Anime Expo 2015 Day 3 – Day 4 Convention Report!

Welcome to the second part of my Anime Expo 2015 convention report! Last time there was plenty of talk of the Exhibit Hall, autographs and the Momoiro Clover Z concert with plenty of pictures. Let’s see what else Anime Expo had to offer! (Warning: this blog post is picture-heavy!)

Day 3 (Saturday):

Day 3 comes rolling around, and we wake up early yet again to try and snag another priority autograph ticket. By this time, we’ve already grown accustomed to getting up really early to get the tickets we needed.

Success! We were able to secure our tickets! Daisuke Ishiwatari’s was the first autograph session of the day, but I was also really tired from all the activity from the previous days, so I decide to take a nap before the session…which might have been a mistake, because then I had to rush and run to the autograph session! Me and alarms don’t get along well.

Meeting Ishiwatari is one thing that has been on my bucket list, so I never thought I’d have the chance to make it happen! I told him I was a big long-time fan, and I thanked him for all his hard work. He was incredibly nice; he bowed and thanked me for the support. Another great Anime Expo moment for me! ❤

Afterwards, I decided to grab some late breakfast with some coffee and relax at the hotel, since we had a full day with TWO main events, one right after the other!

First up is the Fate/Stay Night [UBW] event! The event featured the premiere of the dubbed episodes, performances from Ayano Mashiro and Aimer, a Q & A session with Takahiro Miura, Hikaru Kondo, Atsuhiro Iwakami and Ayako Kawasumi along with a live drawing session from Tomonori Sudou.

As we entered the venue, we were given a special present: an acrylic artwork to display! I was expecting another glowstick, like last year’s Kill La Kill event, but this artwork was a pleasant surprise!

The brilliant performance by Ayano Mashiro kicked off the event to get the excitement going! Some of the songs she sang were Ideal White, her own versions of Oath Sign and This Illusion. Glow sticks were seen waving to the beat of the music as fans cheered! It was definitely the way to start the event!

After her lively performace, the premiere of one of the Fate/Stay Night UBW episodes started to play. One really neat thing about this event is that some of the dub cast sat along with the audience to watch their work with us! I felt that most of the voices fit really well with the exception of Illya, who sounded too old, and Rin, who didn’t have a confident-sounding voice, which contrasts with her personality. Overall it was a pretty good dub!

Afterwards, Takahiro Miura, Hikaru Kondo, Atsuhiro Iwakami, Ayako Kawasumi and Tomonori Sudou were introduced for the Q & A session. During the session, a lot of the behind-the-scenes processes were shown; rough drafts were shown as it was explained how they went from the storyboard all the way to the finished work. Kawasumi even chimed in, saying that voice actors didn’t even see the finished result when they record their lines. While the Q & A session was going on, Sudou was getting busy with his illustration. He didn’t talk much because he was focusing all his energy on his work; it was his first live drawing session! Since no pictures were allowed, the finished piece was displayed at the Aniplex booth after the event.

A letter from Nasu himself was then read by Kawasumi. He expressed his apologies for not being at the event…perhaps he was supposed to appear?! It would have made this event even grander, I think! His letter also detailed on ufotable’s multiple Type-Moon adaptations and how he wants to keep that going with this one line of his: “One can never have too many glorious anime, right brothers?” The letter ended asking the audience: “I ask of you, are you my fans?” to which the fans cheered in response!

Next, Kawasumi did some live Saber line readings that fans voted for! Apparently, it was her first live line reading. As expected, the lines were “I ask of you, are you my Master?” and “EXCALIBAAAA!!!” She adorably had this wide stance as she yelled her “Excalibur” line! She then said that when she recorded that line for the show, she has to do that stance to get hyped up. Cute! Kawasumi confessed that since she’s been doing the role of Saber for awhile, it has become an important part of her life. ❤

To end the event, Aimer came out onstage to perform acoustic versions of Last Stardust, Broken Night, her own version of Believe, and Brave Shine. Her performance was excellent and emotional, since it moved some fans to tears as they listened! Unfortunately I had to leave earlier than I wanted to in order to make it to the IA and Waggaki Band performance. 😦 Perhaps Anime Expo will consider scheduling main events with a larger window of time for fans that want to make it to more than one main event.

When I got to the venue, I was afraid I’d be late, but it turns out the line wasn’t still being let inside. I could have stayed to finish listening to Aimer’s performance! Bummer! The concert started an hour late, and many attendees were afraid they’d cut the concert time, but they did not; it was extended to fulfill the hours that were promised.

IA started off the concert! I’m not a fan of IA (I’m more of a Miku and Luka fan), but it was an interesting performance to watch! I was more interested in the actual dancers that came out to match IA’s movements being projected. It was impressive how they were right on cue each time!

Once IA’s performance was over, a number of attendees left, leaving us to a better spot in the pit section! We actually got close to the very front. Lucky!

Once the lights were dimmed once more, Wagakki Band made their entrance, and from start to finish, they wowed and got everyone hyped up in Club Nokia with their unique and incredible music!

Here’s their setlist:

(1) 千本桜 (Senbonzakura)

(2) いろは唄 (Iroha Uta)

(3) 吉原ラメント (Yoshihara Lamento)

(4) カゲロウデイズ (Kagerou Days)

(5) 天樂 (Tengaku)

(6) 焔 (Homura)

(7) 暁ノ糸 (Akatsuki no Ito)

(8) チルドレンレコード (Children Record)

(9) 戦 (Ikusa)

(10) 華振舞 (Hana Furu Mai)

(11) セツナトリップ (Setsuna Trip)

(12) 六兆年と一夜物語 (Rokuchounen to Ichiya Monogatari)

(Encore) 千本桜 (Senbonzakura)

They were really happy to be there, and were charmed by the audience lively response to their music! At one point all but Wasabi and Kurona for a dual drums and taiko solo. We went nuts as we cheered along to their beats! Then the guitarist, Machiya, came out to play The Star-Spangled Banner, which was an unexpected surprise! The bassist, Asa, then came out afterwards to do his great bass solo. And then the shamisen player, Ninagawa, played her mesmerizing solo. We weren’t expecting each member to do a solo, so we got more excited as each member came out and played!

Towards the end of the show, the vocalist, Suzuhana, yelled: “I love L.A.! I love America!” We love you too, Wagakki Band! Our cheers got us an encore performance of Senbonzakura! It was probably the most fun I’ve ever had at a concert, and by the end of it, I was completely sore from all the dancing and jumping, as was my throat from all the yelling and cheering. But all the pain was worth that incredible experience! 🎵

After the concert, we went back for more tacos, because they were just that good!

The only real “loot” I had for day 3 were the Daisuke Ishiwatari’s autograph that I got earlier on that day, and Isuna Hasekura’s autograph that was given to me by the end of that day, which I’m really stoked to have! It was an insanely busy day, and I went to sleep early to prepare for the last day of Anime Expo.

Day 4 (Sunday):

Since I already got Ryukishi07’s autograph ticket by purchasing goods at the MangaGamer booth, I didn’t need to wake up early to line up for another merciless autograph ticket line. Yay!

Once I ate a quick breakfast, I headed towards Kentia Hall to line up. I got their earlier than I planned, but by the time I got there, Ryukushi07 already started his session! It was a pretty busy session, with lots of fans lining up to have their goods signed.

There were so many When They Cry cosplayers! I wanted to try and get a picture of all of them, but the line was moving so quickly that I couldn’t catch them in time, sadly.

Ryukushi07 was incredibly nice and signed more than one item, so I was really thankful that I brought both of my Umineko PC games over to be signed! I thanked him for all his hard work and told him I’d be looking forward to his future work. He smiled, bowed and said “I’m so happy, thanks so much!” He had an infectious smile that had everyone in the area in smiles as well, including the person monitoring the lines.

Since I had plenty of free time after the autograph session, I headed to the Exhibit Hall to finish seeing what I initially couldn’t get a close look at.

The Puzzle and Dragon’s display was seriously impressive, but I couldn’t get good pictures of them the previous days because it was just so crowded! I was happy I was able to snap a couple of nicer pictures.

I also managed to get a clearer look at the Monster Hunter caravan. The place was still constantly packed with people either lounging or playing a demo of Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate.

We walked by the NIS America booth, and the huge Monokuma was out! The booth was overflowing with people, so I quickly snapped the above pic and came back to the booth later for a closer look at their merchandise for sale.

The Aniplex booth has a display on what was for sale, but what attracted my attention were the prototype figures of the Shiki Ryougi 1/7 scale figure and the Rin Tohsaka Archer Costume ver. 1/7 scale figure by Aniplex +! Both figures are up for order on Aniplex+’s site. But you better act quick, since both of the figures have an order cut-off date! Both of the figures look great!

I went back to the Goodsmile Company booth, since they had on display some nendoroids that weren’t released yet. They had the painted Shiren the Wanderer, Raiden nendoroids, and the Majora’s Mask Link prototype nendoroid! Both the Shiren and Raiden nendoroids are currently up for order, while the Link one hasn’t gone up for order yet. Don’t they look cute?

When the Exhibit Hall then closed, making the Entertainment Hall the place to be! We headed over there to relax for a bit. After resting my feet for a few, I finally decided to make my way towards the Nendoroid 500 exhibition that Goodsmile Company brought along with them!

Since more people were showing up from the closed Exhibit Hall, not all of these are in order. However, I did manage to get a picture of each row! Here’s the 500 nendoroids that Goodsmile Company brought with them:

There were also some really educational and enlightening displays on how they make their figures!

The exhibition was pretty impressive; I’ve never seen so many nendoroids in one place! I’m really glad Goodsmile Company brought it over for us US fans to enjoy!

Along with the Nendoroid 500 exhibition, Goodsmile Company teamed up with Studio TRIGGER to bring The Art of Little Witch Academia: The Enchanted Parade Gallery. It had artwork, storyboards, key animations, designs and even costumes for attendees to see!

It even had a video sequence of the animation! While I enjoyed what I did get to see, but it was starting to get really crowded, so it was impossible for me to take further pictures.

As the convention drew to a close, we grew hungry…it was Curry House time!

We also had a look in the Kinokuniya store next door one last time for last-minute purchases. Our 4th day at Anime Expo was short, but our convention trip ended on a very sweet note.

Got a Devi Tamadra plush and a Free! Rin pillowcase from miscellaneous booths, the World End Economica shirt from the Sekai Project booth, some Puzzle and Dragons stuff from the GungHo booth, and the Type-Moon Ace and Ninja Slayer: Glamorous Killers manga from Kinokuniya’s store. The little alpaca plush was a gift!

With that, this Anime Expo 2015 convention report comes to a close. I hope that you enjoyed reading our adventures at the conventions along with seeing the various pictures from the event!

Cosplay Omake:

Welcome Home Omake:

When I got back home, I was welcomed back by the Vita LE set of the Hakuouki Reimeiroku game! Can’t wait to play it!

Enjoy the view of these lovely Free! items I got at Anime Expo. ❤

For the next few posts, I will be focusing on a few games I’ve been wanting to talk about for awhile. One of them is Amnesia and I will go into great detail about it, so please look forward to it! As always, thank you for reading. Until next time!