Idolm@ster Photoshoot
Shortly after the maid café session, I went down to the dealers hall to check out the idolm@ster photoshoot hosted by American Cosplay Paradise. This took place at the Bandai Namco booth. We had idols from all iDolm@ster media represented. What was nice is to see people wearing the different outfit variations – it’s such a cosplayable series if you’re into all things cute and girly (no pun intended). A few members from Angel Hearts wore Forever Star and Starry. I went as Azusa in the Gothic Punkish variation. There were many a P-head at the photoshoot and even members of rival band, Jupiter. While we were getting plenty of photos taken, we were in a heavy traffic zone of the exhibition hall. I know we didn’t mean to block traffic, but I felt bad for the people going through. However, it was fun meeting other iDolm@ster fans and cosplayers. I really hope we can continue getting Bandai Namco’s attention to bring more iDolm@ster media stateside, or at least get Shiny Festa on Android too. Ritsuko probably uses Android.

iDolm@ster Flash Mob
Shortly after the photoshoot, Kie of Angel Hearts held an iDolm@ster flash mob outside South Hall. As people were leaving South Hall as the dealer’s hall as closing, we got into position to do “Go My Way.” It was a small flashmob of a handful of iDolm@ster cosplayers including a confused P-head in the background. While the plan was originally for South Hall, we had to move it outside because we were afraid it might cause a fire hazard. However, after the flash mob, iDolm@ster fans were just sharing favorite routines. A Chihiya and a Makoto proceeded to do “Agent Yoru…”

Shinjuku Ball
Right after the flash mob, I made my way in what had to be the most surreal experience I ever had at Anime Expo. To give you some background, I used to volunteer at the masquerade ball years ago when Anime Expo was in Anaheim. From 2006-2008, I leant my Friday time to help instruct ballroom dance moves and donated music tracks from my personal collection. Most of the ballroom staff from then has left Anime Expo and moved on. However, Anime Expo kept the music.

I entered the ballroom dance to Marty McFly’s rendition of “Johnny B Goode.” Everyone was in full west coast swing mode. The glow of the crimson light set the tone and mood for the Shinjuku ball. “Candy Man” by Christina Aguilera played and a friend from yesteryear had asked me to dance. A few more west coast swing tunes played. It reminded me of the last time Anime Expo had a ballroom dance back in 2009. There were a few waltz songs, yet I was disappointed by the lack of salsa. It was not until the DJ played the love theme from a mafia movie I figured that they were using the music I donated back in 2006.

My compatriot, Brain Age Guy, agreed that the music was too novel for a legit ballroom dance, but everyone seemed to have a good time. However, because it was my college playlist there was one song on that list that was inevitably gonna come up – Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up.” Mind you, the playlist was made in 2006 – the year before RickRoll. While I could have left earlier, we were waiting for that special moment when the Shinjuku Ball would be RickRolled.

We never got to Rick Astley. The dance then started to generate into a discothèque more than a ballroom dance later in the evening. Disco tunes from the 1970s started playing. I do believe the Shinjuku Ball has potential. Brain Age Guy, a veteran of ballroom and social dancing, is willing to help out to make this dance better than it is. This was a decent first year attempt to bring back the ball. I certainly hope it does come back. Ballroom dances encourage cosplayers to put on their best and make ballroom variations of favorite characters. It would be great to keep this tradition going!

J-Rock Friday Night Conerts by Kyra

CeLL
The stage welcomes the Visual-Kei band, CeLL, as the first act. CeLL consists of four men with
interesting statures, these including Vocalist Kon, Guitarist Sin, Guitarist Nao, and Bassist Yuki. All of
which have some history of being pervious band members with other J-Rock bands La'mule,
NightingeiL, and Xodiack. Although they have all been in their own respective bands, they haven't
been together as one for so long. Along with being the first act, this was also their first time being in
America, so in the same way, they also had a language barrier to cross over. Despite that fact, these
four men didn't show one ounce of nervousness in entertaining their audience.

Being the first ones to come out, their job was to basically get the fans pumped up and ready to
go for the rest of the concert. And that is exactly what they did. Once you heard them play, you were
given the energy to join them in their hardcore riffs and beats that you could actually feel the music
flow through you. To explain it in a simpler sense, it was natural of the crowd to stand up and rock out to it. However that wasn't the case for the beginning of their set. The beginning of their set was very subtle and quiet for the audience. It was just their music blaring through the Main Live Stage hall and not everyone was clearly into it just yet. But as the course of the setlist continued, the band made sure to interact with the audience as much as they could by yelling, "JUMP! JUMP!" on certain beats. Kon would point out to the audience and tell them to scream their name. And at that moment, everyone knew that everything was starting to pick up. Everyone in the hall started to stand and jump on beat. Knowing that, the band all exchanged looks between each other and started to put on a real show, even involving what seemed to be a severed head being kissed by Kon; thus causing all fangirls, and maybe some fanboys, to scream in excitement. Overall, CeLL had fun with being on their first American stage and we were all delighted with being that first audience. We were all very worried for Kon because of the fall he took from the stage, and yet he pulled through with more strength and confidence, in which the audience fully participated in. With their blood-lusted looks and raging sound, CeLL was sure to keep you pumped for the next round of magic.

Moon Stream
Moon Stream was the second band to perform in this three part concert. This New York/ Tokyo
based band consists of two main members, Vocalist Satsuki (ex- Rentrer En Soi)and Guitarist Asaha
Tomo (ex- Echo stream) and has only started their activities in mid-2011. These two music men have
both been on their own until now and thus have been working together to bring out the best of each
others abilities. Over the course of this year and 2012, Moon Stream has performed at multiple cons,
and thus adds Anime Expo 2013 to that list.

With that said, after CeLL's set, Moon Stream started to walk onto the stage after a couple of
minutes. The first that were introduced were the drummer and Bassist Poel. They both knew English and were able to communicate to the audience that this is that part where they need to start
having more fun. Without the language barrier, we all understood what they wanted from us; and that's exactly what we gave them. While Moon Stream were preparing themselves, Guitarist Tomo Asaha and Vocalist Satsuki came out to the stage and greeted the audience with flying kisses. As their set began, Satsuki, being a part of AX's Guest of Honor in the past, used his English abilities to go over hislanguage barrier and interact with the audience as much as possible. After the first song, Satsuki greeted the audience with a very excited and accented "Hello everyone! How are you tonight? " He would introduce the band and make sure everyone had their spotlight and then continue with their setlist. There were many times that Satsuki would come up to the front of the stage and point at the audience everytime we were reacting the way he wanted us to. The strong feeling of the drums mixed with the beat of the bass, and adding onto that was Tomo's guitar skills, you could literally feel the music in you, no matter if you could understand the songs or not. The audience enjoyed them on the stage and even the Press were bobbing their heads to the beat.

There were a lot of "hanging onto each other" moments, "Poel, Satsuki, and Tomo" moments that included gathering in the center of the stage during a song or slowly stripping off several articles of clothing (the top half only, of course), and even some moments where Satsuki would command the audience to either follow his hand movements or to scream their name back at them; the hall was filled with the screams of excited fangirls every time something interesting was happening on the stage and we all knew that this was the work of professional entertainers wanting to also spread their music around the world. Moon Stream clearly knew how to run a show and it was obvious to all of us. As they ended with their last song, Satsuki made sure to tell the audience about his encounter with Kaya, stating that Kaya was "beautiful, VERY beautiful" and that everyone should be excited for him. The whole band gave a huge thank you to the audience for being there and left the stage with great confidence that they would be back again once more.

Kaya
If no one heard his voice and just looked at him from afar, anyone could have been deceived and accepted that he was a beautiful woman because once you hear that speaking voice of his, one would definitely be shocked and do a double-take.

Now if this concert was going to be related to something, it would have to be a three-course meal including an appetizer, an entree, and a dessert. If CeLL was the appetizer and Moon Stream were the entree, then the sweetest and most awaited for dessert had to be none other than the beautiful Kaya.

As Kaya's introduction music began and he stepped onto the stage, it was obvious that he was the star of the night. He waved to the audience with an exuberant smile, greeting them hello in a very polite way. Once his set began, it didn't take long for the audience to get into the music and start waving their glowsticks in the air for him. Kaya's music had a different feel to it each song. Sometimes it would be a dub step-influenced dance song, sometimes it would be a heavy bass-filled rock song,and sometimes it would be a sweet ballad; it was an endless turn of possibilities for Kaya and he made sure to take them into his own hands. And each time, the audience would fall into those hands of entertainment and interact to the songs in some magical way. It was a constant give and take with Kaya, as he always wanted us to "call his name," answer if we loved him (which we all did), or to "dance with him." If we failed to do what he wanted us to do, he would tell us to do it again until he was satisfied. It proved that it was something Kaya was proud of and he wanted to just revel in the fact that people came to see him and wanted for us to join in on his fun. Kaya's persona on the stage was definitely something that we all enjoyed to watch; the way he acted had brought magic to our eyes for he was, indeed, someone very beautiful as Satsuki had said in the last set. His interaction with the audience was impeccable and something that not a lot of the guests of the show really matched up to. His smile was forever radiant and it was obvious that he was having just as much fun as the energy he put out towards the fans.

The audience just followed whatever he did on stage: if he danced, we danced; if he sang out to us, we sang out to him; whatever he asked for, we made sure to give just as much. Kaya had a lot planned for us, as his set had to be the longest out of the whole concert. Nearing the end of his set, Kaya introduced his new song that were to come out in the near future and saying that it was a dance song. So once more before the concert ended, he asked for us to dance with him throughout the song, and we all gladly did it. He thanked everyone for the fun night that he had with everyone and promised to the audience that he would come back once more. Kaya was obviously the star of the show for he had an encore wanting to happen. Despite the encore not occurring, the fans were happy for what they got and everyone started to shuffle out of the hall to the end of a great "three-course meal" of a concert.

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