EDIT: I just realized how long this thing is. Happy reading.
Alright here we go, I'll try and sort through all this stuff best I can. I could do something smart like go day by day but I don't think I remember what goes where anymore. So whatever, I'll just start somewhere. And as always, my photography doesn't get any better so you just kind of have to deal with my half assing of things.
As usual I got kind of busy and didn't get a lot of chance to look at cosplay. In reality I spent more time in panels then anything else this year so it made it hard to get photos of much.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Shad...09/frontier.jpg - A Sheryl and Klan pair that I ran into a couple of times.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Shad...9/higurashi.jpg - Probably my favorite of all the Higurashi I saw around the convention.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Shad...09/mireille.jpg - Mireille from Dusk or Mistral from Sign. I didn't really ask here so I wouldn't know which exactly. Not like it really does matter.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Shad...agamasasama.jpg - The one Sengoku Basara cosplayer I saw. Seriously it was godsend when I saw him and he couldn't have picked a better photo-op character then Nagamasa.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Shad...xpo%2009/p4.jpg - I ran into this group on accident when I was running to meet agumike for the Maid Cafe. Even though my sister and her friends were doing P4, I wanted to get this group because Nanako was so cute.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Shad...%2009/snake.jpg - You can't see it in the picture but Old Snake's Solid Eye was actually flashing a red dot every so often.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Shad...2009/travis.jpg - A night picture which explains the flash in the background. But nonetheless a Travis Touchdown from No More Heroes. I just finished the game recently, so it was awesome timing to see one while I was there.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Shad...momosupanel.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Shad...mosutickets.jpgSome Morning Musume related stuff. The first picture is at the panel. Since we couldn't take pictures, a lot of people were taking a picture of where they were sitting, so I did the same. Since agumike was at the panel before, he got me a seat in the third row about, not including the first which was reserved for press. Ironically I was in front of Sayumi, who I think is the only one I really care for in the group. As for the other, it's the ticket as well as a ticket for their autograph session. I heard the autograph session was suicide, so I didn't even bother (no more SOS-dan incidents please). But in reality, me and my sister got moved up to fourth row at the concert since they outsold our seats. I can't say I like Morning Musume at all after going but at least I have the bragging rights of having seen it.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Shad...buildingday.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Shad...ildingnight.jpgSo now we're getting into some different sort of things. But at the convention center they had these nicely up on the buildings. I have no interest in the game but yeah, how could you not take a picture of it? I would never have called a gigantic FF advertisement in the middle of downtown LA, that's for sure.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Shad...09/michael1.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Shad...09/michael6.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Shad...09/michael2.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Shad...09/michael3.jpgOkay so not part of AX but part of it at the same time. In case you didn't know (which I would find hard to believe), preparation for Michael's memorial service were being done as AX was going on. So the signing board was out, the building projects, etc. One night we got out late and decided to get our names on the first signing board they put out. It was nice since it was something rather interesting to do, even if I wasn't down there intentionally to do it. And saying it wasn't a circus down there before, you would say it was because of Michael.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Shad...o%2009/haul.jpgNext on what I want to post. I actually didn't buy that much this year to be honest. Versus how I usually spend my money at AX, I really watched my pocketbook this time. But it has a lot to do with having to pay hotel, food, and other costs. But I think it made it all together a better experience.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Shad...bbclearfile.jpgThis wasn't included in the previous photo since I didn't actually buy it. Aksys was just giving them away for free at their booth (I didn't figure it out until later so I only got one). But yeah, just a small clear folder. Simple and cute.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Shad...po%2009/cds.jpgI ended up buying a lot of CDs this year to be honest. The BB soundtrack (which I've been meaning to get), Deadball P's best collection (also was on my list), and the Pani Poni single was only around $4, so I couldn't pass it up.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Shad...blueartbook.jpgYeah this made a lot of people mad. I know a lot of people had to go through GameStop to get this but they were selling them for $10 at the Aksys booth. They actually started selling them on their website as well for $15, so yeah I don't know what to say.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Shad...%2009/lbset.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Shad...%2009/kudo1.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Shad...%2009/kudo2.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Shad...%2009/kudo3.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Shad...o%2009/rin1.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Shad...o%2009/rin2.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Shad...o%2009/rin3.jpgNext is some Little Busters trading figures. So yeah, let's talk about how good I've gotten at trading figure weighing. Alright, so it was probably just dumb luck. But I found it amazing I scored my two favorite characters with not so much as a tiny struggle. I really wanted to order the set at one point but I'm kind of glad that it worked itself out.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Shad...009/satoko1.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Shad...009/satoko2.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Shad...009/satoko3.jpgA small, Nendoroid sized figure of Satoko from Higurashi. I saw quite a few of these around and couldn't quite pass it up. It pretty much felt like a Nendoroid just you're limited to one pose. On account I don't have any Higurashi goods, I figured it was good enough for me.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Shad...009/pikmin1.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Shad...009/pikmin2.jpgAn obligatory plushie purchase. It was actually going to be a Sakuya plushie from Touhou Project but it was so terribly overpriced I got this instead. It's really adorable though and I really want to get more of them just so I can make a Pikmin army in my room someday.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Shad...hugoartbook.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Shad...shugoposter.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Shad...okcoverreal.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Shad...bookpreview.jpgThey were selling this at Kinokuniya's booth and I was just making last minute purchases. Since I hadn't bought anything too big, I decided this would be my one larger purchase. It really was worth it though and since I love Peach Pit's original artwork it was hard to pass up. The covering around it was actually that poster which I found rather amusing. The poster itself is nice so it's just a matter of working it out so it's straight.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Shad...09/freecure.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Shad...thersigning.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Shad...09/satsuki1.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Shad...09/satsuki2.jpgSo he's a humorous one. I was walking by a booth and I got handed this booklet. I really didn't think much of it and stuffed it into my bag just to get it out of my hands. When I open it up at home, I find it's loaded with signatures. I can't say I'm into J-Rock at all anymore but I know well enough that Satsuki used to be a pretty big guy. It was rather odd to receive a free book with all these signatures and sadly I know a lot of girls would probably pay a lot for this kind of thing that I simply got handed to me.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Shad...09/thouther.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Shad...2009/iroiro.jpgAlright, so fine. This is a side triumph post AX slightly. I said that while I was in LA I would go down to Olvera Street and pick myself up a lucha libre mask. This was the result and I have to admit it was worth every penny. This probably has more to do with my friends back on campus but yeah, it's a purchase made around the same time nonetheless. As for the shots of me wearing it, well that's a different story all together.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Shad...9/moriandme.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Shad...risignature.jpgA picture with Mori Toshimichi, aka one of the main men behind BlazBlue as well as his signature inside of my BlazBlue artbook. I really didn't know what to expect from him but really I liked him more then Ishiwatari. He was incredibly funny at the panel and a lot more talkative on certain subjects then Ishiwatari (as in letting things slip that Ishiwatari was hesitant to).
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Shad...watariandme.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Shad...keautograph.jpgA picture next to the one and only Daisuke Ishiwatari and his signature on my copy of GGAC+. In reality, standing next to him was one of the biggest things to me. Since he's really a big composer when it comes to music for me (his styling with music is something I've come to tremendously respect) it was a huge honor to get the picture with him. Frankly though he is pretty mellow but it's one of those people that you can see pure experience in.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Shad...09/maidcafe.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Shad...9/maidcafe2.jpgAnd now for the real fun for last. Basically though the first shot is actually on the first day of the con. The maid cafe was advertising itself in the front area so they were allowing pictures of everything. Unfortunately there was no photography allowed inside but that's solved later (or another set of photos I guess). The second is something we got afterwords and as you can see, I have two (don't ask where my other ticket is to be honest, I have no clue where I put it). I ended up going twice in a ridiculously stupid chain of events that's related to my idiocy. I'm not at liberty to post that here but you can always contact me on AIM or MSN for THAT story.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Shad...mybackagain.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Shad...maidpicture.jpgYahoo! Watermarks! Yeah, these are actually up on their site as well as a ton of other photos and such. But yeah, first photo is actually of me and my sister as well as her friend entering on the second time I went (their first). There's a ton of other photos of my back in the mess of stuff if it interests you or you want to see what it was like inside. The second photo was properly described when it was posted elsewhere as "俺の嫁キタ━━━ヽ(ヽ(゚ヽ(゚∀ヽ(゚∀゚ヽ(゚∀゚)ノ゚∀゚)ノ∀゚)ノ゚)ノ)ノ━━━!!!!" for accuracy's sake. On account there was the opportunity to take a photo with a maid of your choice, there was one I couldn't pass up. Not surprisingly, I look like an idiot in this photo to but I'm terrible at taking photos 24/7.
To wrap everything up!
I didn't go to the Vocaloid panel because when it was going on, I was actually at the Maid Cafe a second time. But from what I gathered it wasn't worth much anyway, at least nothing I would care about. If you ask me I was having more fun where I was anyway. I was really having trouble wanting to go anyway, so it's probably better that I found an alternate way to spend my time.
The Vocaloid cosplay I saw was pretty mishmash. A ton of stuff but nothing really special that I could speak of. The most amusing I saw around was a Gackpoid but the rest didn't really drive me crazy. Then again, I didn't have much time to glance around. Oh and to answer your question no BRS as far as I saw.
agumike was taking pictures as well. And I can probably get him to post those here when he gets the chance. I think he took a lot more cosplay photos then I did, so his collection might be more intriguing then mine. He might also be willing to reveal which photo at the Maid Cafe booth is his, but from how he is I wouldn't count on it. Oh and somehow we stupidly overlooked taking a photo together. Don't ask me how but I think it just slipped our minds since we were hanging out pretty frequently.
Uwaaaa....last but not least, the ringer. Through some further stupid moves in hindsight on my end, I'm already in the grave. Or so to say, I'm already set to go again next year. I kind of sort of dropped some promises here and there and I probably want to hold to those. So hey if you want to join me, now you have all year to think about it. I'm not sure how much free time I'll have since I'll be hanging with numerous people. I have to cosplay though and there's no getting out of it this time around (ノД`). But I think it'll be rewarding in the least and it gives me plenty of time to be setting money aside. But I already know that I'll be working my ass off since the plane ticket won't be free this year. Time to get to work.....(ノД`)