+

[Sami]

Yup, we just got back after driving from NYC back home to Maryland.. *shakes angry fist at Jersey Turnpike and all the stupid tolls in Delaware* >( But yeah! I'm curious to know what everyone else thought about AXNY! ^_^ I was there on Sunday from about 11 - 3 (yes, short time span..) but I met a few people there and got my photo taken a lot. ^_^ I was surprised.. me and my ghetto cosplay, LOL! Pictures are at my cosplay journal -- http://www.livejournal.com/users/samittchi -- let me know if you saw meeeee!!

Well, I guess I'll start with the pros first. I've been to NYC before but this was my first real time to be out and in Times Square, and it was very cool. My boyfriend and I putzed around Saturday night and had a blast! ^_^ Getting in and out of the city was relatively easy (in our case), and our hotel was within walking distance to the con. The Marriott (sp?), btw, was decorated veeery nice. ^_^ Very posh, wee!

Ah yes, speaking of the Marriott. I for one, thought the floor plan setup was really tough to work with.. the fact that the floor was basically open in the center kinda stunk, so if you wanted to go to something on the far end of the floor you had to go aaalll the way around.. and the fact that some rooms/lines had only 'entering' on one side and 'exit' on the other tripped us up, because we would walk aaaalll the way around the floor to go into something (i.e., dealer's room), only to find that we'd just walked to the exit and we would have to walk aaalll the way back around the floor in the other direction to get to the entrance. ( Am I making no sense? ;_;* ) That sort of bugged me, but hey. The elevators were frickin' COOL. XD

I also found the dealer's room a tad cramped, and the video rooms EXTREMELY cold. I almost froze my little tail off watching Initial D... but me loves Initial D, so it was worth it. We didn't stay around for long because we were hungry and cold (and tired), so I got absolutely NO photos, but the cosplay was amazing as usual! Did anyone get to see the masquerade? I would have liked to have seen that, but maybe another time..

Oh yeah, and security got mad at me because I was apparently loitering by 'sitting' on the floor by the railing, but I was just trying to stuff all of my junk into my bookbag, and they told me to move, yet they ignored the crowd of people sitting along the railing down the hall... >_> *a big sad*

All and all I had an okay time. I still like Otakon better, but only 'cuz it's half an hour from my house.

[KuroBara]

Hi Sami.

I was there Saturday on & off from 10:00 to 10:00. I was impressed by the extremely fast registration, only 2 minutes! That's partially because I was there so early. The opening ceremonies started late, we just stared at a projection of a computer screen featuring a Vandread wallpaper for quite a while. The translator spoke softly making him difficult to understand. A lot of the guests greeted the audience in English & were very enthusiastic. After that, it was off to McDonald's!

Upon returning to the Marriott at 11:45, I waited on a line to go upstairs and wait on yet another line for the dealer's room. There was no order to who was let in first, and they didn't tape down a queue until after the giant opening rush. As Sami said, it was mad crowded in there. I was jostled around way too much! Give me Otakon any day! There were a lot of giveaways, I got a ton of free posters & magazines.

After escaping that, I ran into Oshi & Ranma. Oshi, you're shorter than I expected ^_~

There were very few cosplayers on Saturday, which was a big disappointment.

I did get autographs that afternoon, then went back to AXNY for the Voice actors panel. Half of them didn't speak into the mic, and there was no mic at all for audience questions, so the audio really sucked.

Then, music videos! Oi vey. Due to technical issues, they started and hour late. There was no master tape, so the lights went on & off between each video so the title could be read & the tape switched. Thankfully, that was temporary.

All in all, I was disappointed with the con. There didn't seem to be all that much to do. The traffic flow was nasty. The staff seemed unprepared, especially when it came to queues. I agree, give me Otakon any day!

[Oshi]

Yeah... I am short. Heh.
DOH! I saw you Sami, but I was like... going up the escalator and you were going up it to the floor I was previously on or something... I, eh, thought you were ... erk.. .name... catgirl from Escaflowne... yeah... at first glance.

Of course, I was there all three days. Sat & Sun I was cosplaying as Kaze from FF:U, today as.. well, I wasn't out there that much, just hit the dealers room a bit before leaving, but I was as Oshi.
Sheesh, that Mariott... the con was more.. as Ranma put it, vertical, than any other con. But yes, the elevators RULED! So fast!

I did not go to the AMVs... mweheh... I was at the InuYasha premiere at Planet Hollywood. Rock on! Free wings and booze, with Adult Swim on tvs everywhere you turn! Um... no... I don't drink... Seriously.

The Masquerade... those #(*&$(@&*#s... they MISSPLICED THE SOUND CLIPS FOR OUR SKIT. >.< That's why we stood on stage for like, a correct clip that we could resume what we're supposed to do. If only they had that Otakon setup, with the 6-8 mics above the stage... that ruled. But holy god, those Clow Cards... were incredible. They definately deserved both Best of Show and Best Presentation awards. I was staying with the crossplaying judge, Jesse... well, turns out they gave the judges a documentary booklet, photos and all, on how they made their costumes, step by step. They were all late 20s - early 30s in age, too O.o; They came to fight... and we got schooled...

Dealers room comments... SCORE! Those prices were great! DDRMAX2 soundtrack, only $20! I got a sword, only $50! The only problem was, the aisles wern't big enough. I can only compare stuff to Otakon, cuz I only went there before... Otakon was far more spacious. But AXNY did the best with what they had, I guess.

Food... I ate breakfest this morning at the Encore on the 8th floor... well, I looked at the bill, then realized, 'fuck, there's a Howard Johnson's right across the street!' Oh well. It was good.
McDonalds was definately the choice place of otaku to go... but Jesus F. Christ! $1.29 for a single cheeseburger?! I can get a double cheeseburger off the Dollar Menu down here in PA!
We (NYO! Cosplay) went to Ollie's Grill & Noodle house on Sat night... A tad pricy for chinese. But the food is reallly goood. I had the beef fried rice ;D

Mweh... I'll continue later... time to upload my pics... *hugs digital cam*

[Sami]

Photos! I wanna seeee!! I took absolutely NO pictures, I dunno why, but... eh. LOL, don't feel bad about thinking I was cosplaying Merle (I think that's her name?), only one dude knew who I was and he was behind the table in the dealer's room. ^_^;; I admit, even though it was cramped, the dealer's room had some great prices! My boyfriend was so happy he got a Godzilla shirt for $5. ^_^;; And I got TMRevolution's Triple Joker for $10!! WOO!!

We ate at some cute little place called China Fun, I think it was on Broadway. ^_^ Good prices, good food.

Registration was extremely fast for us too! We pre-regged and got there on Sunday, and there was no one at the prereg table in line so we were done in a matter of minutes. <3!

And now that you mention it.. it definitely was a 'vertical' con!

[KuroBara]

I took about 15 photos before my camera battery decided to die. Rather than risk losing what I had by changing batteries, I stopped right there. >_< I need a recharger!

I did get the Shonen Jump subscription, $20 instead of $60, and a free t-shirt! That is one sweet deal.

[TheAnarCHris]

AXNY was nothing more that an poor man's Otakon. The Otaku were a lot more friendlier and helpful than the staff, and the masquerade was a diaster (but at least the major majorrity of the ppl who won deserved to win) But many a thanks to the ppl once more, and a big thank u to all of the FFU (no, not the anime) freaks, who came up to us afterwards and were disappointed with us getting screwed.


Oh.....there WILL be a FFU3....but at BaaF...where it should have been all of long.

The irrate Squall with a meat cleaver/gunblade,
CHris

[TyJILDown]

This was my first convention so I was unsure of what to expect, I know this wasn't going to be a huge thing compared to other conventions though.

One thing that got me made was for my little walk on role for the Masquerade...they messed up my music. I uploaded an edit of FFX's 'Other World' about 2 months before the convention. THey e-mail me a few days before saying they're bringing the soundtrack and not to worry..

I go to clear it up when I check in and they saw they have my edit...Sunday, when I go to walk on stage, not only do they start my music when another cosplayer was on but they had the full song...

It may seem like a lil' thing but I mean it wasn't difficult to set up, especially since I arranged it months in advance. It wasn't as annoying as AMV's starting an hour late.

[Adella]

speaking of Jesse did he ever get into his hotel room with you guys? Poor thing said he was locked out ;___;

[Oshi]

Yes, he got in.. .heh. I dunno who let him in though, cuz I woke up in the morning and he was there sleeping. Musta came in pretty late...

[Ranma Saotome]

Originally posted by Aeris
speaking of Jesse did he ever get into his hotel room with you guys? Poor thing said he was locked out ;___;

I gave him a room key.

[TheAnarCHris]

Sunday, when I go to walk on stage, not only do they start my music when another cosplayer was on but they had the full song...

Join the cult, they omitted a line from Senior DJ Rama skit (NYO) and dont get me started how they screwed me and FFU2 over...


Yes is still kinda ticked off about that,
CHris
AIM:Griever824

[Ranma Saotome]

Don't worry Starwind... We will dominate Anime NEXT.

[Ayaka]

I think I should be really glad that we didn't have any sound for our skit; nothing for them to mess up. We did have music though. . . to be honest I can't even tell you if it was playing. lol I've never done a masq before . . .

Anyway I have really mixed feelings about the weekend. Like, REALLY mixed. Not too much to do with how the con was run; I'm kinda used to things being screwy somehow . . . but, Bebop movie premiere = ultra cool. Changing into Faye in the men's room = not ultra cool. Having male friends act as mirror while putting on makeup = definitely not cool, lol. Getting the call that my grandmother had died Sat morning = not even any words for that. Having Yoko Kanno compliment me on costume = super freaking cool. Not passing prelims in another karaoke contest = gah. Meeting Bebop people Sun afternoon, doing skit Sun night = really pretty damn cool. Winning AWARD for said skit = O_O *extreme happy dance* Two hours at con Mon before flying out for funeral = not bad. Subsequent post-con at funeral = sucking.

I shouldn't technically be online right now, I think; I snuck away from family on excuse of being tired (true). But, it's so intense; I met a bunch of super cool people at the con, and some really positive stuff happened, but with my grandmother dying it's hardly a time when I feel like I can complain about how the con was run. If that guy hadn't been trying to fill empty masq slots, I would have no award; we tracked him down and thanked him (and took his pic) and he was somewhat freaked out but we DID owe him. Well anyway I think it shows I'm still not making any sense of things, huh? My emotional reactions are a total jumble. I felt guilty having fun and all at the con, not that I forgot, but . . . eh I can't put it into words so I should stop trying.

I'll put up my pics and rambly con report as soon as possible. ^^

[KuroBara]

Sorry about your grandfather Ayaka, at least you didn't let it completely ruin your weekend. (hope that came out right!) Whoa...you waited for Yoko Kanno? Changed in the men's room? *claps claps*

*points up* I have mixed feelings about the con too, but not for the same reasons as you. I think it was fairly well organized, but there actually didn't seem like much to do for a big stretch of time on Saturday. Oh well, I'm spoiled by I-con & Otakon, 2 extremely well-run cons. I never thought Otakon's music video contest was anything special until I say AXNY's. A master tape never seemed so important.

[Ranma Saotome]

*hugs Ayaka-chan*