After finishing her photoshoot Victoria changed into something easier to move around in for the remainder of the day.  Thus, she changed into her Vocaloid cosplay.  It was starting to get late and we wanted to grab something before our panels began.  We had heard about the Filipino food truck earlier that day and I had to try it out.  The food was great and it helped me recharge before my busy night.  I went to meet up with my panel team while Victoria checked out the Starlight Fashion Festival. We also found out that doll gatherings were going on all day in the main lobby. We did not bring our dolls this time around, but a few of our friends brought their resin collection.

Starlight Fashion Festival by Victoria

Prior to the Starlight Fashion Festival opening, there was confusion among members of the press if this is the fashion show. The Starlight Fashion Festival (or Lolita carnival) was actually a midway of carnival style games that attendees with the fashion events membership (an extra $10) could attend. The event was open from 6PM to 10PM. In addition, attendees had to buy tickets to play the various carnival games. Prizes included dresses, books, pins, etc.

Event games included pachinko, guess the how many jellybeans are in the jar, lollypop pull, tick tack toss, and more carnival games. You could also take a photo with the designers for Alice and the Pirates and Innocent World. Compared to previous years, the special Lolita event always involved a tea party with the designers. While I have never been to those tea parties, I thought this was a fun idea if you had extra one dollar bills to burn.

However, my highlight of that night was when I won an Alice and the Pirates cardigan and skirt set after playing pachinko. I was quite surprised since I was talking to the booth person nonchalantly and I happened to get the golden ball. It was very unexpected!

CosFest by Victoria

In between playing games at the Starlight Fashion Festival, I also peeked in at CosFest. CosFest is the annual cosplay contest in which attendees compete for the best crafted costume and presentation. The competition typically gets tougher and tougher each year as there always is a cash prize to be awarded. The event was coordinated by Evil Bishounen and founding members of American Cosplay Paradise.

Halftime performances included Idolm@ster performance group, Angel Hearts and cosplay singer, Mikarin. Regardless who won, a majority of the audience agreed with their applause that this year’s CosFest was one of the best masquerades of 2010. Hector Reyes (Anime Conji) said, “It would have hated to be a judge in the contest. Everyone did a fabulous job.”

Late Night Panels by Jared

After a quick team meeting I made my way to the swap meet, just in time to see the massive line leading into the small room where it was to be held.  Feeling a bit dismayed by the line I went to my panel room and got ready to run my horror panel.

This was the big failure for the night.  My panel was added on day zero and it had not been added to any print schedule; running a panel that no one knows about works about as well as a square wheel.  Still we had a few people show up and we had a casual discussion about horror anime and movies.  Meanwhile, Victoria started setting up the laptop for the next panel.  We started to get quite the crowd while testing the equipment with odd clips. 

The next panel was our Awesomely Bad Filipino Movies panel.  Victoria and I showed various clips from Filipino television and movies.  Highlights included: Lupin III live action, Alyas Batman en Robin, Wapakman, and She-Man: Mistress of the Universe.  Everyone had a good laugh and people joined in by riffing along with Victoria and me.  It was a great success and we hope to bring this panel to other cons.  The panel wrapped up and Victoria headed out to cover the evening at the con.  I stayed for one more hour to assist Austin in his panel on the “post-anime subculture”.

The panel explored the different levels of fandom, the ways anime fandom is changing how people act, and what can be expected of fandom in the future.  The panel had an interesting concept, but it fell apart after about forty-five minutes.  The panel started to be more focused on internet memes and I had enough for the night.  Once a panel degrades into amateur comedy hour I have to leave.

PMX Nightlife: Let the music set you free! by Jared

Like every con I had to check out the dance.  The room had a nice setup with flashing lights, a dance floor, a well designed DJ booth, and even some go-go style dancers.  Where this year failed was that there was no room.  The dance floor was small, chairs took up half the room, and getting around everything was a pain.  Those who were there seemed to be having a good time, but as time passed the room grew rather funky according to attendees.

After the dance I took a look at the swapmeet now that the crowd had cleared up.  There was a mix of sellers and artist alley people.  I did not find much, but I was able to come home with a Skuld figure for ten dollars.  After my shopping was done I went to find Victoria in the place I knew she would be, the karaoke room.

Karaoke Time by Victoria

One of my favorite parts of Pacific Media Expo is the karaoke room. There is hardly a wait, at most you would have to wait for 10 minutes, but even watching the various late night performers is very entertaining. On Friday, Justin and I did “Don’t Stop Believing” from Glee. Saturday evening is usually the timed honored tradition when my friends and I hit the karaoke room. After stealing Deb away from a flurry of guy talk, us ladies decided to grab the microphone and sing our lungs out. Deb sang “Total Eclipse of the Heart” and I sang Lady Gaga (“Monster”) and Madonna (“Express Yourself”). Anime Expo music guest, Maganda and I decided to team up and sing “Into the Groove.” However, the highlights of the night were watching the drunken Filipinos sing to Backstreet Boys and Frank Sinatra. More karaoke videos from Saturday night can be found on our YouTube playlist.

After karaoke we went out to the lobby for some pictures.  Everyone got a good laugh out of Jared acting like a cat for my Artemis pictures.  Finally, we sat down in the lobby and relaxed with some old friends.  It was a great way to wrap up the day. 

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