Odorcon Day 2: If you want a hug, please ask your mama for one. Or Man-Faye.
Saturday
I decided this year that I was only going to attend the con for Friday and Saturday. After getting a few hours of sleep, I was up and about again at 7 am, but we left for the con a little before 10 am.
We arrive with a couple of hours to kill before we had to be anywhere, so Karyn, Kevyn, and I hit the dealer's room again. Being "insufficiently hardcore" is a blessing for my wallet. I purchased two volumes of Erica Sakurazawa manga from the $5 manga table, and four sets of stationery.
I had a silly theory about the $5 manga table. See, it might be black market manga. I am pretty sure that the guys running it are affiliated with the Mob, and as a part of their pension, every month a truck drives past their house and a big box of manga drops out. That's how they're able to sell it for so cheap.
Then again, being at cons gets me spewing all sorts of inane chatter. Last night we saw a cosplayer dressed as a big box of Pocky, and I had the greatest urge to run behind him and push him over, if only to see if he'd be able to get up again, like a turtle that has been turned over on its shell. Now if two turtles were tied together at shell-to-shell, they'd be unstoppable!
I also got a free Viz totebag, which are a lot nicer than last year's. I guess Viz outsourced their labor in a different Third World country this time. And that's my swag from the dealer's room. I thought Geneon was going to have some interesting free stuff, but all there was was fans and wet wipes, of all things.
In the dealer's room, I got a call from Mary. She was already in the line for a Koge Donbo autograph. Koge Donbo is a manga/doujinshi artist who has done illustration/character designs for series such as Di Gi Charat and Pita-Ten. She's also a big Harry Potter fan and has done incredibly cute Harry Potter fanart.
So anyway, Mary was like, the 28th person in line, and I was to get an artbook signed for her. She's getting a Rabi~en~Rose cel signed for her friend Aaron. There was a bit of a delay, and a member of Otakon staff that we affectionately dubbed "Josh Groban guy" (because of his hair) said that pictures would be allowed. I get the artbook signed and Mary snapped a pic of me. Hah, my hair looks really nice. Then we got reprimanded by Synch-Point staff, because apparently, photos were not allowed! Josh Groban guy, you failed us! Koge Donbo wrote her name in English, then drew a funny Gema image.
We decided to go back to Mary's hotel room to drop off the stuff and get something to eat. Mary was rooming with Taiki (Chris), Some Bald Guy, and alliechan. Anyway, Ryan and Dave stopped by and Mary retold the story of the Mysterious Fapper. Last year, we had a similar problem where all night long it sounded like someone was masturbating in our hotel room, but it just turned out that Jack had a really dry mouth/throat and was making those noises.
Mary said that around 3 am the other night, she was awakened by the sound of someone masturbating and she was sure that it was Some Bald Guy. Everyone discussed it for a while, and no one wanted to own up to who did the fapping (Lord, I never heard the word "fapping" being uttered so much in one sitting). So then and there, Mary declared the room to be a "No Fapping Zone."
"You know, it's like something from Azumanga Daioh," I said.
[Osaka's scary story] "Last night, I smelled a fart that wasn't mine."
[Osaka's scary story modified] "Last night I heard someone someone fapping, and it wasn't me."
In the elevator, Dave told the story of the girl who was asking people about what is this big deal about this band "L'Arkansas"? We all had a good laugh.
We then went to get lunch at the California Pizza Kitchen. Ryan declared that the Cherry Coke wasn't as good as yesterday's Cherry Coke. Taiki drank like a gallon of strawberry lemonade. I wouldn't be surprised if he started sweating pink out of his pores. Kind of like a fanboy version of testing out the absorbency of menstrual pads, only you're leaking out pink liquid instead of blue. Anyway, it was my first time at CPK and I wasn't impressed.
It was getting close to the start of the concert, so we went back to Mary's room so she could drop off her purse. At this point, Kevyn was already in line and said that it already stretched to seven blocks. The rules of the concert was that no one was allowed to line up before 3:30 pm because it would impede traffic. Security would turn them away. Well, some people started lining up at 2:30 because security at the 1st Mariner Arena said they could. The line was essentially multiplying like a virus, because everyone was told to line up at 3:30.
The line wound itself twice around a street block. Or three times. I don't know, I lost count. We got all sorts of people in cars hollering at us, "What the HELL's going on?" I hope someone told them we were in line for the next Star Wars movie. Now all we need is Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, and we'd really be having fun.
So, as mentioned in my previous comic, we were still in line when I get a txt from Karyn asking if we were in the arena yet. She had somehow gotten V.I.P. from Tofu Records. To which I txted back, "Die karyn die is german for the karyn the!"
And then she replied back, "But that doesn't tell me anything." By that time we were in the arena and getting seated.
Yep, some shitty seats, eh? There were two screens set up flanking the stage. They aired the dubbed version of Fullmetal Alchemist before the concert started. The show isn't so bad (dub's pretty good), with the exception of the shrieking fangirls every time x character came on. They're two-dimensional characters that don't exist, ladies. They can't hear you!
The security was pretty lax at the arena. Otakon probably told us we couldn't bring bags because they wanted everyone to get seated quickly. That didn't stop people from bringing video game consoles, huge dealer's room bags, backpacks, yaoi paddles, and bokken. All of which got through security. Then you bought $3 water, and they remove the cap so you couldn't throw it at people.
Finally, the lights dimmed and L'arc came onstage. There were a lot of flashing lights and fire. Super disco tech, yo.
Overall, it was a pretty good show. It would have been better if they projected the concert onto the large screen, asides from using it to show Fullmetal Alchemist. It's not the best show I've seen, but it's my first rock concert in an enclosed arena; before that I've only been to outdoor concerts. (Plus Josh Groban doesn't count as rock.) So I thought the sound was a little too loud and I wish I had brought some earplugs to muffle some of the noise, yet still enjoy the music.
Set list:
1. Kiss - Kuchizuke
2. Lover Boy
3. HEAVEN'S DRIVE
4. Spirit dreams inside [English version]
5. Jiyuu he no Shoutai
6. Eien
7. Kasou
8. Living In Your Eyes - Hitomi no Jyunin
9. Driver's High
10. Feeling Fine
11. STAY AWAY
12. REVELATION
13. READY STEADY GO
14. HONEY [Encore]
15. Blurry Eyes [Encore]
16. Pieces [Encore]
I was really happy they played "Driver's High" and "STAY AWAY", which are my two favorite L'Arc songs. The audience overall was very enthusiastic. People were standing and clapping, with the exception of section of rows 224-223. Those were better nosebleed seats than where we were sitting, since it faced the stage itself, but those people, for the most part, remained sitting down.
The band had a few interesting comments. I can't remember all of them, but one was hyde asking if everyone was having a good time. It really didn't matter what he said, because everyone cheered and clapped. But then he asked if we ate any "craps [crabs]". Much confusion ensued. But then we got it. Eventually.
He also said:
"I AM EBANGERION" *???*
"EBANGERION, you know?" *audience cheers*
"Going berserk!" *not so enthusiastic cheer*
"GOING BERSERK!" *audience cheers*
"GOING BERSERK!"
Hyde enjoys saying "fucking" a lot. haha!
There was an intermission and Ken came on, wearing a dolphin mask. He asked, "Who am I?" I think most people yelled either, "KEN!" or "HYDE!" Ken shakes his head and says, "No, I am dolphin, from Baltimore aquarium, come to see show!"
Tetsu asked if we wanted to eat his bananas, then flung a couple at the audience. They're probably being freeze dried at this moment, or being hawked on eBay. (Hey, that kind of makes me want to sell some bananas on eBay.) The same went for hyde's water bottles, laced with his precious spit. And the whistles (black and white) hyde threw during "Blurry Eyes."
There were some Japanese fangirls who flew from Japan just to see this show, so I am pretty sure there were some mad grabbage for the goods. I wonder if they bite.
I think it was Ken's guitar had some problems during the show. I can't really tell, I think he smashed it against the stage, with much fanfare.
About 10-20 minutes went by before the band came back to do an encore. At this point people are making lots of noise and beating their feet against the concrete.
That was the end of the concert. As we were exiting, they started playing Enya music, of all things. Thousands of people streamed out of the arena and Baltimore police redirected traffic, just for us. Now if only everyone started dancing at the same time, like the opening theme of The Drew Carey Show, it would have been awesome. Heck, I would have settled for the "Yatta!" dance.
When we got back to the con center, we were deluged with people holding HUG ME signs. Now, up until then, I haven't seen a lot of signs, and it seemed that they were holding some kind of revolution. Viva la Desperation! Some people were actually aggressive and wouldn't take no for an answer. I didn't encounter the fanboy who stood at the end of the escalator and hugged people coming down it, whether they wanted it or not.
Frankly, I'm a person who values her personal space. I don't like the idea of a stinky fanboy/girl hugging another fanboy/girl, both with B.O., to create some kind of new yet equally offensive funk. The best thing I've heard about that (from Dave) was some guy yelling, "If you hug, you're supporting Bush!"
Honestly, if you want a hug, just ask your mom. It makes me want to hire Man-Faye for the con. For every dollar you give me, Man-Faye will hunt down a person holding a HUG ME sign of your choice. I'll make thousands, I tells ya. Thousands! We can also add Man-Misty and Sailor Bubba, if you want. It'd clear out the signs, fast!
As an alternative, anyone who asks for a glomp can get a punch in the stomach. Then I'd look really cute and say, "Tee hee, I'm new to anime. I thought 'glomp' meant 'punch in the stomach.'"
The guy who sat by ECAU's table in Artist's Alley last year is part of an anti-hug brigade, but people hugged him out of spite or downright attacked him. It was ridiculous.
The rest of the night were kind of a blur. Went to Barnes and Noble with Ryan to kill some time before seeing Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman. But by the time we got to the con, the 35mm room was filled to capacity. So Karyn, Kevyn, konoha, Mary, Ryan, and a few other people sat outside, just chatting.
So, I would like to end my report with the following quotes:
Sarah: "You mean you have a liver of steel?"
Karyn: "Oh my god, did you just say 'liver of semen'?!"
and...
Kevyn: "Those guys were checking you [Karyn] out."
Sarah: [in a black voice] "Good lawd, check out the tittays on her! And she got a foine ass too!"