the second half was just as bad ass as the first. The second half consists of live shows, such as the martial arts event, and the two former AX Idols who came out to sing for us; not to mention the Japanese drummer group that came out and really rocked the place. Heh, I suppose this spared Brad DeMoss from entertaining us again this year...that man deserves...something grand for his performance in pacifying the ravenous crowds of AX before, during, and after the Masquerade.

What made the first half so badass, I have to admit, was the fact that there was almost nothing sacred...and people went for broke. There was the Tonkatsu brothers and their rendition of the Leaves of Happaness...I was scared for life. There was the Alucard and Ceres skit, which was suitably gothy and sensual. And there was also the Power of the Clow skit which had to be seen to believed...believed that anyone would actually DO such a thing. Honestly, the creativity and skill that was demonstrated this year was top notch and without a doubt, made the Masquerade the single most entertaining thing about the entire convention in my not so humble opinion.

Heh, the only problem with the Cosplay, is AFTER the Cosplay, when you try to get pictures of all those that played a part in the event. Many times, people will only wear their costumes for this event, as they won't risk damage...or the lessening of surprise. Still, there are those that wear their costumes the next day for people to take photos of, but you won't see everyone.

In any event, it was time to head back to crash. I decided to try to move the pics I had taken to my external harddrive I had thoughtfully brought, via Gensao's laptop. Slight problem though...I brought the wrong type Firewire cable with me. Fortunately Mayhem bailed us out with this all in one cable he brought with him. That's going to be an item I'll have to acquire as soon as reasonably practical.

I think Gensao might have checked out the dance about this time. I'll probably be doing that next year, as one of those things that I don't get to do often in the usual scramble for AX, that I'll make time for this coming year by skipping the normal events. We'll see. In any event, I for one, crashed.

Day Four:

So...day four. The final day, the day when everything is far more relaxed. All the main events are out of the way, most of the panels and such are done...typically everything is winding down; and you can feel it like a miasma in the air.

Walking around as The Dark Priest, I found several kinky girls who liked to perform S&M on my person for some reason in public...today was no exception to that, and Mayhem delighted in taking pictures of my forceful submission. He's getting it next year, that's for sure.

I was still looking for Rozen Maiden cosplayers, which I did find, but still no Suigentou. I guess it wasn't meant to be this year...which is too bad. In a recent photoshoot with another Loli of my acquaintance, I found The Dark Priest was an excellent, if a bit kinky, compliment to her, and she seemed to get a kick out of it as well. However, I DID find one of the Sabre's that I'd taken pics of before, and got of a pic of me bowing to her...hehehehe, she looks so nonplussed in this pic.

I think the highlight of the whole day was the Lolita gathering, whereby I took several pics of several girls (interspersed with various others in those pages, heh) in several of the various Lolita styles; though not as many as I'd have liked. I'd honestly like to do an outdoors photoshoot with them one of these days, but this was rather nifty too. I felt sort of like Steve Irwin...photoing the Lolis in their natural habitat, interacting with others of their kind, heheheheh.

Eventually though, it was time to start packing it up, which is what I did in the early afternoon. A lot of people bail about this time, and I was one of them, having work the next day. So I met Gensao and co at the charity auction, and watched as CLAMP's items never broke the grand mark. I also watched the MC auction off his water...that was funny. They had AX rebranded water this year...no, I don't know why. There was honestly nothing I took any special note of in this auction, not like former years, but I expect others may have found it more interesting than myself.

Once that ended, it was time for me to go. I bid my farewells to Gensao, Mayhem, and the rest; and headed out to my truck where I loaded all my stuff up and took off on that hour and a half trip back to San Diego.

The convention this year was a lot of fun. Like I said before, I accomplished absolutely dick in terms of anything constructive, outside of the videos I took, but that's what made it so fun. The costumes get better and better every year, and the cosplayers are some of the friendliest and enthusiastic bunch of people you will ever meet. They love what they do, and they love the attention they get...it's honestly why they do it. Hell, it's why I did it, though I certainly wasn't as popular as some. I met my friends, which is something I don't often get to do...sometimes only at this convention and only for a few minutes to hours, but even that small amount of time is worth it, and precious. Hell, I got to hang out in a place that was, for a brief few days, nothing but a celebration and socialization event with people very much like myself; and as much a geek as I am, if not more. It's a place where everyone is welcome and everyone belongs no matter who or what you are in the more 'normal' world. It's a fantastic thing, and I'm happy to have been just one small part of it.

I will note one thing in closing. It was otaku mating season again this year...lord, was it otaku mating season. Hook ups were happening all over the place, and if I'd been free at the time, like I am now, I would have taken one of those friendly fangirls up on their offer. I may just do a documentary on that one of these days, “The Mating Habits of the Otaku.” If nothing else, it'll certainly put to rest the myth that fanboys and fangirls aren't interested in sex, once and for all...and probably cause several cases of cerebral hemorrhaging, but hey...if you want to make an omlet...