Saturday Night
So. Fanime. I’ll keep a blog each day.
Yesterday, we got our badges. The pre-reg line was MUCH shorter than Amanda led me to believe. I barely had to wait five minutes before I got my badge.
The concert tickets for MusicFest, however, were a different story. I was in line for an hour before they began giving out tickets. Then I waited about two more hours. In line. Very dull.
Woke up early, got to the con. Line for the tickets was short, but long enough that I knew I wouldn’t be getting the autograph tickets. I gave up and checked out the Dealer’s Hall.
There was so much stuff, but only a few J-rock oriented stalls. There was one with a bunch of pretty posters. It was smaller than the ones you’d get from Shoxx or Arena37. I think the owner scanned the original pics and blew them up, then printed them at a store or something. But there were some very, very nice GazettE ones. I couldn’t decide between two of them, one with Ruki in his SGD wear (his gaze is so intense and pretty…<3) and a Cassis group shot. Reason why I couldn’t get both of them? The bigger size was 20 bucks. The smaller was ten. >> So I’d only be able to bring myself to buy one. So I decided to hold off until later. There were plenty, after all.
What beat me was that they didn’t have any GazettE live DVDs or CDs. >>;; I was sorely disappointed. They had other bands, but not GazettE. What’s up with that? >>
Then there was Lolita Kisama. They had the cutest things. X3 Arm warmers, hats, chains, bonnets, lace, ect. <3 But haa, so expensive. Their jackets and skirts and things were like $222, $90, that kind of price range. >>
I ended up buying a hat. Mostly for the decoration on it. Buttons, safety pins, and a chain. It had a pair of cat ears, which I couldn’ve gone without, but beggars can’t be choosers, and the buttons were the best. <3 It had awesomely designed logos with things like “Visual kei” and “J-rock”. That’s the main reason I got it. I also got a set of An Cafe pins. I shall post a picture here~.
I also got two more pins…”Seme” and “Uke”. –shot- xD It’s win. It’s epic win. I /had/ to get them. <3
Then I went to the Lolita Kisama Fashion show. They had cute, cute things. <3 The models were okay, some cute, but nothing too special. That is, except for bandanna-boy. Imitating Reita, I’d expect. He had a bandanna over his nose and mouth the entire time. Such a stage whore. <3 Blew kisses, made faces…performed fanservice. xDD Yes. Fanservice. The man grinded against several men, posed provocatively…sent sultry looks to the crowd. <3 I went nuts. Recorded some videos, hopefully the sound works so I can post it here as well.
I went to karaoke. –cough- Started a fight with the announcer/tech crew guy…sorta. e.e He was mocking everyone that came on some way or another, but no one really said anything. >> So when he screwed with my name, I gave it back with my all. I’d like to think I held my own. =3 Bastard.
But I felt horribly humiliated when I got out. >> My performance was awkward, my voice high on the damned speakers. I fled~. And retreated to Dealer’s Hall. Or in that direction.
So I had seen this guy walking around earlier, and I swore he was Reita. He had the faux-hawk and a bandanna like Reita wears sometimes during lives, but he didn’t have the clothes, so I wasn’t sure. And I was kinda shy of just walking up and asking for his picture. Because. He was cool. =3 I saw him several more times, but chickened out. But after the karaoke, I decided that I couldn’t possibly feel worse and went for it.
“Excuse me…are you cosplaying Reita?”
“…Yeah!”
“Can I take your picture?”
“Sure.”
So. I shall post it. It’s not a spectacular shot, but I like it. He doesn’t look particularly like Reita, but I still think it’s cute. ^^
Also thought I saw some guy I took the Japanese course with last year…but I chickened out of asking if it was him too, because I didn’t know Calvin all that well. And he was cool too. xP
I saw an AnCafe tour shirt as well. I couldn’t decide whether to buy that, or one of the GazettE posters. Or if I should get them at all. >> I’ll decide by Monday.
To put it bluntly, the posters I could probably get anytime…but the shirts are near sacred. On the other hand, I love GazettE so much more. On the OTHER hand, I shouldn’t spend money after the expensive thirty-dollar hat from Lolita Kisama. And I kinda wanted to get more stuff from Lolita Kisama…or save the money for buying GazettE’s new live DVD when it comes out.
Speaking of money, Sabby tells me my plushie still hasn’t arrived yet. T_T I’ll cry if it doesn’t come next week. I really will.
I haven’t met up with any of my old friends yet. They were all checking in when I called. >> And they didn’t call back after that. –sigh- I saw Squeaky there, though! Didn’t’ expect to see him. And I saw Alex. <3 Redhead. Wah~.
Surprisingly there weren’t that many J-rocker cosplays. >> In fact, I only saw two Reita cosplayers (both of them only had the hair and bandanna, but not the right clothes) and three AnCafe cosplayers (Miku, Kanon, and Yuuki). None of them were particularly good. I was so disappointed. I wanted to see some good J-rocker cosplays…there were plenty of people dressing up visual kei and gosurori and lolita and that kind of stuff, especially the models from Lolita Kisama (first theme they displayed: visual kei. xD I died.) but no one was cosplaying anyone in particular.
Bah. That about sums up the first two days. I’ll write the next two tomorrow and the day after, and post then. In the meantime...I shall spend the rest of the night entertaining myself by watching M.R.D. The concert’s tomorrow night, so I’m really excited!
Sunday Night
Concert day. A lot happened, so I’ll start from the beginning.
We got to the convention center. A LOT more oshare kei and visual kei themed cosplayers were here today. They were all so cute! I took a bunch of pictures, and will post them at the end of this, as well as videos from yesterday. But there were a lot of Caffekos here! Cosplayers~. xD
I wandered around. Went to dealer’s hall, knew that the new Caffekos would buy all the tour shirts. Decided I wanted to get one over a GazettE poster (-weep-). Bought one. They only had huge sizes left, though. >>;; But I’m happy I got one.
I tried to win tickets to the autograph session at the stage where they were having games giving away stuff. I sent my sister to check on the line most days. But not only did I /not/ get the tickets, but…at one point, all the Caffekos lined up.
It stopped at one point, and I thought it was the end, but was told it went /on./ Back about three streets. >>;;
“Please, /please/ tell me this is the end of the line.”
“Oh, yeah it is! That’s what we said, too!”
So me and the three girls at the end of the line, and my sister, started chatting. We lined up there at 2:30, 4 and a half hours before they would let us into the auditorium, and 5 and a half hours before concert time. We waited there for those 4 hours, just for the doors to open. We got there 4 hours ahead of time, and we were still three blocks back.
But I feel sorry for the people behind us. xD And boy, were there a lot.
Our part of the line was the most enthusiastic and loudest. We tried to do the wave, we cheered and yelled and chanted at passerby-s and cars that honked at us. It was great. Cosplayers got the celebrity treatment with all of us yelling and cheering at them. It was so much fun. Those four hours went by faster than I would’ve thought. We became friends, because we had to link arms according to the staff and be quite close for those long hours.
Made friends with the two girls behind us. Eventually we moved and got in. No pictures or videos, sadly. We were close enough to get in the seat-less space in front. Eventually we were surrounded. It turned into a moshpit several times, and I totally got squashed in between a bunch of people. We stayed there for the opening violin and cello duo, Ramen and Rice, who played some awesome game music (songs from games and anime, like Chronocross, Kingdom Hearts, Naruto, Fushigi Yugi) for about 45 minutes. Then An Cafe came on. The cheers were deafening.
Now my voice was already nearing being lost from all the yelling and cheering we did while in line. I strained it more and screamed for all my worth.
Teruki entered first, followed by Yuuki, Kanon, Takuya, and Miku. We greeted them with shouts and cheers each time. I can’t remember the exact setlist, but they played Escapism, (which made me suuuper happy) Tekesuta Kousen, Merry Making, Kakusei Heroism, Baby King, Koritsu Hospital, and Golden wing. And a few others as well. The last song was Cherry Saku Yuuki. Positively /everyone/ knew the chemistry-memorization chorus and yelled it along with Miku.
I escaped the moshpit before AnCafe came on, because I was squashed and I couldn’t see. I got a very good seat some yards away, and I could actually see them. I /think/ Miku spotted my Nyappy-face gloves waving at him the entire live. =3 But I may be presumptuous.
There was an interval where Miku introduced each of the members, and of course each member was punctuated with screams and declarations of love. It was great~. xD
I was standing almost the entire live, even though I now had a seat. I only sat during the short amounts of break they took, and was dancing and waving my arms crazily almost the entire time with Maria, one of the girls I met. We were almost the only ones who weren’t in the moshpit who were dancing, so I think we stood out to the band. Maybe. xD Who knows?
But it was lots of lots of lots of fun. It was worth the long four and a half hour wait. It was worth the sore feet and shot throat I now have (it went somewhere between screeching Escapism, but I mouthed words along and forced a few hoarse shrieks when called for). It was so worth it.
Miku was all “Last song!” when Cherry Saku Yuuki came, so I knew we had to go ask for an encore. Because my voice was dead, I was glad when someone in the moshpit started the call. We yelled and yelled “En-cor-re!” (Japanese style) for what, more than ten minutes as the road crew came on stage and cleaned up. We almost despaired of them coming back, but come back they did, in tour shirts except for Miku, who came out in a bright pink one. xD
“Everyone, thank you for the encore!” (All in Engrish. The same thing happened every time he talked to us, and he butchered the words, but we still love him. <3) “Thank you for the great time! We will do one last song!”
A big “aww” through the crowd.
“Are you having fun?!”
A great cheer.
“Are you smiling?!”
More cheers.
“I want to see you smiling!”
This is when I started getting a second intuition.
“So, Smile Ichiban Ii Onna!”
I knew it. xDD It was wonderful. Everyone danced and sang, and I really think we gave them a warm welcome. Hands hardly ever went down during the entire live, and cheers were constantly ringing.
At the end, they stayed to wave at us. “Bye bye!” I would like to think Miku made a heart in my direction because I was making one with my nyappy gloves, but if I said that, fangirls would jump me for being uppity. >> Or foolish. I'll just say that he made it in our direction. I shrieked. xD
Teruki and Yuuki were last to get off stage. They waved and Teruki said in his adorable high voice, “Bye!”
After that, people were hugging each other, jumping, saying what a good time they had. I could hardly believe that that just happened, that I just saw AnCafe. I still can’t wrap my head around it. It doesn’t feel real.
They had cameras set up so that there was a big screen playing it live. As always, Miku usually took center stage, even during Takuya’s solos. It seemed that sometimes they would focus on Kanon even during Takuya’s solo. Yuuki did his signature hand thing when he played. Takuya’s a wonderful guitarist (even though I caught him missing a note in one of the songs) but he seems like such a wallflower. Hardly drawing attention to himself from behind the speakers.
It was very hot during the live. I swear I suffocated in the moshpit (which is why I got out) and I was so thirsty, even with my water. Constant screaming, jumping, and dancing does that to you.
I still can’t believe it. I had such a good time. That live was worth all the headache and trouble and sores and waiting. I am just…really, really happy.
Writing this down has gotten me pumped up again. I think I was fading away from AnCafe not so long ago, but this has made me love them again.
I honestly still can’t believe all this happened. I’m just…speechless. It still doesn’t feel real, but it is. I saw AnCafe. I was within a few yards of them. We were in the same room, we heard Miku’s voice, Takuya’s guitar, Kanon’s bass, Yuuki’s keyboard, Teruki’s drums. It…It was wonderful.
They were wearing their Gokutama outfits, except for Miku, who took off his red sunglasses and jacket. But it still looked good. He took a water bottle during a instrumental part of a song and sprayed it over the other side of the crowd, the lucky things. xD
I’m really happy right now. Have I said that already? I’m just really happy. The live was wonderful. I hope they make a DVD of it, seriously. <3
It’s nearly twelve. I need to sleep. I really wish I could go to the autograph session (I still have a chance if I wake up at, like, four and get to the con at 6, but I doubt my dad would want to drive me there or get up that early) but the live was enough. It was worth it. It was wonderful. It made me so happy. I /am/ happy.
Again, I need to sleep. Oyasumikusuke!
Monday Afternoon
I just got home from the AnCafe Q&A. I know, I thought they canceled it, but surprisingly, they just rescheduled it! I didn’t get into the autograph session, but I stood in line for hours ahead of time just for the Q&A line. The thing is, I was watching J-rock PVs in the room right beside the line, and I peeked out about 5 mins before to check if the line started. Then Caroline came in and told me a huge line popped out. I rushed out. Thankfully, I got in the second row in the Q&A room. In the J-rock/J-pop video room, me and some girls requested a bunch of PVs we liked. That was fun. xD
There was a huge confusion with the lines, and we were told we would be padded down for cameras and camera cellphones. But when we got inside, they said that only FLASH photography wasn’t allowed. A lot of people ran for their cameras because they left it with others, but thankfully I had mine.
AnCafe came in, walking by my row. I was sitting on the edge, so I saw them close. Takuya looks tired, and a bit different from when he has his makeup on, but for some reason, his humanity makes him more adorable. He was so shy.
Kanon was quiet and stoic, often at lost for words. Teruki was at times, too, but he was mostly cheerful and smiling. Miku was grinning the entire time and speaking Engrish. Yuuki was being picked on sometimes by him~.
Thankfully there weren’t too many STUPID questions. There were some fun things, and some interesting ones, like “What was Takuya and Yuuki’s first impression of Miku, Kanon, and Teruki, and vice versa?”
Takuya: I will use animals in comparison. Teruki is like a fox. Miku is like a puppy (he really is! Thanks for clearing this up for me,
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chifunii!) and Kanon is like a panda.
Yuuki: Um…
Miku: Sailor Moon!
Yuuki: Ah! I’ll use Sailor Moon. Takuya is…
Translator: Ah, no, Miku-san, Teruki-san, and Kanon-san, Yuuki-san.
Yuuki: Oh! Okay. I’ll use Sailor Moon. Teruki is like Sailor Jupiter. Miku is like…
Miku: Chibi
-insert laughter-
Yuuki: Kanon is like Sailor Mars.
Teruki: Takuya and Yuuki are like opposites. Takuya always practices, more than he has to, in fact. Yuuki is more relaxed. He is like the mood setter for the band.
Miku: (in English) Takuya is pretty. (Insert fangirl squeals) Yuuki is erotic. (Fangirl shrieks)
Kanon: First impression was that they were scared of us.
There was a funny moment when a fan asked “What’s your favorite anime?”
Miku said something, and we all thought he said “Ah, fuck.” Only he said it like “Ah, fa-ku.” xD We all laughed, and they were all like “What? Why are they laughing?”
A translator explained it to him, and Miku was all “Oh! Oh! Oh, no! Chigau! Iie!” xDD It was hilarious. Teruki made an “x” with his hand and said “Out!” (Ou-to!) It was hilarious. xD
“What do you like more about American fans than Japanese?”
Miku: Their bodies.
-crazy fangirl screams- xD
I really wanted to ask what kind of books Takuya read, or where Nyappy-chan was staying while Miku was in the US, but I didn’t get called. They walked out, and my friend Yasmin held out her hand to Miku and he touched her palm, the lucky girl. xD I don’t know, it was just really funny.
I caught some pictures, but I was at a bad angle on the opposite site of the row they were at. I’ll post the pictures I took of AnCafe, cosplayers, and videos from Lolita Kisama as soon as I get Sabby’s UBS cord and resize them and stuff.
Really glad I got to go to Fanime. Bye nyappy!