Traveling Valentine debuted a new pairing at Anime Central - Kozo Karino and Ayaka Kisaragi from Phantom Quest Corps. Saturday early evening was masquerade time. It seemed fairly unusual to us since we're used to watching masquerade at 8PM at the earliest. The reason being is that Jan Scott Frazier wanted her Voices for Peace concert not to conflict, yet masquerade conflicted with the Dealers Room. Several people in the dealer's room expressed how much they would have loved to watch the cosplay show.

We arrived in the designated press area at 4:30PM. Unfortunately, we were given poorly angled spots. We were probably better off sitting with the audience to get better shots. To give you an idea, press was situated on the far right and left wings. Masquerade started at 5PM. We were entertained with Issac Sher's Sephiroth Comeback Special to open up masquerade. This would be Issac's final bout as masquerade MC. I was fortunate to see him do his thing in 2001 through 2003. The first half of masquerade included walk ons. Highlights included Final Fantasy XII, full Hollow Ichigo (which barely made it onstage), and others. The second half were the skits. Highlights included Princess Tutu abridged, the Naruto Algorithm March, Count of Monte Cristo, and Mom in a Box (Advent Children). The masquerade ended with a marriage proposal.

Tom and I didn't stay for the awards or halftime, we went out to O'H (formerly The Other Place) for dinner and drinks. Of course, it is canon for our characters to have a drink or two. (Luckily, I didn't waltz into the karaoke room...)

After masquerade, we wandered around the Hyatt. Those of you who say that anime conventions lack nightlife, Anime Central proves you wrong. There was plenty to do. There was a long line for Your Favorite Anime Sucks, in which otaku go up against each other to debate which anime is worse. We ran into the speed dating event. Uh...we were asked to participate, but we declined. There was a concert happening in the middle of the lobby. People were dancing to video game tunes and simply having a great time. There was much mingling around the hotel lobby. Tom and I ended up watching amvs from the late 90s and early 21st century - classics like Jinnai and the Bugrom Live (Habba Habba Zoot Zoot), Hungry Like the Wolf, Senshi on Springer, Wedding Rings, and more. Anime Central was like a party that never stopped - both in the daytime and in the night time. Chicago knows how to party.

Afterwards, Tom and I packed up our gear to get ready for the journey home. We left Sunday morning at 7AM to catch our flight. We ran into Greg Ayres on smoke break and said bye bye to him. Tom and I left Anime Central with treasured memories. We miss it already, but most of all we miss each other. Tom boarded his flight to San Jose, my flight to Los Angeles would not be until later. Even though Tom kissed me before I headed to my gate, I turned around to kiss him one more time.

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