And here’s the Day 2, which I’d been looking forward to for months. Here’s a big part of the reason why:





That’s probably the nicest concert pass I’ve ever seen.

JAM Project and Ichirou Mizuki performed the night before (and I missed it *sobs*) so through the simple process of elimination you should be able to figure out whom I was going to catch live that night.

There was something else I forgot to mention. On Day 1, the first thing I did wasn’t to join the ticket queue, but to meet up with two guys – Brandon, and Desmond. I mentioned the ballot for autograph sessions before, right? Using the tickets me and my companion to the lives had bought I’d won two opportunities to meet May’n, when the people I really, really wanted to see were angela. Now Brandon, who’d contacted me over Facebook when I offered my May’n sessions for trade, had angela, but he really wanted Scandal, and Desmond, who Brandon had also contacted, had Scandal, but wanted May’n. So we did a three-way switch, and we all got what we wanted.

Gaining access to the sessions meant we needed to switch tickets, which made me quite nervous because, well, I’d gotten pretty decent seats and I was a little afraid I wouldn’t get my tickets back. Desmond even joked about running away with mine, which sparked a “DUDE NOT FUNNY” moment. He might have been trying to reassure me when he handed me his namecard for the 501st Legion... But everything went smoothly, and I have these two guys to thank.


Back to Day 2. I’d been looking forward to watching The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya at AFA, but I ended up giving it a miss. That was probably my last chance seeing it on the big screen, but at least I can catch it on DVD or something. The event that showing clashed with, on the other hand, will have no substitute.

angela Autograph/Handshake Session!


]BEST SOUVENIR EVER

angela seemed pretty friendly and were keen to talk to their fans, which I thought was pretty cool. Unlike May’n, who handed out pre-signed posters, they autographed their posters on the spot and chatted to the recipients as they did so.

I attempted to communicate to them, in rudimentary (fangirl) Japanese, how amazing I thought they were, which clearly amused them. Atsuko responded teasingly with “Watashi wa sugoi desu ka?” (*nod nod*) and then asked me in halting English to please be there for their live. Like I’d miss it.

By the way, Katsu’s hair looks particularly impressive up close.


Regional Cosplay Championship
Caught a bit of the Regional Cosplay Championship (among the judges were pro cosplayers KANAME and Aira). Didn’t watch it through to the end because, well, my companion got really hungry. But we did see 4 of the 5 competing countries perform (we missed Indonesia’s). A particularly memorable part was when they interviewed the Malaysian team after their performance. They’d done Erza and Ikaruga from Fairy Tail and when the emcee fielded a question the one who’d played Erza spoke...in an unmistakably masculine voice. There was a chorus of confused noises from the audience, and then cheering.

I heard later that Thailand won – I think they deserved it. Their Monster Hunter costumes were incredible, and they made pretty good use of props to recreate the scene. Ah, phooey, here’s a better report on the championship. With decent pictures, to boot. Thailand's entry really needs to be seen, IMO.

I missed the Angela, Scandal and May’n meet-and-greet session. I really could have kicked myself – that was probably my only chance of getting photos of them.

But I didn’t have very long to be bummed out about it, though.


SCANDAL Autograph/Handshake Session
Anyone remember/bothered to read about the guy I gave my May'n poster to? Yeah, this was what I traded it for.


Kinda wished they'd used a brighter coloured marker, though.

(Thanks Michael!)

Technically, this opportunity was obtained using my companion's ticket. But he wasn't actually familiar with Scandal or any of the artistes he'd paid S$120 to accompany me to catch (which was insane, but very, very much appreciated). I did try to entice him ("You sure you want to pass up seeing four really hot girls?") but he felt it would be more of a worthwhile experience for me than for him. So there I was.

They were still pretty strict on the whole ‘no photography’ thing. They also appeared to be rushing – pre-signed posters, and fans were hurried through.

I have to say, as I approach the front of the queue I found myself feeling more and more intimidated. I haven’t been seriously insecure about my looks since leaving my teenage years but as I got a better view of them some feminine part of me started screaming “HNNNNGGGG OMG TOO PRETTY CANNOT COMPETE.”

I was still pretty nervous when I approached the booth. I'd been pretty far back in the line, and they had to have seen dozens of people before me and after coming in straight from the meet-and-greet I wouldn't blame them if their enthusiasm had kind of worn off. But when it got to my turn, before I even realized that I'd instinctively held out my hand, the first member of Scandal I encountered (I’m pretty sure it was Tomomi) had taken my hand and was enthusiastically shaking it, her smile wide and her “Arigatou!” heartfelt. That was just sweet. A large part of my nervousness evaporated.

The rest of the members were comparatively reticent, but still all smiles as I shook their hands. They really did look fabulous – in the brief time I had to form impressions I found Haruna to be particularly charismatic. I scrambled for something to say in Japanese (it didn’t look like they had time for a translation and I really wanted to be understood) and ended up blurting “Anata-tachi wa sugoku kakoii desu!” I blame my little sister and her audible fangirling over KAT-TUN videos for putting the words "sugoku kakoii" in my head. I suspect it sounded a little strange to native Japanese speakers, but well, I got to see them laugh as they thanked me.

Talented, and hot. I can’t help but be horribly envious of them.

May’n, angela and Scandal. I'm one lucky bitch. If the fanboys who weren't among the 100-fans-per-artiste to gain access to the autograph session knew they might have hunted me down and retrieved my precious posters from my bleeding corpse. As it is, I still can’t believe my insane luck, and you can bet I’m incredibly thankful for it. My first con was already looking like my best con ever.

And it wasn’t even over yet.

So neither are my entries. I've still got a KANAME and aira panel and the angela-May'n-SCANDAL live to blather about so beware.

Oh look cosplay:














There's a part 2 because I had a lot to say about the KANAME/aira panel (mostly gushing, really) and the angela/SCANDAL/May'n live. Let's see if I ever get around to it...