The rest of the day, I hanged-out with several people and had dinner with some of them at Chili's in Raleigh. At 9pm, me and couple of my friends geared-up for a panel that I was to be hosting. The panel known as "Tenchi Muyo! 101" was to start at 10pm (or so I thought) and I was given the hour to talk about the series, kill any stupid rumors, and show the new TV Series, GXP. Tenchi Muyo! 101: I arrived where my panel was to be held around 9:30pm. Before my panel was the Kimono Panel; which was interesting, until it was 10:15pm when they FINALLY wraped-up there discussion. Though I was mellow, it did piss several people including my two of my friends who then had to quickly set-up the monitor while I gave a quick popularity poll on favorite Tenchi Girl. After the poll, where Ryoko won and Sakuya was the most hated, we started the now short panel with a few questions and answers. I was extremely nervious running the panal with 50+ attendees, luckily my friend Jim was also aiding me by asking basic questions about the show and doing the most silly stuff behind me (don't ask). Unkowning to most at the con, I had a treat for the attendees at my panel by showing episode 1 of Tenchi Muyo! GXP. After the showing, the crowd was all excited and thourly enjoyed the episode. But because of the evil Kimono Panel, we couldn't show episode 2 at the Panel; so I showed it later on in my hotel room with at least 20 people. The overall judgement of attendees after the panel said they thought it was a great panel and can't wait to see more GXP!!! One side note, a rep from Central Park Media was in the audience during the panel. . . I hope he enjoyed the show! Saturday: The biggest day of the convention, everyone is in cosplay and having fun. I waste no time taking pictures and chillin' with da people. When I wasn't on the ground floor, I was in my hotel room doing small showings of Chobits, Hanaukyo Maids, and Rizelmine on my computer. I avoided most of the panels that day since they didn't interest me much; but I did attend the CosPlay and Kenshiro Voice Contest. No Tenchi Award this year, nobody bothered to cosplay a Tenchi character on stage, so maybe next year. Nonetheless, the cosplay was fun as always with this year's fan favorite MARIO. This year's M.C. of Cosplay was alright and all, but for whatever reason, the crowd wanted him to strip and dance. . . go figure! After the CosPlay, I had some nasty cold Chinese food and watched a couple of friends get drunk off Sake. This of course didn't stop me in making fun of them at no end. At Midnight, I found myself at the Dance watching Edward (from Cowboy Bebop) run backwards around the place on a pocky high! Though I danced a little (from the moves I learned from Dance, Dance, Revolution), I mostly hanged out with the Chobit Girls. . . discussing important world issues like finding digital fansubs, breast sizes, and bald men with cat ears. Eventually Edward passed-out on the floor, marking the end of the Dance and the beginning of the twenty or so room parties that went on all night. Whoo-hoo! Overall: On sunday, the convention winds-down real fast as people leave there rooms and go home. The Dealer's Room is now offering some real nice deals before they pack-up and shipout too. Only a few are still in costume while others vacate the area. The only interesting story was when I ran into Yuu Watase (Fushigi Yuugi and Ayashi no Ceres) sitting next to the enterence of the Dealer's Room and nobody seemed to realize it at all. Only after when I took a couple of pictures did a few noticed. . . I am sure meeting the Japanese guests like that wouldn't be possible at big conventions like Anime Expo. Eventually, I too left the hotel around 3pm with several emails from people and some booty from the Dealer's room. As you might have read, my time at Animazement might not have been the most exciting, but that's not the point. The point is that I had a good time, which was the case. . . and you read it, because you were either interested or bored! Animazement isn't a large anime convention, averaging around over 2,000 attendees, but had a lot to offer. The Guest Line-up included: Akira Kamiya (Fist of the Noth Star), Hiroyuki Kitakubo (Golden Boy/Blood: The Last Vampire), Kazuto Nakazawa (Slayers OVA/Black Heaven/Parasite Doll), Hiroaki Sakurai (DiGi Charat), Koichi Tsunoda (Space Battleship Yamato), Yuu Watase (Ayashi no Ceres), Yasuo Yamaguchi (Getta Robo/Sailor Moon), and several American Voice actors and guests. Also with several events like CosPlay, Dormitory Iron Chef, Karaoke, and Crazy Monkey Hell; this year's Animazement was far better than last years. Which finally brings me to the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly! The Good: Tenchi Muyo! 101, Crazy Monkey Hell, Dormitory Iron Chef, the Dealer's Room, CosPlay, the Dance, and the Carolina Hurricanes. The Bad: Kimono Panel, Karaoke, Anime Music Videos, Dub your own Anime, and the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Ugly: Yaoi Roundtable, Yatta, and the Game Room (not saying the Game Room was bad, just the smell. . . damn people, use deodorant).
My next Anime Convention will probably be Anime Weekend Atlanta 8 in Atlanta, Georgia. But there is a small chance I might also go to Otakon in Balitmore, Maryland (if I do go, I'll let ya'll know). If you would like to email me, you can reach me at washu@yahoo.com, via ICQ #4284509, or AOL IM: "MarkClifton007." Thank you for checking out Little Washu's Cosplay Report on Animazement, I hope to do another again next year! Back to Cosplay Central |
