The Anime Vegas adventure began on a Friday morning. Thankfully, Austin (Animation Liberation), offered to organize a carpool from Orange County to Las Vegas. We left for the 91 East around noon. It was Vegas or bust! True, I did have some last minute packing woes, a rarity for me. Stan and I joked that I was channeling his Day Zero series of unfortunate events. Prior to leaving, I recorded my usual Zero Hour Vlog.

I was sewing pearls onto Mistress Nine the day before and I needed to get more tapes for the video camera. The road trip got us to downtown Las Vegas at 5:30PM where we checked into the Four Queens hotel.

The sun was setting and the Vegas night life was just starting up. After taking a rest in our room, we decided to hit the strip for typical Vegas hedonism - the cosplay way. We were just right in front of the Freemont Street Experience. Not too far was the double decker style public transit (The Deuce) to get us to the strip. Three dollars later and a 30 minute commute passing by wedding chapels and a few landmark Vegas hotels, we arrived at our destination on the strip.

Since this is an anime convention report read by many anime fanatics, particuarly those of the yaoi fanbase, Las Vegas has their own memorial to the famed fabulous bishie duo (and their giant neko that goes chomp).

Jared and I decided to go Baccano! for the evening. The Palazzo and Venetian resorts have an Italian theme. Thus, the background for the anime about Italian-American mobsters was rather appropriate. Several of my friends have done cosplay photo shoots at themed Vegas resorts without any hassle. I was dressed up as Miria Harvent (red version of the New York outfit as seen in the promotionals) and Jared was Dallas.

One of my favorite sights at the Venetian is Madame Tussaud's ($17 student entrance). This attraction showcases wax statues of famous figures. This attraction also allows guests to pose and interact with the statues. Going with the Baccano! theme, we had "Dallas Ices People" and "Miria Searches for a New Issac Dian."

In the "Dallas Ices People" set, Dallas takes on the likes of John Elway, Sean Connery, George Clooney, Michael Jackson, and others. Who says the Jersey punk isn't the ladies man? Despite Dallas' shortcomings with those he runs into, he still remains immortal.

In the "Miria Searches for a New Issac Dian," I found male celebrities that could pass for a decent Issac. Dapper men in suits were preferred. Bonus points if they were wearing silly hats and other extravagant costumes. Current favorites include Prince, Johnny Depp, and James Brown. Of course, it was also fun taking pictures with fellow dumb blonde, Jessica Simpson.

The unique feature exclusive to the Las Vegas Madame Tussaud's is that they have a section dedicated to famous Las Vegas entertainers - magicians, mobsters, and more! If Baccano! had another light novel in the works, please let it take place in Las Vegas. The series already covered New York and Chicago, so why not the entertainment capital of the world? After all, the Rat Pack was active in the 1960s spawning Vegas themed movies like Ocean's 11. If Baccano! took place in Vegas, it would look a little something like this:

The museum ended with a hall of famous politicians and pop culture icons. Museum attendees can also find a statue of a younger, Ed Sullivan-type Elvis Preseley (in before joining the army).

If you're a Las Vegas cosplayer who loves doing photo shoots and would like to try something new, check out Madame Tussaud's at the Venetian. Locals can go in for $10. Imagine the Ouran Host Club "hosting" the likes of Jenna Jameson or Vocaloids going up against Michael Jackson and Beyonce.

The other nice photo spot at the Venetian was the Grand Canal Shoppes area where the layout is designed to look like Venice at dusk. While I am unsure if our Baccano! characters ever stumbled around Venice, it still made a good background for a Jersey guy and a con artist doll.

It was also nice to see the gondolas sailling right on by.

Enjoying the Las Vegas night life on the strip was a nice way to kick off Anime Vegas 2009. Upon leaving the strip, we were able to see a little bit of the siren show at Treasure Island. We got back to our hotel at around midnight and attempted to have a good night sleep (save for the music booming at the Freemont Street Experience).

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