Thank you everyone for the nice comments and birthday wishes.
Also thank you to everyone else who is contributing! I'll be sure to click the thank you buttons when I get back home. The internet here at the Wilshire Grand is ass and I'm having a hard time getting certain things to load. Also, I'm really sorry that I've had no pictures to share. They changed the policy for the opening ceremonies at the last minute so I left it at the hotel then, and every other event has allowed photography to press people only. No worries, boykun and tenkei have brought some of the absolute best photos of the events that I've seen.
Today was the last day of AKB48 activity here at the con. I headed off to the con in the morning and got there a bit before 10:00AM. Indeed, they are clearing out the Petree Hall between events. I was happy to see that because last year it was difficult to get a good seat with people camping the previous panel, sometimes even multiple ones. This made the playing field kinda fair. With the panel two and a half hours away we had some waiting to do. The line for the panel was already huge. I passed the time by listening to my iPod. Again, just like on the flight there, the damn thing kept picking SKE48 songs.
We were waiting outside but again, under some shade. I
seriously appreciate Anime Expo's efforts to try their best to keep us out of the sun this year. It's so awesome to come back to the hotel unburned. Boy am I getting a nice tan though.
The panel itself was awesome. It started off with some good news for me: they would be accepting gifts at the end of the panel, so they received my post cards from Texas. AWESOME!!! Then we got the usual warning about recording, etc. I was in the fifth or sixth row to the right of the walkway with the microphone. I was right in front of Sayaka, and she was SO cool. She waved back to everyone who waved at her throughout the panel and was all smiles. The panel started about ten minutes late, but it was still awesome. The questions were decent. They did a good job of scaring away people with personal or specific girl questions. The only exception was a Japanese woman from Germany who did not let the mic go. There were also a few questions that were not answered well or at all. Someone tried to ask a funny question, something like "Would you rather collaborate with Idoling again or do the pie game?" Their handler/manager took over and gave a speech about how they want to collaborate with other groups but there is no plans yet and they want to branch out. Everyone was pretty confused as to why it was handled that way, but I bet that members are not allowed to answer anything even remotely personal. The questions and answers were very typical but it was cool to see. I spent most of my time having a good look at all the members. Ange, I need lessons from you.
Sayaka's been a major point gainer in this trip. She's always been pretty hawt to me, no doubt, but seeing in her in person, amplify it by a billion. She's just gorgeous, flawless, stunning, breath taking. I was genuinely in awe.
In addition to that though, the real reason she gained major points with me was with how kind and caring of us she was. She was looking every second for ways to acknowledge us and give us a little fan service. MAJOR props! Rie was next to her. Her face is smaller than I expected but she's gorgeous and seemed really interested in us. Sasshi was nothing short of brilliant as well. She was SO interactive as people have said. She was constantly yelling out things to us and starting chaos. When someone mentioned Enkyori Poster, she started yelling "TEAM YJ! YJ! YAY!"
I loved it. I also loved that she got the "What does being an idol mean to you?" Her answer of "I love cute idols too and I want everyone to love me" was awesome. Also, the panel was done so that every member got to answer a question. They simply went down the line as each question was asked unless the manager chose to answer it for them. Overall, it was a lot of fun. The panel ended with the MC guy announcing there would be no autograph tickets. A lot of people sighed at that. Some had been waiting there since early morning just for that. So, AKB left after much waving. I went to the front with my friend and gave the MC my gifts, thanking him profusely. I'm so thrilled they'll get my cards, you have no idea.
We then went off to the autograph session. We were a bit past the middle of the huge line. The same members at the panel were at the signing. Again, the signing started about 25 minutes late and ended on time. >_> I almost wonder if it was done on purpose since AKB48 doesn't really do signings much. They seemed very interested in stopping the bustling line multiple times for filming. In any case, we stayed in line for most of it. In the end, we got no autograph once again. Naturally I wanted one, but I am not disappointed one bit. It was still awesome. As we were in line, someone with a jphip sticker was filming, so I yelled out "jphip rules!" and it turned out to be tenkei. He talked to me for a bit and I gave a short message. So I guess if he uploads some video of a geeky looking, tired looking guy who's in total fanboy mode, that's me yo.
He gave me a jphip sticker which I'll pimp for the rest of the con (or until it gives out
).
After that, the line started moving VERY slowly. Eventually, we got to a curve close to the tables. We got an AMAZING view of Sayaka and Akicha. Again, Sayaka was nothing but great to us. When she had a free moment, she looked and waved right to me and others in the area. She was awesome. That was when I got a good look at her and her flawlessness. Akicha was next to her, and she's a royal stunner as well. Nice thighs and a pretty face.
Also got to see some of Reina, and a few glimpses of Ami. As we bailed out of the line, I caught some of Sasshi towards the front, and she seemed to be VERY interactive once again. So, while it was disappointing that I didn't get to get something signed or interact with them personally, I still consider the event a success for me. I got within five feet of them, had some interaction, and most importantly, had fun. Thanks girls. You're awesome.
And so ends the AKB48 events at Anime Expo. It's been a surreal experience to say the least. I hope I've been able to share some of the magic. The adventure isn't over though.
I bailed on the line at 1:10. It had 25 minutes left and there were dozens and dozens of people in front of me and I no longer had a good view. I was going to the Nakajima Megumi and May'N concert anyway. I had almost the exact same seats as I had at the AKB48 concert, so the view was excellent. May'N started off the show with a mix of her own singles and Macross Frontier music. It was fucking incredible. Nakajima Megumi came out after May'N's set for a duet of "What About my Star?" which was thrilling. I was VERY into the whole show. When Megumi started "Seikan Hikou", I went berserk. It was the best ever. Megumi did a few more songs then May'N came back out and they introduced the surprise guest. I was expecting to see Mari Iijima, the singer/seiyuu from the original Macross, but instead it was someone MUCH bigger: Yoko Kanno. YOKO FREAKIN' KANNO. I was in shock. As she started playing the piano and the singers sang their medley, I started crying. It was so moving to me. Kanno has done a lot of work on so many of my favorite anime, and I've been into Macross (via Robotech) for literally as long as I can remember, catching reruns when I was four. For my anime fandom, this was downright religious. It's something I'll never forget. Ever. The remainder of the concert was continued brilliance. I loved every second of it.
After the concert, my friend and I got some much needed food from the Quiznos booth. We also got bubble tea from another booth, but it was pretty terrible and took so long to get. After eating, I went to the exhibit hall and had a look around. I didn't see much in there that interested me, which I guess is really a blessing in disguise. Most stuff is way too expensive to even consider, but I did end up getting these...
Yay Mio plushie!
Also had a fruitful visit to Hello Store USA as you can see. One booth had the Acchan photo book, so I went ahead and picked it up as well. Not sure of how much I'll buy. I'm saving my money for the charity auction in case there are any goodies there. After that, I got some Carl's Jr. and called it a night.
Anyway, this is pretty much the end of anything AKB related. I'll still provide some con reports if anything cool is seen but this is probably the last big entry. What a fucking ride it has been. I'm glad I was able to do it. This whole thing has been absolutely awesome. I'm tired, probably a little dehydrated, and exhausted from event after event, but it has all been so worth it. Everything was fun, thrilling, exciting, and very special. Thank you AKB48, thank you Anime Expo, and thank you LA. This has been awesome and I plan to enjoy the next two days all the same. AKB48 saikou!
Also, I have some multimedia for you guys, but it'll have to wait until I have some time to edit it and find some good internets to upload it. It will be in the multimedia section when it's ready.
Topic: [2010.07.01] AKB48 Official Guest of Honor of Anime Expo 2010 (GIRLS ANNOUNCED!) (Read 60762 times)