Anime Expo REPORT!

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Sorry it took ages to get around to this, ever since I got back in the country I have been constantly occupied |D
And this is my first con report for this account, woot~~ (This ones a biggy, theres about 60 photos here lol)

Never EVER leave packing to the last minute OTL I've been doing that for quite a few times lately and it is horrible D;
pr0fessionaln00b, Kyokyogirl and I met up at the Palmerston North airport, took a flight to Auckland then met up with paul375. We waited around the airport from 12pm to around 7pm? But luckily hinoame came out to hang with us <3333333 and she made onigiri onomomomom
The flight was 12 hours, it wasn't as long as I thought it'd be but it was indeed painful. I seriously need one of those neck pillows for future travels Dx It was pretty funny when we came out of the airport.
"............OMG. A YELLOW BUS. A YELLOW TAXI TOO. OH OH A BLACK AND WHITE POLICE CAR!!"
We are easily amused haha (but yea yellow taxis & buses don't exist in NZ xD )

I shared a room with Larry/pr0fessionaln00b, as the children we are, spent the first 10 mins jumping on the beds, it was awesome haha.
We ran about downtown LA, Hollywood & visited Little Tokyo for the first couple of days before AX. Theres Bubble (or Boba) tea stalls everywhere! Very happy about this xD We're in the middle of Winter in NZ, so it was refreshing to see the summery season. But the heat was veeery intense for kiwis hahaha  and money. The awkward moment when you're trying to pay for something with coins but don't know how much the coins are worth ._____. w-we had to ask Nimbus-Mage how much a dime was worth /ulti-facepalm.
(also! Fun fact. When travelling BEWARE OF UNIVERSAL PLUGS. Thanks to a dodgy plug my laptop got a crazy shock and the edges of the plug teeth got burnt. Seiji-kun/Laptop RIP, 27th June. Wilshire Grand Hotel ;A; )


[ Day 0 ]
I had no idea picking up a badge would mean so much suffering. We got to the convention centre 1-2 hours 'early'. By then there was already about 2km of people lining up. We waited for about 4 hours, most of it in the sun.

yes, that is a line. all of it.

But it was interesting seeing what others were doing in the line. Some people bought a full gaming console and were versusing each other. I'm bringing an umbrella & chair with me next time @.@
But luckily just before I left with my badge I got to meet Nimbus-Mage for the first time! (friend of a friend. SSTG told me I should meet her while I was over there. VERY happy I did :heart: )

[Day 1]

Cosplaying as Smile!Ciel with pr0fessionaln00b as Peter (which we finished the night before haha) and I'm forever an idiot. Just as we walked into the venue,
"......OHCRAP I FORGOT SOMETHING."
I had to go back to the hotel to get a wig for jackettt /facepalm. And that took about an hour.. but when I came back I ran into Nimbus-Mage so things worked out!
First thoughts on AX: BIG. Got lost so very many times orz The art alley alone was 4-6 times the length of DO! I probably spent most of my money from this trip in the Exhibition hall, soooo much merchandise that I can NEVER get in NZ
*A*

Nimbus-Mage had to run off to AX auditions, so I went to line up for the Kalafina panel. I learnt something about AX, lining up 2 hours before something is NOT early. There'll already be a mass crowd of people before you. It took 2 hours before I could see my beloved goddesses but it was worth it! (and a guy behind me was singing Kalafina songs most of the time, ttlyokwiththis xD )

I didn't realise this was ycysusan till I came home, she looked so awesome xD


Had a photo with a Sebastian while in line~

We weren't allowed to take photos during the panel or concerts sadly, but just seeing them was more than enough. omgKeikoisthemostadorablethingintheworldsocute <333

More wondering about AX halls, now with Nimbus-Mage~~


MASAKAKIIIIII (so obsessed with [C] right now xDD )


Nyan cat was like the theme of AX, it was everywhere hahaha


I found hakuku! I bought a few of her Hetalia posters, her art is so awesome~~


Origami & Tiger!! <33 (blurry photos  OTL )


Chiyo-chaaan~  (will admit to being horrible, Nimbus-Mage too. We felt just like Osaka did when we saw her xDD )


Baccano cosplayers! His Jacuzzi expression was perfect <3


Vincent~~~~~~! [CATHERINE RELEASING IN A MONTH FOR NZ. WANT NOW.]


Rem~ As scary as she looks, she was a lovely girl~


DOLLS :hearts: I absolutely loved the diversity of characters cosplayed, I was constantly jumping up and down over characters I never see done


A Drocell asked us for a photo~ the Sebastian doll was a nice touch xD
Nimbus-Mage and I had an idea, theres nothing else to do with the Exhibit Hall closed and we are cosplaying Kuro right now. Why not take a look at the R16 Kuro fan panel. Just for the lolz. It was.. a new experience. I............ I love NZ.

[Day 2]
pr0fessionaln00b and I as Polariod Rin & Len.
THE DAY OF THE CONCERTS!
We met Ejen of Cosplay-in-America. He was such a bro xD When he found out we were from NZ he said "Oh, we gotta get you on TV(the Crunchyroll stage) you can say hi to your kiwi friends!" Hahaha It was great talking to him, and he gave us a load of CiA post cards to hand out in NZ to help him advertise lool. So if anyone wants one~~

Photo from www.flickr.com/photos/cosplayi…


The West South hall(?)


Miku cars

Photos from the Exhibition hall (things everywhere, things I WANTED everywhere ;A; )







^ feimo's stall *A*

There was also a bomb scare mid-day where the foodcourt was closed off. So the crowd was compressed.

As it turned out, some guy was carrying too many things, accidentally dropped a box and walked off without knowing. Apparently he got interrogated afterwards, poor guy.


Ao no Exorcist~ fffffff- WHYSOBLURRY?? He was a really impressive Mephisto! /feels like such a stalker orz


This Gakupo cosplayer was so cool! It was like a plasma light on the chest of the outfit!

Kyubey!


I met so many nice people, this person gave me directions for the Madoka gathering for the following day~~


This Kyubey gave me a copy of his contract (I signed it, as Icarus xD ) it's hilarious!

"The benefits in question include immortality, a Kawaii-desu Wardrobe (colours in question of the uniform will be dictated by the colour of the employee's hair, because if we gave you the opportunity to choose the chances of the dress being black is surprisingly high. Ergo, we want you to dress like a magical girl, not as a background extra in a Tim Burton film or the cashier at that Hot Topic who I swear to God always short changes me, the slut.)"


A really impressive Cheshire with an Ion and...... I've completely forgotten the character's name OTL

Hung out with Nimbus-Mage and her Grell, Kathy~~ I later ran off outside, thought I'd get a bub- boba tea. Didn't realise it'd take 1-2 hours for a food truck alone orz but! I made friends with the girl in front of me.

Me: "Um excuse me, is this line for the boba tea truck?"
"Yea. ....woah, your accent. Where are you from?"
People kept asking if I was from Australia haha but it was pretty cool that just asking little questions starts a huge convo.

So hi Sol~~!

There was much trouble with getting into the Kalafina concert. Larry was waiting in line, but as it turns out, no food, no drinks, no camera. If your cellphone has a camera, you have to get rid of that too. Larry was nice enough to buy me a water and food cause she was worried I hadn't eaten. The security guards were extremely strict, they told everyone to take their cameras and cellphones home or they weren't let in. I had the tickets with me and I was going to meet up with Larry in line but they got to the point where they told Larry to wait outside the building >:/ I ran to Club Nokia, took all our stuff back to the hotel and by the time I got back they had different security guards. These guys let us keep our cellphones and cameras. All my rage.

But! Regardless of stupid security, we got in! And made another friend~

Hi Glen~!

We fangirl/boyed (with some guys behind us too) over Kalafina, their songs, the girls & Yuki Kajiura-san <33 all till they came on stage.
SPRINTERRRRRR, I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY SUNG SPRINTER. /mylifeiscomplete. I didn't think they're sing it as they don't usually sing many songs that involved Maya. (which, even though shes has left the group, is still a piece of Kalafina to me.)
Their voices were absolutely amazing (I think even the speakers couldn't handle their voices at some point) but PERFECTION. Ahh~~ I could go on and on about them, Magia was intense! Kagayaku Sora no shijima ni wa was just beautiful.
ok I'll end the Kalafina fangirling with this: www.youtube.com/embed/o_Npgd6_…
convertconvertconvertconvert (I will admit, their performance at AX was even better, there is no limit to their awesome :heart: )

Straight after the Kalafina concert, we ran over to the Miku Concert. Ohdeargod the lines for this made no sense whatsoever. And we had no idea that the Nokia theatre was GIGANTIC. We were in the back top rows. Glow sticks, glow sticks everywhere.
Danny Choo was the one to introduce Miku, getting everyone to call out "MIKU-SAN WA MAJI TENSHI!" I thought that was adorable xD
Miku was 'life-sized' so her hologram was quite small, but lucky for the big screens. Surprisingly World is Mine didn't kill our ears, the Vegetable song did hahaha. (I listen mostly to covers, I love Miku & her songs, but her voice can get a bit much for me. Especially since it was a concert, so it was veeeery loud.) I thought it was funny that I saw someone hand out ear plugs before hand lool
I felt sorry for the people behind a Luka cosplayer that was standing and dancing for the entire thing, in seats like those, if the person in front is tall or stands, you won't see a thing ;C Veery happy about seeing Butterfly on you Right Shoulder sung by Len. Screamed the song out like a drunkard Hahahahaha

After the concert, Larry and I headed caught the shuttle back to the hotel, and we ran into NuclearKedama-san! Which I was meant to meet him on Day 0 but we couldn't find each other till now |D
:thumb217164954:
and I bought that t-shirt off him, heehee~~

[ Day 3 ]
Cosplaying as Mami~ My throat was pretty bad in the morning orz so sorry if I didn't say anything, I ended up motioning words to photographers OTL;;
As mentioned in the last entry, I bought a toy gun in Hollywood and spray painted it in the hotel bath tub. I didn't lay down enough paper and accidentally left silver streaks /jumps off cliff. I spent quite a while scrubbing that tub with nail polish remover, ohgoodness the things cosplayers do orz

NZ-US Con observation:
- NZ cons don't have that many 'photographers,' there are cameras about, but not that many people at cons specifically doing photography for random cosplayers. So it was interesting so many people with SLR cams everywhere, or being directed or asked if I had another pose. I thought it was pretty cool, and its good when  photographers say 'could you try doing this?' as I can't see if myself through the lens.
- And PEACE BONDING. FFFFFFF- NZ has rules on weapons etc. But its just a general warning for no real weapons, barely anyone has a real gun here. But for AX, the rule is all prop guns have to be cover 50% in safety colours. I know its for safety reasons, but I do feel sorry for cosplayers that spend so much time on accurately building a gun prop to only have them visually ruin. So no gun characters for me next I'm in the US. Anyway, on with the report.


MANdoka & MANmi
Funny story here, Manmi said he was going around asking Mami cosplayers for autographs, so I said sure. Mandoka said "You can leave at anytime." I laughed, then Manmi took out a Mami doujinshi, it was atleast R18, then he gave me a pen. "Oh, ha, haha......... eh. Meh, might as well." So I signed it, I hope you didn't get the younger Mamis to sign it!


And I found the Kyubey again!


Suzaku! He was very dashing~~ /fangirled |D


Date Masamuneeee + 1 photobombing V


Then I ran into this adorable Madoka~


V bombed us too, so I just got him to join the photo instead xD


A Takuto asked for a photo, I waited till afterwards before letting out a "PHOTOPLEASEKIRABOSHI!" I love my sparkling princes 8'D


Nimbus-Mage & Kathy as Integra. Both looking very spiffing~~

Madoka gathering~~~


Insta-Madoka group :D


THE MOUSTACHE COTTON BALL. ALL MY LOVE!


Genderbent!Mami! I originally wanted to do this ver. Maybe I'll do it later. But this guy was really awesome! He did a great job on the outfit (really wish I got a photo with him as Mami now |D )


Sooo many Madoka cosplayers, the Morning Rescue guys kept me smiling the whole time xDD they had a stereo playing the Madoka theme songs during the gathering, and when they had their turn for photos they'd play the Morning Rescue ad audio. Much love for them <33333333


Had quite a few Mami's~~


Magical girls & Morning rescue against the Kyubeys


Sayaka vs. Kyoko!


Morning Rescue making contracts xDDD


All the Magical girls~~

Final request came from Gendou.
"I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE A CONTRACT."

Kyubey: "How badly do you want your dead wife back, Gendou?"
Gendou: "Enough to be a Magical girl!"
What is air? xDDDDD


When the gather was over, the Morning Rescue crew paraded about to their song "MOOOOORNIN LESCUUUUUE~~"

And of course, I couldn't miss my chance for losing my head. (I got so many head jokes that day haha "WATCH YOU HEAD MAMI!" )

Ran into one of the Morning Rescue guys later on~ He was really nice~~

Another new friend~!

I met this really cool Noel~~ I think her name is Sue. She came up to me for a photo then I asked for one back, then other people asked for photos of us together lool. We posed & talked for a while, I think I made her late for her Blazblue shoot OTL we were officially gun-buddies xDD
Also met vangherphotography~ had a nice conversation with him <:


Very hardcore Princess Mononoke group


the crowd of photographers was just as impressive~~


TRAP!TAKANASHI, ah too perfect~~~


This was funny to see, he barely made it through the doors with it hahaha


Courto & Shiya as King Sora & Queen Kairi, amazing design and amazing outfits

Then the Masquerade~
Stage presentation was quite the focus for these entries, stage props like backdrops etc. aren't really used in NZ comps, we're more focused on craftmanship and less on performance. So I would like to try doing some back drops in the future. Probably starting with next Wellygeddon (be prepared azeria-mad xD )
But I would like to share this skit:
Sephiroth vs. Goku! www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1zQVG… definitely threw my hands in the air Hahaha

[ Day 4 ]
Never went to a con for longer than 3 days, I was sooo tired, spent most of the day sitting around with Nimbus-Mage

Isn't she pretty? :heart:

I was mistaken as Peter White most of the day Hahaha

but it was great seeing Heart no Kuni cosplayers~~ (maybe I should do Peter..)

Went into the Exhibit hall and somehow I never saw the Aksys stall till then!

They were selling 9 Hours 9 Doors 9 Persons watches with the game! They are so darn rare and if you check ebay people sell the watches by themselves for about $100USD. I'll be doing a 999 group soon with friends so I bought 4 haha But seriously a lucky find!

and heres the awesome salesman (that was making fun of me during the whole sale haha)

Someone I badly wanted to meet was yayacosplay, shes my cosplay goddess :heart: everytime I was in the Exhibit Hall I'd look around her stall, but she was never there orz (I saw her at the Crunchyroll area, but she was streaming live so I couldn't properly talk to her) but I finally met her in the end!

She was so nice, and extremely gorgeous <333333333333


Akusesu! Squeeeee~~ such an awesome cosplayer, she was constantly doing high kicks for the camera. Ah she was so cool~~

We were too tired to do much else so we skipped the closing ceremony and ended AX with a smoothie from NZ Natural, which is just hilarious. Half way around the world and our home still clings to us xDD


Goodbye AX~~ /waves

But just as we were leaving, a Mad Hatter we had photos with before called out to us:
"SEE YOU GUYS NEXT YEAAAAR!!"
I really wanted to cry, I probably won't be able to come back next year ;A;
but I had so much fun and met so many amazing people (and miss them a lot <3 ) Thank you to everyone that made this con worth the 2 year wait, I definitely want to return to the States for another con and meet even more awesome people and have more crazy awesome memories!

Special note for Sarah:
I was actually going to cry at the train station from your place. Thank you so much for putting up with me for the week, it was a short period but you've definitely become a dear friend <33 and I want you to know that you're a gorgeous girl that seriously makes me want to work harder with everything I do. I hope you come to NZ in the future, and that you, me & Tash can cosplay together, with lots of crack shots xDDD

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© 2011 - 2024 Icaruskun
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PoisonousTiger's avatar
This journal was awesome! Loved reading it. It brought back so many memories. (I'm a firm believer that a fan should go to AX at least once in his/her lifetime b/c it's the experience of a lifetime).

Those horrible lines. Ugh. Those lines are why I pre-register and/or pay a little extra to have certain "privileges" for certain events (we paid extra to get prime seats at the Masquerade...ironically, we won free tickets to the closer seats when my sister won "Princess" of the Masquerade Ball. =_= Irony is always getting us like that...we wasted $20 LOL). But there was one solution to the registration/pre-registration line: The year we went AX brought the pre-registered passes to those who stayed with the hotel they had booked. It was too expensive to stay there, though. But it all worked out (take that irony)--We ended up sleeping in the first day so by the time we got there the lines weren't bad and we only spent about 2 hours in the indoor part of the registration room.