CN ANIME 2002

Pan's Journal of Events

Friday, August 23, 2002


CN Anime - known for its dealer's room and for the mix of comic, sci fi and anime fans. It's one crazy adventure, and, of course, this time around was no exception.

So much happened that I'm not sure where to start. ^^

Well, first I met up with my friends Eddy, Yui and Chapel. I decided on my Noriko outfit, Eddy was dressed as Misato from Evangelion, and for some random reason, we ended up putting my Renamon outfit on Yui. Anyway, we decided to take public transportation. Mwhahahahahaha! It's was great. The bus driver was scared to let us on the bus. The subway was fun too. Everyone was looking at us like we were mad. To top things off, I was walking around with a stuffed pink bunny rabbit - AKA Kumagoro.^^

When we got there, my friends stood in the insanely long line while I found the media room and figured out what was going on. I took out my camera and my clipboard, then left my bag with my friends and wandered around getting pics of cosplayers.

No one recognized me as Noriko the entire time. Maybe it's because Noriko only wears that outfit in two episodes or because no one really seems to care about her. Oh well. I still wandered around with Kumagoro on my head (the pink bunny rabbit), so lots of people took pictures of me because they thought I was nuts. Yay, me! ^^

One of the first cosplayers I spotted was Inuyasha - as in the Amiboshi from last year and the Inuyasha from Anime North that I always make a fool of myself in front of. Chapel said he wanted to video tape me making a fool of myself this time (insert sweatdrops here), and since I didn't want to turn purple yet, I decided not to talk to him yet.

When I got up into the dealer's area, I found Laura and her friends. We're all part of one big Gravitation cosplay group. Laura is Tohma, Butterfly is Ryuichi, I'm Noriko, Reena is Shuichi, Richard is Yuki, and our friend Mac is Mr K. ^^ Butterfly, Laura and I together are Nittle Grasper! (Go see Gravitation to understand.)

Anyway, after meeting up with them, it wasn't long until I spotted Taina, her sister and their friends running towards me. At some point here, I also met Sakura of TAA, but I was overwhelmed at that moment and couldn't really talk to her. Mental note: Look for her tomorrow.

Anyway, Taina, Tomoyo and their friends are really nice. They gave me a hand-made Taichi plushie! WAI! *smiles* I could have fainted right then and there! It's Taichi from Digimon - my favorite bishie of all time! WAI! Thankees sooo much guys! *hugs her plushie* This thing is sleeping nect to me!

At some point, this man in a tin-foil hat approached us. His friend had a camcorder and they were asking around if anyone saw any alien activity. *giggles* Me being me, on the spot I started going on and on about the evils of timeshare and how the timeshare salesmen are everywhere. Everyone seemed to get a kick out if, which was good. ^^

I spotted a Bakura cosplayer who I recognized from a message board I haunt. I accidentally made a scene when I approached her and she had no clue who I was. *he he* I better make sure I find her tomorrow so I can explain myself.

I hung out with Taina and her friends some more, and then went to rescue my backpack. When I returned, Taina and Tomoyo presented me with some of their art. WOW! They even gave me some awesome pictures of Taichi! *hugs* THANK YOU!!!

I also spotted "Shinji" from the JPOP dance. He was dressed as Ranma and was carrying around a giant hammer. I ran up to him and hugged him, then hit him on the head a few times with Kumagoro. ^^ "Kumagoro BEAM!!!"

Lots of people took pictures of us, and then I ended up breaking off from Taina and her group. This guy poked me in the back so I turned around. He looked familiar. I told him that I knew him I just didn't know who he was. It turns out he's a guy from my driving school. What are the odds of that? He was the one that drew DBZ characters on the board while I wrote "DOOM!" 300 times.

I then ran into a man who asked me if I was Pan-Chan of LELOLA. It turns out he's one of my fans and he took out a photo album to show me. It had some pictures of me inside. Weird, ne?

I saw Doug Kale, who if I'm not mistaken, is the editor of Beckett's Collector magazines. He was cool and I got his autograph. I actually ran into him again later in the night. He seemed to find Kumagoro very interesting. Anyway, he said that he'll help me get an interview with the DBZ voice actors tomorrow. WAI! ^^

I just found some of Doug Kale's older Digimon work from a few years ago. I knew I recognized him from somewhere. I have to get him to sign this Digimon magazine tomorrow. He's so cool! ^^

Still with the stuffed pink bunny rabbit on my head, I wandered around some more. I eventually met up with Eddy and the gang. Then we went downstairs to find a piece of plastic (don't ask).

On the way, I was stopped by an anime fan that was in my music class. I talked to him for a little bit. He's involved with some fansubbers and offered to introduce them to me. They're the wonderful people behind things like the Angelic Layer sub. ^^

After that, we ran into a girl who is a member of my anime club. She recognized my Renamon costume on Yui from the times I wore it to school. Turns out she was working at the con again this year. Until today, I never truly released how many inside connections I have with these people. It's actually quite freaky...

I found another Tohma (Gravitation) running around in the lobby. I went up to talk to him. Even though the band Nittle Grasper is Ryuichi, Noriko and Tohma, Tohma didn't recognize me. *sweatdrops* I have to chose better know characters to cosplay as...

Anyway, I showed Tohma my "Nittle Grasper" sign and we posed for a few pics.^^ Kumagoro even attacked him. *heh*

I got recognized (as Pan, not as Noriko) while we were walking and stopped to talk for a little while. Someone in the lobby wanted to take our pictures, so all of us posed for a group shot. All of a sudden I saw Kira walk by. She was dressed as "Detective Youji" from Weiss Kreuz. Acting much like my friend Laura, I yelled "WAIT!" to the person taking the photo. I then screamed "COOL YOUJI!" and ran towards Kira. I grabbed her arm and dragged her into our pic. ^^ Before she knew what was going on, the flash went off. She was kinda confused, but the people in the registration line were laughing their heads off.

All of a sudden I heard some girls screaming "Pan-Chan!" from within the line. I went to go investigate and ran into Glay - one of the best fanartists to ever exist! I missed her last year, so it was really great to meet her this year. ^^ I'll keep an eye out for her tomorrow.

We were looking for Amiboshi when this guy stopped us and asked if I was Pan (as I said before, no one recognized my Noriko outfit *heh*). I told him that I was indeed Pan and he kinda freaked out. He introduced himself as Peter. He's someone who posts at my message center all the time. Anyway, he was really nice and wanted some pictures. ^^ Afterwards, he came with us upstairs where Kumagoro and I got more pictures of random people. Peter is very nice. He even helped my change film rolls in my camera. Thankees! ^^

Peter was very interested in going to the Q&A session with Kia Asamiya who is best known for his work on Nadesico and Dark Angel. He's an amazing artist. Anyway, Eddy, Yui, Peter and I found ourselves in the Q&A session. I had a camcorder with me so I taped much of the first part. The translator was very interesting too. *heh*

Peter asked a question about the relation with spirits in his work and I asked what was the favorite thing he's ever worked on. He said he likes everything he's worked on equally.

At some point, people were asking freakishly long questions about who knows what. I put up my hand...

"Yes, the girl with the pink bunny."

So, I asked the only question I could really think of.

"Do you like cats?"

The entire room broke out in laugher. And the surprising thing is that Asamiya-san liked the question and took the time to answer it.^^

Asamiya-san told us all about his pet cats. He apparently has two of them. One of them likes to eat and the other doesn't like being held. He also told us about how he found the cats and took in strays. He's such a sweet guy! ^^

WAI! Asamiya-san answered my question about cats! I like cats!

Err...

At the end of the Q&A session, Peter got an autograph, and I threw Kuma (my stuffed pink bunny) at Asamiya-san. He was confused, but I managed to get him to pose with Kuma! ^^ YAY!

We left, and Peter broke off from us. I hope we didn't scare him away too much...

Eddy, Yui and I went back upstairs and I took more pictures along the way. There was an Arukenimon cosplayer! WAI!!!

We found Eydt and I managed to convince him to carry my backpack. As I was going up the escalator, Taina and her group was going down the other side. We all started talking about Kirby Morrow and a ton of things at once. Chapel was waiting for us at the top of the escalator and proclaimed: "I could hear you before I could see you." *sweatdrops*

I ran into Shinji and his friend again and we pretended to kill each other and stuff. I somehow lost my friends, and then complained to Shinji that wearing Noriko's 2-inch heeled boots was slightly painful (I just measured - they're actually 4-inch heels. Yay! I'm not as pathetically short!). The next thing I know, Shinji was carrying me and his friend was following behind us with a giant mallet.

Normal, ne? ^^

I ran into Kira (cool Youji) and got a pic of her. She asked how I had found her (referring to the fact that I found her online). I told her than I track where LELOLA hits come from and visit those sites. If you link LELOLA, chances are that you'll get a visit from me eventually. I found her online this way. She was cool. I'll try and find her again tomorrow. ^^

Chapel found someone to buy weapons for him (Argh! And here I was trying to keep him away from sharp objects!) and I talked to a bunch of people about getting an interview with Kirby Morrow. It turns out that he has some exclusive interview with a local TV station and that it may be very difficult to get an interview with him. I'll have to see what I can do tomorrow.

I ran into "Otaru" from Anime North and the JPOP dance even though he wasn't dressed as Otaru. I talked with him for a little while and then went back to my friends. Nearby were people from CityTV (a Toronto TV station). I talked to them and gave them my business card. I then introduced Kumagoro in a high pitched voice and suddenly the camera started taping me. Kuma and I talked to them for a little while, and then I threw Kuma and the camera with another "Kumagoro beam" and they stopped rolling. I think they got a kick out of it.^^ If I end up on the news, it'll be so funny. I can see it now... "Scary girl and her pink bunny rabbit". Oi! They probably will never air it though. *heh*

We went back downstairs and I got pictures of two girls in Shaman King cosplay. I then introduced them to my friends as Harry and Draco from Harry Potter. Everyone was confused and the two girls kinda freaked out. As soon as they saw my pink bunny, they knew I was the crazy girl that met them at the JPOP dance. I had recognized them as Harry Potter characters. ^^

Kuma and I attacked some Star Wars characters and then sat down for a little while. Earlier I had seen a girl whose father thinks I'm a demon. *sweatdrops* Anyway, I was saying something about not wanting to run into her father when a guy nearby us asked for a picture. I, of course, agreed, and just when he was about to take the photo, I saw Inuyasha (Amiboshi from last year) walk by. I asked him if he wanted a more interesting photo. He looked confused, I threw Eddy my camera and then, without thinking twice, I ran off in the general direction Inuyasha went in.

I spotted him and then hugged him from behind. And I didn't let go for at least thirty seconds. Yes, I am scary. ^^

Then I finally revealed who I was and I think he was half-surprised to see me, but he knew who I was. I guess that makes sense. I'm his crazy fan who likes him for who is. Where have I heard that one before?

Anyway, I talked to him for a little bit and when I asked, he knew I was Noriko! YAY! I hugged him again. I hope I get a chance to actually talk with him tomorrow. He's a really cool guy and I'd like to get through an actual conversation with him without turning purple...

I broke off from him, and then noticed that I had left all my stuff back by that guy that was going to take a picture of me. I ran back like an idiot, fell down, and then composed myself just before my friends saw. *he he* The people next to us were laughing.

We then decided it was time to leave. We passed by the "Happy Happy Joy Joy" sailor scouts from Anime North, and after talking with my friend Amanda and spotting Tohma again, we headed out the door. I was still as naturally hyper as ever and jumping all over the place with my Kumagoro. The con was so much fun and so very exciting! ^^ And I got to hug Inuyasha! WAI!

Err...

Let's see... I was interviewed about aliens, got a hand-made Taichi plushie that I adore, asked the Japanese guest of honor about cats, got a ton of strange looks for running around with a stuffed pink bunny on my head, made a complete fool of myself, and even though no one recognized me as Noriko, lots of people seemed to know me as Pan. And if you think today was weird, wait till you see what tomorrow brings...

Rock-paper-Zazel tournament, here I come!