The Final Battle!!!!

Part 5
3/22/1998 The Grand Illusory Night
(As told by Oni-chan and Catsy)

-"Evangelion:Death & Evangelion: Rebirth! Now, while I had already seen them this was Catsy's first time. She was still an Eva virgin."

-"What? Didn't Mo-chan tell you about when, uh....... That was something else, I forgot."

-"Nani? Mo-chan's my boyfriend! What did you-"

-"Neow. So we went up to somebody's room where we were told that they'd have a special showing of Death and Rebirth with subtitles! We thought that it was a good idea to see it there considering the official Animazement premiere of the two movies tomorrow would not have any subs, and I don't speak Japanese very well-tcha."

-"No poop. So we got there and crowded into the room at 1:50am Sunday morning with a bunch of mindless (and as they proved shortly, stupid) and smelly otaku who couldn't think for themselves. Our first clue to this was when one of them asked if the guys who were showing the film could fast forward past Death. Catsy and I looked at eachother like 'Yeah, right' when a bunch of other people asked for the same thing! We told them not to and that Death is just as cool as Rebirth, but we were outvoted. Strike one against them."

-"Then they pressed play and Rebirth started up on the mini TV.... in Chinese subtitles. Neow. Strike two."

-"Now, I'm going to tell you people 'cause I feel I know you well enough now and I think you can handle this: These two movies are not hard to understand in the least! Hell, even Catsy understood them. Eva doesn't get screwed up until End of Evangelion (and not until the second half which is a few minutes after Rebirth's ending). But the winners that we were watching it with appeared to be completely awestruck to the fact that the pictures seemed to be moving on the glass box in front of them. I pray to Kami-sama every night that none of those tools ever grow up to become a doctor of any kind. By the way, their stupid questions throughout the movie made it strike three."

Blow 'em away, Misato-chan!! Blow 'em away, Asuka-chan!!

-"We left at the end of Rebirth (after we heard that funky closing song^_^) and listened to the idiots blather for a while about how 'confusing' it all was.... It was a freaking action movie. No real deep thoughts were necessary. What dolts. I'd love to see there faces after they see End. From what Oni-chan's told me it's a mind f*** movie of the highest caliber.
  It was around 3 o'clock then and we went back down to the video rooms to see something that we had heard about for a while now. Master Mosquiton. This was probably the biggest surprise of the entire weekend!! One of the funniest OAVs I've ever seen, it's about this vampire, his two elemental servants, and the teenage bimbo who is also the master of the vampire. It's kooky."

-"I told you you'd like it. We stayed and watched the rest of the six episodes and then we went back to the room for at least a little sleep before the rest of the day.
  We woke up at 8:30 on the final day of the con. It was already sinking in that this great weekend couldn't last forever. I opened the drapes (to Catsy's unprintable curses) and noticed that it was actually sunny. How do you like that. Catsy turned on the TV and we found out that Nurse Angel Ririka was back on. Catsy then turned off the TV. We hurried up and got packed, threw our stuff into the Tank and checked out so that we didn't have to do it later when things were in full swing. Then I went to the gift shop and bought some more film."

-"We went to check out the game show only to find out that it had been cancelled. That sucked! I heard all about the Expo Game Show from Oni-chan through countless stories and I wanted to see one for myself!
  Pouting all the while we caught the end of some Clamp detective show instead. It was the epitome of 'retarded animation'. We couldn't even tell the boys from the girls.

Go Kenji!
We caught up with Kenji again, this time with his girl-friend Sailor Moon. I guess he had to get over Ginrei sometime.

Kenji, you dog you.
Kenji, wherever you are, I have to tell you that you are soooo money!

  Then we snuck into the big Animazement brunch for the staff and guests. This was cool! We hadn't eaten in a day and now we had all this free food in front of us!!! And it was oishii too!!!!"

Food, food, and MORE food.
Scrambled eggs, watermellon, bacon, sausage, rolls, pancakes, french toast, and enough fruit for MegaPlayboy to clog the club toilet with! Now that's a breakfast!

-"I don't think we really snuck in, Catsy. I think that they just felt sorry for us 'cause they could see our ribs through our shirts and our cheeks were totally sunken in. But, I'll take it anyway I can get it.
  The coolest thing happened when we sat down, though. Imagawa-sensei and his translator came over to sit next to us!!!!! Show the people at home what you looked like, Catsy."

Kitty in heaven.
"I was happy."

-"Anywho, as we finished our fifth plates, cat-girl and I were actually full. We got up to leave but made sure that we got a picture of our whole table."

Steve at the breakfast nook.
Hey, what do ya know! It's Steve! Trust me, Steve, we love ya, but you just need some new material is all^_^

IMAGAWA ATE BREAKFAST WITH US!!!!!
Is it just me, or does it look like Imagawa is spitting in his translator's coffee?
Cheers!

-"We then went to Track 1 and watched the convention's premiere of Death. This is so well done! I can't wait for the American version to come out so that more peole can see it so that I can talk to them about it. When the hell is that going to be?!?!
  After that,Oni-chan and I went down to video room 1 to check out Nuku- Nuku th TV series, but it was moved or cancelled or something. Instead they showed a dubbed episode of Eva. I guess that I had forgotten just how bad the Eva dubs were because this just hit me like a ton of bricks. We could only sit through about two minutes of those horrible voices and comments about 'not wanting to get touched by an Angel' before we had to leave. We physically had to leave. We then went back to Track 3 and saw Rebirth again. Damn-tcha! It was still cool after just seeing it eight hours before (hint, hint, Corn Pone)."

-"Wow! The slaughter of NERV HQ is still something to behold, and I just love Asuka's re-baptism by fire!
  At 12:10 we went over to the video game room (for the last time) and saw some guys playing the funkiest dance game I've ever seen."

-"Just how many 'dance games' have you seen, hmmmmm?"

-"I just had to play it. And guess what, I kicked Catsy's ass! Haha haha! It felt good."

Bust it!
Bust this move, baby!

-"Neow. Then we checked out the Art Auction. Holy Mary mother of all that is sacred! I couldn't believe how much some of this stuff was selling for. A signed Dragon Ball manga went for $650! A GR cell of Robo in an action pose- $60! A signed Video Girl Ai manga- $250!!! Oni-chan and I weren't even participating because we were getting too anxious just watching it. I was getting so nervous that I made devil-girl go with me to see the Video Outakes with Scott Houle, but it was cancelled. So we ran back into the auction, nervous or not."

-"We were witnesses to fanboys and girls going apes*** by blowing their wads left and right on some really cool stuff. A multi-layered Iria cell was soon up for bids and the price kept going higher and higher. After a little while when the hands weren't being raised as much, Masakazu threw in another signed sketch to the highest bidder.... and then another.... and then another (in color even!). Soon an entire animation series was created around this one cell! It finally went for $450. That's a lot of yen.
  Some last minute editions into the auction were 4 doujinshu manga of FFVII signed by the manga artist herself (I forgot if it was Fuuyuki-san or Kamijou-san who did them). The first went for $50, the second for $60, the third for $60 too, and the fourth went for $70. People were actually blowing rent and tuition on those things!"

Blow your wad at the AUCTION!
"A late edition to the Animazement auction, Masakazu-san has just blown his nose and the design on the handkerchief resembles Ai. Do I hear $20? 20! Do I hear $30?...."

-"Neow. Then came a sign from heaven.The greatest thing to be put up on the block was unveiled: a sealed promotional copy of Giant Robo VII with stickers and a poster inside. I had to make it mine! The bidding started and it quickly went past fifty. I was still in the game even though most people had already dropped out. The guy in the front row kept taking it higher and higher (the bastadge!) as I kept out matching him, but I thought that $75 was too steep for me. One last bidder jumped in and rose the price to $80, but the kid in the front went to 85 bucks and got it.

The only chance I had, and I blew it!!!!

  This was the biggest mistake of my entire life!!!!!! I was sooooooo pissed at myself for stopping so early! I deserved that tape! I'm the one who made this kick ass page to celebrate Animazement! Not that otaku-turd in the front. *Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa* Why did I stop bidding?!?! Why?!!?!?!?!?!?"

-"Because you suck. Dammit girl, that thing could've been ours! Why'd you stop?"

-"Why didn't you slap some sense into me?"

*SLAP!*

-"Neow. No! I meant back then!"

-"Oh, gomen nasai."

-"Anyway, a bunch more things were put up and sold for an exorbitant amount of dinero. Then Oni-chan and I left depressed. I don't think I'll ever live down the humiliation of letting a human win something that I wanted. I was so out of it that I didn't even try to kill him and take it back."

-"We went into the Video Room 2 and caught a funny OAV series called Twin Signal about a bunch of robots, their creator, his competitor and a fiery red head. It was kind of a mix 'tween Dr. Slump and Urusei Yatsura (the scientist part mixed with a bunch of improbable slapstick that made you laugh out loud). Watching all the robots fight cheered Catsy up a bit."

-"At 2:00pm we went to the Closing Ceremonies. Both the American and Japanese guests were thanked again for coming and being such good sports, and then we got to hear their impressions of what they saw here that weekend.

Imagawa and Naga....again.
Imagawa thought that Naga's pussy was so cute that he asked her to come up on stage so that he could pet it.

How long do you think this will take?  2 hours?
The guests were all happy and cordial until it was announced that they were being held as political prisoners until a contract was drawn up that allowed an American company to finally sign for the rights to release Gundam in the States. Chaos ensued.

Imagawa is still staring at Naga.  Somebody please get him a reality pill.
"Look at that gaijin with the camera. And they say we take a lot of pictures. Oye vey!"

  Both the female manga artists loved it and wanted to come back as soon as they could-tcha. Masakazu said that he loved all American cons and Takahashi voiced that he was honored and glad to have come. Imagawa stated that he loved the mascarade.... and especially Naga. He's got Naga on the brain I tell ya! It's insane!!"

The end of a legend!
And then....... it was over.

-"The guests and con people got a standing ovation (holy crap did they deserve it*_*) and then a mass autograph session ensued. Only the agile and healthy got out alive, which at an anime con wan't many.
  Instead of going to the gripe sesion (we didn't think there was any need to or that anybody else would really go) we went to the final program of the weekend, Child's Toy (aka Kodocha) episodes 1-2. Catsy and I love this show! We both wish that we could have our own TV show like Sana did.
  This is a show that I can recommend to anybody who can read Sana's llines fast enough to keep up with her mouth (I heard that the first translator killed himself after translating the 1st four episodes!). It's kooky."

-"When Kodomo no Omocha was over, so was the con. P(ost) C(on) D(epression) was starting to sink in especially as we walked around the Hilton and saw everybody taking everything down.

Take it away, boys.
The wild ride was near its close. The final sign was the dismantling of the Dealers Room.

  But then we remembered about our bids that we made on the GR cells the day before, so we raced down to the Art Room to pay for them and pick them up. It was then that we saw a little kid walking away with two of our cells bragging to his friend that he got them cheap (we had out names on them for $40 each!! The hell was going on?!?!). We got to the pick up desk, but they informed us that we had to' uv picked them up earlier or something as they were all gone!!!! AAAAAAaaaaaarrrrgh! That really cheesed my shorts somethin' fierce. First I blow my episode seven, then I don't even get my cells... *Sniff* *Waaaaaaaaaaa!* God hates me, doesn't he? Why, why God, why do you persecute me?"

-"He's just like everybody else, Catsy. He thinks you're pondscum, just like the Mets. So anyway, after we got gipped at the Art Room (which I even took a picture of after they told us not to *heh heh*) we got ready to leave.

Thhhhhhhhhbbbpt!
As revenge for selling our cells, I got a picture of the art room! Ha ha!

  Some con goers just couldn't accept the fact that Animazement was truly over and they let their PCD take over their minds. Once again the police had to be called in to handle things.

              Death and destruction reigned supreme at A98!
Moonies! Always causing trouble and always giving regular otaku a bad name.

  Outside we saw the saddest thing a con goer could ever think to see. Dealers packing their merchandise to take away. This really blew."


No!!!! Take me with you! Please! Nooooooooo! Don't go!

-"(Sad)Neow. Oni-chan and I trudged to the Tank in a melancholy mood as we knew that PCD was only minutes away from striking. So the first thing we did was plug in the CD Player and blast the Giant Robo II Soundtrack as we headed home. We just forgot one thing....

The Tank.
The Tank in all its glory. Stay the #$*@ outta our way or we'll getcha good!

  The GR II Soundtrack is deperessing as hell!!!!!!"

-"Well, I thought it was a touching end to a satisfying weekend. Animazement gave me a renewed hope for East Coast cons. It had everything that makes a con great: Real Japanese guests; non-stop twenty four hours a day programming; in-room TV programming (something every con should have); a very nice hotel (it doesn't need to be posh, just roomy enough and nice); a great staff (90% of the staffers were beyond nice! This # is extremely high); the programming was nice, tight, and perfect; and the panels were actually long enough to hear everything that the guests wanted to say and they had an open autograph session for everybody in attendance!!!!!! The only negative mark had to do with the Dealers' Room and the 'Only official' stuff for sale policy (which wasn't really that bad considering I could always go to the local anime store and buy the good stuff there).
  I had no idea that a con could actually run so smoothly! Wow!"

-"We drove and drove and drove on our way back to Georgia. *Sniff* I was already missing everything that had happened this weekend. But, we did get to see Kings Mountain again and that helped me forget by causing me to laugh hysterically. Kings Mountain... Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ho boy.
  We listened to a bunch of Anime's Greatest Hits on the way back and we were really grooving on them until we saw something that caused Oni-chan and I to rub our multi-colored eyes in disbelievement! The Rossman was still alive!!!!"

-"We were about twenty minutes past Greenville when we saw a hunched over figure slowly walking South with a dazed and almost drugged look on his face. We kind of felt sorry for him so we pulled over only to find out that it was the Rossman! I thought I killed him good this time too. Hmmm, go figure.
  We took him into the Tank and convinced him that all three of us had a great time at Animazement and then we showed him all the autographs and art books we had bought. Then he died... or did he just fall into a coma again? Hell, I'm no doctor. To be on the safe side, Catsy and I buried him in a shallow grave a few yards in from the highway and then we headed back home."

-"The only thing I wanted to do this entire weekend that I didn't was see a movie being made like Oni-chan did in LA. Bummer.
  We got back into Athens pretty late and Oni-chan dropped me off at my apartment. The entire town was empty because it was Spring Break."

-"Yeah, I was lucky 'cause nobody in the club had even known that I had been gone. I just got back into my cage and listened to my FFVII soundtracks until I fell asleep while visions of cosplays and videos danced in my head.
  A few weeks later the Rossman mysteriously showed up all covered with dirt. Knowing the Rossman, nobody ever said anything to him. He's never been the same though. Oh well, Que sera sera."

FÍN

Seeya tomorrow, mina-san!
 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

 The dawn of the night

 the next night

 Go back to the previous Moonlit Night.

 Go forward and check out UGAnime's Dead Ultimate Web Site. 

 The dawn of the night

 Or go back to the very beginning of the Nights.

After this page, check out Oni-chan's original Excellent Adventure @ AX97

This Page is a Copyrighted Rossman Production.