jueves 2011-08-04
So here is part two of five on my Anime Expo experience. As I said last rant, I was not prepared for what was to come, but at least I had my camera with me.
Pues aqui va parte dos de cinco en mi experencia de Anime Expo. Como dije la ultima vez, no estaba preparado para lo que iba a pasar, pero por lo menos tenia mi camara esta vez.
Day 1, Friday: I got to the Convention Center bright and early. Met up with Ral and H3D who told me Kalium was off doing things on his own. I guess the Opening Ceremonies went longer than expected and threw off the rest of the schedule as Ral wanted to go to the Kalafina panel. I didn't mind, so H3D and I went off to shoot some pictures.
Dia 1, Viernes: Llegue al Convention Center tempranito. Me encontre con Ral y H3D quien me dijo que Kalium estaba vagando solo. Aparentemente las Ceremonias de Apertura demoraron mas que programado y saco de onda al resto del horario ya que Ral queria ir al panel de Kalafina. A mi me daba igual, asi que H3D y yo fuimos a tomar unas fotos.
The Exhibit Hall wasn't open yet, so everyone was gathered in the South Lobby waiting. Plenty of picture opportunities were at hand, so I went around snapping pictures before the Sawashiro Miyuki panel started. For those of you who may not know, I'm a fan of subbed anime, not dubbed. So I started really paying attention to some of the Japanese voice cast a few years ago and found Sawashiro Miyuki to be one of my favorites as she voices characters like Iwasawa from Angel Beats, Maria from Arakawa Under the Bridge, Kanbaru Suruga from Bakemonogatari and most recently Baby Beel from Beelzebub. When I found out she was going to be a panelist, I immediately made plans to go.
La Sala de Exposiciones no habia abierto todavia, asi que todo mundo estaba reunido en el Pasillo Sur esperando. Muchas oportunidades fotograficas estaban a la mano, asi que me la pase un rato tomando fotos antes que empezara el panel de Sawashiro Miyuki. Para los que no sepan, soy un fanatico de anime subtitulado, no doblado. Hace unos años comenze a realmente poner atencion al cast de voces Japonesa y Sawashiro Miyuki pronto se convirtio en una de mis actrizes de voz favoritas ya que le brinda vida a personajes como Iwasawa de Angel Beats, Maria de Arakawa Under the Bridge, Kanbaru Suruga de Bakemonogatari y mas recientemente a Baby Beel de Beelzebub. Cuando supe que iba a ser panelista, imediatamente hice planes para ir.
As it turns out, Danny Choo was the moderator and translator for the panel. It was surprising that he had a British accent, though it shouldn't have, seeing as he was raised in London. The panel went quite smoothly, with Miyuki talking about some of the past roles she's enjoyed doing as well as teasing some of her future roles. We all got a laugh when asked about doing Beelzebub and her explaining that research for the role meant watching babies cry and coming up with a unique cry for Baby Beel. She went as far as crying like a regular baby and as Baby Beel, but when Danny started to translate, he tried to opt out of imitating crying babies... that is, until the crowd egged him to do so.
Resulto que Danny Choo era el moderador y traductor de este panel. Me sorprendio mucho que tuviera un acento Britanico, aunque no deberia haberlo, ya que fue criado en Londres. El panel fue bastante bien, con Miyuki hablando de algunos de los papeles pasados que ha disfrutado hacer y tambien dando una probadita de algunos papeles futuros. Nos dio risa cuando alguien pregunto sobre su papel en Beelzebub y su explicacion que al estudiar el papel, se puso a ver bebes llorar y de ahi buscar una forma diferente en que Baby Beel llorara. Tanto asi que se puso a llorar como un bebe regular y luego como Baby Beel, pero cuando Danny comenzo a traducir, trato de evadir imitar llorar como bebe... eso es, hasta que la audiencia le hechara porras para que lo hiciera.
After the panel, we decided to go see about getting Maid Cafe tickets. We went up to where they were being sold and started to make a reservation, but then thought "Wait, will it be just the three of us?" We decided to go ask Kalium if he wanted to go, and for H3D to find an ATM since he was short on cash. On our way over, I bumped into a familiar face I'd never met before.
Despues del panel, decidimos ver si podiamos conseguir boletos para el Cafe de Sirvientas o Maid Cafe. Fuimos a donde los estaban vendiendo y empezamos a hacer una reservacion, pero luego dijimos "Oye, solo vamos a ser nosotros tres?" Decidimos ir a ver si Kalium queria ir, y H3D necesitaba una maquina banquera ya que necesitaba dinero. En el camino, me encontre con una cara conocida que nunca habia conocido.
"Fred!" I yelled out to the man walking by. "Oh, hi! How are ya doing?" he greeted me. It was obvious he was just being friendly to a fan, until he saw my name badge "Oh, hey! Look, I'm on my way to do an interview, but you can go to my table, I'll be there later. Sarah is there." Of course, the guy with him was pressing him to get going. I decided to tell H3D about it and he said he'd meet up with me in a while. Ral was off doing something else, so I texted him to go to Fred's table in a while.
"Fred!" le hable al hombre que iba pasando. "Hola! Como estas?" me saludo. Era obvio que solo estaba siendo amable con un fan, hasta que vio mi nombre en el laminado. "Oh hey! Mira, estoy en camino a una entrevista, pero ve a mi mesa, estare ahi mas tarde. Ahi esta Sarah." Por supuesto, el tipo que iba con el le estaba dando prisa. Decidi decirle a H3D y dijo que me encontraria en un rato. Ral estaba haciendo otra cosa, asi que le mande un mensaje que fuera a la mesa de Fred en un rato.
So I hit up the Artist Alley, not really knowing where Fred's table was, but it didn't matter much since I wanted to see some of the work other people were bringing in. There was more yaoi fan art than I want to ever see, but there was some pretty awesome doujinshi stuff, too. When I finally got to the end of the row, I come up to the Art Gallery and there I see a familiar face, Jack.
Y fui al Rincon de Artistas, sin saber exactamente donde estaba la mesa de Fred, pero no importaba mucho, ya que queria ver algunos de los trabajo que habian traido otras personas. Habia mas arte fanatico de yaoi que jamas quisiera ver, pero habia mucho doujinshi excelente, tambien. Cuando al fin llegue al final del pasillo, me encontre con la Galeria de Arte y ahi vi otra cara conocida, Jack.
"Hi Sarah!" I greeted the woman sitting at the table. I introduced myself and told her Fred told me to come by here for a while. We chatted a bit about their trip and Jack's experience up until now, how she'd been cleared for travel by her doctor and other things until Ral showed up. Once Ral showed up, I mentioned to him that Kalium didn't want to go to the Maid Cafe. "He's here?" Sarah knows Kalium since they've met in other conventions, so she was glad that there was yet another familiar face around.
"Hola Sarah!" salude a la mujer sentada en la mesa. Me presente y le dije que Fred ma habia dicho que pasara aqui un rato. Hablamos un poco de su viaje y la experiencia que habia tenido Jack hasta ahora, como iba su salud y que el doctor le dio pase libre para viajar y otras cosas hasta que llegara Ral. Cuando Ral llego, le mencione que Kalium no queria gastar en ir al Maid Cafe. "Esta aqui?" Sarah conoce a Kalium ya que son conocidos de otras convenciones, asi que estaba alegre saber que habia otra cara conocida cerca.
H3D joins us for our chat until Fred finally arrives. We talk with him for a little, then ask him if he wants to join us in the Maid Cafe. We go through the schedule and he says he's available for Noon on Saturday. So we go to the Maid Cafe booth and start talking about changing the reservation. I decide to ask Kalium if he wants to go now that Fred will be joining us, "Sure." he replied. Right before we made the final reservation, I remembered someone who might want to go, but isn't with us at the moment. "Text Klange and ask him if he wants to go." I said to Ral.
H3D se une a nuestra platica hasta que Fred por fin llega. Hablamos con el un ratito, luego le preguntamos si quiere ir con nosotros al Maid Cafe. Despues de ver el horario, nos dice que esta disponible para el Sabado a mediodia. Vamos al area del Maid Cafe para cambiar la reservacion. Decdi preguntarle a Kalium si iba a ir ya que Fred habia decidido ir con nosotros, "Esta bien." respondio. Justo antes de terminar la reservacion, recorde a alguien mas que tal vez quisiera ir con nosotros, pero no esta aqui al momento. "Mandale mensaje a Klange y preguntale si quiere ir." le dije a Ral.
"He says he wants to, but doesn't know if he'll make it on time." Ral tells me. "Not a problem. I can get him from LAX to the Convention Center in 12 minutes." Sounds farfetched, but it's the truth. Now we finally had a working plan for the next day, and it was time to relax for a while.
"Dice que quiere ir, pero no sabe si llegara a tiempo." me dice Ral. "No es problema. Puedo recogerlo de LAX y al Convention Center en 12 minutos." Parece increible, pero es verdad. Con un plan listo para el dia siguiente, ya era hora para relajarnos un rato.
We got some lunch, took some more pictures, then Ral and I went to the AMV contest. H3D was worn from running around all day, so he called it a night. Kalium was not interested in AMVs, so he bowed out, too. So it was just Ral, myself and the other few hundred people who were going to watch the contest.
Conseguimos algo de comer, tomamos mas fotos, luego Ral y yo fuimos al concurso de AMV. H3D estaba cansado de andar para aqui y para alla todo el dia, asi que decidio retirarse. Kalium no estaba interesado en AMVs, asi que tambien tomo su partida. Asi que eramos solo Ral, yo y unas cuantas cientas personas que verian el concurso.
Three hours later, the contest was over and our minds were blown. So much effort went into some of these videos and it showed, as I looked around and saw a couple of people wiping tears from their eyes. I don't remember every video now, but I can tell you that the three best ones in my eyes were "
Mahou Shoujo Requiem" by Shin, "
Calling" by Neko KitKat and “
Dare To Love Again” by Perfect-Blue. As for comedy... I have to say that "
Death Romance" by MysteriousRyder has forever skewed my view of Light and L.
Despues de tres horas, el concurso habia terminado y nuestras mentes habian sido voladas. Tanto esfuerzo se le puso a estos videos y era evidente, ya que podia ver una que otra persona limpiando lagrimas de sus ojos. No recuerdo todos los videos ahora, pero puedo decir que tres de los mejores en mis ojos eran "
Mahou Shoujo Requiem" por Shin, "
Calling" por Neko KitKat y “
Dare To Love Again” por Perfect-Blue. En cuanto a comedia... solo dire que "
Death Romance" por MysteriousRyder por siempre ha cambiado como veo a Light y L.
We decided to call it a night after that since next day I had some things to do before having to pick up Klange at 11:00 a.m. and having him register before the Maid Cafe.
Decidimos retirarnos despues de eso ya que el siguiente dia tenia unas cosas que hacer antes de tener que recoger a Klange a las 11:00 a.m. y registrarlo antes del Maid Cafe.
, esta vez sobre la 1254.