Otakus Invade LA, Day 3: Indecent Otaku, Funimation, Power Rangers and Last Comic Standing...and yes drinking!

So you know how they say anything is comfortable when you're exhausted? They're right; the floor, though hard provided me with a restful few hours of sleep...though my shoulders were rather sore. To start this day, I was not going to repeat the past two....I dragged myself from slumber at 7 AM to shower, dress and actually take the time out to eat some breakfast BEFORE heading to the con. And so, after an overpriced, not that great breakfast buffet in the Westin, I felt ready to take on another long day at AX. After briefly popping into the after hours video room in a hotel ballroom, I was back off to LACC to catch a panel being co-run by one my friends, Jeremy. The line to get into the Indecent Otaku Comedy Hour was long indeed, but there was plenty of room for me and Emily (today cos-playing as Ranka Lee from Macross Frontier) to get seats near the front. What a raucous and entertaining panel it was, complete with a catchy number from Makenai. After saying hi to Jeremy, it was time for Emily and I to meet up in front of Nokia Theater with our anime group for the official group meetup day, but not before pictures with a Chrona cos-player.

After gathering the members and taking many pictures of the official group cos-play from Tsubasa/xxxHolic, it was time once again to head back to the LACC and browse the exhibit hall. I paid another visit to the MoMusu booth that I had purchased my CDs from the previous day and picked up a MoMusu promo CD with their hit "3,2,1...Breaking Out" and as I once again had seperated from the group, I decided to rest my feet and meetup with a few of them at the Funimation Industry Panel in which one of the higher ups announced some of the exciting new and old titles being released and restored, the news of Funi's acquisition of Sengoku Basara was met with a great deal of excitement. It was time to head to the food court for a brief rest and some snacks...and though I told myself I wouldn't buy overpriced con food, my stomach was in no mood to agree, as the breakfast I had earlier wasn't satisfying enough. After a dried out chicken panini, I bade farewell to the group as it was off to the Power Rangers reunion panel...a two hour affair at that. I stayed for the first half, which focused on the Rangers and was met with genuine excitement and applause throughout; none greater than when Walter Jones, the original Black Ranger from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers was introduced halfway through the first hour.

I decided to skip the second hour and made my way to the Exhibit Hall to try and score some Ranger autographs and perhaps even pictures. After waiting in a long line, I finally made my way to the front and proceeded to indeed procure autographs with all six guests present and pictures with most of those present (including the lovely Patricia Ja Lee, which is my profile pic). Euphoric at scoring said autographs and pictures from said cast members (who by the way were super cool and more than happy to take pictures), I headed off to the ESPN Zone to meet up again with my group for dinner. A nice dinner, lots of socializing and a couple of games in the ESPN Zone's arcade later, we were once again off to the con, some of the group off to Masquerade, while I was off to hit more panels. I decided to check out the VAMPS panel and learn more about the group from their manager, which was interesting at points and got me excited for a possible venture up to LA to see the group live at the Wiltern, but overall left me bored and falling asleep (though, maybe the long days and lack of sleep were catching up to me).

I decided to forgo the next panel, which was the VOCALOID panel and walk around to clear my head. Once again, as stated earlier, my attempts to go to the Manga Cafe were denied as the room was full. So, in the meantime I wandered around taking more pictures and stumbling across the arcade room. Along the way in my wanderings, I got the sense that this convention was close to over...though maybe it was the empty South Hall that did the trick? In any case, by the third night, the mood and overall atmosphere didn't appear any less than what it was on the first day...despite the exhaustion that had to have been manifesting itself in all attendees who were there since Thursday (some since Wednesday) and the nagging thought that the next day brought about the end of the festivities.

I walked back to the West Hall and was met by the surprise of staff out front handing out Masquerade tickets. Surprised because last year, they ran out of tickets...and years past had seen the Masquerade as one of the hardest main events to get into. So, out of curiousity, I took a ticket and went inside to kill a few minutes before Last Comic Standing, just for kicks and giggles to see what people came up with in the absence of our Best of Show winning entry last year (OK, shameless self promotion aside...I'm the Ike in the back by the way). Aside from a couple of entries that entertained me, I thought that the Masquerade overall was not that great...bad sound and camera work aside. So it was off to Last Comic Standing...I watched the first eight contestants strut their stuff and laughed my ass off at each one...good stuff all around; good show and I will be attending it again next year. I left to meet up with a few friends for drinks (and super large beers) at Yard House and had some fun socializing and signing the memorial wall for Michael Jackson while we were at it. Once again, and for the last time, I crashed upon the floor...content from another amazing day.