So here we go, the rest of the report:

Friday:

After a kinda restless night and breakfast at IHOP (I ordered a kinda big omelette because knowing how yesterday had gone, it'd prob have to sustain me for the rest of the day), we headed back into the fray known as Anime Expo. Chris once again went off to go do his own thing with his Naruto group while the rest of us three decided on the day's events. First we headed back into the dealer's room where it was time for more spending fun! I was still carefully spending since I knew I could get better deals if I talked to certain booths and haggled a bit. Still, I was ready to jump on certain things that were clearly deals. ^_^ After looking left, right, up, and down for a couple of hours, it was time to head to a panel with the director and screenwriter of s-CRY-ed, an anime series we had discovered back at Fanime. They had also done some other series on their own, but we were mainly interested on what they had to say about s-CRY-ed. This panel was easily the best panel we visited during the entire con. The two, claiming they didn't like formal panels, went into the audience to answer questions directly to the audience members (albeit in a mike with a translator still at the panel table). It was easy to see that these two really got along well and liked working with each other, and they were able to provide for one very entertaining panel. They even shook everyone's hand at the end of the panel and thanked them for coming out to see them. (I made sure to get their autograph later that day, along with ABe's :P) Later we also checked out Mitsuru Hongo's panel, the director of Outlaw Star and Sakura Wars. It was kinda sad since not too many people made it out to his panel. I think most people were waiting in line for Kajiura's concert (the composer of Noir and .hack). Nonetheless he provided some insight to the work he had done, as well as some upcoming projects. AT the end of his panel, he was gracious enough to provide autographs right there on the spot, instead of waiting for a later autograph session like the other guests of honor (although he did do a "regular" session in addition to the one he did at the panel). And Brice, the damn lucky bastard, was able to score an autographed Sakura Wars Movie poster in a raffle.

Well, the rest of the day was spent between the arcade, dealer's room, and the various videorooms watchin anime. We later went to McDonald's to be disappointed for dinner while waiting for Chris to finish up with his ballroom dancing workshop. Yeah, i know...ballroom dancing at an anime con? And Chris' reaction when we met up with him later was priceless: "Dude, it was soooooo boring....it was just like old people....ballroom dancing.....and that was it!!" I mean, I guess he expected to pick up chicks or something, but c'mon man....ballroom dancing??? Couldn't you have at least gone to the regular dance? (actually it turns out he did, he said the DJ sucked).

well, after a long and interesting day, it was time to head back so we could get rest for the next, and what would be our final day.

Saturday:

Bein the horndogs that we were, we decided to drop by on the meetingplace for the cosplay group that decided to dress up as characters from DOA: Xtreme Beach Volleyball ^_^. Unfortunately, by the time we found the pool, either we had missed the thing (unlikely, since we arrived about 7 minutes after the scheduled time) or not that many had decided to dress up as those oh-so-sexy girls. Well, there were like 3 girls there, so that was unfortunately a waste of time. The rest of the day was spent between anime screenings, dealer's room, and waiting in line for autographs. Oh yeah, we also checked out the Yao panel, a voice actor most noted for his role in Bastard!! Well, that's the only thing we cared about. Well, to be accurate, that's the only one brice cared about, but we went cuz in the opening ceremonies he seemed like a cool guy who would give an awesome panel. And he did, doing various voices he had done in the past. (got his autograph too, made an employee I met at Suncoast later jealous ;) ) Later that night I was able to meet up with my sister, who was more than happy to see me since I was down in the socal region. AND!! she presented me with my graduation gift: my very own cell phone!! Finally, I'd be able to talk on the go without the worry of one of my mom's stupid friends calling :D. We went to dine at Downtown Disney at a cajun place wiht live jazz music. The food was delicious and the music/atmosphere was awesome. I'd definitely dine there again if the price wasn't so damn expensive.

Anyways, after we were done for the day, we went back to Chris' and we saw Voices of a Distant Star, a DVD that he and I had both bought. It was "a love story that transcends space and time" that was really done well, in my opinion. What's amazing is that the animation and storywriting was all done by one person, with support from other people for only the music and voices. I thought the story was very touching and it aaaaaaalmost stirred an emotion in my hatred-caked heart, but I tried showing it to some other people and they didn't seem as impressed. Oh well, c'est la vie.

Anyways, that was pretty much the end of my adventures at the anime con. The ride back up was fairly uneventful. I thought i left my keys at Chris' but it turns out i had em all along.

Ok, now on to other stuff

Anime I saw: (we only saw the first 2 episodes of each series)

Please Teacher!: An interesting story about....well, an alien that's monitoring life on Earth and posing as a teacher at a local Japanese school and a student who, after a series of strange events, ends up getting married to the teacher. I'm really not sure what to think about this series....it was definitely hilarious, especially the uncle's character, but it was really really non-sequiter. I'm really not sure where the series is goin next. Plus, i dun really like the character models that much, especially the main characters, the teacher and the student. interesting how that worked out....

Last Exile: WOW....that's all i have to say. I was absolutely mesmerized by this series, even though we only saw the first 2 episodes. Taking place in an alternate world based on our's but vastly different, this show was all about discovery as the viewer found out more about the workings and the mechanics of this different world. For example most of the travel is done by airplanes operated out of privately owned garages. The main characters are two kids, Claus and Lavie, who work as part of a courier service and are among the best pilots available, including adults. ONe very memorable scene from the first episode shows the many planes of those involved in the courier business flying down a wide canyon as the pilots quickly examined the many job notices posted on the canyon walls as they whiz by. As you see Lavie's eyes dart back and forth as she examines each one, she suddenly picks out one with a danger rating of "3" and calls out to Claus her decision. She then uses a light to signal to a nearby wooden tower with men on it. One of the men operates a wooden crane which has a hook that holds papers with further details of the job. Claus flies the plane by the crane as Lavie reaches up to grab it. They then fly off to the source of the job notice for more information. The artwork is absolutely gorgeous in this series and the storyline and writing is truly captivating. I can't wait to see more of this show.

Infinite Ryvius: Harder to explain, as I don't understand some of it myself, but it takes place in the future in space and centers on a group of kids who are training for the space military program. However, danger befalls them when the space station they inahbit suddenly begins to fail and head straight into a solar flare zone. Once again, this series is about discovery and trying to fin out as much of this new, strange world as possible. Plus, the soundtrack is wicked cool, mixing traditional instrumental music with hip-hop beats.

Haibane-Renmei: Sounds Japanese, but Haibane is actually the type of people involved with this series. They basically look like angels, with wings and halos above their heads and live in an isolated city surrounded by a wall. It is unknown how haibane come to exist, as cocoons suddenly appear out of nowhere at certain times and contain haibane which hatch a few days after appearing. However, instead of being babies, the newborn haibane can emerge as children of all ages. Apparently they have been living normal lives before they come to exist in the coccoon, but are suddenly thrust into the village of haibane after having a strange dream. Even weirder, the haibane can't seem to remember anything about their former lives, nor will those they left behind be able to remember anything about them. All they can do is press on with their new lives as haibane. The wings emerge from the haibane's back a few days after being "born", at which point they experience a high fever for a day. this story seems to revolve around a newborn haibane named Rakka, who is just discovering how everything in her new world works. Once again, the theme of discovery works its way back in. For example, it's a rule that haibane are only allowed to wear used clothing that have been donated to thrift shops by regular humans. The artwork in this show is absolutely stunning, even better than Last Exile, and I absolutely cannot wait to see more of this series either. Like a good book, I really want to learn more about this new strange world that the haibane live in. What i find interesting is that the haibane world actually exists on the real world, but the discovery part comes from discovering how the haibane live their day-today lives and the rules they must adhere to.

I! My! Me! Strawberry Eggs!: Ok, this series was just plain goofy and fun. It's about a young guy, early-mid 20s who just moves into a small village and wishes to get a job at the local high school as a PE teacher. however, the principal of the school is a frigid bitch who believes that only women are fit to teach and is in fact planning to eventually phase the male students out of the school entirely, so it will become an all-girl's school. Thus, with the help of his landlord who has a vendetta against the principal, the man is forced to cross-dress in order to hold a job at the school. simple, pure, fun. and that's the way I like it ^_^

Elf Princess Rane: I saw this many-a-year ago, but it was nice to relive the memories. one hour of pure treasure hunting wackiness, and damn entertaining at that. It also sets itself up for a third episode and even gives a few preview scenes. Sadly, the third episode was never made. Weird....

Well, that's all he wrote! Perhaps I'll mention a few more things about the con in the future. Until next time!

Quote of the day:"The movie was soooo long" -Brice
"How long was it?" -me
"like....2 and a half hours" -brice
"That's not long, that's like how long the Matrix was!" -me
"But it's 2 and a half hours of pirates!!!" -Brice

(of course, regarding Pirates of the Caribbean, anyone wanna see that with me?)