Hey, AX 2018 is coming up right next week, but I never did finish posting about AX 2017 even though I already had it partly written up, with the photos all resized already. Whoops. (I only posted about what I bought, haha) The beginning is very wordy, as I actually wrote it during my plane flight to Taiwan last year, but I never did finish it. The rest is just bare bones. XD Still, this takes one thing off my checklist of conventions to write about. :D (Yay, I didn't let this one disappear into the abyss~)

AX 2017 was July 1st through 4th. We set out on the 30th, a Friday, so we were worried about traffic. That's why we set out a bit earlier than usual.

This post will mostly be about panels I went to and stuff I ate, haha. There aren't very many photos of cosplayers.

Day 0: Friday, June 30

T joined us on the ride down this year. Here's my (almost) annual photo of our reservoirs. There's a lot of water this year! We've been in a drought for so long that I'm used to passing by this place and lamenting at the sad state of the reservoirs, but this time, we marveled at the abundant water. We had a bit too much rain in 2017, actually. Even had a flood happen. That never happens here! But all the rain did help our drought situation, and the water here sure is blue and pretty. Yay for water~

We made pretty good time and arrived in time to check in, meet up with D and A, and pick up our badges at the convention center. Badge pickup on Day 0 was a breeze. There was absolutely no line for Artist Alley badge pick up on the second floor, though I am still disappointed that I didn't get one of the nice, large Final Fantasy bags that I think people got with badge pick up. I was looking forward to getting one. ): After that, I went all the way to the West Hall to pick up our Japan Super Live concert tickets. Some of the hallways were blocked, with access only allowed for people who paid for the pre-night show. The ticket pick up was outside, so I had to cut through some blocked off areas to get there. Afterwards, I couldn't get back in again and had to go all the way around...

Luckily, by then, everyone else got their badges already too. Pretty fast and painless!

Gem2niki and I met up with our high school friend for dinner at Little Tokyo. It's been years~. Our schedule usually never works out, but this time, (almost) everything aligned for dinner to happen! Except, the ramen place we had in mind was actually closed for the day, oops. So, we had dinner at Izakaya Honda-ya instead. They boast of having over 100 types of dishes, or something like that, haha.

I ordered eel rice. I quite like unagi, except this was maybe a little too much unagi, haha. Still pretty good though.

Funnily enough, of the many dishes they boasted to have, fries and quesadillas were considered part of their specialties. Like what? Isn't this a Japanese restaurant? XD So, we ordered fries, and what do you know, they're some of the best fries I've ever had, haha!

Afterwards, we had some ice cream downstairs. Yum~

Here are some of the other flavors they had!

At night, I looked up Crunchyroll's information regarding getting autographs for Yamamoto Sayo and Kubo, and it looked a bit more feasible than getting autographs from AX guests. It said that they would be handing out tickets at 9:50 near the autograph ticket booths, so we decided to get up early and try our hand at it.

Day 1: Saturday, July 1

Here will be my only Subway photo for the entire con. But know that Subway was my breakfast AND lunch for three days straight. This is why I never want to eat Subway during the rest of the year. XD In order not to have a soggy sandwich, I asked for my bread not to be toasted. It didn't work. The bread was still soggy. So, the next day, I asked for no sauce. Still soggy. So the third day, I asked for no tomatoes. Finally, not soggy! But it was also a very tasteless sandwich. ):

G2n and I took the metro. She lugged her suitcase of prints with her the entire way, and we decided that dropping it off and then getting in line for autograph tickets would be too late. Crunchyroll said not to line up, but people were lining up anyway, and we did too, with our Subways. We weren't really sure how the system would work. Being near the front was probably better than not being there. So, we stood there for quite a long time in a random line, eating breakfast. Then, suddenly, the line moved at an alarming speed, jaywalking (running, actually) right across the street.

A Crunchyroll sign had been placed there!!!! :O (Don't tell me we'd been standing in the wrong place the entire time?) I, ahem, followed them too and got in the new line that was across the street. G2n had to drag her luggage to chase after me, oops.

At 9:50, they started handing out tickets to everyone. It was actually a raffle! Anyone who was there on time got a raffle ticket. There was absolutely no need to wait in line beforehand, OTL.

Here's the crowd of people waiting for their ticket to be called. I think they called around 50. It was hard to hear the guy. ): G2n had one of the first few tickets to be called. Lucky! I watched her leave, thinking that it wouldn't be possible for mine to be called too, since our tickets were only 1 number apart.

But pretty soon, my ticket was called too. Lucky! Since the line to get inside the convention was ridiculously long, Crunchyroll staff said that we wouldn't be able to make it inside in time for the autograph session that started at 10:30. So instead, their staff would lead us in. The guy that took our group was the first group to depart, but he took us through the crowd to the main entrance instead of using a side door. Squeezing through the crowd took forever! He seemed to not know the area very well, especially that the Artist Alley and Autograph area were in the same hall and could use either entrance.

So by the time we got there, the line was already this long. What???? What happened? We were the first group to depart! All these people must have had their numbers called after us!

Anyway, I actually didn't bring anything to get signed, since I remember carrying around my signboards last year and failing at getting a single autograph, so I'd given up. But Crunchyroll said they would have Yuuri on Ice posters for signing, so I was hopeful for that. Except, the posters weren't in the correct place yet, and I saw staff hurrying to get them ready. I was a little afraid they wouldn't be able to find them! But they did eventually.

As we waited in line, the people who got their autographs already would show them off as they walked out, lol! There were lots of "awwws" as that happened. Yamamoto was doing quick doodles for everyone's autograph. When it was my turn, I requested Yurio, and they said I was the first to request him. XD G2n requested Phichit. That was a first too! We showed our autographs off as we left, to lots of "awwwwws!"

The autographs!

The autographs were signed on the back of these posters~. Mine is sadly upside down, but oh well. XD

Afterwards, I made my way to the Exhibit Hall for the first time. The staff upstairs actually blocked me and this other guy, not letting us in! She said that our badge was only for Artist Alley. We both told her, no, it's for selling in the Artist Alley, but other than that, it's just like any other 4 day badge. =\ It's not for only browsing the AA... She eventually let us in but said, "Fine, I'll let you in this time." That didn't make me feel good.

Anyway, I browsed all of the industry booths, as I'm always fond of their setups. Though, I feel like there were some cooler exhibits last year, like the Ace Attorney one. There was this selfie place that I thought would be pretty cool, as it would put you against the backdrop of your choice of anime. So I tried it out, but the staff there said, "Oh no, you have green hair!" Ahhhhhhh! I was cosplaying Kayano, so I did indeed have green hair, and the selfie booth used a green screen.... the result was that half of my head disappeared in the photo. OTL The guy behind me heard the conversation. He was wearing a green shirt, so he just took it off. XD

Here's a cool Ed and Roy cosplayer standing by the Kotobukiya booth. The entire wall was FMA. They fit right in~. Ed has such a good ahoge here.

Cat! I don't actually know the name.

A huge group of All Out cosplayers. :O So unexpected! I saw one, then another, then a ton more. I stopped them in the middle of the alley (oops) and then other people started taking photos of them too.

I went around the different booths picking up free stuff and getting my photo taken for me, haha. Me almost blocking the ikemen. In fact, I blocked the guy to the middle right. The staff lady there was really nice and even moved him for me to the side so i wouldn't block him in the photo. XD

Who is your #1? This was on Day 1. I wish I'd taken a look on the last day to see the final results.

Here's another one.

They had people dressed up like princes during certain hours to pose here with people. It's always very crowded then, and I'd hear tons of kyaaaas. XD

Me with fake cake. This is a stand for a moe...ninja academy app? Their stand was cute.

More of me posing with fake guys, hahaha. To the side, you can also pose with one of the samurais and interact with him in a video. That was awkward. (I tried it out, haha.)

Aoyama-kun! I watched it after AX. Pretty fun series, and sometimes more serious than I thought it'd be.

The Pony Canyon booth looks pretty similar to last year's. Someone was there signing autographs, but I didn't know who Pony Canyon had invited. I always find it difficult to keep straight the industry guests.

The Toei booth.

Met up with D, A, T, and E (hey, that spells date, lol) for a bit before I went back to the Artist Alley. Seemed like it took a bit for E to pick up her badge. I've heard horror stories about the badge pick up line... Also saw pics of the line extending through several blocks. 0___0

I then went to line up for Yamamoto and Kubo's panel, but I underestimated how long it'd take me to walk from the Artist Alley to the hotel where the panel was at. I got in line with D, and G2n joined us after she packed up her prints more than 2 hours early. We waited in line for about an hour (the line moved the entire time), and chatted about how nice it was that Premiere fans could go right in. After our conversation, two people in front of us left the line and went to the door, showing their badges and asking if they could go in. They were let in. XD I guess they must have been Premiere fans!

By the time we got closer to the door, the panel had already started for half an hour already. But at least we were getting closer. HOWEVER, we must have used up all our luck with the raffle, because the door closed just 4 people ahead of us. ): so close yet so far...

Couldn't be helped... G2n went back to the hotel to drop off her luggage while D and I waited around outside of the Microsoft Theater for the Anisong Super Live concert. At least, that one is ticketed, so there's definitely no missing that. The staff there were pretty friendly and came to tell us when the doors opened (but I was still busy eating my Subway and waiting for my brother to give him his ticket).

The concert~. There were many singers this time as well, like last year, though it was pretty much all female this time, the singers at least. My favorites were Ali Project and Angela. The intros for each singer were pretty cool (and gave me a bit of time to rest while sitting down, haha). Was waiting for Angela, who turned out to be the last one. When they went on stage, I couldn't stop laughing. Her outfit! It was this lion head. She wore it in front of her. She even had a tail. Like what? XD She seems to like trolling people. She told a lot of jokes on stage. XD The glow sticks, I kind of wanted one, but I bet my hand would have died if I had waved it around for three hours. I don't know how people do that at concerts. The guy in front of me even had four or five of them. (G2n eventually bought one... after the concert, lol! I guess she's ready for this year)

The concert ended pretty late, and we were super hungry by then. I mean, all I had all day was a Subway. We waited for the shuttle, which took an hour to come!!!!! Probably should have walked. D had to leave. G2n and I ate at Wokano, which is just around the corner of where our hotel is. So yeah, a late dinner.

Wocano noodles~

Slept pretty late. :'D

Day 2: Sunday, July 2

On Sunday, I went to the Hirakawa Daisuke panel. Lined up around an hour in advance this time to make sure I'd make it in. I had my bag line up for me so I could stand in the shade until it was closer to the time the doors would open. Was wearing shorts and a t-shirt and didn't want to get sunburned. There was no tent providing shade for this line unlike some of the other lines. Saw whitelilacs walk by and waved her down so I'd have a line buddy. :D

Me and Makishima-senpai! :D (When my brother saw me cosplay Teshima, he kept shouting, "Teshima Junta!!!!!" since we had just finished watching that season of Yowapeda where Teshima had a pretty prominent focus and kept shouting his own name to motivate himsef.) Man, it took forever to curl my hair, I almost didn't make it to the line.

The shuttle had a new drop off area, which was pretty awesome because you could enter the convention center through the stairs instead of through the main entrance. It was so much faster with the much shorter line!

This was the line for the Daisuke Hirakawa panel! Let's see, I had notes written down about the panel.

He said that he visited Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and saw lots of sets. He had always liked movies. He was surprised about the size of AX and touched by all the cosplay. When asked about voicing anime vs. live action, he said that the anime episodes they received were usually unfinished and they had to voice them from drafts. The live action ones were usually finished products, and they could see the actors move and breathe.

...Hm, my handwriting is too messy for me to make out this next part. Whoops. XD

Anyway, he takes care of his health. Wears a mask to bed. Takes care of his throat. Oh, this was probably pointers about being a seiyuu. LA is dryer than Japan, he had been drinking a lot of water.

There were a lot of roles he wanted but didn't get. There's lots of talented people. Might want to challenge himself to voice a murderer.

He's more of a cat person. He has 2 cats. They're his kids. Tororo and Konbu are their names, if I'm reading my writing correctly. XD

And now for the Panel Talk.

He's not good at racing games. He was in the swimming club in middle school. He can swim the butterfly. (There were a lot of people there who knew him for voicing Rei from Free! so there was quite a reaction when he said this). He can swim all styles. He loved watching American TV shows and movies. He thought it was interesting when he heard the same voices in different series. He wanted to become a kindergarten teacher, which played into his reason for becoming a seiyuu. He mostly wanted to entertain kids, and seiyuu can also do that.

When asked if he preferred swordsmanship or gunmanship, he answered that he preferred swords. He has done tate before, which is really hard. What he liked best was how his opponents would act out getting hit, and it made him feel like he was good at it.

He goes overseas for events, but hasn't been doing that for personal trips. He's never been to Egypt. He wants to visit New Zealand and Australia because of Lord of the Rings. (He voiced Legolas in Japanese).

Now for the Q&A section.

Fav character voiced was Legolas. Would love to visit Canada and snowboard. His current fav is La La Land. He has tried games he voiced but always die before getting his character. The challenge to sing in character is pretty fun. He enjoyed In & Out here. He is looking forward to the Free! Movie and Rei & Nagisa protecting the club after Haru & Makoto graduate (though he doesn't know if it will happen).

At the end, there was a janken competition between him and the rest of the room, and winners won some stuff (though I don't remember exactly what haha). Was fun though. (But I didn't win haha)

After that, I headed to the Exhibit Hall. Here were some dittos! Didn't buy any though.

After Artist Alley and Exhibit Hall closed, g2n and I headed back to our hotel room. I hadn't taken any pics of me just by myself as Teshima, so here was a quick pic by some bikes. I thought it was pretty hilarious that we walked by them as I was thinking of pics.

Teshima with a metro bike~~ XD Come, tour the city on this bike!

Hm, I think my hair is too long to cosplay Teshima this year...

Posing with the DBZ dragon~.

Met up with our Prince Revolution! peeps for dinner! Korean bbq didn't happen, so we found another place nearby.

The ramen was quite delicious. o/

Day 3: Monday, July 3

Monday, I went to the Miyu Irino panel. Always have to line up at least an hour early for these panels. Lining up when cosplaying Sun is never fun. I think I just stood the entire time. Also, those boots are like insulators! Anyway, notes!

Miyu Irino was in theater already at 4 years old. Being a seiyuu was just one of his jobs. He also did theater and live action. He was a first year in middle school when he played Hako in Spirited Away. He remembered there being a glass between the director and the seiyuu and could avoid hearing all of their comments about the acting.

When he was in middle school and elementary school, he would play video games for 8 to 12 hours a day. He has bought a PS4 with a Kingdom Hearts skin and was playing KH 2.8.

He playes Suga and was surprised by Haikyuu's popularity and wondered how people overseas would react to Japanese high school.

The panel went through some of his different roles and he talked a bit about them.

Ano Hana: Jinta
-he focused on depicting the whole character, played particular attention to emotions/delivery

Seraph of the End: Hyakuya Yuuichiro
-dilemma of 2 emotions pulling the character apart
-surprised people knew the series as it's not as popular as Kingdom Hearts or Haikyuu

Osomatsu-san: Todomatsu
-surprised at the popularity outside Japan as it's very Japanese comedy

Code Geass: Akito the Exiled
-different from his other characters
-plays a lot of straightforward, genki characters
-asked director why he was chosen
-director said he saw the character in him

He liked voicing Sora the most. It has been 15 years since and has been his longest role. He also talked about voicing Shoyo Ishida in A Silent Voice. I watched the movie after AX because of the panel. Beautiful movie.

Here was me on the way to the Artist Alley. Look at this cute Charmander family!

Spring!Xander. :D

I got in line for the My Hero Academia panel. It was super duper warm by then, so I bought myself a slushie to hydrate myself.

Here was the line. OTL After standing in line for about 45 minutes, I did not manage to make it into the panel. ): At least, I got to enjoy a slushie while I was waiting...

Afterwards, I met up with D, A, T, and E, and we went to the cosplay area to take pics. Here's me with Cloud Knight~~! With an apocalyptic background. XD We also wandered around the Exhibit Hall and got 3D scanned, but it cost too much to get a copy of it for later printing. Not too sure if I want a 3D model of myself though, especially after seeing the scan result. XD;; But I would love a 3D model of Sun.

I heard them on their instruments much sooner than I saw them. :3

Here's where I had dinner~

Yum, yum. G2n and I ordered two different dishes and split them, so I had chicken to go with the pasta, and vice versa. Yum~

More food.

We returned to the hotel after that. Here are some pics of the Sheraton, now that is all pretty and no longer under construction.

Sheraton lobby.

Hotel hallway.

Room door. Why do I even have a pic of this...

Day 4: Tuesday, July 4

On the final day, my brother and I had breakfast at Ralph's. Chatted with the employee there about AX.

We wandered around the Entertainment Hall. Here's a sword in a stone! Didn't see this backdrop earlier, or else pics as Sun here would've been pretty fun. Such as trying to pull the sword out of the stone and failing. o/

There was a Pachinko area. :3;;

My brother and I gave the VR stuff there a try. First was VR Idol, where you're a new idol. You're asked about your idol name and some of your favorite stuff while on a stage.

Lovely HxH cosplayers who were by the VR area.

A VR light novel. My brother gave this one a try.

Death Note VR. Looked scary! Not sure I wanted to try it, so I didn't. XD

I gave this One Piece one a try. I had this 3D cube that I had to put together, but being clueless about One Piece, I didn't know how to solve the puzzle. Whoops. Probably shouldn't have tried this one. XD

My favorite one was a rhythm VR game. Was pretty fun!