Warning: ticket/waiting rant

I arrived at the con at around 10am, later than I expected, but it was okay. What was not really okay was the fact that I had to wait for over an hour to get INTO the convention hall. Anyone who already bought tickets, still had to wait. The line was looooong. And it was cold. The irony is that those who went to the con center without tickets get to go inside to buy the tickets. >.<; They need another system....

And those who are already inside the con hall needs bracelets to go around since if you go outside WITHOUT a bracelet, you have to get BACK in line again. >.<; End of rant.

Panels, anime and signings

I arrived in time for the last 15 min. of the 'Anime Awards Pre-Game Show'. The seven female VAs that were mc-ing the awards show were there and basic VA questions were asked. Afterwards, I walked around the dealer's room for awhile and picked up ALOT of paper: posters, cards, ads, more cards....

- This giant pikachu can be seen throughout the entire Dealer's room. ^^;

I stopped in to check on a new anime called 'Afro Samurai,' which is an anime created only in English, but should be released in Japan in both anime and manga form soon. Samuel L. Jackson is voicing the lead. Than I headed to an anime panel that was labelled 'Major Anime Announcement.' They were offering free pocky so I couldn't resist. ^^; Turns out, the 'Major Anime Announcement' was the new anime site, animeonline.com. Nice site. I skipped out early and watched the first two episodes of Le Chevalier. The only thing I can say about that anime is that the undead in the series spew out white stuff when they get stabbed. O.o Cool.... White blood.

Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle Premier

The Tsubasa panel was next and we got to here who was voicing who in the series. From right to left (of the above pic) is Jason Liebrecht as Syaoron, Monica Rial as Sakura, Vic Mignogna as Fai, Chris Sabat as Kurogane and Colleen Clinkenbeard as Yuko Ichihara (and ADR director.) We also found out that Carrie Savage was voicing Mokona. As mentioned before, a wonderful cast. Yay! Another point for Funimation! ^.^ We watched ep. 1 and a bit of ep. 2 and than it was Q&A. Vic, the voice of Fai was asked about his relationship with Kurogane. FYI, Fai and Kurogane is a popular yaoi pairing in the series...even though Kurogane and Tomoyo is a more canon pair. ^.^ Vic's response (paraphrasing) was 'I just want to say one thing: both Ed and Fai...LIKES GIRLS.' ^_^ He than added, 'I believe Fai likes to tease Kurogane, something Ed does alot.' (in reference to Ed's teasing of Roy.) lol Vic is so cute....

After the panel, I got Vic's signature for his 'Selah' cd. ^.^ Pocky was given and I headed to the dealer's room to chill before the Tsubasa signing.

Dealer's Room - official cosplays!

The above is Shin from the anime Crayon Shin-chan. It's a fav of Jenn-chan. ^.^ This anime is pretty old in Asia, but was bought by Funimation half a year ago. The dude above walked around the Funi booth waving and occasionally pulling down his pants. O.o (His butt was made of felt...the same material as his costume. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a pic of his behind. ^^;)

I have no idea where this purple bunny came from, but I totally wanted to give it a hug. ^.^ Kawaii!

I didn't see pikachu since I didn't visit the pokemon booth. *cries* Pikachu was pretty prominent at the convention (as you can see from the first pic in this report) and I heard lots of people took pics with him and pulled his tail. ^.^ I want to pull his tail too! *pouts*

Tsubasa Signing - Pocky!

At the Tsubasa signing, I gave Vic another box of pocky since he shared the first box with his friends. (The first box was from after the panel for signing the cd.) When he saw me giving pocky out during the signing, he said (parapharsing) 'She is the one I told you who gave me the pocky.' *major blush* ^^; We came to the agreement during the signing that 'Pocky was meant for sharing.' After all, 1 box always have 2 or more packets. ^.^ (Unless of course you buy the single packet boxes.... *Pocky extraordinare* ^^;)

One stupid moment was after Vic signed the poster, I was so happy that I forgot to give the poster to Jason (Syaoran.) When I passed him (in a stupor staring at my beautiful poster,) he said 'You don't want me to sign it? Okay!' He was laughing when I rushed back and apologized. Of course I gave him pocky to make up for my error. ^^; (Jason is also the voice of Alfons Heiderich in the FMA movie.)

After the signing, I took my last tour of the dealer's room and headed to midtown for some much needed grub (aka. McD's) and went to the the New Yorker Hotel to regain my energies.

First Annual American Anime Awards

The Anime Awards was about 1.5 hrs. It was nice and funny. The show opened with a Japanese flute solo played beautifully by a woman-I-don't-know-who and a taiko drumming team that had an obaaaaa-san (extra 'baaaa' for respect ^.^) playing. The obaa-san had so much energy! They were totally awesome. *applause*

The award itself is named 'the Mighty Mecha.' Award results.... Vic Mignonga (Ed, FMA) won for best male voice actor. Mary Elizabeth (Motoko, Ghost in the Shell) won for best female voice actor. Dave Wittenberg (Parco Fologre, Zatchbell) won for best male actor in a comedy. The best actress in a comedy is Debi Derryberry (Zatch, Zatchbell.) Best comedy anime, best short series (13 eps.) and best cast was FLCL. 'FFVII: Advent Children' won best animated feature. Best manga was 'Fruits Basket.' Best DVD package and best long series (over 24 eps.) was FMA. 'Rewrite' (FMA) won for best anime theme song. Yay for FMA! ^.^

The Outstanding Achievement award went to Peter Fernandez. Being a jack-of-all-trades in the anime industry, he is best known for his adaptation for the classic anime Speed Racer. We gave him standing a ovation. ^.^

Another Vic moment was during the Anime Awards. When he received his Mighty Mecha for Best Actor, he started tearing up. It wasn't acting or anything...it was so sweet and sincere. Vic is like that. *gives more pocky*

There was one major mistake with the listings of nominees...and it was kept that way. I wonder why no one picked it out? VA Johnny Yong Bosch was a nominee in the best actor in a comedy category and the clip they introduced him in was him grinning in the movie, Akira. O.o I thought Akira was a scifi-drama...but who knows? Perhaps the exploding hand and goo is pretty funny to some people.... ^^;

Cosplay and Con thoughts

I will never partially cosplay a character ever again. If I can't give a character 100%, I won't cosplay it. The results weren't bad, I just didn't look good. I got many good comments about my ears. I can't take the credit...got them off eBay. ^.^

Due to the venue of the convention (comic and scifi) only 10% (the most) of the con population cosplayed. Will I attend next year? Only if they have the awards ceremony. Only if I'm still in NY. It was a light convention in comparison to major anime events like AnimeNEXT and Otakon. Taking it slowly is good...I just hope they'll think of a better ticket line next year.