July 3, 2009 - Los Angeles Convention Center

Day 2.

Instead of waiting till the end of the con, I'm putting up the report now 'cause I already finished AX xD. I decided to go just for one day 'cause it's more than enough for me. I don't think I can really manage four days through the con yet since I'm still kind of a newbie . This is my second overall and consecutive year going to AX and it was definitely more fun than last year =3.

Arrived at the Convention Center around 2 p.m. which was kind of late, but still plenty of time. It actually didn't take long to get to L.A. (surprising ). Probably around 25 minutes; maps said it would take about 50 minutes, not including traffic. And thankfully there was no traffic . Had I gone on Saturday, I'm sure it would've taken a long time to get to there since it's a weekend and a national holiday.

The center was absolutely packed @_@. I think around 80% of the attendees were cosplaying x).

When I entered the Exhibit Hall, the first booth I stopped by was the Udon Crew . Hard to miss 'cause it was like in front of the entrance doors and it was adjacent to the Crunchyroll booth. So many people were swarming the table, I almost couldn't get in . I finally got my Okami artbook after waiting for a year . The Darkstalkers Tribute artbook looked incredible, but I didn't buy it . A part of me wanted to because it was all new and full of hardcover goodness. Even though $80 is a good deal for it, I just didn't have enough money and I'm not familiar with Darkstalkers. But I saw and got his Ibuki print instead (he autographed it too!). Aww, he was so nice and absolutely amazing . I guess I should've bought his Felicia print as well D:.

After that, I walked around trying to find stuff to buy and then headed over to the Artist Alley. I liked where there they were put this year. Instead of going to another hall, the Artist Alley was in the same Exhibit Hall moved off onto the right side. First dA artist I found was and then I stopped by 's table, but she wasn't there on Friday . The girl at her table (who cosplayed as Allen Walker from D.Gray-man) said something about Kathy and shoes or heels. Feet trouble methinks . But she was nice enough to let me take a picture of her and the table . I also saw tables belonging to SHINY DESU @W@ and . I took pictures of their [3] tables from far away. Watching them like a hawk . Moving on, I found and . Bought Kai's Yoko print and she let me take a picture of her table too -Kai's not in it though xD-. We briefly chatted about tokidoki purses when Patsu saw my Eco Mundo bag. Said she has the same design but it was the strap/backpack one. And...then, I got to see , , and . You could tell how popular Ku was because her table was really crowded and all these people (mainly girls) kept coming up. Not surprising since it was Kurot after all. I got Inuyasha and Sesshomaru bookmarks from her . The last person I visited was and . Nayuki wasn't there though, so I only saw Kevin Yan. Their table had lots of people too o_o. Kevin Yan reminds me of someone I used to know o_O;. He has a familiar-looking face. Well, I got his Yoruichi poster and a Yoko postcard. I pretty much visited every artist I wanted to see, but I forgot about , , and I think. Still very happy to see all these wonderful artists in person.

For the rest of the time, I kept going around the Exhibit Hall a few times browsing, finding stuff to buy, and taking pictures of cosplayers. There were two people dressed as C.C. and Emperor Lelouch who I forgot to ask to take a picture . And they looked so good too. Blah. I pretty much bought some of the stuff that I didn't buy last year and then it was finally time to go. Went out of the Hall and took some more pictures of cosplayers. I also went outside of the Staples Center, which I was hoping to see for a long time. I expected them to have banners of the Los Angeles Lakers, seeing how they won the NBA championship, but I guess not. It did seem kind of weird being there because earlier the news said that's where Michael Jackson's memorial service was going to be =/.

Ah, well I'm glad I could return to AX and see everyone. I spent about $130 on everything; 4x more than last year. It was definitely a fun day overall. If I had the money, energy, and a group of people who were willing, I would attend all four days and see every event like AX Idol and AX Masquerade.

I'll try to update this later with pictures if I can, but for now I'll wait a bit.

Hope to come back next year.

And Happy 4th of July!