I will be arriving at the Ferguson Center some time before 10:00 AM, when the festivities start.

*is so totally PUMPED*

ze schedule

safe trip you two!
oh and will you cosplay? tell us the cool things you get to see okay? have fun

No cosplaying for me, but if we have the people and the opportunity, my anime club will be performing Hare Hare Yukai and the second ending to Fresh Pretty Cure.

oh that's cool having an anime club kayla you're really into it huh. it must be a real shame you wont cosplay btw dear is this the same thing silvershadow was saying on the first thread
at the MF central? its the same place right?

I'll be cosplaying as the Nostalgia Critic. 😀

it must be a real shame you wont cosplay

Not really. It's not something I've really thought about.

is this the same thing silvershadow was saying on the first thread

at the MF central? its the same place right?

I think so.

Er no, it's not. She means my stickied thread up top there, Kayla, which is referring to Auchinawa - which isn't on until November. Oh, and is also taking place here in Scotland.

Oh. Oops, my bad.

Hope you both have a good time. I admit, I'd love to see pictures of Ultra as Doug.

Con season will be good this year, nothing much going on in the world for it to excite over, but it's been a good 2009 to look back on.

Oh 2009 was definitely good for me. I got to meet Optimus Primal and BW Megatron last summer.

I now know what people mean when they say nerdgasm.

Well, today was super fun and an overall success!

Arrived at the convention center at about 9:30 after checking into my hotel room, and basically did a little tour of the facility.

Along the way, I got a few double-takes; quite a few people thought I
was the Critic at first glance (my temperament played a part, in
particular with how I chastised Seto Kaiba about how his business plan
made no sense).

Then I met Little Kuriboh himself (it took me a minute to recognize him, given that he has a beard now) Ignore my incredibly shiny sneakers.

As we talked, he made the comment that "I look like a bad cosplayer of the guy you're cosplaying," due to the beard. After some more chit-chat and mingling with others, we headed to the theater room for the opening ceremonies, where the SOS Brigade (our hosts) introduced the talkers (Vic Mignogna, Little Kuriboh, Robert Axelrod aka LORD ZEDD, and Aaron Pabon, the Geek Comedian), and adjourned for the festivities to begin. I got another picture with a guy sitting behind me, due to various jokes shared during the presentation (there were lots of 'CARD GAMES ON MOTORCYCLES' to go around).

The Nostalgia Critic is often stern! Also, keep a track of that Luffy cosplayer, he shows up later.

Next up was the Geek Comedian, Aaron Pabon. Among his routine were his experiences at conventions, the weirdness of the settings and plots of various games (particularly Pokemon), and the difference between good and bad cosplay. Also, his computer had this sweet background.

Next up, Vig Mignogna's panel.

A fantastic human being, so full of life and energy and just downright excited about his lot in life.

Then, I ran into KaylaTheHedgehog! Much fun to be had all around. Along with a few nearby people mistaking me for the Critic. Again.

Then was Little Kuriboh's panel, where there was talk about Abridged Series in general, Season 3 of Yu-Gi-Oh! Abridged (IT STARTS IN MAY), and various questions and answers. Some fan in a Superman outfit actually managed to con LK into wearing this Hulk mask before the fan plugged his own abridged series for FMA (basically, fan asks if LK will wear this mask before answering his second question. Upon doing so, and plugging his series, LK mourns "I put on the mask for this?!").

Also, more 'CARD GAMES ON MOTORCYCLES' (wherein I shouted it out for LK, since he couldn't get NC to do it for his April Fool's video: "CARD GAMES ON MOTORCYCLES! Which makes no sense!"), and improv comedy when the computer wouldn't start the videos.

Throughout the day between events, I would go and look around, mingling with other con-goers, buying lunch/dinner, and seeing stuff for sale (a little Zeruel figure, a Rebuild of Evangelion Unit-05 model, and Season 4 of Case Closed), and commissioning artwork (for a fanfic I'm reading called Nobody Dies, an Evangelion AU: Rei in a Genki Girl pose, Rei in a Kamina pose, and Gendo Ikari and American President Stephen Colbert in a cross counter. It makes sense in context). Awesome all around.

Then it was time for Random Battles! The general theme of Kamicon is 'Light vs. Dark'; good guys versus bad guys for the sake of who gets to determine the theme for the next con. For the time being, I was on the Light Team (will do Dark Team tomorrow; the Nostalgia Critic is of both elements!). Basically, Random Battles was determined as follows: flip a coin, call it. He who wins the toss 'attacks'. First one to attack three times wins.

I lost to Luffy. D:

There he sits, in the winner's circle. Several called foul, given that Luffy (LUFFY!) was on the Dark Team. Two of the more entertaining matches was Edward Elric versus Edward Elric (the tiny kid beat the bigger adult, so many laughs to be had) and Nurse Joy versus a Mandalorian Bounty Hunter (Nurse Joy wins!).

Anyhow, once that ended (a landslide for Light Team), we prepared for Cosplay Preliminaries, where we signed up for the Cosplay Contest. While waiting, I got the following picture with a Rorschach cosplayer.

To which he responded:

The Nostalgia Critic is not above screaming like a girl if he's about to get whupped.

Next, the actual Cosplay Contest! The skit (which I had only about 20-30 minutes to think up, so it was kind of rambled to me) touched on anime in the sense that, although not very 'nostalgic' compared to 'my' other material, had many similarities in its treatment with various cartoons during the Animation Age Ghetto ("Animation? It must be for kids! WRONG!!!").

Then I see Poison Ivy being cosplayed.

I 'flashback' to the movie Batman and Robin. Cue enraged screaming of "BAT CREDIT CAAARD!", and I step up to get rid of her ("Must. Cleanse. Mind. Of memories!!!").

Then I held back, muttering "Control yourself. Must not murder."

I wrapped it up muttering about how I had forgotten the medication prescribed to me for dealing with Joel Schumacher films, anything with Pauly Shore, and Star Wars the Animated Musical.

After the other cosplayers (two of my favorites were of 'Naruto' (by the TF2 Spy) and an absolutely AMAZING Jack Sparrow) finished their bits, awards were handed out.

I didn't get any general awards (Best Skit was easily won by a Lucky Star dance with assistance by Naruto, Phoenix Wright, and Hitman Reborn cosplayers), but I did get a Judge's Pick (I lamented that it wasn't a trophy, since I'd need one to knock myself unconscious whenever I had to review Baby Geniuses). So all in all, for an outfit I cobbled together on Friday (one day before Kamicon) with clothes for cheap from a thrift store and Wal-Mart, I won a cosplay award at my first convention.

Ecstatic!

After that, there was the Anime Dating Game! Though I had offered questions to my best, I was unable to secure spots in the game itself; Round 1 was Edward Elric interviewing Bachelorettes Winry, Orihime, and some girl whose cosplay escaped me. Ed picked Winry. Round 2 was Haruhi interviewing Bachelors Alucard, Pokemon Master Red, and L of Death Note. L won handily with the audience for his DEAD-ON impression (Haruhi: "If I were at a bar, what would your pick-up line be?" L: "Is your blood-alcohol content sufficient enough to make me desirable?" Haruhi: "A ninja steals my lunch. What would you do?" L: *thinks about it* "I would share my sugar cubes with you.").

After that, it was down to the game room for some rounds of Super Smash Bros. Brawl before heading back to the hotel at around 10:00 PM, over twelve hours since I had arrived.

Tomorrow, after Mass concludes, it's off to finish off Day 2 of the Convention, which includes dodgeball and karaoke!

You know, the minute you said you were going as the Nostalgia Critic, I thought, "you know, He could really pull that off."

The final product is AMAZING. You look just like him.

Looks like you had fun, man.

It was fun meeting him. It was funny how it happened.

I was waiting in line for Vic's autograph section, and I saw Ultra walk by. It took me a second to remember that he mentioned cosplaying as the Nostalgia Critic, so I thought I may as well check. I was right.

First time I met someone from the boards in real life.

thanks for sharing with such clearness ultra, i never went to an anime convintion before so its nice to get an idea about them, also the schduel link you posted before makes me imagine it was as fun as it looked.

i liked the joke you and the Rorschach guy did that was fun, also i'm glad you did win something at the end.
and kayla dear loved the shirt, i couldnt see the character's face from your tag but i see the "anime club" title.

hope you have as much fun tomorrow

You know, I think the whole point of posting a thread to say that you wont be on this site for one day is just... 0.0

I didn't think it was worth the trouble of trying to dig up the first thread. I try to not make a habit of thread necromancy.

Besides, it gives Ultra and I a place to talk about the con.

Speaking of, Ultra, did you get to see Lord Zedd? A group of us left before his panel.

Also, did you see who won the cosplay competition?

I didn't think it was worth the trouble of trying to dig up the first thread. I try to not make a habit of thread necromancy.

Besides, it gives Ultra and I a place to talk about the con.

Speaking of, Ultra, did you get to see Lord Zedd? A group of us left before his panel.

Also, did you see who won the cosplay competition?

Robert Axelrod's panel was on after the cosplay competition, and I think I had left to go get dinner, so no, I didn't see what had happened.

As for the cosplay competition: Best Original Character was Alucard (a personal rendition, not Castlevania or Hellsing version), Best Skit was the Lucky Star group, Best Personality Presentation was Jack Sparrow, Best Accessory was Lavi's Hammer...I forget the other category. But I did win a Judge's Pick; as for the other four judges, the axe-girl from 'How To Train Your Dragon' won, Dante of Devil May Cry won, the Mandalorian bounty hunter won...I forget the other winner.

Day 2 report will come once pictures are uploaded (plus video of my karaoke rendition of 'Friends on the Other Side' from Princess and the Frog. ).

Ooh, can't wait to hear that.

ha ha ha the magic word is "princess and the frog" well to turtle anyway.

But I did win a Judge's Pick

Congratulations!

Now that I have a Kirara plushie, I may try to cosplay as Sango one day.

AHHHHH!What!!! Seriously! Like...I saw both of you. Kayla especially. >.< During the cosplay contest some friends of yours were like 2 rows in front of me. You came and talked to them after the show. OH.EM GEEE. *rips hair out* And congrats Ultra on winning your judges award. Your skit was hilarous. LOL

  
Poison Ivy. Oh yes.
Awesomesauce!
Darn my camera and it's crappy resolution. That's Dante from DMC. Very cool.   The Objection sign was just too good. Had to get it. PW:AA Woo hoo!
Me, Lord ZEDD[oh my gosh!!!] and my friend Brandon. 

But yea KamiCon was alot better than last year's. I'm surprised how well it went. Seriously guys...next time if you come I really really REALLY want to meet you. Man...I can't believe I didn't see this topic sooner. >.<

Aww, man! Well, we might go again next year. I believe this was our anime club's second time going to Kamicon.

:O So you were there last year too! Craziness! Yes please do come nxt year. I'll be cosplaying next year.

i'm surprised you didnt do your street fighter cosplaying hyper, you got nice abs you could won the contest.
oh the objection sign with the ace atterny cosplayer is neat.

Haha! Thanks sonicsfan. But yea...i'm thinking of Adon[my earlier one was actually from King of Fighters but close enough] for next year. But yea...I love that sign! So authentic!

XD right KOF, well i'm sure you're gonna do some fun cosplaying next year. thanks for the pics btw they're fun to watch.

I didn't go last year, but my anime club did.

If they go again next year, I'm definitely going.

Meh, was hoping the person who took the video of my karaoke bit would
have uploaded by now, but if I wait any longer (given that it's finals
week and all), I'll lose clarity. Anyhow, as a brief recap, here are
some video snippets from Day 1.

The Opening Video
The Intro for
Kami-con Season 2

Little Kuriboh Defines 'Abridged Series'

Tobi's Skit
Part 2 of 7 from Vic's Panel
Part 1 of the Lucky Star skit that won 'Best Skit'
Video 1 and 2 of the Jack Sparrow Cosplayer

At any rate, after the 9 AM Mass at Holy Spirit Catholic Church
(beautiful chapel; I'm a sucker for stained glass windows), I headed on
over to UA to finish off the rest of the con. I browsed around a little
before heading into the theater where Little Kuriboh, Vic Mignogna,
and Robert Axelrod were going to have a three-way Q&A session. Even
got one more picture with LK.

The convention is beginning to wear on the Critic! Also, don't ask what
my pinky's doing out there.

But in all seriousness, my in-character ranting and raving on Saturday
had all but murdered my throat, and I wanted to keep it good for karaoke
that afternoon. Made getting in-character quite easy though!

Then the panel began, and there were great laughs to be had.

Video. Sort of staggered due to batteries, but it ain't by me.

Kuriboh, Mignogna, and
Axelrod Panel Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Then...DODGEBALL. Light vs. Dark. Winner gets 200 points for their side in the battle to determine what theme would be chosen for next year! Light had won rather handily at events the previous day...and in the interest of a close contest, I wanted to help Dark team get closer. This would later turn out to be a mistake.

I was on the second team, so
while the first guys
played...I encountered
Luffy again! Well, a
Luffy.
But vengeance was vengeance!

Ah...satisfaction.
Got me in the mood for
Dodgeball! Alas, the guy I asked to take pictures while I
played...didn't. Meh. But there's video!

Light

vs. Dark Dodgeball Part 1
Part

2
Part

3 (I actually appear at around the 0:30 mark, but the match I was
in didn't start until near the end.)
Part

4 (I'm by the tree on the right. When the camera moves positions
near the 2:00 mark, by the time it returns to the match, I've removed my
jacket...hey, it's my first con, I'm allowed to derobe if the heat's
too much. At any rate, the little kid with the cast got me out at around
4:30, so blah. Then again, he was kicking everyone's butt.)
Part

5 (Sort of made a fool of myself, shouting out due to 'apparent'
confusion when people lined up on different sides. Then my shouting was
rendered moot when I discovered I had played for the Light Side team by
mistake the previous round. So shrugging it off, it was time to play!)

The

person who taped it is still uploading parts, so check back.

I
actually managed to get a Double hit in the final round before I got too
ambitious and tried to catch a ball from the cast kid. Ah well, the
team I was on won both times, so I didn't care. Kind of.

So Dark
Team won, and got 200 points.

Next, it was off to the Matsuri Festival! Complete with Taiko Drums.

Didn't
stick around too long, because there was lunch to be had. Had noodles
and chicken, with a bento and a slice of chocolate cake. I ate it while
watching an episode from K-ON!

Then it was time for the guests to
say goodbye.

I
actually managed to get in the last question: "This question's
particularly on-topic, given that Axelrod's here; what Power Ranger
would you be?
Axelrod: Black Ranger ("It's a fashion
statement.")
Lisa Furukawa: Pink Ranger ("Can I have Hello Kitty on
it?")
Aaron Pabon: The Birthday Suit Ranger
Little Kuriboh: Walker
Texas Ranger.
Vic GARUGAMESH: Resembool Ranger

Up next:
KARAOKE! That'll be part of the next write-up.

So did Light win or Dark?

Hold on, Yuku's eating my post. 😐

EDIT: Fixed.

Oh joy. Yuku apparently has an appetite for posts like EzBarf did.

kuriboh's video was funny when he was giving directions... and i thought lisa was cute, her song was nice and her answer to your fun question ultra was pretty cute too.
the opening and ending of the con was neat, they did a cool job with the events too. waaaaa so nice!

Lisa was indeed, cute. ~_^ But awesome videos and pics Ultra. *high fives* Ok I see Kayla...anime club not you. But yea i'm excited for next year's already. There's actually going to be another con[PixelCon] in like January I believe. I'll keep you guys posted. I love the Power Ranger questions though. xD! "Walker Texas Ranger" I'm looking forward to the karaoke.

I hope the dealer's room is bigger next year. I really want an Arceus plushie, but the only Pokemon plushies they had were from Gen I.

I did get a FMA pocket watch though.

I did get a FMA pocket watch though.

Aw, ha, that would be kinda awesome! Got any pictures of it?

I did get a FMA pocket watch though.

Don't

forget

3.OCT.10

Yep. Unfortunately, I'm too tall to reasonably cosplay as Ed.

Yep. Unfortunately, I'm too tall to reasonably cosplay as Ed.

I met quite a few Ed cosplayers.

Mocking them for the shortness was fun. 😀

What's interesting is that I've seen more gals cosplaying as Ed than guys.

My sister and I noticed that the t-shirt Vic was wearing the first day is the exact same one he wore at Mechacon.

And Ultra, we confused my sister for a bit while we were talking. When I told her I knew you from here, she was impressed.

"My sister and I noticed that the t-shirt Vic was wearing the first day is the exact same one he wore at Mechacon"

must be his favorite shirt, i'm like you too i always pay attention to small details its fun so that's really cool you noticed it. and i have to say it looks nice on him. he's a very interesting person too, i loved hearing his experiances in the video link.

Well, what do you know, my skit was finally uploaded!

The final part of my Kami-con write-up will be taken care of soon.

that was cool! thank you so much for talking about that dumb 4kids! <high fives ultra>
you were really fun and enjoyable, you played it with heat

Nice Critic, Ultra. I can only imagine what you could've pulled off if you didn't randomly come up with something in the last 30 minutes before you went up. X3

SPEAKING of cons, did ANYONE go to C2E2 in Chicago a few weeks ago? I knew I forgot to make a thread about that, since I know we have a couple of forumers in the midwest, some in ILtown, no less.

As you may remember, I was planning on it. But the person who I was going to go with didn't think to sort out their passport until there was about a month to go - by which time it was too late, and I didn't want to go on my own.

Then again, if the schedule I'd been looking at'd gone to plan, I'd have flown out the day before UK airspace was closed and been scheduled to come back either the day before or after they reopened it. So I'd possibly've gotten stranded and even if I hadn't, I'd have gotten awfully stressed.

It's funny how these things work out. I still liked the look of that lineup, though...

Well, I've waited long enough for the guy to upload the video with the
music. Maybe later then (or I'll just record another rendition of my
own).

Anyhow, the guests had all left. It was time...FOR KARAOKE. Since they
had left well before 3 PM (when karaoke was scheduled to start), we
decided to start it early. While the staff was working, I got a picture
with one of them. In-character, of course.

"Losing it, losing it, losing it..."

Then problems emerged. Working with a DELL laptop, the lady pictured
above was having trouble syncing it up with the big screen projector in
the theater. But it was done in 'two-screen' format; the image being
projected was to the 'left' of the laptop screen. Once I pointed this
out to her and helped her out a bit, she asked the crowd to give some
thanks to the Critic. To which I shouted, "I fixed it so she didn't have
to!"

Then began karaoke. First was a trio of cosplayers (one of them Yuna),
doing a little fan-made ditty called "The 12 Days of Kami-con."

Then it was some girl who sang a song that I've completely forgotten
about. >.>;

Then came a group (a few were FMA cosplayers) singing along to
'Brothers' from the anime (there were some technical problems that
ensued with trying to set things up for the next song; fortunately,
things were a lot smoother after this).

Next was a rendition of "Simple and Clean".

Then a Seto Kaiba cosplayer did a rendition of "Before He Cheats" by
Carrie Underwood.

Then it was my turn.

"Friends on the Other Side" from the Princess and the Frog.
Unfortunately, there were a couple of moments where my aforementioned
hoarseness got me...but not enough to keep from doing the evil laughter
at the end that accompanied a round of applause. So it was fun.

This lady (not the guy up front who I talked to about recording) got some video from the karaoke event (I was sorta sad one of her jump cuts
skipped me. 🙁 ). It ends at around 6:57 (everything after that is some
Lolita Picnic she apparently went too at the Con). As you can see, the song right after mine was "Make a Man Out of You"
from Mulan. It was a group song; EVERYONE joined in.

Next up was a Bleach cosplayer who sang "Sanctuary" from KHII. We were
temporarily halted due to Youtube stopping its loading halfway through.

Then this guy sang the theme from Code Geass.

Then another group song: the full version of the original Pokemon theme.
😀 The Reds in the audience were called up.

Next up, this gal sang the theme to Slayers.

Then it was a lady who sang the full version of the second Inuyasha
ending, "Fukai

Mori".

Then this quartet of ladies sang Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance."

Then this lady (I think she cosplayed as a character from How To Train
Your Dragon the previous day)...sang something I've also forgotten.
IIRC, it was a poem of sorts.

Then it was time to wrap things up with two last group songs: the intro
theme for the original English dub of Sailor Moon ("FIGHTING EVIL BY
MOONLIGHT!") and the song "Do You Believe in Magic?".

It was time to wrap the karaoke session up and bring Kamicon to a close.
So one of the staff told us to rise for our national anthem.

Easily the most epic part of Kamicon (another vantage point is here). Shouldn't be too hard
to find me;
had a bit of fun hefting the little kid up so he could see (my good deed
for the day!).

So it was time for the closing ceremony. Awards for the AMV Contest were
handed out, and it was time to gauge the winner of the Light vs. Dark
contest to decide the theme of next year's Kamicon.

Here's the ending in its entirety. Part 1 and 2.

As you can see, Dark won handily. See, those who chose to participate in
the Karaoke session would get 10 points; these points would go to
either Light or Dark, depending on who the person wanted. And with the
final two group songs before Journey...everyone who got on stage would
get points.

Dark was an overwhelming favorite. So dodgeball made for a 400-point
swing.

Eh, oh well.

Shio is sad and Kosho is gleeful.

It all ended....with Haruhi Suzumiya! Befitting the SOS Brigade of UA.

Managed to catch this picture right before the screen flipped off.

So, leaving only one suggestion to the staff ("The hallways need mounted
fans for air circulation!"), I departed.

Back in the car, letting loose a moan due to
exhaustion...

...and yet there is satisfaction due to the fun and
excitement of it all.

And a farewell. For now.

I'm the Nostalgia
Critic! I go to conventions, so you don't have to!

(But this was not the end of the Kamicon-related festivities...for there
was an afterparty to go to. Which was today! My final report for this
thread shall come soon regarding the afterparty.)