anime-expo 'exclusive'
a n00b in 0t4KU L4ND
by jonathan on 07/24/2002 00:47:02 -0700
Saturday, July 6 2002
After getting up at 8, Wes and I met his friends to get Masquerade tickets for the evening. I'm just glad we didn't have to stand in line as his friends were in the line since 6:30.
I decided to get Kawamura-san to autograph the Slayers pencil board I bought yesterday. I also got a picture with her since everyone else was apparently doing the same. Yes, AX brought out the lemming tendencies in me.
Because of the autograph session, I was late for the .hack//sign panel featuring Koichi Mashimo. (Since I already had his autograph, it didn't really matter that I was late.) All in all, it was an informative session, with most of the questions about .hack instead of Noir. Like my friend predicted, someone asked about an X-rated version of Noir. (I really have to get around to watching this series.) You can read a transcript of the panel here. I asked the question about why the .hack opening is in English.
After the panel, I wandered around the various buildings with Expo events and just admired people's costumes. It was during this time I took the bulk of my cosplay pics.
I ended up going to Toshiharu Murata's panel mainly about Hellsing, a "new favorite" of mine. I'm glad I went despite not winning anything. This panel probably gave away the most stuff too as Pioneer made Hellsing its flagship production for the con. (Next time I just need to make sure to trade tickets with the person behind me because I am always one number too early for the raffle. My misfortune happened on 3 separate panels!) I got a lot of answers about Hellsing because the question line was so short. And since I showed up on time, I got a blue ticket for an autograph session the next day.
I also attended the voice acting panel which was interesting as it had a bunch of English voice actors and Kawamura-san. The cultural gap was hilarious as was the sheer crack attitude of some of the English voice actors/actresses. (The Rei Ayanami sex tape joke was hilarious! Once again, where else but at an anime convention could one hear something like this.) I learned that live action Japanese actors learn how to wield various weapons such as katana, naginawa (long arms), kaiken (dagger), and wakazashi ('short' sword). They also learn some karate. Kawamura-san said this was because everyone stars in live action samurai/historical dramas, and females have to have such skills as they play ninjas. She also mentioned that she believed that every American live action actor knows how to ride a horse. (This once again proves my theory that Bruce Campbell isn't a "true" actor!)
After going back to the hotel for a shower, I picked up some cheap (and crappy) Chinese takeout to eat before the Masquerade. The Masquerade was great and we got to see the music video winners as well. Some of the costumes were unbelievable. I think all the mecha costumes were great, even the cardboard HeavyArms that fell apart on stage. The skits were decent and funny too. I felt the Alucard/Arucard costume did deserve an award, especially if that is truly the guy's first costume ever. That costume rivaled the professionally designed costume Pioneer forced Crispin Freeman to wear. The Bloodlust skit and costumes definitely deserved Best of Show hands down. They were simply amazing and the skit summarized the 2 hour movie in like 2 minutes. I think the secret to the great D costume was using a girl. At least I think it's a girl. I'm pretty sure no guy has hips like that…. You should be able to read some impressions here.
After the Masquerade I considered going to open mike for karaoke but I was too tired so I went back to the hotel to crash. Ironically I found I couldn't sleep but my mind was tired. Too much anime related things in too short of a time. My mind was tired but my body was not. It reminded me of how I feel after a long LAN party.