[07/02-07/05] Morning Musume @ Anime Expo (Schedule/Who's Down P.1)

[strawb3rrykream]

^ You happen to have a larger version of that picture?

I second that request for a larger version of that picture, I love it~

Not at the moment, but hopefully, I'll get one on Saturday. (We're gonna see my friend and her family...I'm bringing a flash drive to their house )

[Fenrir]

JAB GET BETTER SOON! Gotta keep up with my reports. lol Although this is the last one. lol

Day 3
Another big day! The day of the autographs. And the Power Ranger panel. lol Anyways, I already used up my ticket for the 1st session, so I just waited around for the guarantee one. (Thanks lil sis for the ticket!!!! ) The Power Rangers panel was that day and it was packed! lol But I got to see most of the power rangers. lol Ping came in to get help with his letter to Reina, so we spent some time writing it out when I got a text from Dai/Dinny? to get our asses over to the exhibit hall because they were closing off the line, so we hauled ass and got over to the exhibit hall to find no line and a big mess going on inside that area. I tentitavely went up to a staff and asked about teh line and showed that I had a ticket. She gave this somewhat horrified look and told us just to stand at the edge and to hold on for a minute. Ping and I had this uh-oh look, but actually Ping was more frantically trying to finish his letter. lol So I helped him write out my messy kanji in a neater form and another guy from H!O I believe was behind us. He also found a JunJun card and asked if we wanted it, so I was sure why not. lol

While helping Ping, I was also listening around the conversation around me and the stressed out Yaz talking into her phone about the counting of the guarantee tickets. Another AX staffer also came up to me to talk about that because I was asking about it in Japanese and English. While waiting, heard the other folks sing happy birthday to Sayu. The other UFA staffer (the bald guy) came out and told us to hold on and after much running back and forth they finally let us in. I believe we were the last 4 people. I think Terrie? was the very last person.

When we walked in, I was surprised that they were not seating by senority, but luckily for me I was getting my single signed, so it didn't matter what order they sat in. Poor Ping though; he had to re-organize his stuff, but due to unfortunate circumstances, that didn't matter either. When we first walked in the girls were all relaxed and then realized that we were in there for the autographs and you see them get ready. lol But what caught my eye was Ai-chan. lol She was all off duty, but when they saw us, you can see the switch from off duty to on duty. lol It was kinda amazing seeing her sit up all straight, poised, and ready when she was relaxed just a few seconds before. It reminded me of Estrea's fic about Ai-chan and her switches. lol I thought wow Estrea was right. And one big thing I noticed was that all the girls did seem very tired.

First was Reina and I don't think I made any small talk to her. I think I kinda of looked towards Linlin because Ai was sitting next to her and asked her if she was tired, but of course she answered that she wasn't. Reina finished signing and I went for handshake (at this point I didn't know there was no handshakes), but a staffer stopped us. I apologized and so did Reina, but I did say otsukareina which she replied with as well. By then that staffer took my single and started to move down the line for the girls to sign and I just followed along. lol Said good luck to Linlin in Chinese and moved onto Ai-chan. I had thought of something to say to her the day before, but when I got to her, it flew out of my mind. lol I think it was because I felt the tension in that area and was like crap better not do something stupid. I told her good luck and she looked up all happy and responded with a happy hai! So adorable *melts some more* Next was Gaki and I asked her if she got a chance to Disneyland, which she gave her zannen look and shook her head no, so I replied that next time she should definitely go. Mittsi, still the adorable puppy, was very
cheerful, said our thanks, and then Eri gave me a very big thank you in English. lol I smiled back and said thank you in English in response. Such a silly girl. <3 Said thanks to Sayu and did a silent usa-chan peace with her which she did as well and got a smile. lol What surprised me the most was the Koharu was all silent after a short thank you. She looked really tired and out of it. Jetlag is what I assumed. JunJun was last and said thank you, good luck in Chinese and a baibai. Saw the manager again, but didn't say anything. In fact all of them looked a little tense, so not wanting to stick around longer, I headed out. Looking back now, I probably could have waited in there for Ping to finish. It didn't seem like they were gonna usher me out because I had to ask where the exit was. lol

Re-grouped with the rest of hipsters to discuss what they were doing that night. It was finally a day where I finished early and can finally hang with the group! Yay! So after bossing the group to move out of the exhibit hall into the lobby to save us from being yelled at again by operation staffers we decided to meet up at the izakaya for dinner. Emailed Com about the plans and they met us there later. The others left to go back to the hotels to get refreshed and ready while Ping and Mugen followed me back to work because they didn't need to go back to the hotels and they can get a ride from me. Finished work and left for Little Tokyo! Got to the place, reserved some seats and waited for the rest to show up. It was an awesome dinner and finally got to meet everybody. lol Much toasting, eating, chatting, picture taking later we all moved down a level for some karaoke! ComFen re-unite!!! lol It's been one year since we karaoked with each other. Ahh brings back memories. lol Overall, an awesome time! Thanks for all the fun!!!! JPHIP <3

Left for home because poor ebc was all tired out thanks to Comrade and fell asleep during karaoke. lol

Day 4

A very uneventful day. Dinny/Dai kept me updated on the events going on at the airport. Thanks!! It made watching some boring panels a little more interesting. lol Met up with Tenkei and got another shirt for my buddy, caught up with the other hipsters  as they were heading to the charity auction. After finishing work, I caught up with the others at the charity auctions. That was pretty interesting. Of all the years of going to con it was my first time at the auction. Tenkei won the Hangry and Angry signed poster; much celebrating ensued. Took tons of pics and then it was off to dinner. Met up with the gang at Rock'n'Fish; had an excellent dinner and then it was off to the airprot to drop ebc off and with that, AX weekend came to a close.

It was great meeting you all! I had an awesome time; it's just too bad that I didn't get a chance to hang out with you guys more. ;_; And I didn't get a chance to lock anybody in the trunk of my car! lol Oh well. Guess I'll save that for next time. JPH!P  

[JFC]

Left for home because poor ebc was all tired out thanks to Comrade and fell asleep during karaoke. lol

Considering how loud we all were there in the karaoke booth, I was amazed that he conked out as easily as he did. Poor guy must've really been wiped.

[Flyp]

After all the craziness with autograph sessions, long lines, and concert fun, I could not think of a better way to celebrate than Izakaya.  Great food, great drinks, and THE BEST company I could ever ask for.  Nearly 30 of us headed to Little Tokyo to Honda-ya Izakaya and took up three long tables in the back.  The owner noticed our Morning Musume shirts apparently, because MoMusu music started coming out of the speakers near us.  We started singing and dancing, doing the Love Machine hand gestures during the chorus.  Many drinks were ordered, as well as tons of food.  I discovered the awesomness of shochu, especially chuhai!  Tenkei, Ping, Sev, and myself tried most the different chuhais on the menu (coke-hai, peach-hai, sour apple-hai that tastes just like a jolly rancher, orange-hai, etc).  Toasts were made to the JPHiP Legend marimari, and to our humble host daigong, and I got fairly drunk.  I tried all sorts of new tasty foods (omfg fried mochi <3), and tenkei and I discussed the epicness of Japanese mayo.  We were there for 2-3 hours, but it went by so fast O_O, but we headed downstairs to the karaoke for some more drunken fun.  kuno_thunder and I sang Seishun Amigo, but I had forgotten most the words and my hiragana is fael now so I stumbled through most the lines, but it was fun to do the hand gestures again.  Then someone sang Romantic Ukare Mode and JFC and I got into doing the wota chants... Apparently the alcohol in me got me excited, 'cause after going 'MIKI-SAMA MIKI-SAMA OSHIOKI KIBONNU~!" I couldn't help standing up and doing wotagei.  I'm sure someone had a camera on at that point so I'm just waiting for video to show up of me doing full-on OAD etc. OOYA OI! OOYA OI!   Sev and I closed the night with an epic rendition of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody, with everyone else joining in during the opera part.  My throat was torn up for the next 4 days because of that, but it was worth it!

Sunday, my last day in LA, came all too soon, sadly =(  We woke up early after deciding to try to catch MoMusu leaving LAX, and we arrived at the airport just in time to catch them at the baggage check.  I decided to whip out my camera and take some video, but a handler saw me and came up to me, she said she was going to take my camera and I was all "nuh-uh, you're not talking my camera!" but I did put it away.  When she came up to us, dai and ping slinked away to the other side of the line, but jab, arun, and I decided to stick around and watch the girls while pretending to just stand around and talk.  At one point Reina walked right past me after she turned her checked bags in to the TSA, and I waved at her and she waved back *^__^*  We eventually joined the others at the other side of the line and everyone waved farewell and cheered and said goodbye as the girls went through the security checkpoint.  Arun, Jab, and I went away for a minute to see if there was a shop where we could get poster tubes for his artwork and my MoMusu poster, but with no luck.  By the time we got back to where the group was supposed to be, they had disappeared.  After a few texts and phone calls, we finally found out they went off to another terminal to try to find Yossi, but it turned out she left the day before.  We had some food, met up with some guys from another forum that claimed to have hung out with Aika and Reina at their hotel, and eventually headed back to the convention for the charity auction.  Arun and I ducked out after a bit on our quest to find poster tubes, turns out the dealers' room was already closed down, so we were about to give up when some staffer came up to us.

Staffer: "Hey, have you gotten your official A-X swag on?"
Us: "Huh? What?"
Staffer: "Last chance to get A-X tshirts, plushies, pins over at our booth"
We were not in the mood for a sales pitch
Me: "Uh, no thanks not interested."
Arun *jokingly*: "Not unless you got Anime Expo poster tubes for sale"

I gotta hand it to this guy, he's no stranger to customer service, because he headed over to the booth and looked around and gave us a nice, perfect cardboard tube that their glowsticks came in.  Arun decided to let me have it since he was there for another day and would have time to get another tube for his artwork.  Thanks Arun, you're the man!  I popped back into the auction just in time to witness an epic bidding war for a robot chicken t-shirt.  It had jumped to $100 pretty quickly, and then the auctioneer announced that Seth Green had, in fact, worn the shirt and the bids skyrocketed, I think it finally ended up at $500 (someone correct me if I'm wrong).  I had to leave pretty quickly though, I had a 6pm flight back home to catch, so I waved some quiet goodbyes to some folks, and dai and jab were kind enough to walk back to the hotel with me (thanks guys!), and I was off to home.

And that was my trip to LA!  I'll probably make a "final thoughts and memories" post a bit later, but that's the most of it.

[tenkei]

^when i waved goodbye to flyp in the auction, the auction dude thought i was bidding on w/e was going at that point lol

[Fenrir]

Now onto the the more gritty stuff that I don't really want to talk about, but just reading things over multiple forums, I just had to get some things clear.


I've been reading other ppl's comments about Yaz=Diaz=Dragon Lady=Yaz Noya and the other translator for the panel on this forum and other forums and I feel that it is quite unfair to them about the comments they have been getting. As for the other translator, I believe any mistakes that she may have made was due to her inexperience. It was her first time actually doing a panel. She is usually in the green room (behind the scenes; backstage) translating for GOH. Also, I believe that because there were basically two translators during the panel, Yaz and her, there was some miscommunication about who will do what. This is why I believe the AX translator just sort of let Yaz do her thing because she, herself, did not know what usually happens during a panel. My boss and I sort of gave a brief rundown of what usually happens right before the start, but MM was a little different because they had Yaz as the handler. While we all want the panel to run smoothly that sometimes does not happen because the GOH/panelists do not tell us what will happen during the panel until like right before the panel, which is what happened with MM's panel. While Yaz may have come off as overbearing and attention hogging, it was also her job to filter out questions that were deemed too personal or unanswerable due to UFA requests. In other words, she was just doing her job. As for not translating Reina's comments, unfortunately, that was an oversight on their part. I'm not sure why they didn't fully translate it, I have to admit my memory is a bit fuzzy on that, but as for the others they did translate the main point of what the MM members were saying. So I wish you guys would stop bitching about how they didn't translate this or that. If you really are that unhappy about that, then by all means please try to do it yourself next time.

As for not clearing out the rooms, I'm also surprised and peeved about that as well. I don't know why we didn't clean out rooms this year when we have always done that in the past. If you ask me, it is much easier to clean out the room and have a new separate line for the next GOH panel. It also makes handing out autographs tickets much easier as well, but of course giving it out at the end also make sure people stay for the panel and not just grab the ticket and run. I feel that it was stupid for the division heads to make that decision not to clean out the room.

This also brings me to the next point about lines and stuff. Most of the time they move lines out to the sun or whatever is because the fire marshal probably came along and told them they needed to keep a certain area clear for fire safety. Unfortunately, most of the time that would be standing outside and under the sun, so next time bring some sunscreen and lots of water as California gets pretty hot in the summer. Just think of it as going to Disneyland. It's unfortunate, but things never go as planned. You just gotta be prepared.

As for AX kicking us out after the concert, to put it plain and simple, is that they don't know how a usual MM concert is run. They don't know about the encore chants and stuff that usually goes on after the main concert has finished. Also, they didn't give the right cues that the concert was over until somebody went over the PA system to basically tell us that concert was done, so they finally had to tell us to leave, so they can prepare for the next main event later that evening.

Lastly, I know some staffers are stupid and a pain in the ass and what not and, hell, there are times I don't like AX either, but to be continually assaulted on how AX is garbage or that "the higher ups want to do a good job and do all they can, but the staff that is actually on the floor is so often uninformed, lazy, and/or downright incompetent that these amazing planned events turn into a frustrating cluster fuck," I'm quite insulted, not pissed, well, I am a little, as I am one of those supposedly uninformed, lazy, and downright incompetent staffers who worked her butt off trying to get things to run smoothly. I'm sorry to turn the tables on you, but it's actually the higher up that plan how the con goes and the staffers on the floor are just following orders. As for me, I tried to get all the info as clear as possible to you guys as soon as I could. I notified what was going on and how it was going to be to some members in hopes that they can spread the word and that we can all have a good time. If you really are going to be unhappy and negative about this con all the time and not wanting to come back no matter if it's your favorite artist, then good, because I don't want you to come back if you are going to be that negative. So next time, I watch what you write as you don't know who will be reading this.

[Mugen]

fenfen u should post this on the other forums

[daigong]

I love you Fen

[kuno_thunder]

See, I totally see where Fen is coming from, but moreso from a broadcasting viewpoint.  Its easy to criticize things that are going on at a huge event like AX and point out all the little mistakes.  However, nobody ever wants to talk about the shit that gets done properly.  Especially stuff that happens in the past tense, I can only imagine how many people began complaining about Dragonlady IMMEDIATELY after the Q&A thing (which I was actually there for, btw), but I'm sure she was nervous too.  Maybe she doesn't have as much experience speaking in front of large crowds, or to have such a massive guest with so much anticipation from the peeps attending the Con.  Mistakes are made, and the staff get through the event as smoothly as they can.  Unlike most of my broadcasting events, Morning Musume at AX doesn't give you a chance to watch a dress rehearsal, so there's no second chances.  I'll bitch and moan about the tv shoot, sure, because I know about how to direct an event on stage, and I know all the girls' names.  What I think when I see a video production that inexperienced is that theyr'e just that: inexperienced.  They have no idea who's who, what's coming up next in the song, or what they're saying.  To blame the crew on the floor for a shitty con is like blaming the camera operators for a shitty video shoot.  It doesn't make sense, because they're just following orders from someone else - someone else who doesn't have all their shit together.  And come on, AX has been around for what, almost a decade now?  Clearly they're doing something right, and you'll see that things improve year after year.

That's all I can really address from my experience, I didn't work anywhere near as hard as Fen and her team did that weekend.

[lemonmilktea]

daigong fucking reppin like he bleeds pink. generous, kind, loud, brash, the fucking man. no better leader than this. kanki amazing to finally meet you, thanks for hanging out with me and putting up with me lol, wish you could been with us the rest of the time, been missing you since day 2 arun bein my shoulder and my ear, mad props for helpin out a drunken fucker. dinny fucken love you girl, youre too awesome. ping my man (nohomo) fucking awesome to finally meet and hang out. planning shit for future, fosho flyp old crew back together again, we rollin! jab awesome to finally meet you bro, sick as hell and snoring like thunder lol. tris great to finally meet you, girl! good job tag teaming with me on the interview, we so baller sev you sexy motherfucker, coming all the way to LA to giggle at some japanese popstars. fuck it was great to meet you bro fenfen fun to hang out again! we tore up that m-flo, well do more next tiem! mugen fucken young honger, sleepy as hell and a crack up aewen conversion final i hope, glad you joined us and hung with a real crew! awesome girl limt quiet lowkey mofo. lol we still gotta do soem ggxx, but it was great to meet you man jayson, a_p, masa, aa!rita, t-back stand up fuckin dudes, awesome to meet you guys commie awesome to finally meet THE comrade, such a tourist (gah you're hot) strawb3rrykream omg you're so chibi and adorable we shouldve sold plushies of you. sayah & shan you girls are great, awesome meeting you, JFC bout damn time man, thanks for coming and thanks for bringing that fucking brother of yours lol kuno fucker, trying to punk us, fucking right you needed to show up! davetron quieter than i imagined lol thanks for coming all the way to hang out man, great to meet you bigfreaky fucking photomaster and scaring mm with your cosplay. awesome dude lol rickker, rokun, linna didnt get to talk to you guys much, but it was nice meeting you! ckd glad you could come and hang out man, see what the worlds about, get that slurpee action going opsmonkey crazy dude, droppin $1k on h&a dolls, good to meet you man differentstory12, I.C., friend of theirs had a great time meeting you girls, hope to see you at the next meet too! terrie & sevii yall are awesome too, repping taiwan with jphip like swagga.

omg if i forgot anyone im sorry.

JPH!P WORLD TOUR 2009 LOS ANGELES BABY

You forgot me Tenkei.... What's the deal> You remember me when yer shit-faced(!) drunk but not stone-cold sober?

Feels Unloved....






JUST KIDDING!

Love ya Tenkei! Nice meeting you..... Nice meeting all the JPH!P-ers.... Want to do it again... and soon. Maybe we could set something up. non con-related....

[Slack]

If you read nothing else of this post, please read at least the first two paragraphs and the last paragraph.

First, I want to thank Fen and the rest of the AX staff for volunteering to battle the chaos caused by the mass of people at Anime Expo.  I didn't actually mind Yaz all that much, and for what it's worth, I will always treasure my experiences at this year's AX.

Just about the only problems I have with Anime Expo are line-related.  Having spent something like 80% of the time in a line of some sort, problems with that stick out the most.  However, the actual content of the convention outweighed any negatives I experienced by a long shot.  Even waiting in line, I tried to have the best damned time I could, and I think my posts reflect that.

From what I've heard and experienced of past Anime Expos, waiting seemingly forever in horribly organized lines isn't anything new.  That's probably why I made an effort in my posts in this thread to avoid making disparaging remarks about individuals in favor of commenting on the institution as a whole.  I actually take the position that the ground troops are doing their best while the organizers should know better.  Even so, when I hear stuff like "last year's day 0 line worked amazingly.  In and out in 30 minutes!" I can't help but think that AX organizers haven't been able to learn the lessons of previous years and get their act together.

I don't doubt that all the staff was working hard to do their best, and for that I'm grateful to them for volunteering to wade through the chaos.  Still, it's a testament to their efforts that AX has been around for something like 20 years, and the attendance has been steadily growing.  However, the one time I did comment about them directly, I should have made clear that it was mainly because there were conflicting directions that could have been avoided by better convention organization rather than saying the staff "dicked up the line".  I apologize for that.

But maybe the success of Anime Expo as a whole is also part of the problem?  The way that line control in general is approached at AX seems to lag behind everything else.  A few paper signs and roped-off pylons (heck, even duct tape on the ground) would go a long way toward easing headaches for everyone involved.  Still, I think it would be helpful to examine in detail the kind of line problems that were encountered so that both those affected and those helping out can reach a better understanding.


PROBLEM: The day 0 pre-reg line seemed to consist of 3 separate phases:
-First, there was a line outside (snaking quite well with the aid of pylons and chains) that didn't seem to move much for at least 2 or 3 hours
-Then there was a fast-moving line inside the building that emptied out into the third phase.
-That line emptied into 6 separate lines for going to the separate banks of registration computers.
-During the several hours I spent outside, it didn't seem like the indoor area that I was waved thorugh was utilized very much if at all.
-Then the line I was in for the computers didn't move for what seemed like 20 minutes due to a computer problem.  This was eventually solved by shunting my line to share computers with the next line over.

What was good:
-Having pylons to guide the line.   The length of this line was anticipated and taken into acocunt.
-Staff members at some point were walking around with portable misters to try to help the line stay cool.
-Some staff members had sunscreen, and later, hats for sale.  (Unfortunately the sunscreen was not made public knowledge for the most part)

Possible Solutions:
-Utilize the indoor area for lining up instead of just walking through.
-Tell the people outside that there's a computer system problem that's keeping the line from moving
-In the 6 smaller lines, the decision to keep the line moving could have been made earlier.
-Use of time estimates can ease frustration.



PROBLEM:
-Day 1 lines for the JapanFiles and JPopHouse booths were unanticipatedly long, leading to chaos and confusion.
-Similarly long lines thereafter were often scolded by staff without being directed.
-There were several instances where part of the line would be told one thing by one staff member only to have a directly conflicting direction issued by another staff member minutes later.  Line identification and even where the line could terminate were unclear at all times in these cases.

Possible Solutions:
-Have some kind of standard line-forming protocol for unplanned line situations instead of just saying "You can't line up here".  (Something like a pre-agreed-on line configuration or a "line czar" that could be called in to direct traffic)
-Pylons and signs.  This should be self-explanatory, but after day 0, I saw nowhere where pylons were used, and only one place where a sign was used at all.  Not having pylons to use should be a non-issue since I believe the day 0 pylons were sitting outside of the hall without any line running through them for the remainder of the convention.
-A guy in line who supposedly worked conventions before was suggesting a map that showed where lines would be.  This could have been a good idea.


Overall, it seemed like most of the problems were due to unanticipated demand and the resulting lack of direction.  Anime Expo would do well to take measures to create contingency plans for unanticipated lines that all staffers are briefed on.  Without this kind of thing, attendees are likely to blame the staff for problems instead of blaming the lack of an overarching plan.  There is actually a lot of study that goes into line formation that makes the lines like those at Disneyland work.  For the most part, it seems like those lessons are lost on the AX organizers and they would do well to study up or hire someone who knows.

Now, I know that this isn't the right place to post all of this if I thought my words would actually effect change.  If I wanted to really make a difference, I should have gone to the feedback session on Sunday.  Instead, what I wanted to accomplish here was a better understanding by everyone of the troubles that are caused by lack of preparation and organization, and not by any personal ineptitude of any one volunteer staffer.  I hope I have been helpful in that regard.

[Fenrir]

Overall, it seemed like most of the problems were due to unanticipated demand and the resulting lack of direction.  Anime Expo would do well to take measures to create contingency plans for unanticipated lines that all staffers are briefed on.  Without this kind of thing, attendees are likely to blame the staff for problems instead of blaming the lack of an overarching plan.  There is actually a lot of study that goes into line formation that makes the lines like those at Disneyland work.  For the most part, it seems like those lessons are lost on the AX organizers and they would do well to study up or hire someone who knows.

I wholeheartedly agree with this. They can all use some experience working with Disneyland lines. I could see outside of my panel rooms where the line could be, but for whatever reason, the upper heads didn't see anything like that. Sigh...

[Mugen]

The only problems I had with AX was the pre-reg line under the burning sun. I thought with pre-reg, one of hte perks was not having to line up? lol

and the only staff/volunteer that was incredibily rude during the last MM auto session, was the dude with the harness on. Other than him, I thought everyone else was trying their best to help the congoers out.

[StreakInTheSky]

I only waited in the sun for like half an hour on day 1. But I was prepared and wore a light long sleeved shirt and hat, mainly because of that line. Maybe they could have ordered some kind of canopy for the outdoor lines, cause like slack mentioned, they anticipated those lines.

The majority of people will pre-register. It saves you like 5-10 minutes and a some money.

My only major complaints are the not clearing of the panel rooms/lines for the panel, and the informing of the incorrect area for autographs. Those 5 or so minutes of walking around might have cost me an autograph, (plus the fact that I chose not to cut in line to line up with the first group of HiPsters. I'm actually a bit sour about that, cause if a few people didn't come a few minutes later and join their group up front, which includes HiPsters and others, I probably would have gotten my autographs, I was that close. But then it's mostly my fault for choosing to stay back when I probably could have gone up there. Whatever, what's done is done.)

I really think, with the size of the con and all the things that happen unexpectedly, it ran fairly well and the stuff they have to offer is just amazing. I'm also not gonna shit on all the staff cause they were mostly cool people, only that punk that closed the door on my face, literally. Oh yeah, and also the punk staff that took the seats closer to the front of my section during the concert, and weren't even interested in watching. WTF is up with that? But it was overall a positive experience for me, though a short lived one since I had prior engagements and couldn't make it out for everything. Even though I love you guys, I still love my gf more.

*insert 10's shoutouts*
omg if i forgot anyone im sorry.

JPH!P WORLD TOUR 2009 LOS ANGELES BABY

You forgot me Tenkei.... What's the deal> You remember me when yer shit-faced(!) drunk but not stone-cold sober?

Feels Unloved....






JUST KIDDING!

Love ya Tenkei! Nice meeting you..... Nice meeting all the JPH!P-ers.... Want to do it again... and soon. Maybe we could set something up. non con-related....

He also forgot the dude that gave him an album. Now you owe me the 20 bucks! j/k Consider it a thanks for trying to keep me informed and shit throughout the con.

[Sev]

No sweat SITS. We love your girlfriend more than we love you too! lol

I'm writing up my thang after work today. Pictures and movie clips will be uploaded too.

[Ping]

Overall, it seemed like most of the problems were due to unanticipated demand and the resulting lack of direction.  Anime Expo would do well to take measures to create contingency plans for unanticipated lines that all staffers are briefed on.  Without this kind of thing, attendees are likely to blame the staff for problems instead of blaming the lack of an overarching plan.  There is actually a lot of study that goes into line formation that makes the lines like those at Disneyland work.  For the most part, it seems like those lessons are lost on the AX organizers and they would do well to study up or hire someone who knows.

I wholeheartedly agree with this. They can all use some experience working with Disneyland lines. I could see outside of my panel rooms where the line could be, but for whatever reason, the upper heads didn't see anything like that. Sigh...

That's what happens when people like us work in Disney,

[ichijoujirena]

 

[Sev]

So I'm doing a write up of something. Oh and yeah. I've uploaded a bunch of shitty pics and some shitty video clips. It's where everyone elses shit is. So right, first of all, as you might know, I'm not in anyway a good fucking writer, so there will be no "Day 1" "Day 2" stuff. Let me do it in Swedish and I'll outwrite all of you... or not. Way too much text gives me headache, and writing is even worse than reading. I do however appreciate everything else people have wrote. I promise I really tried to read it all! If someone would make pictures with speech bubbles I'd appreciate that tho. (j/k)

Snippets of the fun (in no particular order):

• Stepping inside the convention center. Madness? Another dimension? Fuck it. THIS SHIT IS FUN! Who said cute girls in outfits?
• Fenrir yelling at us after autograph event. -"MOVE IT GUYS!". Fen + Authority = So damn hot. ~
• 4th of July. Izakaya and what not. All the fucking joy, all the happy smiles, the good time. I die for shit like that.
• Waiting in line for hours in the sun to get the concert ticket. "Nice tattoo man. That's from dragonball right.. means dragon?" "No.. It means turtle. It's an Eri Kamei tattoo." "Oh... *walks away*". Fucking anime peeps don't know who Eri is. BE ASHAMED YOUNG MAN!
• Handshake / Autograph signing. FINE mugen, i giggled like a girl throughout the whole session. Grown men are allowed to giggle too. I was so fucking cool inside until i was standing there face to face with the girls. My god, Eri, I TOUCHED HER YOU FUCKING PERVERTS. The Schlongtong was inches from her too. Remember that.
• Daigong speech(es). Coz there is nobody else like him. Salut and let's do it again!
• Sleeping on 10k's, Ping's and Boy's floor. Best floor ever! Thank you gentlemen.
• MM Concert. Yeah shit, there actually was one. What happened? I heard it, but all I saw was Eri sexing around on stage. Concert DVD please for fucks sake.
• Haters. There is no good without bad. You have a purpose, be happy.. OR NOT. Idiots. Protip: Go kill yourself.
• Q&A session. JPH!P representing. Giggling girls. Dinnaaaaay, T-back, way to be pro!
• Mugen + Sev + fapbook discussion. Never could I have imagined that a few pictures of girls could cause so many question and answers.
• Tattoo pimping. Buncha staff's seen it. Eri have seen it. More people have seen it. Holla if you want a private showing: +46702713185 (girls only) or hit me up on MSN/AIM/ICQ/Yahoo (they're in my profile)
• Bowling! Ping, you know it was close, I beat you, but it was close. We need to finish what we started, and trust me when i say this: I WILL NOT LOSE TO YOU! Dinny, want revenge? You cant beat me, no matter how much i suck. I was born to win. As a gentlemen I always say yes to a rematch tho. T-back, you got lucky *cough*. Hella fun guys!
• KT showing up like WHAT?! I know some people know about that. I'm a naive and dumb fuck, and you got me got! I had already accepted that you couldn't come, coz it was the best for your future. BUT NO! Fuck that KT manages to be around. Sev happy!
• Random talking with JPH!P members. You guys are so fucking cool it touches my heart. BFF!
• JPH!P girls. Why are you girls so cute? You make me buzz.
• Taking time off my date to hang around JPHipsters. What you dont make me do. Put JPH!P in front of a girl. I'm so manning up, not a bitch anymore! I AM A MAN, NOT A WHIPPED GEEK (i am, but i wanted to sound cool.)
• No meowchi ;_; Wait.. Pandameow?! Mikechi?! I FUCKING KNEW IT! YOU ARE ONE CRAZY GIRL! I love you meow! (feel honored mike)
• Other awesome stuff forgotten.. for now. I reserve myself to remember more things.

And a little something to say (this shit is not in any order either):
First of all, most of all and all of all: Thank you! Thank you to everyone. Everyone who did shit, from scrapbooking, to planning, to shit i dont know. Your hard work is inspiring and appreciated. Thank you to everyone that showed up. Doing shit is important, but it's worth nothing if people don't show up. Thank you! I consider myself extremely lucky to have met so many of you. It is, and I mean this with all of my heart, an honor. Even better to share so many great moments with all of you. Everything, and nothing, just a small "Hi I'm <name>" is worth so much to me. Thank you! Thank you that we made this to what it became, a couple of days or pure happiness and love. Strangers, but friends. We could've done nothing, walked separate ways. Fuck that. We tried, we succeeded. We, together, fucking made it! Thank you. Thank you to all of you that couldn't make it. Don't get me wrong! I fucking love you too and I so wish everyone that wanted could've been there. If it were up to me, there would be no question about it. EVERYONE would go. Thank you all! Thank you to every fucking member at the forum. I don't care if you're a fanfic writer, a straight up perv (hi5), music expert, or a lurker. You all most likely have a vagina or a penis, or both (god bless you tama, i fucking love you), and even if you don't have a penis or a vagina I still fucking love you. THANK YOU!

And a special personal thank you to: daigong, mugen, boy, SITS, 10k, Arun, Ping, Jayson, Dinny, Fen, T-back, Wolfy, KT, JFC, Commie, Dave, Flyp, Jab, Rickker, Slack, CKD, Arita, Masa, Yuri, Terrie, Sevii, Ap, Dave, strawb3rrykream + friend + dads, rokun, Sayah, Shannon, OPS, limit, aewen, kanki + friends, Tris-chan, pandamike, differentstory12 + extras, datalanche, BigFreaky, e-girl, nickorp, lmt, DHG, random new found fans from H!O at concert, random AX people, + more. I know, i probably forgot you, that's right.. You. Thank you! I blame alcohol for that (that happened after all of AX, real talk, i was mainly sober around you guys). But again, to YOU, I love you too, thank you!

Finally (this is in order):
Thank you all you sweet little perverts and not so perverted sweeties for just being you.

[Mugen]

I think most people are more irked about the negativity of AX reports that outweigh the fact that we were lucky enough to meet MM. Keep in mind that many people including this forum has members who are unable to attend, and when they read negative reviews like that, it really irks them. In my opinion, the fact that we get to meet MM already outweighs the cons in AX. Nobody said your opinions are wrong, it's just the negative aura that came with your posts that might pissed people off. Especially the ones who did not get to go to AX. Well, I'm really sorry though if you guys thought AX was a failure in terms of customer service.

[shirenuファクトリー]

Mama
Papa

Why you have to argue

 


Yeah there's a bunch of us who couldn't go at all! A bunch who still hasn't seen Momusu with our own eyes. But I will go see them in Japan one day, I can't just sit on my arse in America to wait for them to come like everything else comes there. Man you guys are so spoiled and you don't even realize it.