Since New York Anime Fest 2009 did not kick off until the early afternoon, Jared and I decided to run around the city before stopping by the convention. We decided to hit the continental breakfast again and we were on our way to Times Square. To celerbate our first New York anime event, we went in Baccano! cosplay since a majority of the events take place in Jazz Age New York City.

If Dallas Genoard is an immortal from Jersey, would he take the PATH (Port Authority Trans-Hudson)?

First, we accidentally ran into the Kinokuniya book store on 41st street across from Bryant Park. The top floor was dedicated to anything related to Japanese popular culture - music, cinema manga, anime, food, etc.

After stumbling into the bookstore, we stopped by Bryant Park.

Not that far from Bryant Park is the New York Public Library. Do these lion statues look familliar?

To follow up with our Baccano! adventure in Anime Vegas, we went to Madame Tussaud's on 42nd street. Essentially, you can pose and interact with wax figures of celebrities. Scarlet Rhapsody tradition is to do cosplay shots with the celebrity figures.

In this first set, Dallas meets the likes of Samuel Jackson and pimps out Miley Cyrus. It was really funny when someone thought Jared was a wax statue while we were posing with Daniel Craig.

Dallas also had fun with Usher, Beyonce, and Biggie Smalls. Rumor has it, if you say Biggie Smalls three times to the mirror, his ghost will appear.

Next was the hall of politics.

It even had this guy.

And then the hall of modern day divas like Paris Hilton, Shakira, and Madonna.

Classics from Hollywood's Golden Age of Cinema.

Next we went on to pop culture icons of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.

And now to the era when we were born - the 1980s.

When we went to the 90s, Dallas had a score to settle with a certain director of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. "He raped Indy," says Dallas.

The exhibit ended with more popular icons from the 90s - Britney Spears, the Spice Girls, Don King, and N Sync. Dallas, for the majority of Americans, punched Justin Timberlake in the face.

The New York Madame Tussaud's had one Broadway display - The Producers feauting original cast members Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick. In between displays, we the price of admission also included a viewing of Spongebob in 4D. Jared said it best when the experience was like entering the mind of an artistic stoner.

The final exhibit was the sports exhibit.

And the final statue was of the late King of Pop, Michael Jackson. It was already close to 1:00PM. After a morning of cosplay in the city, we were ready to hit the convention.

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