PAN'S CN ANIME 2003 CON REPORT

SATURDAY, AUGUST 23rd, 2003

I arrived sleep deprived bright and early Saturday morning to a large number of wonderful cosplayers. ^^ I ran around with Amanda taking photos.

We headed to the dealer's room. One of the first people we ran into was Spiku! He's the poor soul I follow around and take photos of at every con. *sweatdrops* Like always, I took his photo and talked to him for a bit. He's such a good sport. ^^

Speaking of cosplayers, DDR guy's friend was dressed up as Link from Zelda. They were walking around with a stereo playing the background music from the Zelda video game. They did this throughout the entire day. It was rather amusing since you'd hear the video game music, then see them walk by.

Amanda and I spent a good chunk of the day upstairs in the artist's area. Sara and Reena, two friends of ours, had a table. We also knew a bunch of people in the area. So that little corner of the art area became the perfect homebase.

Hmmm... I don't find running around taking pictures all day boring, but I fear you might find it boring to read about, so I'll skim over some of the day.

I ran into the girl I met at CN last year. Last year, we spent a good chunk of the con running around together trying to find a Kaiba cosplayer. Sadly, due to issue beyond anyone's control, he could not attend this year either.

By the DBZ hummer area, I ran into a really nice group of cosplayers. I talked to them briefly before running into a Joey (Yu-Gi-Oh!) cosplayer. She was nice as well. ^^

A couple was walking around wearing New Jersey Devils jerseys. I took their picture for Chapel, who loves the Devils more than his anime. oO;

Nearby, I ran into Taina and Tomoyo from Nona dressed as Tai and Matt from Digimon. I got a picture of them (they has an Agumon ^^).

Downstairs, we finally ran into my friend's Get Backers cosplay group. It was semi-incomplete at the moment. Their Ginji (Kenney) was still running around dressed as Reno from FF7, Mike (Akabane) was somewhere, and Amiboshi (MakubeX) was nowhere to be seen. Kira (Emishi) put signs reading "Amiboshi - Find the GetBackers group!" everywhere. Still, Kira (Emishi), Rem (Kadsuki), Ban (Bianco), Aggie (Shido), and Jen (Natsumi) were running around. I got a photo of them and promised to find them again later.

I am well aware that this is basically irrelevant, but Aggie was cosplaying as Shido. Shido usually has a large black bird near him. Aggie didn't have a black bird, so she had a stuffed black duck instead. For some reason, that entertains me greatly. I love that duck. ^^;

Nearby, I ran into the girls from YukiAme.com. ^^ They're so cute! ^^

I meet one of them, Maki, two years ago at CN Anime. She was dressed as Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne at the time. ^^ She stopped to talk to me about my Jeanne costume and we discussed various ways of Jeanne costume construction. ^^ Maki is such a good cosplayer!

After bothering a Prince of Tennis group, I spotted an Akabane (Get Backers). Near her, I found the Get Backers group again. I got the other Akabane to pose with them and took some pics, before running off again.

I talked with the super uber nice anime guy again. Actually I talked to him throughout the day. ^^ He's brilliant!

While still wandering around the lobby, I ran into Angel Cosmos and Becky. Becky was dressed as Cooro from +Anima. A few minutes later, I ran into two local cosplayers whose names I still can't remember (they were Tai (Digimon) and Ray (Beybalde) last year, and Young Vash and Knives (Trigun) at Anime North). They were dressed as Naruto characters. ^^ There was also a Neo (Matrix) cosplayer hanging out under the elevators. He's outfit was dead on, and he looked like Neo to boot. ^^

Around noon, Amanda and I met up with a group of friends. Lauren wore a school project, but everyone thought it was a costume. *heh* Anyway, we went out to the food court across the street for lunch.

You know, it's really interesting to be in a food court filled with people in costume. I pity any "normal" people who just happened to be there.

Lunch was fun. I spotted the Trunks cosplayer sitting a few tables away, so I took out my camcorder and went over and bothered him. ^^; His friend was dressed as Vash from Trigun. He asks me if I was a stalker or something. I replied yes, and he told me that was fine and for me to carry on. *sweatdrops* I also spotted the Ray (Beyblade) cosplayer eating lunch. ^^;

Guess who else just happened to be eating lunch nearby? Spiku! I had eaten earlier, so I sat and talked with him for awhile before retreating back to my table.

As I was leaving to go back to the con, Laura, Richard and Butterfly came in through the underground pathway. I tried to get back the same way they did, but failed miserably. I ended up in a parking garage, but we're not going to talk about that. ><;

I ended up going back to the food court and talking with Laura and the gang for awhile before re-meeting up with Amanda and heading back to the con (above ground this time ^^;).

Amanda and I ran around taking pictures of more cosplayers. There were so many! ^^ I saw Chobrat (she was the Haku from Spirited Away at Anime North). She was dressed as Goku from Saiyuki. ^^ WAI! Her costume looked great! We stopped to talk for a bit and I took some photos. She told us her friend Kougaji was sick, and I promised to find her again later on in the con to get even more pictures. ^^

We headed back upstairs and found the Duo cosplayer again. Amanda made the armbands off a famous Gundam Wing doujinshi image and we just happened to have two of the armbands with us. We followed the Duo cosplayer back to the art area. It turns out that her and Heero had a table just a hop, skip, and a jump from our friends. ^^ Anyway, Heero was at the table selling really pretty Gundam Wing fanart. I bought two of her pretty pictures. Anyway, we talked to them about Gundam Wing for awhile. They were cosplaying costumes from one of Tohru Azumi's doujinshis called "BOO BOO". The armbands we had on us were from her doujinshi entitled "Electronic Hallelujah". Long story short, they put the armbands on and posed for some pictures. ^^

They wore the armbands throughout the next two days. WAI! They were really nice and made a good Heero and Duo to boot! ^^

We went back to chasing around cosplayers. I took a photo of a Mimiru and Sora from .hack//SIGN. The sad part was that I couldn't remember Sora's name. ><;;; Amanda went off to view the Anime Music Videos and I went off to take more pictures. ^^

I ran into Chobrat again. She had her Goku costume completely on and even had fake blood on her face. She looked just like a Saiyuki artbook image. Amaazing! ^^ She did such a good job!

I talked to Chobrat a bit more about this, that, and the other thing. ^^ She's really cool. I hope I'll get a chance to see her again at cons in the future. ^^

Taking pictures in the lobby, I ran into Josh. He dresses us as Heero from Gundam Wing, and I know him a bit from outside con stuff as well. He was waiting in line when I went up to great him. He running-tackle-glomped me and the next thing I knew, I was spinning around in the air. ^^;

I stopped to talk to Josh and his friends for a bit. One of the girls with them was one of the girls interviewed in YTV's "Becoming a J-rocker" spoof at Anime North. We talked for a bit. ^^

Soon after, I ran into Harry and Draco (I really should stop calling them that) in the lobby. They were dresses at characters from Matantei Loki Ragnarok. ^^ I followed them back to an area between the escalators. They had a Loki-ish picnic set up on the floor and a group of them were enjoying their tea party. ^^

Also in the lobby, I found the Ayane cosplayer that I met the day before. ^^ Her costume was excellent. She even made the giant bow. She made it out of foam and it looked really good. ^^

Wandering around the halls, I ran into Micheru. She had a little kitten with her. I had to blink twice to make sure I wasn't seeing things. Turns out a homeless lady found a bunch of kittens in a garbage bag and was trying to find them a home. Micheru adopted one. ^^

I passed by someone sitting on the floor reading what looked to be a book. I couldn't see anything of it but the back cover. I recognized it right away. She was reading the Director's Cut of Johnny the Homicidal Maniac. ^^ I screamed something like "Yay, Johnny!" and she was surprised I knew what she was reading (I have my own copy of the Director's Cut... I also have Richard's copy, which I should really give back). She told me she'd be dressing up as Devi (a character from Johnny the Homicidal Maniac) on Sunday. I told her I'd try and find her to get a photo. ^^

Afterwards, I headed to the DragonBall Z Voice Stars Panel with Sean Schemmel (Goku in the Texas dub) and Brian Drummond (Vegeta in the Vancouver/Ocean Group dub). Both of them were answering all sorts of DragonBall Z related questions, as well as voicing some of the fans favorite quotes and just having a plain good time. ^^

It was at this panel that I found out Sean would be doing a voice in Shaman King coming up this fall on the FoxBox. He gave the crowd a little preview. ^^ Moreover, both Sean and Brian answered all sort of questions regarding FunImation and the different DragonBall/Z/GT dubs and the confusion that they bring.

What made it even better was the amount of DragonBall Z fans in the crowd. That might sounds strange, especially if you're at an anime convention, but for many people, (much like Sailor Moon) DragonBall Z serves as a hook that pulls people into the world of anime. Many fans move on. It was nice to see so many people that were still into DragonBall Z. ^^ Personally, I've been into the show for close to thirteen years. WAI! ^^ I love DBZ!

At the end of their panel, Sean and Brian posed for some photos and pleased their fans. Those two had a real chemistry together. It was like they were brothers or something. ^^

Afterwards, I ended up back at the picnic site. I sat down for a while with the group of people sitting there. Micheru had her kitten there and everyone was watching it. After a little rest, I got up and spotted the Kougaji (Saiyuki) cosplayer. I had talked to her earlier, but she wasn't feeling well. It was nice to see that she was feeling better. ^^

There was a Dir en Grey cosplayer in the lobby. I took his photo. I noticed he was wearing the tie that Hiro Yuuki ripped off in one of the Weiss concerts. I told the cosplayer this and he found it amusing.

I talked to the super uber nice anime guy (I don't know what else to call you ><;) a bit more. I also stopped to talk with Peter and Animerag a bit. They were telling me about their latest achievements with their websites. Keep up the good work, guys! ^^

It was around this time that I happened to run into the translator from last year again. He was walking around playing the ukulele. oO;

Nearby, I found ye old Get Backers group sitting around. Aggie and Rem were handcuffed together and had stolen Mike's hat. *sweatdrops* On the plus side, Mike (Akabane) and Kenney (Ginji) had shown up. On the down side, other members of the group had run off. *anime fall*

I found Spiku sitting nearby and stopped to talk to him. He was leaving. Sadly, he could only attend one day of the con. I said bye bye to him. Hopefully I'll see him at the next con. ^^

A few minutes later, a guy in a monster suit came by. Since my costume made me look like a Sailor Moon-ish girl, I posed with him strangling me. *heh* Don't ask...

The other Akabane walked by, and since Mike was also nearby, I grabbed the both of them and made them pose in Akabane vs Akabane type photos. ^^ I made them dance. *sweatdrops* Mike's gonna kill me.

Hmm... I can't really remember what I did after that, but I took a photo of a sprinkler for no reason. Umm...

I stopped to watch some DBZ cosplayers battle it out in the lobby. I adore these guys, and they had a Krillin this time! ^^ Their Mr. Satan is awesome. He even sounds like Mr. Satan. Ah. The entertainment one gets from DBZ cosplayers play fighting in the lobby. ^^;

I found Kira and she showed me one of their "Amiboshi" sign which was rather entertaining since it was really a sign they "borrowed" from the main lobby. *heh*

While Kira and I walked back towards Rem and the Get Backers group, the Vash cosplayer from Anime North 2002 walked by. He wasn't in costume, but I recognized him regardless. Over a year ago when we ended up chasing him into an elevator, Rem was very fangirly. Ahem. Anyway, when I pointing him out to her... uh... long story short, he recognized us, and him and his female companion ran for it. We chased him, but he escaped into an elevator... again. *sweatdrops*

On the way back to the main lobby, I ran into a girl cosplaying the female version of the assassin from Ragnarok Online. She was awesome! ^^ I might have scared her a bit though.

When I ran into the Get Backers cosplay group again, they were finally all in one place at the same time. YAY! ^^ Bianco and Kenney made a perfect Ban and Ginji! ^^ They made me go into "Hanyaaaaan!" mode. ^^

I got their group to pose and took pictures of all of them together and individually. They did a great job. WAI! I *heart* Get Backers!

After much Get Backer photo taking, I wandered off. I found a Battle Royal group and took their picture. I also took a picture for them. They were a neat little deadly group. ^^;

I found Amanda again and after talking to her briefly, ended up hanging out with the Get Backers group. Eddy and Yui were there too, although they weren't dressed as Get Backers characters. They were climbing an unused escalator and then sliding down it screaming "WEEEE!" Yep, normal...

While hanging out, a group of Star Wars characters marched by. Soon after, a group of Klingons walked by in a long line. For some reason, Mike and Kenney joined in at the end and were waving at people. ><;

I don't know how or why, but I somehow ended up videotaping Aggie jumping around singing the "Everybody!" HomestarRunner theme. Don't ask me how, but that somehow turned into Kenney, Rem, Aggie and I playing a messed up version of ring-around-the-rosy. By that I mean we ended up holding hands in a curlew spinning very quickly. I think Aggie's wig flew off. *sweatdrops*

Kenney and I ended up in a room where a Star Trek Klingon "Comedy Core" meeting was going on. I turned to Kenney and asked in a hushed voice "What are we doing here?". Kenney replied in a whisper, "Watching the freaks".

Oh, the irony. ^^;

Everyone outside eventually came into the same room. A Klingon asked us to sit down, so we did. We all ended up watching the Klingons sing. I don't know what scared me more -- the fact we were watching Klingons sing or the fact that they were really good.

I escaped at some point and went upstairs to the art table. There I found Chapel and that they were trying to sell Richard. ><;

Chapel really wanted a katana, but sadly, he wasn't 18 years of age yet. So we went over to the weapons booth, since I'm over 18, I got him his katana.

Hmmm... Can I really say that on LELOLA? Meh. I doubt anyone is still reading this. It's so long that you're probably skimming, so it doesn't really matter. ^^;

At CN Anime... purple monkey dishwasher. And then the cats took over the world using their sporks of ultimate doom and all was merry. Have you seen my shoes? They were up in that tree but they seem to have flown away. In the name of Value Village I claim this store for Price Chopper! Surrender now, scoundrel, or face the wrath of my... butter knife? MIKE!!!

Anyway, back at the art table, they had the fake guns the Turks were using in the cosplay. One of the guns sounded like a cheesy machine gun when you pulled the trigger. It caught me off guard the first time when I turned around to find Laura shooting Chapel. Chapel pretended to collapse on the ground and Laura was hailed the ruling champion supreme of muffins. Err...

Uh... Kira shot Richard in the head.

I'm so dead. ><;

Chapel, his cousin Lisa, and I eventually snuck back down to the lobby. There weren't very many people there as everyone was either in the masquerade or getting ready for the masquerade. I spotted "Vash" on the escalator heading downstairs. I think I scared him. That' s understandable.

I spotted Mike, Kenney and Bianco dancing. There was originally going to be a Get Backers skit, but long story short, it didn't work out. Mike, Kenney and Bianco were performing it anyway. However, every time they got about thirty seconds into the song, the stereo would die. I'm betting that's because it's the same stereo as the one Link was carrying around and playing all day. Having Zelda background music on auto-repeat for eight hours straight is enough to kill any batteries.

I watched them try to perform their number over and over again, until at some point Kenney exclaimed, "Let's quit!"

As if on cue, the ukulele translator guy came up the escalator next to us. We asked him to play a song for us, so he began to play the Sailor Moon theme. Not only that, but he sung the lyrics in Japanese and in tune.

I turned my attention back to Mike, Bianco and Kenney and found Kenney to be dancing to the ukulele music. ^^;;;

After the excitement died, it was getting closer to the time when the masquerade would take place. Since I was dead tired, I opted to go home and leave my camcorder in my friend Eddy's trusting hands. She recorded some stuff.

Becky was in a skit performing "Ultra Relax". Amanda was in a skit with Vicki where Ceres and Eriol discussed getting Ceres a theme song, and well, eventually became Amanda dancing around in a kilt. *sweatdrops* So yes, the masquerade was much fun even though I wasn't there.

Before the masquerade, I explored the line a bit and talked to some people. I took Kenney to where the others were, and then told them I'd see them later in the evening when they got back, and headed back upstairs.

As I left with Chapel, I looked at the semi-empty lobby and a hint of a smile snuck onto my face. It may have been empty then, but I knew that in a few short hours, it would be as busy as ever.