Con Piece: Going KamiKaze Con! Part 2!

Ahh....Voice Actor love. No other purer love then that. Or was that something else? I don't remember.

So here is the second part of my coverage of KamiKaze Con, the little con that could. Got to say that this con really let me get close to the VAs since it was so small. I mean I was able to take a picture of Chris and Sammi hugging though I don't think they knew I took this picture. Either way there were some good moments involving some of the VAs here. An example of one was us trying to fill up Chris's big orange cup with ice. Apparently it was too big to fit in the ice machine on one of the hotel floors. So I got my plastic folder and bent it a bit so it would funnel the ice into the cup. That was fun and now I got a great con story involving a VA, volunteering and cosplaying as Yuki.

Still to the meat of the post! Also check out Part 1 of my coverage of Kamikaze Con if you haven't done that yet.

Con Overview
I would do a day by day play of the con but I didn't took pictures of certain things are the con per day. Still it didn't felt like there wasn't a con until the first few hours of me being there. Usually you get that exciting feel about going to a con but I am guessing the lack of response from the con staff about volunteering and my interview request kind of just dull the feeling a bit. Though that didn't last long once we started to help out the guest and introducing ourselves to them.

I did volunteering for this con. I am not sure why I did but I guess I just wanted to get in for free. It is all about these 'hard economic times' you know. I was hoping to get a press pass so it be easier to interview the voice talent but that didn't go as planned but still I got my interviews. Still volunteering was fun since I was able to work Guest Relations this time. That meant I got to be with the guest and make sure that they had water, food, paper and the basic needs. Walking them every so often and such. Wait, nevermind....Umm....Chris, Greg and any other VAs who are reading this....Sorry for the bad joke. haha You guys were cool.

Though being guest relations was really cool. I had fun doing it and I am sure it was because this was such a small con. We were on the clock the whole time but it was light things. Just go into the room every hour or so and ask the person hosting the panel if they need water or anything. Once that was done, walk out to get it or just do something else if they didn't need anything. Also it helped that we didn't do the bands since I heard they are a pain to do. I was able to be Chris Ayres's Guest Relation person thanks to my friend taking the chance that I won't fanboy over him and trusting me that I will put my job as guest relations before my job as a blogger. haha

I was even able to punch Chris too! That was fun. The guy seem to have taken it well too and was prepare since this year he is letting all of his guest relation people beat him up. Helped that I was in my Luffy cosplay because that is perfect for punching people.

Damn...I wish I could have taken a better picture...

Really...I took ten pictures of these guys at this panel and this was the best I got. I am sure that Chris notice me taking pictures of them because I think I saw him look at me at least once.

I went to a lot of panels for this con due to me being part of guest relations. One about how things are in Japan where the guy talked about the population there. Another was a series of different old TV game shows like Password but anime themed.

Still the main panel that I made sure to go to was the one hosted by Greg Ayres, Chris Ayres, Sammi Harte, and Clarine Harp called Downloading Anime and You. If you know anything about Greg Ayres then you know that he is strongly against illegal downloading of anime. He and the others went over how illegal downloading has been hurting not just the American side of the anime industry but the Japanese side too. Sammi mention a trip to Japan where she was visiting an anime studio and they were in the middle of downsizing. The whole studio was about the size of the panel room that the panel was being hosted in. She mention how they were amaze to hear that American VAs were able to do things like going out to eat and taking breaks. Crazy stuff going on there.

"Being a fan means supporting the artist with your money"
-Greg Ayres

That is something that Greg said to some degree and he is right. It is easy for somebody to say, "I love One Piece!" but does that person have any proof that they love One Piece? Do they have a book shelf filled with One Piece DVDs and manga? That is a good sign of how much you love any anime series (not just One Piece). Greg then went into detail about why he started this crusade against illegal downloads. He had some friends who loved anime and were buying all this stuff at anime cons but weren't spending a dime on DVDs and mangas. They were not buying anime but instead buying anime stuff. I admit it is nice to own the stuff but to me I feel much better when I have the DVDs since I don't have to worry about kids taking my One Piece figures and ruining them. Still the sales of DVDs and manga help out more then the figures was what I think Greg wanted to point out. If an anime only sold 200 copies then that isn't a good sign (and it has happen) and those kind of things will discourage anime studios and providers not to get animes if the fans are just going to watch it online illegally.

I am sure that there are people out there who are tried of people like me saying that you should be buying the animes and manga releases instead of just downloading it illegally for free. I have heard and understand that it is costly. Heck, I bite my lip and pretend that I am not spending fifty plus dollars when I go to the bookstore to buy the One Piece SPEED UP volumes. The thing is though that you need to remember that the anime industry is more then what you see in America or wherever you live. The anime industry is also in Japan and if they are not getting money then they can't keep making such great animes. What is even better is that there are several ways to watch this stuff legally now. There is Funimation and CrunchyRoll who are streaming this stuff for free (Well to a limit on CrunchyRoll). There is also Hulu and NetFlicks that allow you to watch anime too. You can download the animes for a cheap fee via iTunes and to your game consoles. Funi has Operation Anime which allows anime clubs to get anime titles for free to show at their showings. So things are changing a bit. All we need now is a way to read the manga legally from Japan and we will be all set. Still be cool, watch the stuff legally if you can and buy some anime and manga when you got some spare cash on you.

Also at this panel, Greg Ayres announce that he will be doing the voice of Youhei Sunohara for the Clanned dub. I tweeted this while in the panel but I know I misspelled the name. I am sure this is old news by the time you read it here but I thought it be cool to mention here anyways.

Oh Johnny Yong Bosch, don't sing. Speak Ichigo to me! Ahhh!

Eyeshine, Johnny Youg Bosch's (VA for Ichigo in Bleach and LeLouch in Code Geass dubs) band, was at this con. They did some performances and boy was it great! Since I have heard their performance, I have  become a fan of theirs. haha Their songs were nice to hear and a good toe tapper. My friend were fangirling for them and wanted to go to their Sunday morning performance which was good since I wanted to go too after hearing them during the intermission for the cosplay contest. These guys were great to hear and now I want you guys to do something. Go to their site, Eyeshine.net and vote for them to be part of the Warped Tour. They need votes to make it in so help them out. Also while there, feel free to download their songs because it is FREE! Well worth it. haha

Stuff I Got
I got a good haul this time at KamiKaze Con. Above is Luffy from the Gentlemen of the Grand Line series. Got a good deal for it too since the other places at the con were selling it for ten dollars more then the place where I got it from. I love good deals. haha

 Click to enlarge to enjoy the awesomeness of it

The figure looks really nice. I love how detailed it is and how nicely it stands on the base. This must be the feeling of owning a really nice figure. haha I really need to get a proper shelf for this guy so I don't have to worry about little kids grabbing it.

There was also a Gentlemen of the Grand Line figure for Shanks and the decision was hard but I thought it be better to get Luffy since I do love him more. Also now I have a good model for all future Luffy cosplays I do. haha

That is the signature of Greg Ayres there!

The complete series of Ouran High School Host Club on DVD! I been waiting for this ever since Funimation announced getting the rights to this show. The price was perfect too since it was much cheaper then getting both DVD sets of Ouran.

I love the packaging for the DVDs too! It looks really nice! You just pull it out of the box and unfold it then open your mouth is awe. Just beautiful! I showed it to Greg Ayres and he loved it too. Funimation did an awesome job in making this look good and I was sold upon first look.

Whatever is your taste, there's a gent on the menu eager to make your fantasies come true. Do you crave the devotion of a romantic prince? Ask for Tamaki. Request Kyoya if a boy lost in his thoughts make you melt. Sit between Kaoru and Hikaru and swoon at their display of brotherly love. Delight at Honey's innocence and tremble in Mori's manly arms!
-Part of the description on the back of the box

I love this part of the description! It is so funny! Me and my friends had a good laugh when one of them read it outloud. If you haven't bought Ouran High School Host Club yet then get it now because it just a great show in awesome packaging.

Also very cheap compare to buying the two DVD sets! haha

Lastly I got a t-shirt like I do at all the cons. The shirt for KamiKaze Con was good but I been wanting this Gurren Lagann shirt since I saw it back at OniCon so I decided to take the chance to get it. It is a cool shirt.

This here was KamiKaze Con 3! Like all cons, it has to come to an end. It was small but that may been the thing that made this a good con. Still just because this post is done doesn't mean that I am done with KamiKaze for now! I got a bunch little goodies from the con like interviews with Chris and Greg Ayres. I am done transcribing  the interview with Chris and all I need to do is clean it up from any misspellings and give it one good listen so I know it is ready to publish So stay tune for those nice little bits.

Overall, Kamikaze was a good con. Small but nice. Better then last time when it came to stuff there and glad that I was able to go. Went to iHop in my Yuki and Ikuto cosplays and was able to talk to some cool people. Good time overall.