-"Murasame Kenji-tcha! That man is so ultra fine, I just had to kill him! Sure enough, though, he stopped bleeding and jumped back onto his feet while he said, 'I'm just an immortal kinda guy.' Smoooooooth."

Is it live, or is it Anime? Whoa, which Kenji is the real, uh, I mean animated real guy?

-"Kenji's Dreamy@_@"
-"Knock it off, Kitty. You can kill him some more later."

  Kenji hung around with us for a little bit telling us all about his exploits as an Expert of Justice, but then he just kept rambling on 'bout his 'Belouv-ed Pah-ree' and how 'Vol-geir had deh-stro-yed zee bea-yoo-teeful sitay.' He then began to weep uncontrollably for Ginrei and her sacrifice so I put him out of his misery..... And then I did it again...... Neow. And again...."

-"It was kinda sad, actually. Just to see a grown cat-girl continue to bash in the poor Frenchie's head a couple-a dozen times while he just sat there in his own blood and tears. After a few minutes, though, he did get tired of it as he somehow threw his bandages at Catsy to tie her up while he bounded away at super-human speeds. Whatta guy!"

-"After I broke free of the bandages (normally I would have paid a lot for the experience) and washed the blood from my hands, Oni-chan and I checked out the Video Game Room. There was some pretty cool stuff going on there-tcha. Lots of puzzle and Tetris-like games (I just loved the Tenchi Muyo puzzle game. Go Washu!), fighting games, A really cool N64 snowboarding game and of course GoldenEye with four players fighting at once. Oni-chan and I waited to paly that one and I totally trashed the punk-ass bitch as if she were Roger Moore!"

-"Sorry I don't play video games all day long like you. I guess it's really sad how I actually have a life and all outside of my Playstation and Nintendo."

-"No need to apologize for sucking, Oni-chan. You should be used to it by now anyway. Ha ha!"

-"Puta! When Catsy was done humiliating the rest of the fan boys with her inhuman game playing abilities we went to the end of the Zeiram panel. Takahashi and Katsura were talking about a new Iria OAV series that would last anywhere from 7 to 13 new episodes! Kick start my heart! The creator (Takahashi) was a veeeery quiet guy, and when asked if Zeiram himself would make a cameo or something in the new series he said that it was a possibility that they were looking into especially considering that the new OAVs would be a lot more episodic so he wouldn't have to be the main bad guy (as that was getting old).
  Apollo Smile (the "Live Action Anime Girl" [does she truly understand what an incredibly painfully obvious oxymoron that is?]) kept asking the most ridiculous questions about things like "if Iria really wanted to be a man" (nani?!?!) and "if Iria was a lesbian or something" while she kept bobbing her peroxide pigtailed head back and forth and forwards and backwards like she was one of those dashboard chihuahuas from a Taco Bell commercial. It was okay, though, 'cause she was a blonde."

-"Yeah. The creator said, "No" about Iria's preferences and then went onto say that the original OAV was supposed to be a bunch of seperate stories each per episode. I wonder what that would have been like-tcha.
  We left the Zeiram panel when Apollo started asking more *ahem* questions and caught the end of the Shoujo Manga Panel with Rurika Fuuyuki and Yuu Kamijyou. I wish I had my t-shirt for them to sign.

"No, I don't need your autograph, ladies. I was just hoping that you could help me finish this crossword puzzle. Arrigatou!"

Aren't they just sooooo adorable? We wanted to take them home with us, but I knew that Catsy wouldn't take care of them like she promised.
Say "sushi!"

 We waited for a bit for the World of Video Girl Ai Panel to begin, but at 3:40 we checked out the Ah Megami-sama! Panel two rooms down. The panel was made up of all the American seiyuu and they were just funny as hell! They kept telling us great stories and jokes about working for Animeigo and in the recording studio. They said that they prefered subs to dubs too (well, most of them did), but they went on to explain how necesarry it reallly is to have dubs out as it's the only way to get newbies into anime."

-"I kinda had to agree with them there, but I still hate dubs!!!!!!! They do nothing but mangle the script and (even though I know they really don't care) the American voices they get, while sometimes good (like these guys), rarely come close to matching the original Japanese voices! They could at least try to do that.
  Wow! It felt good to get that off my chest. The panel said that as actors they couldn't really do much to help anime become more mainstream cause they don't get paid all that much and can't spend enough time to help the American population understand it better. It needs more yen and fan support, they said. Too bad I'm so apathetic or I might be able to get off my butt somemore to join in the cause."

"Well, at first I thought I'd do Keichi with a voice that suggested that he was a man of nature... a hot-blooded manimal who knew what he needed and how to take what he wanted from his little slut, Belldandy..... but then I thought that 'dumb and impotent' would probably be a better representaion."

-"Did you just say that you were 'pathetic'? It's about time you admitted that,Oni-chan. Neow. Then the Disney bashing commenced. Unbelievable! I wonder how many people actually live for just bashing Uncle Walt at these things.
  Anyway, the panel said that people need to change their view of what 'anime' was because most people refer back to Speed Racer or (even more frightening) Heavy Metal *shudder*. The horror, the horror!"

-"Finally at four o'clock we headed back to see if the Masakazu Katsura Panel on Ai had begun.... it had. After sitting and listening to Imagawa talk and talk and talk very enthusiatically earlier in the day it was quite a shock to have to strain to hear what the quiet Katsura had to say. He's veeeeery shy^_^  I thought it was cute.
  Anyhow, one fan was quick to ask a question about Video Girl Ai and the animated ending. He said he was just plain confused. I would have added "slow" and "ugly" too. Katsura-sensei said that the animators took great liberties with his work when they made it into an OAV and they made the ending initially ultra "happy-happy". I hate when they farg up the originals like that!"

"What is the square-root of 234.6432289? Why, that would be 15.31806871."

-"Neow. Somebody else then asked him if he intentionally tries to make his characters more Japanese looking with epicanthic folds on their eyes as opposed to most manga artists who draw the HUGE rounded eyes. He replied that he simply likes to go the more unconventional way of designs. He the man!
  Then he drew Karin from DNA^2 on the huge projection screen for everyone to oggle at. The moron in charge of the computer kept chastizing Katsura and talking to him like he was a child for apparently not drawing Karin the way he wanted him too. I went over and ate his spleen too. I really should cut back-tcha.
  Even though he really couldn't see the projection screen from where he was sitting, Katsura did a fantastic job! I don't think that the Rossman could have done better himself. Wow, did I just say something good about the Rossman? That was weird."

"Hey! What the hell is that?!?! I was trying to draw the Overfiend having lunch. Shtool!"

-"Katsura-sensei started talking about his newest manga, I's (This was his excuse for drawing Karin so 'bad', he was now doing something else that had a lot more realism..... the guy's a nutty perfectionist I tell ya). Then the fanboys started creaming in their jeans about 'how incredibly hot Iria is'. They even went so far as to point out everyone of her features and say things like: 'I like her eyes, 'cause, uh, they're really sexy and hot and I wanna do her.' I have to admit that a fictional character drawn on a piece of paper is the best shot any of them will ever have. I started laughing to myself at just how sad and pathetic their smelly lives actually were... okay, so it was outloud, but everybody started joining in for one reason or another. Sad, really.
  Then the master started to draw Batman for us. It rocked! It was then agreed by the audience that even though every part of his works were cool, it was ultimately the characters that made them what they were. Somebody asked him for a personal favorite of his own works to which he first couldn't name one (he loved them all like his children), but then he conceded and said that Video Girl Ai would probably be his choice if he had to choose. The Karin on the giant screen cried (at least that's what Catsy said)."

-"She did! She was crying because he said she wasn't his favorite. I cried too."

-"Doobee doo bee doo....."

-"Stop it!!!!! Then he said that he liked to work on models in his spare time... Batman models. Suddenly the whole panel turned into a Joel Shoe-maker bashing panel. Fanboys are so f***ing STUPID!!
  Finally he broke through the dumb Batman barrage of questions and started to tell us about I's.... no sci-fi, but a more realistic romantic comedy 'tween two highschool kids who were meant to be together. Ahhhhh. How sweet. Then he drew Wingman for us. Oni-chan and I left when it was obvious that the stupid questions were not going to stop. We caught a lil' bit of Fiddler of Hamelin (I know it's an Imagawa, but boy was it kooky looking). We then went back to the Game Room and I kicked booty and took no prisoners in the Battle Gundam game. Then we found Snack Heaven! I was happy."

-"The Con Hospitality Room was glorious!!!! Unlimited free Sprites and Cokes (this Oni-gal was in Heaven.... well considering where I've been maybe Purgatory), Unlimited pretzels and snack mix, and unlimited animal cookies (Catsy ate all the lions and tigers, though). It was like somebody had hooked up a GamShark to the room and plugged in codes for 'Unlimited Food'!! Since we didn't have time to eat lunch (we were waaaaaay too busy to even think about leaving the hotel) we stayed for a few minutes and ingested. It felt good.
  After the snacky break we went to get a seat for the actual Opening Ceremonies. After a little wait-"

-"Little wait?!? I had to go to the little cats' room twice before it started!"

-"Uh, that's 'cause you had to have nine Sprites just twenty minutes before, girl. Anywhere, the show began at 5:25 and as I looked around the vacant room I prayed to Kami-sama himself that more people would arrive tomorrow when school and exams were out. This just wasn't right.
  The head honcho of Animazement '98 came out and welcomed us and introduced the head staff. We all applauded and screamed our heads off.... well the guy in front of us did when Catsy started to use his leg for a scratching pole. After the screaching died down the big guy continued by introducing the American and then the Japanese guests. We were then told that it was special guest YuuKamijou who drew the program cover for us. Cool.
  Then, after ten minutes it abruptly ended. The hell was that?!?!? "

-"I have no idea, but then I wanted to go to the dealers' room quickly to see if somebody had pulled any SMs out or something... No such luck. Then after a quick jaunt back to the Game Room and Snack Room we went back up to our room to relax for a little bit. Our room was half the Beast, but I met the person who actually got the lucky pad last night. She refused to trade-tcha.
  Neow. Oni-chan watched Nurse Angel for a bit (it was just getting more and more evil if you ask me)while I looked through my GR Art Books. I soon realized that one of them had all of the pictures that the other had plus some from episode 7. I'd have to return it the next day. I made Oni-chan turn to some real TV for a while and we found out that a tornado was headed our way. We both yelled 'Auntie Em, Auntie Em, it's a twister, it's a twister!' and prayed that Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt would show up and catch it before it turned any of the lights of and the penguin came to get me. AAHHHHHHHHHHH!!"

-"Calm down, Catsy. Take your medication. Anyway, 6:30 finally arrived and we raced downstairs for the main reason we came to A'98, Giant Robo Episode 7!!!! Amid the booming of thunder and crashing of lightning from the outside world our adventure of the Experts and Big Fire would come to a close.

The crowd was so rowdy for GR7 that the police had to be called in to keep everybody in line. Tensions mounted.

  First, however, Imagawa sensei gave a speech. It was about the long story of Giant Robo in which Operation Night Stand Still is only a small part (right before the final story line, he said). He chose to animate this part of it because it dealt with the most powerful emotions he wanted to portray. It was about Daisaku growing up, Father and child relationships, trust, and the love between Ginrei and Kenji (one whom if she used her special power it would kill her, and the other whose special power was to never die). It's so complex and emotion-filled that everytime you view it you get a different feeling and interpretation about it. He promised us that all the answers from episodes 1-6 would be answered, but not everything about the world and the characters would be.

"On a dark and stormy night, the visions of a mad scientist would come to light"- Imagawa on how appropriate the premiere was that night.

  Imagawa explained the opera song used heavily in the OVAs: It's about a popular guy who loves a shy girl but doesn't know how to approach her, so he sheds a tear. It may sound a little corny now, but when he was explaining it everybody's eyes were watering. Finally, he finished up (a half-hour later) by saying that the main theme in Giant Robo is that there is but one fact, yet many truths and many ways to see this fact."

-"Neow. I need to say just how incredibly powerful this episode was. It brought me and most of the audience to tears. It touched me more than End of Evangelion (mostly 'cause I was more attached to the characters here [especially the Fabulous Fitzkarald]). It was truly phenominal!"

-"It was exactly what a premiere should be! Meaning: big, ultra cool, something the people want to see, and to have the director there to introduce it even! Phenominal!!! It was unsubbed, but those with a basic understanding of Japanese (heck, even those without any) could understand almost everything. Tragedy beyond, but incredible none- the- less. Whoa, I need to sit down for a bit."

-"After absorbing all the glorious music from the credits we saw Kenji looking kind of sad in the corner. We went over to console him and kill him a few times. We told him just how sorry we were to see what happened tohis girlfriend and then we decided to cheer him up by taking his picture in front of the final screen of GR 7.

Kenji was a man's man (but he liked women a lot more).

  After our good deed (he left [kind of] happy), Oni-chan and I checked out the art room and placed some bids on two really cool cells from Giant Robo episode 7. They wouldn't allow us to take any pictures in the room, though dammit, so we just left and went to Steve Bennett's Cell Painting Class across the way."

-"Jeez Louise! It that all the guy does? Although I wish I could go to every con that popped up in America, it's kinda weird to hear this guy mentioned as a special guest at all of them himself. I mean, he goes to and does his class at every single one!! What's so special about that? I admit that the guy is really interesting and cool, but he's supplying too much of himself for the demand (I learned that in my econ class^_^).

Here's a familiar site to anyone who's even pictured an anime con in their heads.

  Laudy Al-mighty. Anyway, a little after 8:00 we made it into the fan parody room. Catsy and I came to the conclusion that while not every con needed a cell painting class, every con needed one of these! This was one of the best times I had the entire weekend. The guys in charge played things like Kinki's Delivery Service (my fave! I want to grow up to be just like Kinki!!), My Love Slave Totorro ( I know Catsy liked this one as she wouldn't shut up about it for days afterwards), and of course the fan favorite: HARD KOR! Yes! I was soooo happy when they played it, I mean, AWA turned it off half way through because the guy in charge of the projector there thought it was 'stupid' despite the entire audience telling him otherwise (the bastadge!)..... but I digress."

-"Yeah! I liked Hard KOR. I laughed a lot. Then they played a bunch of anime videos like 'Whip It' set to Akazukin ChaCha (which was kind of funny), and 'Christmas at Ground Zero' set to a bunch of easily available stuff. Then they started bashing Corn Pone. It was great! While I like Corn Pone Stuff the first time I see it, after one viewing it gets old real fast. And another reason I applauded their slashing/bashing is because Corn Pone runs AWA (I use the term 'runs' loosely). While I love their dealers' room and their great Cosplay and Music Video Constest, the rest of their convention could use a lot of pointers from the good people of Animazement. In fact, Cone Pone did show up, but I'm getting ahead of myself-tcha.
  Then at 9:00 we checked out Macross Flashback 2012 in Video Room 1. I love Macross (i.e. not Robotech, solemente Macross. The Japanese version, not the Macek/Harmony Gold piece of dubbed dung!). It was a cool collection of Minmay music set to pieces from the TV Series and the Movie. It rocked!"

-"We left when Macross7: Encore came on. I just don't understand how one could screw up a sequel so incredibly bad. I mean, Macross Plus was cool. Why couldn't they make a TV Series out of that or something? Macross7 almost f***ed up the Macross name almost as much as Robotech. Now, if Fire Bomber simply made Mylene Jenus their lead singer the music and show would've rocked the casbah.... but it just didn't happen.
  10:00 we went to check out the karaoke..... Oh- My- Gawd! This sucked!! I'm glad I saw it as I truly needed a laugh, but it was just way too painful to endure. If the *ha ha* singers got at least a third of the lines right they were winners of some kind. Catsy and I laughed so hard that we were asked by Apollo Smile (the emcee) herself to leave. Ha ha ha ha! Thank God!"

-"Neow. At 10:30 we finally decided to get some breakfast/lunch/dinner. We knew then just how cool this con was when we realized that we had been too busy all day to even take a break to eat. We got into the Ross-Mobile andwent cruising. We found a Wendy's (the greasiest place we could find even though I don't like her pig-tails all that much) and drove through. After we brushed the mortar and off of the tank we grabbed some stuff and fled, uh I mean took off back to the hotel. We went back to our room and listened to Oni-chan's newly purchased CDs as we sucked the burgers and fries down.
  We watched a bit more ATV, read some manga, and then at 12:30 we went downstairs again to check out Mystery Anime Theater 3K. As expected, only really dumb people making the most anti-clever comments they could think of (and it looked like some were planning ahead). Plus Minky Momo just begs a little too much to be made fun of. Neow. I started to get a migraine from the doltish comments being tossed at the screen, so Oni-chan and I started to make fun of those morons. But they didn't get it since they thought we were joining them. No pleasure in that at all."

-"On our way back to our room to crash for the night we saw a sign for 'Stuff for Sale' in somebody's room. Catsy and I quietly hid behind the door and got ready to pounce whoever opened it, but when the old lady cracked it open a bit we could see inside and found no SMs secret selling meeting like we had hoped. We asked her if she had any, but she got confused and kept thinking that we meant Sailor Moon CDs (since all she did have for sale was a bunch of really gay Sailor Moon toys). So we beat her up and stole all the stuff in disgrace as we slunked back to room 333 to die. At 12:55 a.m., only day 1 of the con was behind us even though it seemed like 3. GR7 would keep us up all night with deep thoughts of sadness, regret and excitement."

Part 1: 3/19/1998	The Night of the Demon Goddesses
Part 2: 3/20/1998	The Night the Earth Stood Still
Part 3: 3/21/1998	The Moonlight Night
Part 4: 3/21/1998 Part II	The Night of a Thousand CosPlays
Part 5: 3/22/1998	The Illusory Night

Go back to the previous Illusory Night.			Go forward into the Great Wide Open.

Or go back to the very beginning of the Nights.