Part the Second 7/03/1998 The Mysterious New Century Expo (As told by Oni-chan and Catsy)

The AX had been fighting this unending struggle for years now, but the Allied Otaku were fresh and raw. They were not prepared for the abhorrence that they soon came face to face with, but they were not worn out from drawn out combat and were able to hold their own.

-"Friday: We woke up at 8:00 and turned on the television to see if AXTV had begun its programming yet..... It hadn't. So then we got cleaned up and went down to the lobby to try and find the line for Opening Ceremonies that we were sure had already started to form."

-"Neow, we couldn't find it at first so we just followed a large (and I mean LARGE) group of chubby otaku outside. There it was! The line was outside and already starting to wrap around the Convention Center. Ugh! This sucked! We sat down and watched as the line quickly grew behind us. Then we waited.... and waited.... and waited some more-tcha."

Let the waiting begin! They didn't even open the Dealers' Room until after Opening Ceremonies (this would have cut down the line somewhat!).

-"It was more boring than I remembered. But soon we got to talking to this Jerry kid behind us about original animation and stuff. He was pretty cool! He told us all about how he helped create the opening animation to both the AX95 and AX96 kick-off ceremonies. Cool!"

-"I liked the story of Anniemay Foster and how she destroyed the solar system almost single and bare-handedly (it gave me some nice ideas). He then explained how animation was done and how he was using some computers to do his future projects. Rock on, Jerry!"

-"After our little talk with that ex-Blanco Daicon kid we were really eager to see what the animation would be for this year (although I remembered that last year's really didn't compare to what we had just heard about 95's. Damn I wanted to see it now!). Hopefully it would be pretty cool. Hopefully.
  At around 10:30 (a half an hour late, but early compared to other waits this weekend) they let us in to the theater. Holy $#*%!!!! This place was HUGEMONGOUS! They could have played a football game or two inside of it! We had heard later that it could seat 1,500 people in it (with cable-fed transmissions into two other rooms that could seat around 700 more each!)! I was impressed to say the least@_@"

Jumbo jumbo room!

-"We quickly found a seat and Jerry sat next to us (I wanted his review of the 98 animation^_^). All three of us then began answering the Miyazaki Trivia questions that they had running on the BIG screens. Oni-chan and I got almost all of them right :)
  Some of the tougher ones were: 'What Roman numerals were engraved on Clarisse's ring?'; 'What letters were painted on the wings of the first plane that Kiki passes?'; 'What was the name of Clarisse's dog?'; and 'How many tanks were needed to move the god soldier embryo?'
  Answers: 'MDXVII'; 'KD'; 'Karl'; and '5'. Kooky. The entire audience would either groan or cheer to the answers if they got them right or wrong (We only cheered^^).

-"After a few music videos from cons gone by (I had completely forgotten how ultra kewl that Macross video done to Alphaville's Red Rose was!!!! It was one of the best put together I had ever seen!!! It even had the feel of Gainax's D IV work. Man oh man I wish/ed that I could get a copy of it!) the show began (10:53).
  Some bicycle-mustashioed man came out to welcome us and introduce Mikey, the president of the SPJA. For some reason Mikey brought up the crappy Americanized Godzilla movie and then he went on to say that now anime is widespread and yada yada yada something something something. Then Chairperson Jenny stepped up to the mic. Her address was short and sweet ^_^"

-"Neow. Then another guy came out (I think it was Jeffy) and said that we should 'appreciate the people behind the scenes more' for what he said out-right was 'the best anime con'.... Bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha! I promised I'd get back to him on Sunday night and let him know. *Giggle!*
  Jeffy just kept on talkin' though. He went on and on about God-only-knows what until he asked us 'Why we were here?' Somebody in the back shouted that it was better than Disney Land, but I was beginning to wonder. Would they ever introduce the guests?!?!?!"

-"Patience, little kitty. Here, take some more Ridilin. Finally the G(uests) O(f) H(onor) were introduced and allowed a few quick words. First came Mika Akitaka (creator of Galaxy Fraulein Yuna, and Mecha designer of the stars [shows including Nadesico and numerous Gundams]) who didn't say much. Then Junichi Hayama (animation director of a bunch of stuff [including Hokuto No Ken], and chara designer for many series like Be-Bop High School and JoJo's Bizarre Adventures) stepped up to be applauded and bowed to the audience.

"If we push the button now, how many dead will be on our hands? Gentlemen, we must think before any harsh decisions are made that will affect the governing body of Otaku for years to come." -the GOH Assembly of Honor

  Akira Kamiya (the one and only, very talented seiyuu) walked on stage to a thundering ovation. he said that he personally asked the SPJA if he could return this year and he was glad that they said 'Okay'. Then in Ken-shiro's voice he stated quite matter of factly that he could kill us in many different ways with just his hands.... Big deal, so can I."

-"After Kamiya-san followed Hiroyuki Kitakubo (Animator, director, character designer and creator of many cool movies and shows [including Golden Boy^_^]) who announced that AX98 was his first step to conquering the Universe! He then shared with us that the Japanese thought that everyone in America LOVED ID4. He was disappointed to find that this was wrong.
  Then Yasuhiro Naito (a guest so new he wasn't even in the program guide, but he did do a really cool manga turned anime called TriGun) came out and informed everybody that he was there to prevent Kitakubo-san from taking over the Universe. Cool! Mayber They'll fight and have blood and explosions!"

-"What?!?! Catsy, you know that was our job! That's why we packed all those heavy explosives and ammo! Anyway, after the TriGun guy came out the main attraction, Yu Watase (if you don't know what she does I'm not going to tell you)."

-"That's rude, Oni-chan! So what if you don't like Fushigi Yuugi, lots of other people do!"

-"Yeah, but only retards who like bad story telling, characters who don't stick to their personalities, gay plot lines and characters who don't stick to their personalities."

-"Shhhhhhhh! Stop saying that stuff! What if Watase-sensei reads this? You'll make her cry you meanie devil-girl! And I LOVE Fushigi Yuugi too!"

-"Okay, I'm sorry. I take it back.... I guess I was pretty hard on retards by saying that they can't tell the dif between good and bad plots... like you."

-"Uh, did you just apologize? So uh, anyway after Watase-sensei came the final GOH, Takahiro Yoshimatsu (chara designer for some Slayers and the TV TriGun) who also told us that he wanted to take over the world..... This was turning into a bad Pinky and the Brain episode.
  Then after all of the guests were settled in somebody brought out a weird looking wooden statue (a daruma monk?) for which Yu Watase would draw in the first ceremonial eye for good luck. She did a good job ^_^ Then we were told to all work together to make this convention 'Great!' I was ready to do my part-tcha!"

-"Pssssst! Yu! Give it a biiiiiiiig f***ing eye! Make it look like it has the power to peer into your soul and destroy your mind with a simple thought and there is nothing on this planet that could possibly stop it in its mad attempt to cull the strongest survivors on this or any world it may ever encounter!!!!!!"
-"....Nani?"

-"Man, I wanted one of those creepy looking monk thingies for myself! Lord knows I could use some luck of my own. Sooooooo, after that the City of Hope came out and thanked us for all the mullah we gave them and then all the GOHs posed around the big ass check for some pics. We abligded them^^

$16,000! Whoa, that could buy me a buncha ramen noodles! I could probably afford a spoon with that kinda ¥ too!

  Then they brought on the Drummers!!!! I was surprised too, but I really got into it. They were banging on those bongos better than those talented guys on Viva Variety! It was cool!"

 
"Heeeeeeeeyyyy Macarena!"

-"After a nice 15 minute performance the show was over and we were thanked again for coming. Neow. Did we miss something? Where the heck was the Opening Animation?!?! Holy cow! I can't believe they didn't even have a cheap and crappy one like last year's was supposed to be! I was a little annoyed."

-"So was I, but it looked like Jerry really didn't mind. Oh well. After everybody left (it was 11:50 and the Dealers' Room would open soon) we went up to the stage and mingled with the GOHs. They were pretty cool even though they had no clue as to what we were saying. I even had to admit that Watase-san was really nice and sweet in person."

She was a real cutie pie in person-tcha. I wonder if we could set her up with Kenji or if he was still seeing Sailor Moon.

-"She was cool! Then we met Kamiya-san and he did Shutaro Mendo's voice for us (after I tackled him and just kept screaming 'Shooooow me the Mendo! Shoooooow me the Mendo!') ^_^  I think he either said something like, 'Lum, I will always be faithfull to you if you choose only me,' or, 'Heeeeeelp! Get this stupid psycho cat the **** off of me! Heeeeeelp!' I really couldn't tell (I don't know Japanese so well^_-)."

-"Um, I know some, but I'll just be nice and tell you that he said the first."

-"Yatta! I knew he liked me @_@

"Get out of the way! I need to take this picture of those weird looking cartoon chicks! The folks back home will never believe there are such freaky looking things in the States!"

  Then we went outside to get into the hotel for the Dealers' Room line (somehow we had a feeling there'd be one). Right outside the Convention Center we found Akitaka-san puffin' away on a Marlborro. Screw the Surgeon General! Trust me kiddies, if you wanna look cool, start smoking^_^

We only kid ya. Akitaka-san really is cool! (I luv Yuna^_^)

  Low and behold, we were right. The line was veeeeeery long too. So Oni-chan and I decided to go upstairs and put on our costumes so that we could blend in better (still no AXTV though :("

-"Good thing we always carry some costumes with us or we'd be up that famous creek without a paddle! I dressed as Sailor O, the Champion of all Psycho Hose Beasts (I even tucked my wings in so as not to give away my true identity ^_-) and Catsy dressed up as Ginrei. We were then ready to rock!
  We got back down to the DR and walked right in (as the line had suddenly disappeared). This place was the size (if not bigger) than the main auditorium where the Op Ceremonies were just held!!! This was the greatest Anime Merchandising Mecca I have ever seen!!! I cried T_T"

-"Neow. After I wiped Oni-chan's tears away and she told me she'd be okay we started spending the Rossman's July and August rent like there was no tomorrow! It was glorious I tell you! Glorious!!!

We met the Three Goddesses working behind a counter in there. Either Goddess work doesn't pay all you'd expect or this was just somebody's sick little wish!

  We basically just looked around for an hour picking out things that we wanted but waiting till we saw everything before we bought anything just to make sure we had enough money to get the really good stuff (it turns out that the Rossman only lives in a really crappy place [think Joe's Apartment] and his rent really isn't all that much all things considering). All that wonderful anime merchandice waiting to be bought by me and Oni-chan.... I started to break down and laugh uncontrollably at the top of my lungs in a weird Naga-like fashion."

-"That was okay though, cause everybody else started to join in for some reason or another... But then something weird happened. I could make out another Naga-like laugh coming from the far end of the Room. It was spooky, kinda like a return Naga mating call or something. Then we found the source!

Holy Gazoombas!!!!! The REAL Naga!?!?!

  It was the REAL Naga! Holy cow!!! No wonder Lina always got so darn jealous! Naga was hanging out in the ADVision booth and she gave both Catsy and I a free 'Got Anime?®' T-shirt apparently for just being cool. Why does Lina have to pick on Naga so much, hmmm?"

-"After some more item hunting Oni-chan and I were ready to start spending.... That is until I looked at my watch. We were already ten minutes late for the Akira Kamiya panel!!!!! Yikes!"

-"Calm down, kitty. We got there in time for plenty of his funny commentaries and such. Kamiya-san started off by telling us that he was going to be the narrator in the new Imagawa-sensei anime Getta Robo! Cool news already! My fave director and seiyuu working on the same project together ^_^
  He then told us that he put a helluva lotta work aside just so that he could make he trip to AX this year. As soon as he got back he had to record for Slayers, Getta Robo and Detective Boy Conan. Is he the master seiyuu or what?"

-"Kamiya-san told us that over 100 new seiyuu debut each and every year and that the number was probably still rising, while when he first started out in his voice acting career there were relatively very few-tcha. Neow. Now it's an extremely competitive market. If you make one mistake you will never work again!
  But he went on to tell us not to worry for him, 'cause he's been in the biz for so long people go to him and ask for him to voice characters for them. Lucky!"

-"He was also very encouraged that he had so many fans over here State-side. But of course you do, Kamiya-san! You are soooo money and you don't even know it^_^
  It was then question and answer time. He said that he 'would take on any question!' I was tempted, but then I wouldn't be able to catch some of the really stupid ones that the rest of the audience had (they always come up with the most embarrassing and ludicrous ones they can think of @_@). The first question was a long one in Japanese that essentially boiled down to 'Do you do voices for commercials?' He said, 'Hai.'"

-"He said that kids know his voice and he's very popular with them (and then they get mommy and daddy to buy them stuff that Akira Kamiya said was a good product). He's got the power and he knows how to flaunt it :)
  An answer to his 'most taxing voice role' was that Kogoro Mouri (Ran-chan' dad in Conan) was his most difficult (he then gave the audience an example). I don't like Kogoro! He's a baka meanie head! He only solves things because of Conan-chan but he's even too dumb to realize it. He'd be nothing without Conan but Conan is just too nice to even tell him!"

"Ma'am? Kamiya-san says that the answer to your question is 'boxers,' but if you want to find out for sure I can tell you his floor and room and all you have to do is knock 3 times at exactly 7 tonight- What?!?! I wasn't supposed to read this, just give it to her?!?!?"

-"Hmmmmm, that situation sounds kind of familiar...... Anyhow, he was proud of what he was able to do with Ashram the Dark Knight's voice (i.e. have it sound pompous yet nervous at the same time) but he informed us that he was not doing the voice for Ashram in the television series (the audience let out a collective negative *sigh*).
  We were told that he normally never gets to practice a script before recording (he usually gets them as he shows up for the recording which makes it difficult for guest characters in series when the rest of the cast is already in the swing of their characters), but that Conan was different. He receives that script sometimes a week in advance as the animation has been completed for quite a while (Gainax could take some notes from these guys)."

-"Neow. It also turns out that even though he doesn't 'dislike' Jackie Chan he could not stand his version of City Hunter. I really don't blame him-tcha. Not his best.
  From there he went on to Kenshiro and his battle cry. His secret is to do it in falsetto. 'Wattah!' always had to be his finishing shout too ('I am finished!').
  Another kinda scary question was then asked from an audience member. 'What would a 25 year old gay sushi chef sound like?'... Surprisingly enough (even to Kamiya himself) he gave us the answer. Uuuuuoooooaaagh, it gives me chills just thinking about it!"

-"It was rather frightening, Catsy. He said it wasn't a character that really existed inside of him and that he really had to stretch for it. I think he stretched too far! Yikes @o@
  He then told us about an up and coming 'Supah Seiyuu' that he hopes to bring to AX99 who is (in his own words although I'm sure he's just too damn modest) even better than him. I find that very hard to believe.
  When asked who his favorite character that he ever did was he didn't even skip a beat as he answered 'Ryo Saeba'! Gotta love it^_^"

"Dah-ling! Get away from that girl!... Oh, gomen Ryo. I didn't know it was you!"

-"He announced that his future plans are to hopefully stick to voice acting and keep doing roles that fit him. He also plans to continue teaching (his first lesson always being to only act with your mouth, to which he demonstrated by 'speaking' so loud that people in the back of the huge auditorium could hear him without his microphone).
  Somebody then asked him another (redundant) question about of all his characters whom he would like to be. He said the smoothness of Ryo would be cool to have, but the pure manliness and power of Kenshiro would also be great. He also believes that Ryo is the ideal human being from both a male and female perspective. I'd make him my sweetie anyday (just noooo Mokkori!)*_*..... Uh oh! I hope my Mo-chan doesn't read this-tcha!"

-"It'd serve you right if he did, you back-stabbing puta! Anyway, it turned out that neither Catsy nor I got a winning ticket for his autograph session (pisser!) so we just left in disgust and went across the street from the Convention Center to the Pizza Hut inside the Marriott. I looooooves me Pizza Hut :) Plus I had to test to see if all greasy food would get my tummy in a bundle or if Carl's had just gone sadistic on me. I thought that the 'King of Grease', Pizza Hut could answer my burning question."

Heartburn I could handle... I just hope it didn't go South from there!

Go Forward to Part 2.2 of the Mysterious Expo!

Go back into the past Mysterious Day.			Go forward into the next Mysterious Day.

Go back to the beginning of the Mysterious Expo.

If you feel the overwhelming need to get in touch with me (or even Oni-chan), just give the message to Ayeka and Ryoko, and as soon as/if we get it you can be sure that one of us will laugh at you