Day –01: Roaming L.A.
This being my second year at this convention, having learned from last year near mistake of arriving too late on day 0 ( My friends and I were saved from waiting under the sun to pick up our badges because we met with people already under the shade) we decided to get there even more early. And so we arrived 2 days before the con started, which gave us the time to visit a bit.
We went to do a quick Hollywood tour. Twas fun I guess.
We passed in front of Harmony Gold studios. Various emotions filled me at that time.
I wish I had taken a proper picture of the building , but I think my camera said a big NO.
Understandable.
Day 00:
Badge pick up day, #linecon2012 begins
Got on site around 11AM, the pickup service opening at 3PM, we ended up staying in line for 6h.
Met @toastcrust who arrived and joined my crew and I during that line up.
After picking our badges, we tried to go the red carpet/Opening ceremonies but were told by line staff that we could take neither pictures nor videos, so we decided to skip that.
Later that evening, we went to a dinner party organized by @zzeroparticle in Little Tokyo.
Around 30+ gathered. It was a real clusterfuck, but a pretty nice evening.
Got to meet pretty cool people that night , both online and new : @to_aru_oni , @David_meade , @excieI , @bbjobs , @zaockle , @icystorm, @blitzwingjp @akirascuro and @KylaranAeldin
Day 01: #AXgames begins
Total Eclipse Panel
It was the first thing I attended that morning .
Ayame, Kuribayashi and Kouki Yoshimune were there.
They had a very bad translator, but that didn’t really come to light until later.
Kouki Basically summarized the plot of the show and that’s really about it.
It was mostly a greeting panel.
Sato Tatsuo Panel
I only caught the ending of that one because of the TE panel . When I arrived someone asked him about the continuation of #mo_retsu
and he replied that the story would end, but to not forget to watch the final episode the next morning for a surprise.
Surprise which turned out to be a movie.
Exhibit hall
I skipped the Ryo Horikawa panel to get into the opening of this.
If the party from the previous night was CHAOS, the line to get in this was a CLUSTERFUCK
Roamed around a bit, and skipped the Fate/Zero panel to start lining up for the Yuki Kajiura panel.
A good two hours before its start.
I met @TrackingRice and @tehraysel during the wait and finally understood what all this 765Pro #Idolsport thing is about.
Yuki Kajiura Panel
This was mostly Q&A.
Side note : I’m a bit angry about this because the MC said “no questions about her work in Anime and whatnot, only about tomorrow’s concert”
So obviously I didn’t get up because I had no questions about the concert.
and non of the people in line for the questions followed the rule.
I should have gotten up, but oh well.
The few answers that stuck to me were (I’ll paraphrase):
– Kajiura said that FictionJuction is not a band. It’s only her. She is fictionJuction.
Kaori, Keiko, Wakana and Yuriko are basically vocals that are added to songs she composes.
– Composing for Fate/Zero was very hard for her and she is really looking forward to Sword Art Online. Sword Art Online has a young main character and thus feel fresh, whereas Fate/Zero has an “old man” feeling.
– When asked how she choose which voice pitch to go with certain songs, she said that she actually adjust the song based on the vocalist voice pitch, not the other way around.
She also said that she doesn’t have a “genre”, she doesn’t like the idea of classifying music by genres and just makes music.
– When asked what they would do if they weren’t into music, Kaori said she’d be a kindergarten teacher and Yuriko said she’d do something I can’t remember.
Kajiura would still be a system engineer.
However both Keiko and Wakana couldn’t see themselves as something other than singing.
– And finally, she has no “favourite” from what she composed. She is still looking to compose the ultimate song.
If I recall correctly Yuriko said『Canta per me』, for Kaori I unfortunately forgot , for Keiko it was『風の街へ』 and finally for I can’t remember what it was for Wakana
Orz
At the end of the panel it was that the concert would be extended an hour. yay
Anime News Network Panel
Got to finally see what they all look like.
It was interesting to see that they are as snarky IRL to people as they are online.
One guy asked a very uninteresting question, and was answered by Christopher McDonald with “Who the fuck cares?”
Indeed.
We then went to the Gundam Present, past and future panel.
Basically a fan-run panel recapping whatever is airing/will air in Japan.
Followed by giveaway.
And that was it for the con on that day.
Day 02: Kajiura Concert day
Mirai no neiro
skipped most of the panels I had planned on attending (including the LiSA one) because I hard heard that Dixie Flatline and other Vocaloid producers were around.
Ended up going to that panel in the morning.
Which was cool, discovered new beats and new producers
KagomeP memorable line during the panel was “fuck japanese government” , just because.
AgoanikiP told us the great tale of his getting to AX and getting lost. Which could only be hilarious as he spoke nothing else but Japanese.
I rather enjoyed listening to the intro video/song of the panel but I can’t quite put on my hand on what it could have been.
The presented song that marked me were
VocaliodP (OdoP) ‘s『Because the sky is』
DeadballP’s『Japanese ninja 1』
and
Dixie Flatline’s『Answer』
Dixie went on to tell his tale with music. How he dreamt to make it big in the US music scene a few years back , quit his job and moved to NYC, but it didn’t work out well so her had to go back to Japan.
He discovered Miku and made some songs for her. And last year when he saw the cheering public loving his 『Just be Friends』song at Mikunopolis, he was completely moved as he realized that he ended up achieving his dream via Luka and this inspired him to make more music.
After that panel
Then more roaming happened until we got into yet another mirai no neiro panel in the afternoon.
There was a Miku mini-concert followed by new and old vocaloid videos.
Kajiura and FictionJunction concert
It then became time for THE EVENT of AX2012 to start a 7PM.
Unfortunately the concert didn’t start before 7:40 , nearly an hour late, only to end 9:20. So much for that extra hour.
But I digress,
The concert.
The concert started with “The beginning of the end” vocals by Wakana before they all appeared on stage.
After that, Kajiura briefly presented her vocalist and band before continuing
She said that she find Wakana’s voice very sad. Basically, when something terribly sad happens to you, that’s what Wakana’s voice reminds her of.
Yuriko can sing everything. She has performed over hundred songs for Kajiura (they actually counted one day).
Keiko has a strong voice that hits perfectly low notes. So whenever she needs that, she calls for Keiko.
I sadly don’t remember what was said for Kaori.
They proceeded on singing “the battle is to the strong”
Here is a complete set list (courtesy of ninetales on canta-per-me.net )
overture
M-01. the beginning of the end ／『Fate／Zero』
M-02. the battle is to the strong ／『Fate／Zero』
M-03. the image theme of Xenosaga Ⅱ／『XenosagaⅡ』
—MC—
M-04. vanity／『FICTION』
M-05. Liminality／『.hack／Liminality』
M-06. in the land of twilight , under the moon／『.hack／SIGN』
M-07. Hanamorino Oka（花守の丘）／『Hokuto no Ken』
M-08. Parallel Hearts／『Pandora Hearts』
M-09. salva nos／『NOIR』
—MC—
M-10. Sis puella magica!／『Puella Magi MADOKA☆MAGICA』
M-11. forest／『EL CAZADOR DE LA BRUJA 』
M-12. Credens justitiam／『Puella Magi MADOKA☆MAGICA』
M-13. Himeboshi（媛星）／『MY-HiME』
M-14. Duran-Shoukan（デュラン召環）／『MY-HiME』
M-15. Mezame（目覚め）／『MY-HiME』
M-16. stone cold／『SACRED SEVEN』
M-17. zodiacal sign／『AQUARIAN AGE』
—MC—
M-18. open your heart／＜アンコール＞
the world／『.hack／SIGN』
I don’t think I can find proper words to describe all the flux of emotions I felt during the concert.
I attended Kalafina’s concert last year (Kalafina > FictionJunction), but it doesn’t even begin to compare.
One of winning point this year is definitely the fact that Kajiura arrived with an actual band instead of the music box Kalafina had last year.
The fact that we had pretty sweet seats was also a big plus.
The speakers and subwoofer were loud enough that you could feel the sound waves going through you.
I discreetly shed a few tears during the concert because of how grandiose it all was.
Then it hit me that nothing would ever compare to that. And finally I thought of my friends who could not attend and were missing that.
I felt a mixture of sadness and joy at the same time during the concert. It was very surreal.
Unfortunately, they didn’t perform 『Gatherway』. I think I would have went to heaven if they did.
Where I actually nearly went when they did『目覚め』live. It being my favourite Kajiura song, it was very hard to control myself and not fanboy like the guy in the section across.
After that , @tsundelicious organized a party in his room.
@to_aru_oni , @David_meade , @exciel , @bbjobs , @zaockle and @_eternal attended.
We got mad wasted. Especially @excieI and @zaockle.
Also I’m not drinking with Canadians ever again.
— ExcielP (@exciel_co_log) July 3, 2012
Priceless.
@largehotcofee and @weelchais dropped by after. T’was pretty cool.
Day 03: LiSA concert day
Production I.G panel
I’m not sure how, I managed to wake up for at 9AM.
But it was hosted by Maki Terashima, so FUCK YEAH.
Sato Tatsuo was in the audience and answered a few quick questions related the Rinne.
LiSA concert
Skipped yet again a bunch of panels and then went to the concert
We had shitty seats for this one, but it’s ok.
I may have enjoyed this concert more than FictionJunction’s ( Heresy I know)
But here’s the thing:
LiSA isn’t the best singer out there but she’s a great entertainer.
I mean, she managed to make 90% of the room stand up for the duration of the whole concert.
She was all over the scene and full of energy.
She had us clap often, and had us do some weird dance moves during one of her songs.
She really made everyone be into it.
The FictionJunction concert was magnificent, I mean It’s one of the greatest event of my life, but it wasn’t fun like LiSA
Also that’s kinda weird because last year during Kalafina, Keiko was like LiSA, all over the place and full of energy.
Wakana and Hikaru too (less than Keiko) but this year Keiko and Wakana were completely reserved. I can’t figure out why.
Anyway, back to LiSA
I fortunately didn’t note the songs she played and can’t find a proper set list on the web. But I can tell you she performed a lot of Angel Beats song and obviously Oath Sign.
With all these Angel Beats song, Yui fans were in for a treat (I know I was).
I just wish she had performed 『Highest Life』 too, but can’t ask for too much, 2/3 of my favorite songs (『一番の宝物～』 and『My soul, your self』)from her isn’t bad at all.
Unlike Fictionjunction’s concert, LiSA didn’t do a encore. But she promised to come back.
Total Eclipse premiere screening
#linecon2012 hit its culminating point when I went to line up an hour before the 6PM scheduled Total Eclipse premiere screening .
Two hours in line later, we finally got seated, but nope the screening didn’t start right away.
Inugaki went on to say the exact same thing he said during his panel on friday.
Which made me wonder what was the point of that panel on Friday.
The only actual new thing he said that the first two episodes would focus on Yui and the Alaska stuff would begin in episode 3.
And this is when I mention the MC and the translator.
As I mentioned up there, the TL had had some issues on friday, but it wasn’t that flagrant.
But boy did it show on sunday.
He could not translate half of that Koukisaid properly.
He was actually winging it baller style.
While describing the Alternative setting, Kouki mentioned how humanity lost the battle on the moon.
The TL managed to say “The aliens invaded the moon, but it didn’t had enough weapon so we lost”.
Uh yeah ok.
When Kouki would describe what equipment would do, the TL went “This is used for space and stuff “
I kid you not. “Space and stuff”.
and the MC him, was there to butcher the name of everyone he could.
That is when he could find the name of whoever he was announcing.
Anyway, before it started, Ayame went on stage to perform her insert song in that played in the episode.
Followed by Kuribayashi who performed a song, not sure which one though because she did another song after the screening and that song is the ending theme.
Now, about them muv Luv Alternative Total Eclipse episodes.
We actually got to see two episodes ( episode 2 being the actual exclusive premiere)
I think Satellite did a good job there.
Episode 1 was mainly introduction to get to know the characters.
Shit hit the fans in episode 2, it stayed true to the despair aura of Alternative.
I won’t go much into details, but yeah, they keep the gore.
It’s extremely brutal.
After that , as I mentioned, Kuribayashi performed again.
And for the weirdest reason, the TL started having a different accent with his botched translations.
Like when Kouki mentioned the earthquake last year, TL dude talked about Kyoto being affected.
There was a general what the F in the room.
At the back, @to_aru_oni, @tsundelicious , @toastcrust @nopybot @madotsuki @teknyx and I were laughing our arses off.
This panel was everything: Concert, video and humor.
Fakku’s “Hentai worth Watching” panel
Dropped by It was a pretty funny panel. Seriously everyone should attend it. The proof is that old lady (and by old, I mean she had gray hair and looked like a grandma) who did.
Later, since there was still alcohol left, I dropped by @toastcrust shared room with @_eternal , @KylaranAeldin @Inushinde @calaggie and @Amoirsp
We were then joined by @metanyani @dapyonya @kome_P @blitzwingjp and @eviltape to start watching the new anime season on TV.
Alcohol Anime Party! because why not.
Unfortunately, I don’t remember sh*t about the anime we watched because I was trying very hard to not completely pass out.
Well there is one thing I remember, it’s bleeding bread, which may or may not have been a general hallucination.
Day 04 – Final Day
There actually was that much to do that day.
Main event was @zzzeroparticle and @yu_i_am ‘s panel:
Music & Its Impact on Notable Anime Series
Which was pretty great Also there were plenty attending it that was pretty cool. It was my first time attending such panel and I was honestly not expecting this much crowd
Then there was the Charity action later on followed by the closing ceremonies.
That was the only day I actually took pictures.
Mr. Danny Choo
Ryo Horikawa
Kajiura + KAORI, KEIKO, YUKARI and WAKANA
And that was it.
Also, I Totally got a picture of me with Dixie Flatline, KagomeP and DeadballP .
Final thoughts:
This is my second anime expo. I did WAY less thing than last year, but I met a shit ton of new people and that was pretty great.
Unfortunately, the never ending #linecon2012 and panel delays made me like this year less.
To remedy, I instantly bought my premier pass for next year, and highly recommend anyone who still can to do the same thing right away,
Again , big ups to everyone I met this year
(sorry if I forgot to mention anyone in my wall of text)
It was great meeting you guys.
As @blitzwingJP would say “I’ll see you guys online”
And see you next year.