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Chara Expo USA 2018: November 10 - November 11

Chara Expo was the most exhausting I’ve ever attended and it was only two days long. I think I spent more hours in line for things than sleeping throughout the event but it was an awesome two days.

Day 1

• Arrived very late on Friday/Saturday. 40 mile ride from LAX to Anaheim. Late night Denny’s and then a 1 hour nap before camping for day 1
  
• Got to the line at around 5am. Got branded with a 185 because of suspicious people trying to preserve a line order but it didn’t matter
• Unofficial line became official but that was when the cutting started to occur and didn’t stop all weekend lol. In order to meet goals, alternatives had to be considered because of the line problems
• Met the legendary eventer Bogle in person
• Got in and the huge line for merch made me think “oh no” but I managed to get Poppin’Party and Raise A Suilen stage tickets along with Momoyo and Yukki autograph tickets. Failed to get AiAi
• The lines for merch was so crazy that every schedule item got delayed by a half hour to compensate. Insane
• Had curry rice from a booth which had a “Go Go Curry” banner? It tasted close enough
• Poppin’Party talk and mini live was fun!
• Aimi was great and cute with all her “yays” and “yeahs”
• Kirakira Dokidoki
• Super Sparkling Happy! (SSH!)
• Rimi related to Rimi as the shy girl, I LOVE CHOCOLATE
• Sae talked about her bunnies (she has 20 bunnies!?)
• Sae jumped on a riser at one point to show the light up shoes the trio had
• GBP segment. All three are really good at the game!
• Aimi FC’d EX “Tokimeki Experience”. I think she was on 8.3 note speed
• Sae -1′d “Sorairo Days” with 8.3 speed and 140% (I think?!) note speed
• Rimi got most of “Star Beat” but missed notes because of rhythm game itch with her eyes lol
• Mini live set
• “Tokimeki Experience” is a typical safe choice
• “Time Lapse” - I like this song a lot! Glad to be able to hear it performed. It was either this song or the next one that Rimi went pretty hard with the almost headbangs
• “Teardrops” - one of my favorite songs, I think this makes it the only song I’ve heard in every PoPiPa live I’ve seen
  
• “Star Beat” - another expected song, a good ender, the post solo bridge was amazing feeling
  
• Headed to Koyama Momoyo signing right after
• Mentioned that Anisama was fun and her solo during “Star Divine” was awesome
• Nakashima Yuki’s signing
  
• She came out, I noticed the hat immediately. Yukki always with the Good Hats
• Mentioned how she is a perfect Lisa and she was really happy
• Also how her hats are great lol and how I looked forward to the Roselia live
• I loved how enthusiastic she was with everyone that she signed for. Big smiles and she waved at everyone as they left
• During the signings, NJPW was happening in the background so that was kind of silly to hear slams in the background while waiting
• During the wait for Yukki’s signing, Adam and I noticed Mimorin and Moyo-chan walking out from behind the autograph prep area over towards the front of the hall. We waved at them and they waved back. No one else really noticed so that was a bit special.
• They actually came back to the back area later and then left again
• They didn’t notice the second time though
• Moyo had a big backpack for some reason and tiny giraffe on the shoulder strap
• Super casual Mimorin with pink jacket and ponytail
• In-N-Out for whatever is between lunch and dinner
• Raise A Suilen live to close out day 1
• Got 4th row center
• Setlist
• Came in expecting them to be pretty good but I was still blown away
• Raychell is such a strong singer and her bass is perfect while singing, I have no idea how she does it
• Rikopin was amazing and her solos were fully of dynamic movements and awesome playing. Getting on the risers for certain segments was great
• Risa was pretty good at hyping the crowd. For being in the back, she had big presence and was great at being able to get the crowd on track with certain calls that didn’t catch on at first. Her English is also really good! She did a great job at providing translations for certain MC segments for the crowd
• Natsume didn’t speak much but her drumming was pretty awesome to watch. Can definitely tell she’s a pro with how comfortable she appears and how fluid her movements are on stage
• Reo went really crazy for most of the songs with the jumping and headbanging. At the end of the set, her monitor came loose and her mic stopped working
  
• During the end MC, Reo had to find another mic to speak and tried to use Raychell’s but it was too high so she used Riko’s instead. During this segment Riko walked over to Raychell and there was this cute hug moment. Ahhhh
• Most of the songs I expected from looping 1st live CD
• “R.I.O.T” - this song was a lock, didn’t expect it first though
  
• “That is How I Roll” - I love this song’s calls and Raychell owns it so hard
  
• “Egao no Orchestra” - This song is alright but Reo got the crowd going and it was infectious
  
• “Shuwarin Dreamin’“ - This is one of the songs I wanted. I like it a lot and the calls are so much fun. Reo’s voice works so well for this song 
  
• “Shoowareen Dreeemin”
  
• “Hey-Day Capriccio” - One of my favorite Afterglow songs. I tried to catch all the instruments to see how they play this ridiculous song. Riko during the solo was :O
  
• quick transition to
• “Goka? Gokai? Phantom Thief” - Forgot to look up the lyrics to memorize for the calls but it was still a fun song because of the swing-ish beat
  
• “Mou Ichidou Luminous” - Was not expecting this, didn’t know they had covered this song before and I hadn’t listened to it enough to be that familiar with it but the RAS take on it was definitely awesome and very them
  
• “Unstoppable” - Not too familiar with this either but saw it during the clips that played on main stage in between events. This song kicks ass and there’s some good heavy moments in it. I think this was the song where Riko was in a crazy zone with the guitar during a solo and did a knee slide/drop. She’s the best
  
• Laser beam keys
• Everyone tried to call for an encore but denied
• Went back to hotel after and laid down and ended up napping for 2 hours
• Dbro and I went with Enoch and Tony to Tsujita in LA and got tsukemen. Thought I could handle more noodles and ordered a kaedama way too early and couldn’t finish it orz
• Went back and slept for a few hours before camping again for…

Day 2

• Lines were longer, cutting was more rampant
  
• Snuck up maybe 10 spots to hang out in line with Adam, Xatro, and Bogle rather than sitting alone for 5 hours since Enoch decided to go “adventuring”
• Was probably twice as far back as day 1, immediately gave up any hope of getting Aimin autograph ticket (it sold out within half an hour anyway after opening)
• Ended up getting tickets for Roselia live and Rikopin signing
• Iron Man 3 for like 5 mins at hotel. Baja Fresh for lunch
• Went to Revue Starlight stage event with Enoch and Tony. We barely got 3 contiguous seats because of everyone camping the preceding Vanguard event to get seats for Revue
• Stage event with Mimorin, Moyo, and AiAi was great
• Mostly general questions and segments on their characters and Starlight but it was fun for the reactions
• Mimo faces were on point as usual throughout the event
• Momoyo’s face during the entire sequence showing the dub version of the trailer was hilarious
• AiAi was very overboard with the “oui” and “merci” responses and also yelling TENDOU MAYA! It was great
• They went to Disney? Something about California Adventure. I remember Mimorin mentioning she likes Sully from Monsters, Inc. And that they had some sort of build your own pizza thing, but no pepperoni available
• “We will all do Starlight”
• Mentions of the game being release in Japan. Still unplayable without VPN though and nothing moving towards an English language release /shrug
• Mentions of 2nd live (Starry Dessert?) How to go?
• There was a part during the final statements where Momoyo hit her teeth on the mic. Silly
• Riko signing shortly after
• Everyone got pretty good conversation time with Riko. Staff (or maybe manager?) was nice and spoke English
• Mentioned how the live was fun and her guitar solos were amazing
• She asked which song I liked best and I mentioned “Hey-Day Capriccio”
  “oh that song is popular, isn’t it? how did i do”
  
• And of course I said she was awesome
• NJPW continued again and right after Riko finished I caught the last 2 minutes of Kenny Omega’s match
• Got to see a converted One-Winged Angel, countered back by a V-Trigger, and then a successful One-Winged Angel so that was cool
• Walked around kind of checked out parts of the hall I hadn’t seen yet but not really. I probably should’ve checked out more of the other booths
• Found Kidani
• Then ended up waiting for Roselia live with Dbro and Enoch. Dave was nearby too
• Turned out Roselia live got changed to chuusen for seats to discourage camping for non-ticket holders outside and for ticket holders for seats inside
• When seats were being drawn, I got…12! Front row, pretty much dead center. And then it was time
• Roselia live
• Setlist
• Intro was a good mood setter. Visuals to introduce the members one by one with character images
• Starmine - a good song to start off and a redux from AX but now with a full band
• R - Best Roselia song! As soon as Yukki started the bassline I got so hyped!
• MCs were a mix of trying to stay in character and trying not to break character too hard. Stuff about Roselia’s first time in U.S. and how many times each of them have already been to the U.S.
• I think this part had left, middle, right yayyss which was silly
• Yukki had some cute moments about not being able to speak English and it’s also her first time overseas I think
• Meguchi speaks English very well
• Kudoharu is “so-so” and I think is also the one that has been over the most surprisingly?
• Something about the Statue of Liberty and Meguchi going “oh but that’s New York, this is Anaheim”
• Neo-Aspect - start of the second section with another song I really like. The combination of “R” and “Neo-Aspect” fufilled my wishlist so fast. I love the way the backing vocals are laid out on this song. Yukki and Kudoharu.
• Oneness - another solid pick. AiAi vocals are always great on this one and the guitar riff is always sweet
• Re:birth day - I should listen to this song more. The chorus is nice on this one. Bouncing to the rhythm during it is fun
• AiAi mentions something about Vier at this point and I thought “oh yeah that was the previous week” but then she mentions “keyboard” and I and everyone else went “OMG”. Staff rolls out a keyboard while people are freaking out and then Roselia’s new keyboardist, Shizaki Kanon, walks on stage.
• Best kept secret ever by staff somehow. I don’t think anyone was expecting this especially since she was only just announced as the new Rinko at Vier
• Tamashii no Refrain - I hadn’t heard the full version of this before so the keyboard lick in the middle was extra amazing with it being the first song with Kanon. AiAi deferring to the crowd for the title calls in the chorus was expected but still was an amazing moment
• Black Shout - kdhr played the intro the same way as the remaster version which was a nice touch. I considered burning every UO I had for this song but didn’t. I should’ve though. The first Roselia song is still very solid. Also, like Dave, during the SHOUT calls, I did the same pose as AiAi. It’s just very similar to a certain pose, it’s not actually it, okay?! Yukki and Kudoharu setting up the back-to-back for the bassline leading to the guitar solo was awesome!
• LOUDER - The actual last song…I went hard for this one. Was so sad when it was over. And the crowd got denied an encore again because of timing restraints/poor planning or something
• I remember a funny moment at the end when the live finished and Yukki had passed her bass to staff and Kudoharu just swung hers around her back traveler style for a minute before realizing she could just hand it to staff lol
• Closing statements from the members and everyone cheering pretty loudly for Kanon after hers.
• The SHHHHHHH before the traditional THANK YOU. Really felt like we truly got a legit live.
• Yukki waved at me during the end. Ahhhhhh
• I forget which songs some of these other moments occurred but there was a lot of AiAi being close to Kudoharu and there was also one moment where she fixed kdhr’s hair from being in her face
• I wish Yukki had come a bit closer to stage center more during the live because I didn’t get to see too much of her while observing the members playing. But it’s great that she was pretty close to stage right and gave the left side a good show
• There were also moments during the live where a mobile camera tech was around the stage and Kudoharu and Yukki both played into the camera shots at some points. It was great 
• Being absolute front and center for a FULL ROSELIA LIVE probably makes this one of my favorite lives ever just because of how I got to experience it
• Overall, the lives during this weekend were so good. 
• Really want to see full Popipa again
• RAS is the best live Bandori band
• I love Roselia so much and so glad I got to see them optimally
• After, it was headed off to LAX for an overnight flight home. 
• Along the way were two side quests to In-N-Out and Randy’s Donuts
• Chara Expo was hellish but awesome.
• I spent probably double the amount of hours waiting in line the entire weekend vs. amount of hours slept. I felt so exhausted most of the weekend
• The lines and camping were awful and the way Bushiroad organizes certain things is super awful also, but the experiences from the signkais and concerts were absolutely the best
• If they bring back the same guests (and maybe more?) I guess I’d come back again

Loots

Day 1

• Event exclusive Roselia hoodie
  
• 5th live Roselia penlight
• Day 1 entry bonus, event exclusive stamped cards
• Entry bonus BanG Dream! keychains
  
• Momoyo Koyama (Revue Starlight’s Karen Aijo) signed shikishi
• Yuki Nakashima (Roselia’s Lisa Imai, bassist) signed shikishi

Day 2

• Event exclusive Roselia shirt
  
• Event exclusive Poppin’Party shirt
• Arisa keychain
• Kasumi phone stand
• Entry bonus BanG Dream! keychains again
• Kohara Riko (Raise A Suilen, guitarist) signed shikishi

I may or may not have been thinking of stealing Lake’s Saaya neso

Tweets

Anime Weekend Atlanta 2018: September 20 - September 23

Late post but here’s one for my 2nd time going to AWA. Missed last year because of Happy Party Train but got to go this year and it’s still great.

Thursday

• Arrived at ATL and Mike and I got picked up by Sas and then got lunch (El Rey del Taco and then KFT)
• Did a Target run with Sas to get supplies for yard sale thing that AWA has
• Checked into hotel after and then checked out a bit of the venue
• Helped Retro Saikou setup in dealer’s. Also, ugh…😩…
• After waited around for yard sale room to open. Peeked in Starmarie’s panel from outside since it was next door but didn’t catch anything lol. We did notice them look at the yard sale for a minute before it opened after setup was done
• Funny things: The Mika figma that no one would buy, someone actually bought the Popuko towel thing, the Special Folder, casuals
• Marietta Diner after. It was good. I should’ve tried their desserts

Friday

• I forget what I probably did besides wandering dealers probably
• Sacra Music Panel feat Elisa. Learned about some of the artists Sacra works with and it’s a strong list. Elisa appeared after for a short Q&A and then silly trivia stuff
• Saw some of Starlight Idol Festival. Starmarie performed to close it out and that was pretty fun. Some hardcore JP fans were behind where I was and went pretty hard with calls and other things.
• Saw Elisa walking around the con at some point near reg
• Starmarie autographs sometime after. Originally got a CD and was intending just for that to be signed. Got convinced to get a group shot ticket too lol
  
• I wore my Anisama shirt and hat and Hiroka was the first to notice it. I wonder if some of the members went 🤔
• Kanae Itou Q&A. Got front row because there was barely anyone there (at least to start) Some fun questions and she gave some fun answers. She gesticulates a lot. Lots of silly things related to her vs her characters; lots of Amu comparisons throughout the panel. Lots of “difficult” questions and her going “eeehhh” trying to answer them, the one guy who REALLY wanted to know about quirky fellow seiyuu caused a lot of that lol
• I think after was food. We went to Shoya. Was good food. Had a hamburg steak because for some reason it’s really difficult to find places with them in the U.S.
• I think after was a small bit of PS4 Joysound karaoke in Sas’s group hotel room. I forget what else I did on Friday night besides that.

Saturday

• Stopped by Lumica booth and checked out DJ Caesar’s first set. A lot of bangers in that initial setlist. I can at least remember: GO!!!, like 3 different MHA openings (Peace Sign!), some im@s and Love Live! (Snow Halation), and Shiny Days lol
• Went to p19/practice19 live drawing after. Missed the beginning but caught most of the rest. Lots of standardish questions related to art methods and preferences. Apparently one of the things she did was go to an Apple Store and get a XS because it released that weekend. She had it standing prominently while drawing too
• I think p19 did a sketch of the AWA mascot she drew this year with Copic pens on a shikishi
  
• Walked around with Mike and Sas to kill time and uh weird arcade games existed in the games area
• Namie live drawing panel was after. Before the panel she was playing the FGO Gil’Fest event on screen lol
• p19 did a more expected shikishi sketch but Namie just brought an iPad and drew digital sketches. From what I remember she started with Nobu on her own (of course), and then requests were for Tsubasa (monogatari), Yayoi (765Pro), Shana, Ishtar (FGO). Had to leave a bit early because of an upcoming autograph gauntlet
• Kanae Itou autographs. Got there not late but also not early and the line was bigger than expected. Sas and I were at the end and as we get pushed from overflow line to main line we get told we’re cut off….but through persistence we stuck it out and ended up being the last ones for the day hahah 
• While in line briefly chatted with some dude who is also an Okita fan and added him on JP FGO. (xSaber)
• Camped for Namie autographs and got her sign and a 10-second Okita mini sketch lol
• Hopped over to p19 autographs which was happening at the same time and got an effortless autograph. Got denied a rough sketch request because translator guy gave no fucks about putting in the effort to communicate with staff or p19 and there was literally no one else in line but whatever
• I think around here was when DJ Caesar did a panel at Kennesaw and it was just people going nuts. I didn’t recognize too many songs but I tried to join in on silly things for the ones I knew
• Starmarie concert was after and got roughly dead center again and right behind the very front because Curtis managed to sprint to the front. One of the hardcore JP fans was also right in front and he was crazy ridiculous with leading calls and perfect furicopy
• Oh and before the concert, Starmarie themselves were handing out postcards and advertising their live. Walked over and got a card handed to me by Monya
• The concert itself was amazing. I didn’t spend too much time checking out their discography before AWA but the songs they performed were fun and the choreography for most songs was on another level
• Some silly emcee segments. Kae-chan with the U.S.A. and whoever was running audio actually played a short snipped of the Da Pump cover lol pretty sure she won over a lot of people that day
• ELISA concert was directly after. Finally got to see her live after missing the chance at AnimeNext 2014 I think it was. Only recognized a couple of songs. Can’t find a setlist but I recognized “Dear my friend” and cover of “Do You Remember Love?” from Macross. The other cover song I recognized but didn’t know what it was because I probably heard it somewhere before; I think it was “Platinum”?
• After the ELISA concert was a signing and 2 shot thing depending on goods purchased. Since I already have an autograph from her, I just did the 2-shot and then tried to find the group to check out some of the DJ sets at the rave.
• Rave line was stupid and the crowds that typically go to them are a bit too wild. Got in towards the last bit of DJ Caesar’s set since he opened. Caught a bit of “Peace Sign”, “Guren no Yumiya” but the JAEGAR part was cut and looped back like 5 times…and closed out with “Rising Hope”? We cleared a pit mosh style and then the group did the Namaste Snake and Caesar even jumped down into the pit and did it with them (I tried to follow along but despite having seen it done like 100 times I still don’t know how to do it…heh…)
  
• The group went back to the hotel room and did some drinks and karaoke. The intention was to go back and check out Yuc’e and maybe Teddyloid’s sets at the rave but Curtis singlehandedly destroyed everyone in that room with some calculated pouring. (Thank goodness I asked for slightly less) Alcohol is bad, y’all

Sunday

• Didn’t do much on Sunday as usual
• Hung out and watched some Aniparty DJ sets in the food court
• Then kind of stuck around Lumica a bit for another DJ Caesar set and also checking Sunday raffle things
• Saw the Rookiez is Punk’d concert. They were pretty good, so glad I finally got to see “Complication” live.
  
• Also caught about 2 songs from Spyair before having to leave to catch the flight home. Was hoping to maybe hear the one song I know by them but oh well

Loots

Day 1

• New Lumiace blade
• ELISA shirt + CD (handed over to Sas instead)
• Starmarie CD + group shot ticket
• Namie’s FGO book
  

Day 2

• p19′s book
• Alstroemeria’s Bad Apple 10th CD which I saw at a booth

Day 3

• All 3 of DJ Caesar’s CDs
• Yuc’e Cinnamon Symphony CD
• Namie’s Okita keychain
• Mini You nesoberi

Overall total: I forget

I think AWA might be my favorite chill con now. Might be one I attend every year if I can.

Cole got Kanae Ito to write “Baka Chika” on the Chika neso

Tweets

Another Tokyo trip after almost a year. This time from August 20th to August 27th mainly for Anisama.

My first time going to Anisama and also my first time dealing with the FULL HELL THAT IS JAPAN SUMMER.

This post is very late so I’ve mostly forgotten most of what I did :<

Going to attempt to write notes about whatever I can

Tuesday

• Didn’t do much first day besides land and be tired
• Attempted to check the Shibuya JINS but it wasn’t possible to make a glasses order that would finish in time so ended up just getting food with a friend who had my Anisama tickets. It was some place that had katsu that is fried in a very fast style or something

Wednesday

• I think I mostly was just shopping for things I marked and was walking around checking stores out
• Managed to get a glasses order at the JINS in Akiba above Atre
• Swapped over to a tiny airbnb and then continued exploring
• Tried to check out GBF cafe but didn’t have reservation because I thought it was no longer required. Oh well
• Ended the night at the Heaven’s Gate Maidreamin’ with Sas and people that he knows
• First time going to a maid cafe and it was what I expected but also not what I expected. Overly expensive cheap food and very loud flashy song performances. It was fun watching the others try the secret beers and highballs
• There was a dude there that was strangely good rhythm that went ham with a tambourine. And there was another dude I will refer to as the Maidreamin’ whale that down expensive bottles of champagne all night while going super hard with yelling and furicopy to the performances. It was freakin’ hilarious

Thursday

• Morning was Akiba and seeing the Shuka Atre stuff for her FC things I think
• Also stopped by Kanda Shrine for a bit and finally saw the steps I forgot to see the first time
• I think this was the day where Adam and I rushed to get 22/7 and Revue Starlight event tickets from stores in Shibuya and Shinjuku
• Shinjuku Animate for the Revue watashikai event was almost blundered because we were just “I hope this is the line and all we have to do is buy the CD and get the ticket”
• 「 同じ 」
  
• We went exploring various parts of Tokyo after since it was Adam’s first Japan trip and his first real day after arriving the previous night and only doing Maidreamin’
• We met up with Sas at some point and got lunch in Ikebukuro(?)
• Then we just did the events stuff we got tickets for
• 22/7 event in Shibuya was at the Animate. They were late because some typhoon-related storms were causing issues and traffic was affected. Saw the members (Sally, Mizuha, Aina, and Ruri?) walk by just before the event started. 
• The event was an Animate business card handover thing while they had Animate uniform attire on. Got Mizuha’s card and said to hope to see her in America next year. It was supposed to be one ticket, one card but Adam’s ticket was never taken. Since he didn’t want to go through again, I asked for it and ended up getting Sally’s card too lol mentioned that AX was fun and it was nice to see her again. She mentioned a quick blurb about how she used to work at Animate so I was like “oh so this is basically a legit employee card then” short but fun event
• Rushed to the Shinjuku Animate for the Revue event and it was a weird setup where you pulled lots for assigned seats. I got towards mid-back-left and Adam was mid-right.
• Momoyo and Moepii were the event guests and they did a brief talk before the watashikai part of it occurred where attendees got to speak to both before receiving a Revue Starlight poster from Moepii
• Looking at other people it seemed like “oh I guess it’s just say a few things in a very short amount of time” but we both realized as we got up during our turns that the time feels much longer when you’re up there and we both had independent “crap what to say” moments lol
• Momoyo had been announced for Chara Expo USA that morning so I planned to say “looking forward to seeing you at Chara Expo in California” but then had to fill another few seconds so I blurbed out a “see you at Anisama” as well
• To Moepii, I mostly said the same with “looking forward to Anisama” and also that Banana is an “interesting” character. I hadn’t seen that one episode yet so I didn’t know how much more interesting her character would be heh
• Another weird short but fun event but then met up with Sas again and we went to Kirin City for dinner. The frosted beers were just really cold beers but that was good for the summer even though it was cooler and breezy that evening
• I think the only thing after was back to Don Quijote in Akiba to get UOs for ANISAMA

Friday

• Got to SSA around 10ish? And lined up for goods. Very thankful that I chose to do so day 1 when it was still very breezy and slight less hot. The tunnel/cut part of the line was very tolerable with the breeze being amplified through there
• 2.5 hours just to get 2 shirts and a hat (and also a day 1 limited S;G shirt as an assist)
• I don’t know if it’s an SSA thing but the pre-show background songs were just American English songs lol
• Lots of warnings not to be an annoyance, and no mixing or yeah tigering LMAO
• Also before each day, Da Pump’s “U.S.A” was played shortly before the shows started, everyone did the calls, and it was stupidly fun
• I have notes for each day but I’ll just directly paste them down below because I think they’re funnier unedited
• A few day 1 standouts were definitely: MimoUcchi, Eir Aoi!?, GRNDxMamegu Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari, Asaka~, POPIPA with some BANGERS, WUG

Saturday

• Picked up the glasses. Still amazed at how affordable they were vs getting glasses in US. Good tips from a while ago via Ken 
• Arrived around the same time and actually caught some live stages because didn’t want do merch and figured I had no chance at the Uma Musume day 2 exclusive shirt anyway
• Also, it was super hot on Saturday because the super wind wasn’t around anymore
• Tried the “American Long Potato” I saw a lot of in pictures last year. It was very long and very salty. There were options for other drizzles which I probably should’ve tried instead (maybe next ye-)
• Saw Enako and Yuuma Aoki (guy’s name from Anisama page?) perform some stuff. They covered “Lion” from Macross F and I learned that you can tiger to that song apparently
• 22/7 was after and they performed Shampoo, Rikaisha, and a cover song of something. They were alright and people were being pretty silly to the chorus choreography for Rikaisha lol
• Sally is surprisingly pro. Actually decent dance movements and even smoothly transitioned a move to incorporate fixing her hair mid move. She seems like a legit good idol now despite her antics. Was also checking some other members to compare and Mizuha had some rough parts so Sally is definitely well practiced
• Wandered the keyaki hiroba area and eventually saw Ken and his group around watching 22/7 and the other guests perform the Anisama theme to close out the open stages
• We waited to see what 22/7 was doing and they were doing a small wave session and people could buy CDs and get a mini autograph board with all the members’ signatures. Didn’t know about the latter part or I would’ve stayed in line for it too :<
• But Ken’s friends freaking brought Flamin’ Hot Cheetos to try and give to or at least show to Sally and it was pretty silly
• Then went in for day 2 and it was another good day. A few standouts: Starlight Kukugumi, Mayayan and SMILING SPIRAL, TrySail, MinorinMimorin returns, fhana feat. Ayachi, stupid sexy Mamo
• Went with a group to Robokichi which was neat and the food was actually decent which was surprising for a collab cafe/restaurant thing. Sparkling Seikan Hikou and fire chicken thing

Sunday

• Sunday was the hottest day and it was awful outside
• I actually missed the “U.S.A.” in the SSA on the final day because of lines :<
• Was seated in the very far back corner and against the wall in 200s with a huge gap on my right lol
• The Monsters. Giving me a chance to experience the White -> Orange of “Snow Halation” in an arena setting. I’ll take it
• I got policed for cycloning to “Feeling Around” what the heck? I don’t understand why staff dude even bothered to do that for where I was sitting. C’mon man
• My penlights were both out of batteries and I ran out of UOs by the end so I was just jamming to JAM Project free hands
• A few more day 3 notes: AC-bu did the thing, finally see Naobou, Minoringo still amazingly good at working the crowd, the three pieces of the TrySail, ZAQ and OxT yo
• Met Southrop for a bit and then reunited with group to figure out what to do to end day 3
• We attempted to get food at Denny’s but that failed so instead we went to…Saizeriya lol
• and then I made the smart decision to join in on all night karaoke (this seems familiar)
• we left around 5am for first trains and I went back and got a few hours of sleep because lol flight home later that day (this seems familiar)

Monday

• Woke up packed, went to Bang Dream cafe in Akiba with Adam. Wanted to get the Lisa birthday dessert but that location didn’t do it apparently? :<
• Went last minute shopping in Akiba picked up a couple things
  
• Also went to Ochanomizu to check out the Big Boss music stores with the Bang Dream merch and displays. Good stuff.
• Headed to airport and then went home

Raw Anisama Notes and Stupid Comments

Day 1

• UchiMimo opener 
  
• eiruru logo, she back
  
• still love GRND
  
• speed star
  
• GRND with Nakajima Megumi
  
• Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari Kreygasm
  
• DearDream actually seems pretty good but most people took it as a chance to take a break 
  
• Mikku is cute
  
• Tomoriru with P-Chan, intro skit
  
• Asaka side tail is good 
  
• inspired by angela Katsu’s words
  
• SHINY DAYS
  
• ucchi with the gunma mascot www
  
• So Happy is so good
  
• Teardrops sea of UOs
  
• ED theme, disappointment but then…
  
• God Knows instant hype, flawless fade
  
• First Background song during intermission was Ace of Spades
  
• Steins gate, Itou Kanako and Zwei stuff
  
• nakajima did a MacF song
  
• momoiro Luna
  
• startear
  
• Luna, Maon, and Sae + Rimi backing instruments for Shunkan Sentimental!
  
• Shunkan Sentimental collab
  
• Maon songs unfamiliar
  
• WUG carts, and message video/montage
  
• Gokujou Smile, we got 3 members cart 
  
• MMRN Univer Page is good.
  
• Collab with Zwei was interesting with heaviness 
  
• Myth&Roid was Myth&Roid, Tom H@ck video sync guitar solo was cool
  
• Do As Infinity sounded cool but don’t know their music
  
• Aqours with the usual stuff
  
• The in the end
  

Day 2

• Inorin and Mayayan dual collabs for their songs
  
• Uma Musume with the arena race and character intros
  
• fun songs with fun calls
  
• Ayachi with the Dagashi songs. Calorie Queen!
  
• Twirling pro
  
• Aoi’s songs for this set were okay I guess?
  
• Sheep ears though
  
• I want to check out more of Yamazaki Haruka’s stuff I liked what I heard
  
• Starlight Kukugumi with Star Divine!
  
• they did the battle thing. Momoyo with the center stage rise at the end
  
• I think Ayasa and terurin had some weapon twirl moments
  
• Hina cheek thing during Hoshi no Dialogue
  
• Inorin songs are good, strong voice. A bunch tigered during Starry Wish wtf
  
• Hasshi’s songs seem good too. I wish I knew them. Side tail. Good performer and hype maintainer. Songs have fun calls
  
• Finally got to see fhana
  
• Que Sera Sera 😭
  
• They did Aozora no Rhapsody! And the Calorie Queen ate and drank above top ramp lol
  
• TrySail really is good. Cool use of screen for all three on mid super wide screen 
  
• Adrenaline was awesome as expected
  
• Los Los Los after intermission was not expected, but was fun though
  
• Mayayan with aventure bleu
  
• Then Smiling Spiral YESSSSSSS she did the baseball thing
  
• Minami was good but I didn’t know the songs
  
• Minorin was great, michishirube was nice
  
• True a lot better than even after expectations from ‘17 BD
  
• Petit milady appeared as expected
  
• dude in adajacent corner with the kujaku during carts wtf
  
• petit milady PTE thing
  
• Mimorin Minorin happened again, but I didn’t really know the song…
  
• SideM was really good lots of hype. That one dude that was hands free until SideM
  
• SideM was carts lots of hype when they were in front of our block lol
  
• Miyano can actually perform wow
  
• also, he knows what he’s doing
  
• yosh yosh
  
• whooahhohh
  
• GRANRODEO as energetic as on BDs for last year, Miyano parodies
  

Day 3

• Naobou, Sumipe, i☆Ris, and Milky? OKAY Holmes lol
  
• Sisters, cart, actually some fun songs
  
• I really like Oresama’s sound need to check them out
  
• wtf Snow Halation by The Monsters
  
• Hellshake Yano lmao
  
• AC-bu is the best
  
• Sumipe with Pop Team Epic. Gun.
  
• Yurika is really good too need to check her stuff, LWA song is really good
  
• guess MO song was fun ish, some guest dancer from MV?
  
• Hayamin vox strong
  
• Finally got to see Naobou
  
• True Destiny is better than e
  
• 2nd song has a good sound
  
• Feeling Around = 🙏
  
• Policed by doofus staff
  
• 2nd song, Minoringo likes teaching people
  
• Hayamin x Ringo = such a polite combo
  
• Konomin always brings the hype
  
• The running during Motenai
  
• The three pieces of the TrySail
  
• i☆Ris, changing point as expected
  
• they did the medley but it seemed longer?
  
• Baby Sweet Berry Love by Yui Chan = blessed
  
• Shouta Aoi actually hype
  
• ZAQ, also hype
  
• ZAQ and OxT with the sugar bitter cover = YES
  
• OxT with some heavier songs to continue the hype train
  
• almost forgot about ML but they are good!
  
• Milky has fun songs I wish I got into them way back
  
• JAM project never gets old, always delivers and Skill aahh
  
• Gangsta Naobou is the best
  

Overall

• Tokyo summers are awful and I hate it.
• Anisama was tons of fun! (…maybe I’ll go again some day, despite summer being bad)
• I forgot to try Strong Zero again. It will remain a mystery to me
  
• JP trips. New hat streak: preserved. New nesoberi streak: ended.

Tweets

More Tweets (mostly RTs)

Anime Expo 2018: (Day 0: July 4th) July 5th - July 8th

Third AX, and it’s the best one yet.

I’ve learned to not expect much from trying to do things at AX but surprisingly, I managed to do most of what I set out to do. Probably because I changed how I scheduled things I wanted to see.

Wednesday

• Just like last year, day 0 was a 24+ hour day
• Managed to check in early. Got the JW this year which is the godlike pick.
• Got tickets and walked by the Aqours merch line which was horrible looking. Didn’t have to suffer it myself due to help.
• Met up with peoples and did dumb speaker shenanigans in the LA Live courtyard.
• “Lunch” was the good ol’ Ohana Poké Co at FigAt7th
  
• Aqours World Love Live Beyond the Pacific
• This live was unique and definitely memorable. Felt like it started with 3rd live material, into 1st live, and ending with 2nd live. I loved the feel of the setlist
• Anchan flubbed a thing so this is a true Aqours Love Live
• We finally got to do call and responses. Furirin did the Rubesty version and the normal version. Rikyako almost forgot but Shuka saved the day
• I love CYaRon! Shuka with beret will always be oh so perfect. And the lean on Anchan during “Genki Zenkai DAY! DAY! DAY!” was so cute. I love “Kaigandoori de Matteru yo” so that was a fun pick too.
• AZALEA is hot as always. “Torikoriko Please” is a classic. Extremely disappointed at no “Galaxy HidE and SeeK” but “LONELY TUNING” is okay I guess
• Guilty Kiss BRINGS THE HYPE AS USUAL. “Strawberry Trapper” definitely still one of my favorite songs. I cycloned to pretty much every chorus and I saw the most UOs in the crowd in this song compared to any other. Would’ve liked “Kowareyasuki” or “Guilty Eyes Fever” but GNGK is a good classic 
• “Yuuki wa doko ni? Kimi no Mune ni!” We did it. The AqouRainbow succeeded. I, like many others, had doubts but we pulled it off and I couldn’t be more glad to be wrong. The NA LL fandom made an impact. And we showed Aqours just how much we love them.
• It was hard to see from my seat due to the theater’s layout but I could vaguely see it but was definitely sure it worked when I saw the seiyuu reactions.
• Shuka and Aikyan were wiping tears and Anchan was just speechless for a moment. Hearing the acknowledgement of a rainbow was just amazing. As of the writing of this post, it’s been a week and I’m still thinking about it a lot. Still in awe.
• Having two of the 2nd live songs towards the end was perfect IMO. Really reminded me of Saitama 2nd and that live will always be special to me as the first actual JP Love Live I attended.
• Loved the streamers during “Taiyou wo Oikakero!” wasn’t expecting them and really drove in the 2nd live memories. Got a few streamers saved too
• “Sunshine Pikkapika Ondo“ is still a fun song. I loved that they even brought everything (but Ucchichi) for this song: the happis, the taiko, the fans. I love this song a lot after having seen it at 2nd live.
  
• I love Aqours. I, like some others, had been feeling a bit down about Aqours for a bit and this definitely revitalized me.
• Aqours brings me back once again
• Afterwards was dinner. Live Basil Pizza + pregame and then…Wota Peace Party 2018
• Caught up with a few people here and kind of joined in on the usual crazy stupid shit that happens lol
• Went to sleep after a 25 hour day. oof.

Thursday

• I actually don’t remember doing too much besides wandering the exhibit hall and artist alley
• Initially tried for some exhibit hall targets but Bushiroad and Aniplex were continually swamped so I just kind of gave up
• Lunch was Smash Burger. Hadn’t had it in a while since the one near work no longer exists
• Went to the Conga Room where Crunchyroll was holding their offsite stuff just to see Dan Ryckert and Jeff Gerstmann of Giant Bomb do a panel called “Anime 101″ lol
• It was a pretty fun panel in the usual Jeff and Dan way and afterwards I got to speak with them for a slight moment and have a picture taken with them too
• I don’t remember what else I did on Thursday. I was still too tired from Aqours on Day 0
• Dinner was FigAt7th again. Some spicy tuna rice bowl from Gentaro Soba

Friday

• Tried early for Aiba Aina autograph and failed
• I caught the first of three 22/7 stage sessions at Aniplex booth and it was fun. Managed to camp a corner of the Crunchyroll booth with a guy named Paul and the staff guy was like “you’re at the corner, I guess it’s fine” so we didn’t get forced out like many others.
• Sally still the meme queen. Reinya has a really cute voice. And Meimei is just super cute in general.
• I can’t believe Sally dabbed on the exit off the stage smh
• Stuck around a bit after to see the Gudako suit and stupid stuff happening on stage lol “Defeating the evils of humanity with the evil of humanity”
• Lunch was Smash Burger again because convenient and it was fucking hot outside (100+ degrees). The breeze literally felt like when you accidentally left the A/C on blast in the car and you turn it on in summer
• Didn’t get to see the other 2 sessions because of other things and camping for Aiba Aina mini live
• Camped 2 hours early for AiAi performance and barely got a seat. There ended up being A LOT of people waiting around to watch the performance
• She did a sound check and people were even hype for that lol. Never seen a sound check where the actual artist sings to the actual backing track but it was fun
• There ended up being a small talk session focusing on GBP and such before she performed “LOUDER” and “Nesshoku Starmine”
• I was hoping for at least 4 songs but this was still great and lots of fun.
• Japan Super Live | Setlist: May’n, Sayuri, Aimer, Kajiura, Encore
• Going into this, I figured it wasn’t going to be penlight heavy and I was right. The live ended up good/nice and different from the past 2 super lives
• May’n kicked things off. Notable songs were the 2 Macross F songs and omg “One in a Billion” solo version. I loved that the crowd went green. All the WUG lovers leading the way
• Phone idiots need to be banned. There were like 6 different people within the 2 rows in front of me that kept doing this and I wanted to throw spent UOs at them so badly
• Sayuri was pretty amazing. The visuals along with her music were perfectly complementary. Really loved her performance
• Aimer was the point where I basically just kept my penlight off for the rest of the night. She is so good. The godlike voice. Was hoping for a secret “ninelie” but “Brave Shine” was performed and just amazing vox. The acoustic set made it much more standout.
• Yuki Kajiura and her band and vocalists ended the night which I originally wouldn’t have thought would work but actually was great with Aimer beforehand. Her arrangements sound so good live and the ending collab with Aimer was super good
  
• A different JSL than other years but still amazing on its own
  
• I think dinner was Rosa Mexicano. I liked it. Salsa was pretty addicting
  

Saturday

• Tried early for Aiba Aina autograph again and failed because I was already up and why not…
• Walked over and got a low effort autograph. Kotaro Sudo, a producer on Pop Team Epic. He seemed very whatever about everything lol
• Rushed to Bushiroad’s GBP booth to catch the AiAi GBP multilive session. It was fun, she sang along while playing and some songs had people taking really long to load which led to more singing to the looping preview and counting down the last 10% each time lol
• After some songs she would read the post-song conversations (English version of the game) in character if Yukina was present. I remember ‘nautilus’ being a tough word she encountered
• Songs I remember: LOUDER, Hidamari Rhodonite, Re:birth day, Guren no Yumiya
• Eter posted some videos here
• He got into one match and I got into the very last one. “Guren no Yumiya”. I was the only one that played on Expert. A single Sayo center surrounded by Yukinas.
• Caught the first 22/7 session of the day by looping the booth with Eter until we found a good spot to park and actually watch the rest of the session.
• Waited around to get Kätzchen’s autograph and then headed back for 22/7
• Came back to catch the second 22/7 session and actually got a spot in the booth to watch. It was cramped but getting a pretty close view of the 3 members was worth.
• I think there were some silly Q&A stuff happening. At one point, Sas wanted to ask a question so a ton of us helped him get picked by just going “THIS GUY”
• I remember there being one moment where Sally told a touching story about being supported by her members and Albert coaxed a group hug out and that was nice.
• Rested up a bit before JKL and lunch was some expensive con hot dog because no time to get real food
• Decided to do the 22/7 final session into JKL rush with Sas and Eter. We got the kami entrance spot just for the moments of closeness. Sas spotted Sally arriving to the booth before the session late and that was a silly moment. Classic Sally.
• Doing the rush was worth because Albert was busy so…Sally ended up MCing it herself basically lol
• It was a bit messy but still entertaining. Some more behind the scenes footage into a Q&A with some simple but fun questions.
• Rushed to JKL after. Guessing that it would start late and it worked out because I got there about…60 seconds before it actually started.
• Japan Kawaii Live
• So it turns out my spot was 2nd row, basically completely dead center (5-313). One of the best seats in the entire arena.
• Cinderella Girls started the show. This year it was: Makino Yui (Mayu), Aoki Ruriko (Riina), Matsuzaki Rei (Kirari), Aihara Kotomi (Shiki), Iida Yuko (Kanade), Kurosawa Tomoyo (Miria)
• CG Setlist here
• Started off with “Shine” which I kind of expected.
• Led into “Sunflower” by the passion members (Reichama and Moyochi) which made me think “oh, so I guess there will be cute and cool songs” and didn’t think much else until….
• Makinon and Ruuri came out and did “Love∞Destiny” and blew my mind. I love this song so much and it got performed. But then…
• Iidashi and Kotomin came out and did “Tulip” !!! This is one of my favorite deresute songs so I was just in “HOLY SHIT” mode the entire time.
• The combination of “Love∞Destiny” and “Tulip” completely blew last year’s set away on their own. I would’ve liked redemption for “Yes! Party Time!!” but this was just fine.
• I just wish I had gotten ready for “Tulip” calls ahead of time since I really wasn’t expecting it to be performed and had only listened to the studio version
• Ended with “Onegai Cinderella” which is a staple and still fun
• i☆Ris was next and I sort of missed the “Doko” part because I tried to get water but couldn’t so I rushed back to my seat as “Fantasia Wonderland” started. The extremely loud  イェッタイガー calls in the pit were fun as expected
• Found a setlist post
• The introductions and emcees were silly
• During one of the emcee segments Seriko was using a towel after taking a drink of water. She just kind of crouched there for a while looking at the crowd, so I kind of made a funny face and she responded with a wide-eyed surprised “you got me” kind of look lol
• The superfans in the pit put together Congrats 6 Years message signs which was awesome.  i☆Ris got really happy and took pics with the crowd. Seriko is the best
• i☆Ris definitely had the best performance and energy of the night. I guess they’re this year’s “this group has hooked me in now” group
  
• AKB48 Team 8 was pretty fun. I didn’t look up call and responses though so I was completely lost there, whoops
• Setlist?
• I only got to know a couple of the songs beforehand but I liked what I heard and saw
• There was one song with difficult choreography which I thought was really amazing to see. Very flashy and dynamic
• They also did “Koisuru Fortune Cookie” which someone showed me before AX and I like the song so it was cool to see it performed. The onigiri hands
• They ended with “ 47 no Suteki na Machi e”. Almost got jebaited into thinking it wouldn’t happen since the song before was the ‘last song’
• I tried my best with the calls on this one and attempted the gachikoi at the end lol
• Shokotan brought the hype lol. Lots of energy and definitely tried to connect the message of how good anisong can be
• Setlist
• Was surprised at “Ray of Light” since I wasn’t expecting it but I like the song
• The inescapable “Cruel Angel’s Thesis” was a thing
• “Sorairo Days” the best as usual. Finally hearing it performed by Shokotan was a nice thing to finally have happen
  
• The final closing part was fun mainly because i☆Ris came back out wearing In-N-Out hats lol. Another seiyuu idol group comes to LA for AX/AWM and discovers the greatness of In-N-Out
• VIP farewell thing was after. Found Zeto and lined up with him for the event
• When we were going down the escalators, some people started a loud-ass gachikoi koujou. I tried to join in because it was just a stupid hype moment and why not. I wonder what CG and Shokotan probably thought of it lol
• When I got to the final stretch, it was much faster than I thought. Shared the “Koisuru Fortune Cookie” onigiri hands with Team 8 and Yurina returned it
• Then CG was next, it was too fast and the most I could do was say hi to Makinon and then go “R-O-M-A-N-T-I-C” with Moyochi and we both went “NOW!” Moyochi is the best
• i☆Ris closed it out and seeing them still with the In-N-Out hats on was just too good. Managed to say hi to the members and end with an “I LOVE YUU-CHAN” and “SAKISAMA!”
  
• It all moved so fast but was all still worth VIP. The amazing view, the amazing atmosphere, the farewell event. I need VIP for future AWMs if there’s going to be artists I really like
• Relaxed for a bit and then got In-N-Out with Sam’s group. Fulfilled what I guess is now a tradition of getting it at least once per AX trip. (And because idol endorsed burgers)
• After this was just packing to end the long journey of what felt like 683 days of AX

Sunday

• Didn’t to much. Walked around. Talked to some people. Lingered around Lumica booth for a bit. Apparently a lot of stuff happened there this year but I was busy doing other things so I didn’t stop by much.
• Left LACC and then AX ended for me

Loots

I barely got anything from the exhibit hall aside from stuff I got with some help. Mostly artist alley stuff this year. Probably 400 - 500 worth of stuff based on my spreadsheet (oh god this is much higher than I thought)

• Aqours LA goods (hat, shirt, penlight)
• FGO Arts command card shirt
• A poster tube I almost couldn’t bring back due to the size even though it was the small one
• Love Live! Sunshine!! S2 OST (gambled once for stickers but only got a regular Mari)
• Prinz Eugen (Azur Lane) and Okita (FGO) keychains by Katzchen via Sekai Project
• Narmaya (GBF) and Roselia prints from aeror
• Picked up an Azur Lane fanbook by Doomfest
• Okita cushion, some keychains (Okita, Musashi, Hokusai), and some prints (Yuru Camp, Illya, Blend-S) from Hitsu
• A Watanabe You button from Kata
• An Ibaraki (FGO) print and a Fou-kun pin from mins
• A Zooey (GBF) keychain from moorina
• A shirt for a friend from ririmon
• A Saber print and a Pikachu pin from Kai
• A Fou-kun charm from wooperfuri? (this booth looked shared so not sure)
• Blend-S, MHXA (FGO), and Elf (Eromanga Sensei) prints from Xeph
• A bunch of other small things and free things from booths

Take me back to AX

Tweets 1

Tweets 2

Doing another guessing list this year. Mostly very unfamiliar with most of the artists works as a whole but I’m making random guesses anyway.

Aqours

• Lock: 恋になりたいAQUARIUM
• Likely: MY舞☆TONIGHT
• Break all UOs: Any high tempo Guilty Kiss song

Aimer

• Lock: ninelie
  
• Likely: Ref:rain
  
• Wishlist: Brave Shine

Yuki Kajiura

• Lock: No idea, actually. SAO, Madoka, or Fate OST stuff?
  
• Wishlist: Magia
• Break all UOs: The artist formerly known as Kalafina appears

Sayuri

• Lock: Lock: 月と花束
• Likely: それは小さな光のような
• Break all UOs: るーららるーらーるららるーらー

May'n

• Lock: A Macross F song in general
  
• Wishlist: Diamond Crevasse
• Break all UOs: One in a Billion

Nakagawa Shoko

• Lock: 空色デイズ
• Wishlist/Reach: Taking Sweet Shelter
• Break all UOs: Cover of “Don’t say ‘lazy’”

Cinderella Girls

• Lock: お願い！シンデレラ
• Wishlist: Yes! Party Time!!
• Break all UOs: Love∞Destiny, Tulip, Romantic Now
  

AKB48

• Lock: 47の素敵な街へ
• Likely: ヘビーローテーション
• Break all UOs: ヘビーローテーション but with every JKL artist/group

i☆Ris

• Lock: Changing Point
• Wishlist: 幻想曲WONDERLAND
• Break all UOs: 空色デイズ with Shokotan

Anime Boston 2018: March 30 - April 1

First time going to Anime Boston. Didn’t expect much but ended up having a great time.

Friday

• Barely caught my flight and eventually arrived in Boston
• Got badge, explored the venue, and then met up with Sas and his group to camp for Asaka panel
• Ended up sitting at the absolute front on Asaka’s side. The panel was probably one of the most enjoyable Japanese guest panels I’ve ever sat in. Was moderated by a staff member moderating panels for the first time so the first half was a bit shaky but he did his best (Ganbare Moderator-san). Since Asaka speaks quite good English, the flow of rest of the panel was very conversational and ‘friends hanging out’-like. She played off of everyone’s reactions and questions in such a fun way. A lot of the questions ended up relating to favorite songs and influences which led to a lot of impromptu song covers. It was also quite uh eye opening to realize how she really is a true otaku. I’m pretty sure everyone in the panel was slayed several times by her answers and random mini-covers
• Some of the mini-covers I can remember: SHINY DAYS, Cutie Panther, Ikenai Borderline (There were several more but my memory is super terrible)
  
• REALLY likes Gintama. Likes Kuroshitsuji.
• Makes her own cosplays. Has cosplayed Love Live before.
• Prioritizes anime goods over things like food or clothing
• I think she likes Eli best? Also Azusa and the Futami twins from 765
• Spends a bit on FGO and other mobage. Likes all servants, couldn’t pick a favorite.
• Someone asked about a favorite sport I guess? She said golf.
• And musical instrument: the recorder lol
• FLOW was also at AB. She said she had to maintain her composure when meeting them while internally freaking out
• Guy to my left: “I’ve been to Anisama 3 times”. Asaka: “Oh yeah, 6 times”. Crowd: oooooooooohhhhhhhhhhh
• Something about playing horror games every day on PS4
• At some point Macross got mentioned and Asaka reversed a question on Moderator-san about favorite song to which the answer was “Watashi no Kare wa Pilot”. I think she sang a bit of this and then another Macross F song? Can’t remember for sure. Probably one that May'n sang because she really looks up to May'n
• I remember a mention of liking “Paradise Lost”
• Some seiyuu she likes: Sugita, Naobou.
• Friends with Suzuki Konomi. Gets dinner with her sometimes
• Eter got a high five when Asaka walked out at the end of the panel and people were like “please shake my hand too”
• Tried a poké bowl place nearby. For some reason, they had music playing that was just video game covers/remixes
• Camped for FLOW concert. Ended up being maybe several rows behind the very front and in center section. FLOW is still awesome! Got most of the songs I wanted to hear again. Finally heard all three Tales of songs they did in one performance (BURN, INNOSENSE, Kaze no Uta)
• That pre-concert content though = no (Getting the entire hall to sing the Pokemon theme was pretty funny though)
• I only had 4 UOs for the whole weekend. 2 went to “Kaze no Uta”
• Random thing. Found out the Westin was connected to Hynes via a series of  sky bridges connecting a bunch of malls. Didn’t have to go outside to go between the venue and hotel
  

Saturday

• LiSA Little Devil Parade live footage was screened. It was a lot of fun. Cons need to do more stuff like that for video screening programming
• Ended up wandering dealers a lot although I barely got anything because wouldn’t have been able to transport it back :<
• Camped for Asaka live which was the opener for the masquerade (someone have been aware enough to set it up like that lol)
• We played Uno while waiting for the Asaka live. I won 3 times in a row at one point. LuckSKILL.
• Ended up maybe several rows behind the very front again, slightly left center section
• That pre-concert content = still no
• The Asaka live was super fun though! I was only mostly familiar with “SHINY DAYS” and its coupling tracks but the other songs were also great. Setlist
• The last two UOs went to “SHINY DAYS” Chorus 2 because she moved over to our side during then. The others brought mega UOs with marshmallows and a box of Lucky Charms for the final chorus which was pretty ridiculous(ly awesome)
• Post live group photo (official). I was just out of frame. :<
• Post live group photo (everyone outside). Sas posted the photo in response to the official post and got a like. We made it!
• Mike and I ended up just hanging out with Sas, Xatro, and Pone while they did wotagei stuff. Maybe I should try to learn a bit someday…

Sunday

• Could only hang around near the convention center for a bit since we had to leave early

Loots

Day 1

• FLOW 15th Anniversary Anime Boston 2018 shirt: $25
• Rem button from Funimation: $0
  

Day 1 Total: $25

Day 2

• Yohane mini-nesoberi: $15
• Emilia button from Funimation: $0
  
• Watanabe You sketch by Kata: $10

Day 2 Total: $25

Day 3

• N/A

Day 3 Total: $0

Overall total: $50

Anime Boston was a lot of fun though. Having to decide between AB and Sakura-con every year from now on though will be tough

I’m pretty sure we’re fans forever now

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2017 of the year. This year was awful in so many ways but there were moments and things that kept me positive. List of some good things this year.

Concerts/Events (chronological)

• MAGFest
  
• Katsucon
• Japan 2017 I
• Aqours 1st Live: Step Zero to One (Live Viewing, Day 1)
• Uchida Maaya 2nd Live: Smiling Spiral (Day 2)
• Periphery
• Metallica
• Iron Maiden
• AnimeExpo - Anisong World Matsuri
• Japan Kawaii Live
• Japan Super Live
• DragonForce
• Otakon - Anisong World Matsuri
• Japan 2017 II
• Aqours 2nd Live: Happy Party Train Tour (Saitama, Day 1)
• Minori Suzuki Birthday Event - Minoringo Harvest Festival
• GARNiDELiA stellacage Asia Tour @ Zepp Tokyo
• Dream Theater

The list above is what kept me sane this year. Getting to hear some of my favorite songs ever performed live made me very happy. And I went to Japan for the first time this year (and then I went again later in the year?!).

Anime

• Kobayashi-san no Maidragon (I wish this show could go forever)
  
• New Game!! (I could probably watch this show forever too)
• A Silent Voice | Your name. (It’s too difficult to choose one over the other so it’s a tie)
• Net-juu no Susume (A late catch, but good enough to list)
  
• Love Live! Sunshine!! Season 2 (Season 2 is really good)

This year was okay.

Music

• Drive-in Theater [Uchida Maaya] (Album? of the year. Listened to this a lot)
• Just Bring It [BAND-MAID] (I want to see them live again)
  
• Determinism&DestruKction [Demetori] (Probably the only Touhou doujin music group I still follow)
  
• RAINBOW [Touyama Nao] (Naobou has her own album ;A;)
• Reaching into Infinity [DragonForce] (I looped ‘Ashes of the Dawn’ a lot)
  

Music I finally checked out this year / Discovered this year

• Hardwired…to Self-Destruct [Metallica] (This one’s pretty good?)
• Music from Wake Up, Girls! (Why didn’t I get into WUG sooner?)
• Music from BanG! Dream! (PoPiPa is great. I want to see Roselia live)

I didn’t listen to much new music this year it seems.

Games

• NieR:Automata (Game of the year)
  
• Persona 5 (OST of the year)
• Yakuza 0 (Does watching it via Giant Bomb East’s ‘Beast in the East’ series count?)
• Tales of Berseria (Kind of just to fill a spot)
  
• Fire Emblem Heroes (Does this count?)

…

• Destiny 2 (What a shame)

Games I Finally Played

• Granblue Fantasy (Why did I do this to myself?)
• Fate/Grand Order (See previous)

Games I didn’t finish or didn’t start (yet?)

• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
  
• Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
• Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age

Just like the last few years, I barely played any games.

Movies watched

For some reason, I went to Japan twice in one year. (The reason was Aqours again). September 25th - October 2nd.

Tuesday

• Arrived in Akiba and visited the usual shops to look around. Bought a few things. Had to endure a jerkass clerk at Don Quijote when getting UOs…

Wednesday

• Checked out the Re:Zero shop at Shibuya Marui. Wasn’t as good as the Rem one unfortunately with respect to goods. The displays were nice though
• While in Shibuya, things were a bit weird this time since some of the scenery was ‘familiar’ from Persona 5
  
• Went to Harry Hedgehog cafe and then Harry Harajuku Terrace later. Got to see and touch hedgehogs, chinchillas, and otters. So many cute animals
• Ate some stuff at the Sweets Paradise in Shinjuku because of the Granblue collab. All you can eat sweets is pretty dangerous.
• Tried Sega collab cafe for Love Live! Sunshine!! stuff. Just like the SAO thing from last time, the main food sucked but the drinks and parfait were good. Kinchan’s message for my solo table though ;A;

Thursday

• Went to Metlife Dome at Saitama to get goods. Pretty effortless. Also tried the gacha stuff and people were gaming the system hard lol. Only suffered 2k yen in gambl- err gacha-ing to get a You button, Azalea pin, and two PARTY charms
• More Ikebukuro wandering
• Got a Matou Sakura drink from the Heaven’s Feel mini-collab thing in front of the Animate
  
• Checked out Ikebukuro Marui also for the Love Live! Sunshine!! collab. It was alright
• More Akiba wandering
  

Friday

• Aqours 2nd Live Day 1 at Metlife Dome
• My first Love Live live in Japan. Got the B-side upper stands but it was still so good and so much fun
• Got the good Shukashuu view during “Jimo Ai ♡ Mantan ☆ Summer Life“. The JIMO AI calls during the chorus right as she passed right in front of my section in the stands! Shukashuuuuu!
• I brought 25 UOs and used all 25
• The mini summary with more thoughts
  
• I was first to escape from Metlife Dome
  

Saturday

• Wandered Ikebukuro in the morning
• Checked out the nesoberi wall in Shinjuku Station
• Wandered Shibuya for a bit again
  
• Some more wandering of Harajuku and then went to the Minori Suzuki event (Minoringo Harvest Festival) at Laforet Harajuku
• She went onstage with Asami Seto and the host and had a montage of photos. She shared some stories behind them and her progression over the past couple years mostly from Macross Delta work
• She performed solo vocal songs with piano accompaniment by Cornish. Someone posted a setlist
• There was one part where a video message from Maaya Sakamoto played to wish her a happy birthday and good wishes and Minoringo lost it and cried and everyone was cheering her on lol
• Fun event and of course Runepikka was fun to sing along to

Sunday

• Quick trip to Akiba to try and win the new You nesoberi from one of the arcades. Succeeded at one of the Sega ones for 2k yen
  
• Went to Diver City and saw the new Gundam statue
• Last time I saw the previous Gundam statue a week before it was to be taken down, this time I saw the new Gundam a week after it opened to the public
• I tried omurice for the first time and I need more omurice in my life
  
• Went to Zepp Tokyo to see GARNiDELiA for the third time. Someone posted a setlist
  
• The crowd was interesting in how they did “calls” to songs compared to what I’d seen in their performances at cons in America
• Having a live band makes everything better. The songs at this live were so good sound-wise and MARiA and toku are still amazing
• toku SANG DURING A SONG AND WENT MOBILE KEYBOARD A FEW TIMES
• toku with his airhorn keys memeing the hell out of certain emcee segments late into the set
• The combination of MARiA, Miume, and 217 is too godlike especially in their outfits (MARiA’s hat!)
  
• “Gokuraku Jodo” as the final encore song with MARiA, Miume, and 217 dancing on the center platform. OH MY GOD. I never thought it would be possible to see such a performance
  

Monday

• Mostly just wandered Akiba looking for last minute things
• Went to Haneda and flew home

Overall

• I wish I had done just a little bit more during the free day I had and parts of free times during other days. Need to plan better to avoid double tracking
• Wish I had tried more food rather than just defaulting to conbini and chain don and curry places. Conbini is still a godlike lifesaver though. Also trains also still godlike
• Being in a 30k venue this time was a whole different beast of an experience. I need more lives!
• Winter has better sightseeing?
  

Tweets

Otakon 2017: August 11 - August 13

The first Otakon at Walter E. Washington Convention Center in D.C.

This Otakon felt different but very much improved over past events.

Friday

• Attended FLOW panel for a bit. They mostly had silly answers or generic answers. Asked about working with toku on “Steppin’ Out” and got a generic answer about how it was cool to mix their styles. The hair guy asked about if they would collab with Kageyama on “Cha-La Head-Cha-La” for AWM and they gave a joke non-answer (but it happened on Saturday so that was awesome)
• Wotagei panel. Mostly same as usual but also more yakkai. Someone literally broke a UO? Alvin made a UO pinwheel and UO boxing gloves?
• AWM day 1 was awesome. Already saw JAM Project and TMR at last year’s AX AWM but they were still super energetic put on a great show.
• JAM Project was relentless with their pace and TMR was pretty hilarious with how he eventually just got more naked through his set (HOT LIMIT was a thing). Also, the “USA” and “TMR” chants were stupid but fun. And of course, the “SKILL” collab at the end was great.
• Also, found out Aoyama Hideki (usual drummer for the BABYMETAL kami band) helped out AWM again as a drummer for this year’s AWM at Otakon.
• Rained at night, almost got lost somehow going to metro station (Dbro’s friend’s fault).

Saturday

• Wandered around and found out about a mini wotagei thing at the AWA booth. Normal stuff that evolved into silly stuff occurred. I’m liking “Welcome to Japari Park” a lot more now.
• AWM day 2 exceeded my expectations. Checked out Yousei Teikoku’s stuff before Otakon and I got excited for some more metal and of course FLOW is FLOW.
• I’m definitely a follower of Das Feenreich now. The band is amazing and they sound so much better live than their studio recordings, wow. “Patriot Anthem” was one of the songs that I really liked during my listens and they performed it and it was SO. GOOD. In contrast to TMR, Yui gained more clothes as their set progressed and the outfit that formed for “Patriot Anthem” was badass. The Future Diary OP was their closer and it was great as expected too. Special mention to the small Linkin Park tribute with the “One Step Closer” riff; RIP Chester :(
• I finally got to see FLOW live despite so many chances before this event. They are amazing live; the vocalists have good energy and their instruments were on point, especially the guitarist. They pretty much played every song I wanted them to play. I would’ve liked for them to have played “INNOSENSE” over “BURN” but it was still pretty much perfect. “Kaze no Uta” was a good closer and “COLORS” (as a collab with Yui from Yousei Teikoku) was the perfect encore.
• In the evening, watched the Fate series photoshoot on the bridge later on and saw it stormed pretty hard. Apparently a pipe burst and parts of artist alley got flooded so that was silly.
• Discovered the real indoor path to metro to avoid the rain.

Sunday

• Wandered around? Gambled on LLSS buttons and mostly lost. Gacha is bad.
• Tried to go to Daikaya and of course failed but went to Bantam King instead and it was good.
• Went back to the convention center to meet up with someone as the con was ending. Went through the front door and my friend and I were almost denied entry but were told that we could go but no one else after. So we were probably the last ones through the front door for Otakon 2017?
• Met with another friend and his group and we sat around and talked for a bit. Granblue free daily pulls were still happening so we did a group pull after the daily reset and one guy got Europa and we all yelled pretty loudly lol lots of people were definitely confused.
• Left in the evening and that was that. Otakon was alright. It was definitely very well organized and the move was a good choice. I’m glad to be looking forward to Otakon again.

Loots

Day 1

• Rem nendoroid from Crunchyroll: $45
• Yoshiko nesoberi: $49
• You charm by moorina: $10
• Chino and Lillie charms by Hitsu via moorina: $20

Day 1 Total: $124

Day 2

• Walküre Attack!: $33
• Wake Up, Girls! Best 2: $42

Day 2 Total: $75

Day 3

• Love Live! Sunshine!! blind pack buttons x6: $30 :(
• Okay sign from Viz?: free
• Dragonball Super wristband from Funimation?: free

Day 3 Total: $30

Overall total: $229

No funny pic this time, so here’s a pic of ramen I ate

Tweets