Anime Expo 2006

7/1-7/4: Anaheim, CA

Note: All pictures of cosplayers are posted without their express permission, but I'm assuming if they consented to have a picture taken, they are okay with the online posting. No money is being made off this anyhow.

Day 1:

    We left bright and early in the morning after hurriedly throwing everything together into a bag (me) and calmly packing all the luggage into the car (Yayoi). We arrived in Anaheim earlier than expected despite traffic, and found that check-in at our inn was 3pm (or 12pm for extra early check-in). Since we were too early, we decided to head to the Convention center to get registered.

    Found parking, ate at the IHOP next door (both of us got omelets). At-con registration this year was HORRIFIC. As in, waited hours and hours. Saw many cosplayers but by the sheer fact that we were in a huge hall filled with people lining up for badges, it was impossible to get good shots of anyone. Yayoi put up with my whining and my bitching and my many trips to the bathroom. Resolved to not carry so much junk for the rest of the con.

    Some photos were taken after we got our badges and went out of the hall. By that time the Exhibit hall/dealers room was almost closing, but we went in reallly quick to spy on what merchandise was available. Then we headed back to the hotel and promptly discovered: there was no microwave, and we forgot toothpaste. But overall, it was not a terrible day.

	Quite possibly the cutest Yachiru cosplayer ever.
	We found Mugen and Jin after we were kicked out of the Exhibit hall. They graciously posed for us. The second picture was rather odd so I didn't include it here.
The same shot, except horizontal and a bit less blurred. Apparently the cosplayers were siblings and the sister played Jin and the brother was Mugen.
	A Sano that had a very in-proportion ...er, weapon. I can't remember what it's called in romanji. The horse cleaving sword!
	A better look at the cosplayer himself.

There was also a great Kankuro cosplayer, but since I got a shot of her (?) later that was better and not so blurred, I will post that instead.

Day 2:

    The day started off strangely: The hotel's alarm (???) sounded and we were woken from sleep around 7am. However despite the fact it was an alarm, no doubt about it, it wasn't...how to say...very alarming. All in all, it was a really puny alarm. I called the hotel desk and they asked me what floor I was on, only the first floor had to evacuate. Since I was on the second floor, they told us to stay put. Outside, there was a fire truck under our window, but nothing happened and eventually the truck drove off and the alarm stopped.

    After that, we headed out to AX, where we made the mistake of parking at a small convenience/liquor store. However, at the time, we didn't know what horrible fate awaited us...

    We went to the dealer's room again, this time more prepared to buy stuff. Everything was deafening, crowded, expensive, and shiny. I was able to get one gift item, however I did not buy anything else. Yayoi found herself some worthwhile purchases.

   Upon returning to my car and dropping off the loot, we decided to go eat lunch and then decide our next step. Fortuitously, we discovered a neat restaurant that served good food quickly and was not horribly expensive. We eat and decide to come back the next day for lunch as well.

    We then headed back to the con, but on the way there I got paranoid and wanted to check my car. And lo and behold....IT'S NOT WHERE I PARKED IT.

    Yup, I was towed!

    What followed was a horrible tale of suffering and grief and a nearly endless struggle against terrible adversity. Well, in short, I was towed and in order to get my car back, I have to get to the towing company and pay the fee. While the latter is a simple enough matter, the former was less so. We were given the address and directions, and headed out. At that point, for some reason we did not consider calling a cab.

    So we walked...and walked...and walked. And apparently walked straight out of Anaheim and into the City of Orange. Where we walked some more, making many purchases of water and asking directions on the way. The walking itself wasn't so bad, but this is California in the summer, during a heat-wave. We amused ourselves by making up our tale: the intrepid explorers continue to press forward despite the heat and the fatigue! We will reach "Main Street" come hell or high water! Will we fail and give into despair, or triumph in the face of overwhelming odds and the lack of transportation?!

    Along the way, there was a nice little stretch of lonely little business offices with irregularly shaped plots of grass. They were watering the lawn at around 4pm (one of the hottest parts of the day), and it was totally sprinkling the sidewalk more than the grass. It was very cool and refreshing.

    We finally reached our destination, where we found someone to get our car back. There was a neat little sign that said "If you are cranky, angry, or just plain mean, we charge and extra $10 just for having to deal with you. - From the management" which I thought was incredibly cute.

    Now, it may seem odd that after getting towed, having to walk what seemed like 10 miles in the lovely Southern California heat and being charged nearly $200 to get my car back, I should not be amused at anything from this towing company. But at that point I was just SO INCREDIBLY GRATEFUL that I have a car again, and it runs, has plenty of gas, and god, blessed air conditioning. I was happy enough to give them the money, I just wanted the damn Camry back.

    We then returned home, where we repeated what we did the night before, which is shower, nap, watch random episodes of Yuu Yuu Hakusho, and were filled with determination to have a better day tomorrow.

	The mysterious fire truck that was outside our building in the morning. We will never know what that alarm was for, I suppose...
A Roxas cosplayer. Kingdom Hearts 2 was apparently the coolest thing since rice this year.
	KH2 Yuffie, I think. There were a ton of Organization XIII people too, but at that moment I was too busy trying to get into the dealers room...
The cosplayers again.
	I don't think this is the same group, but like I said, KH2 was big this year and they were already posing for another bunch of photographers, so I just sorta dropped everything and ran in to take pictures of them too...
This is funny.    The conversation went thus:    "What do you think about this one...?"    "Oh, it's cute, you should buy it...OH MY GOD, it's Yoko Kurama!!!!!"    "WHERE?!"    "Put that down and let's get a picture!!!"    Me and this other guy went up to her at the same time. I bet she got a lot of that during this con...
	Despite the KH2 craze, there are still lots of my beloved Ninjas. The balloon reads "I've been AXed", by the way. I had two but they were wayy too hard to carry around all day, so I ended up losing one by accident and having to throw the other away. ;_;
They're going to go ANBU in the night...
	Sasori and the Third.
	The really great Kankuro cosplayer, this time with Lee and Gaara.
A bit of a closer shot...
	Cloud and normal Yuffie??? There were SO many Buster swords at this con, Though thankfully I never came close enough to be brained by one.
Cute ninjas, though Kankuro (a different one) is kinda scary posing like that. They were all really cute though, and their costumes well made.
	The last Samurai Champloo pic I took didn't have Fuu in it. Now that is remedied.