Otakus Invade LA, Day 2: Forum M & G, another epic concert, Midnight Tea and more drinking!

After the super long day prior, coupled with perhaps more alcohol then I should have consumed, I crawled out of bed at 8 AM on the morning of Day 2 in a not surprisingly alcohol induced fog, with a nasty headache to compund it. The fact that I only got about four hours of sleep didn't help matters either. But a hot shower and cleansing later, and I was somewhat ready for another long day...however, it looked like another day in which I would have to go without food right away, as I needed to get to the LACC and to Guest Services to replace my badge holder, which had apparently torn during the night. In line, I started up a conversation with a guy who had come all the way from Niagra Falls just to attend the Morning Musume concert later that afternoon who was in line to fix an issue he had about not getting his concert ticket; it was really interesting to hear from such a devoted fan and find out that people truly were coming from all over the world just to see what I thought of as another girl group. Of course, I didn't convey my true feelings at the time...which is good, as I would later change my opinion of said group altogether; but more on that later. A new badge holder later and it was off to attend the AX Forums meet and greet, a panel/workshop designed to help forum members meet face to face and to reconnect with friends that haven't been seen in awhile amidst very social games.

After a couple of entertaining icebreaker games in which I got to meet quite a few people, it was time for the forum awards, in which forumers voted on award categories, then on forumers they felt best deserved said award. This awards ceremony so to speak had its highlights in which a long absent member made a truimphant return and surprise appearance, I was voted as Most Helpful Forumer and another forumer was 'escorted' out in jest to his award (Most Likely To Be Dragged Out by Security) and an epic cos-play walk off resulted in No Face (Sprited Away) being crowned as the winner. It was then time to conclude the panel and take some pictures of cos-players as a group of us headed off to Denny's for much needed food (how my body held up is beyond me...I'm sure I did it no favors). Once again, with food and caffeine in my system, I felt much better and once again ready to explore as I split off from the group (recurring theme here, me splitting off) to check out the rest of con...bearing in mind I still hadn't been to Exhibit Hall or Artists Alley yet. Why is that worth noting? Well, it's because last year I spent a lot of the first day wandering around the hall...but enough about that. I was headed off to Petree Hall to catch the focus panel for Mana/Moi dix Mois; along the way, I noticed staff out front handing out tickets for the Morning Musume concert; I wondered, attend the panel or the concert?

I decided on the panel as I wanted to find out more about the group that rocked the hall the previous night. As expected, many of the questions were focused on Mana, the lead guitarist of the group and one of the members of the currently defunct Malice Mizer and also a fashion designer to boot. Halfway through, I decided on a whim to go out and see if they were still giving out tickets to MoMusu, considering that I knew this was to be a very popular concert, I didn't expect to see anymore tickets being handed out, but how wrong I was. So, I figured I'd give the pop group a chance...and once again, I was floored. A solid set of what I figured to be their hits coupled with precise choreography and a surprise appearance of Hangry (from Hangry & Angry and former group leader) couldn't dampen the fact that the sound quality was not at its best.

Ears once again ringing, I set off in search of more cos-play photos and perhaps, for the first time, browsing the exhibit hall. Finally having set foot in the exhibit hall for the first time, I proceeded to take in the myriad of vendors selling their wares, noting that the lack of extravagant booth displays and a number of major studios missing in action were yet another sign of a bad economy and an industry in recession. But still, the hall seemed pretty full in my opinion. On my search list were MoMusu and Moi dix Mois CDs; on the MdM front...no luck everywhere I looked, but the knowledge that one of my friends has an extensive catalog of their music kept me from being too disappointed. On the MoMusu front however, I scored a win as I picked up their latest CD, the newest Girugamesh CD as well as Hangry & Angry...at this point, I decided I'd had enough shopping for the day and decided to swing by my friend's Artist Alley table to pay him a visit and show my support for him and his brother's amazing creations. I was pleased to hear that business was good on their end and after a bit of browsing, it was off to another panel...Anime OP/ED, which provided a very informative and humorous look at the background of openings and endings through the years from the OG (Astro Boy) to the very recent (Eden of the East), with the moderator's unique input into each presentation.

At this point, I decided to head back to the hotel to meet up with Yvonne and Seth for dinner at Bonaventure Brewing Company as my stomach protested the length of time between meals and I figured that I needed a brief respite from con. After a nice meal and a cold beer, I was once again back off to the LACC, this time to support a few friends as they were competing in the Midnight Tea competition which is an exhibition competition in which entries are judged by theme, costumes and table setting. It's a faux tea service and the judging focuses on the theme and the competitor's costumes and how close they are to their theme among other things. After being allowed to enter and take many pictures of some elaborate and some not so elaborate entries...and then take more pictures of my friend's entry, I decided to split off and check out the Manga Cafe for a few minutes, as I hadn't yet had the chance to do so. Unfortunately, it was a few minutes from closing for the night, so I barely had the chance to view the latest mangas they were offering. Shame, as it was the only time I was able to get inside (it was always full every other time I walked by).

A few moments of tenseness ensued as I, along with some friends awaited the judging results of the Tea. Turned out, my friends' entry had gotten third place...while I was disappointed and thought they should have placed higher, I was still happy that they had success. Midnight rolled around, and it was time to vacate the LACC for the night and wait in the line of doom to board the shuttle buses back to the hotel. After seeing exactly how long and slow the line was, Thien and I decided that we would probably get there faster by walking; and so once again, I hoofed it back to the hotel to collect some soda and munchies to bring to the room party in Yvonne's room. Along the way, I took epic shots of an equally epic Final Fantasy XIII advertisement on the side of the Figueroa 'Hotel'. A short time later, I was back at the hotel, with sodas and chips in hand and off to a room party. Turns out, we did beat the group back to the hotel on foot...after some alcohol consumption and socializing, it was back to the room to once again crash for the night and get ready for another early day. And so I ended another long day passed out on the floor...another great day!