Last year during our trip back from CF on the bus, Xrystal and Ringo asked if I wanted to join them at GACC, to which I agreed; because after I've seen the crowd at CF, I thought that it'd be worthwhile to go back to Malaysia for another event. They explained that every year at GACC, the organizers would invite a seiyuu (aka voice actor) to the event. Last year's was Furuya Tohru-san... who well... I don't really know because I don't watch Sailormoon... But I supposed it'll be quite nice to meet a seiyuu, I thought then.
So fast forward to February this year, and in the middle of work Xrystal dropped the bomb that Morita Masakazu was going to GACC. Not like it'd make any difference then, since I already started working on my costumes (2 sets!! I wanted to drop dead...), but I know who Morita Masakazu is, so it upped the pull factor by a 100 times already. That said, I supposed some people don't watch anime, and it's not until recently that I myself have started looking into the voices behind the characters in the anime that I watched as well. So let's just say that Morita-san stars in Bleach (which is a bloody popular anime - *mumbles* even I hopped onto the bandwagon, can't believe it...), and obviously I knew who he was.
Unfortunately then, I've already settled on my costumes, and I'd rather not change my plans halfway to be a shinigami (you know, those people who wear black in Bleach). Plus, my partner that day isn't familiar with Bleach, and my shinigami wouldn't be the character that Morita-san voiced for anyway, so we sticked to our original plan. Our original plan isn't half-bad either... we'll be going as the Cardcaptor Sakura couple. And for those of you who are still in the dark, yes I'm a crazy Cardcaptor fan (or rather, was... but I'm still a Cardcaptor fan now, just minus the "crazy"), so even if it kills me I'd still churn out an outfit from that series.
And so it was... we brought our barang out to Malacca at the beginning of this month to get ready for the event. 2 days in all, but the seiyuu only appeared on the second day. We went a day earlier to get ourselves prepared for both days, which was a good move because if you don't go on the first day to get tickets for the autograph session (yeah, not everyone can get your things autographed by the seiyuu... so grab those 100 tickets while their hot!!), they would fly off the shelves much faster on the second day. Ringo didn't come along with us because she has to take care of her exams, but she still helped me out in some way or other... be it lending me her pretty pink brolly to complete my lolita look on the first day, or tipping me off about the white socks that I desperately needed for my Cardcaptor costume. Thanks girl!
So anyway, the first day, the 4 of us (Xrystal, Sakana, Yuanie and me... all power senpais; I'm probably the only greenhorn), together with Chocolime, went as characters from Pop'n Music. I'm not really good with the game since it's a rhythm game on PS2 (where you have to tap the buttons in time with the music), but the characters were many and you have a variety to choose from. Anyway it was a team, so we each took our pick and made the costumes.
So here's our Pop'n Music Team! Gashapon figurines!! XD
Day 1 of GACC was spent running around trying to get tickets for the autograph session on Day 2... There weren't many people on Day 1, guess everyone was waiting for the seiyuu to come... We went back early, and went about doing a little shoot at our hotel. Speaking of our hotel... Sakana booked a 2-room apartment-of-sorts which included a little kitchen, living room, 2 bedrooms, and 2 toilets!! Just right for the 4 of us, and it was really affordable too! (Note: Next year book the same place...) I shared a room with Yuan, so we got to know each other better during the course of the trip; which is also necessary because both of us will be doing the Cardcaptor Sakura couple on Day 2!!
Many thanks to valho at Toys Workz for the photo. Probably the only one on my hands that has Ichigo, Hard Gay and Kon fooling around behind us as well! (Kon's a bit hard to see... you might need to search for his hand...)
Yuan was one of the cosplayers representing Singapore at last year's World Cosplay Summit in Japan, so it was quite an honour to be teaming up with her for Cardcaptor. Plus, she's a Syaoran fan, and I'm a Sakura fan, so we hit it off from there! We were both female Pop'n Music characters on Day 1 as well, so I hung around with her more; and thanks to Taiko who photographed us on both days, you can see the difference (which is not much though...):
Two days two outfits! Thanks Taiko for the photos!
I preferred my pink dress on the first day to my Sakura battle costume... Probably because I spent more time sewing the pink dress. I rushed out Sakura's outfit about a week before I left Singapore, so it didn't turn out too good. But I've got more feelings for Sakura as a character though... as expected of a Sakura fan. XD
Oh yeah, about the seiyuu. (Uwa I almost forgot his existence!! *gets bricked*) Morita-san arrived at around 2 pm, and stayed till around 5 pm or so, which was longer than he was supposed to stay (not that anyone complained though XD). I guess he was really popular, judging from the crowd that came; after all, almost everyone who watch anime (or maybe, everyone) would have heard of Bleach. Even if they don't, gamers would have heard of Final Fantasy X darou? Well, Morita-san voiced and motion-captured the FFX hero Tidus.
About 10 minutes before the guy stepped into the event hall, everyone was already lining up in two rows, along the center of the hall flanking this red stripe (I think it was supposed to be a red carpet of sorts...), to catch a glimpse of him. Most of us had cameras ready. Those without handhelds and DSLRs, whipped out handphones. I was rather tucked away behind all the heads and bodies and couldn't get my handheld out far enough to take a decent video, but then I spotted Sakana and Xrystal right over the other side of the red stripe, right in front of everyone! So I passed my camera over, and Sakana did a great job (great position they were in, really) videotaping the moment when Morita-san walked past!
Comin' through! Seiyuu comin' through!
Morita-san wasn't someone who really cared about his appearance I supposed, he just came in T-shirt and jeans (and obviously, no make-up). I was standing behind Yuan as he passed us along the red stripe, and after she took his photo as he past she turned around and told me, "Wah! Not shuai one!!" XD But he has a really outgoing and down-to-earth personality. He obliged spontaneously when people asked him to do voices of his characters, hosted his own talk segment really well (no offense to the actual host at the event...), was polite to a fault, talked to everyone who talked to him, and overall, a born showman. Heck, he made us all squeal like seasoned fangirls even when some of us weren't even familiar with him or his work... I wouldn't say that I'm a BIG fan of his, but I was just as high as everyone else and squealing like a fangirl. Uwa, shitsure na... So yeah, that was how well he got the crowd going.
Bankai!
His talk segment was slightly more than 35 minutes I would say... I videotaped the whole thing, and my arms hurt, but then again everyone can find the talk segment clips on youtube nowadays so I'm not bothering to upload. XD Fast forward to autograph session. Like I said, only 100 people get to have their stuff autographed by Morita-san. The rules are very strict this year (as compared to the last, I heard from the rest): only one item to autograph, and no photos with the seiyuu (Like whut? Was it because he was in T-shirt and jeans and his hair was not done up?). Anyway, I bought the Bleach illustration book a few days before I went to Malacca (the last copy I found at Kinokuniya when I went!). It was bloody expensive (well, not bloody expensive but it was above my budget seriously...) so it was the get-the-autograph-or-die situation. We managed to secure quite a few tickets during our first day, so I got a chance to get my book autographed as well.
The rest of my roommates went up on stage to get their things signed first before I did... All of them tried to get some chance to get a photograph with him. XD It was tough, because once Sakana whipped out her borrowed camera (MY camera XD) and tried to press the trigger button the staff started going crazy and went to stop her. ^^; She didn't manage to get a shot... but Xrystal did because Sakana was still lingering on the stage when she stepped up to get her autograph. (Haha, the crazy things we do...)
I'd say that Morita-san has an amazingly young and handsome voice for a man of his age. When he greeted me back with "Konnichiwa~!" I was stunned for a moment. XD But that was his voice only... he looked just like any other average guy on the street. As he signed the cover of my book (oh yeah, it was Kubo-sensei's name on the front I know... but it has a giant face of Ichigo on the front too), I motioned to the official cameraman on the stage to help me take a photo with the seiyuu, to which he was like, "you gotta make it quick" *stares holes into my retina*. So once Morita-san's done with my book and extended his hand for a handshake, I held on and said something like, "Shashin~!" and pointed at the cameraman's direction. I dunno how the picture turned out though... I think it'll look retarded. XD
But anyway, Yuan called out to me when I was getting my book signed, and well, getting a picture with Morita-san looking down at my book is better than nothing ya...
Victory? Lol. (Thanks Yuan!! <3)
And here is my autographed book (which is now rotting away still in its plastic bag... D:):
I wonder how much this can fetch on Ebay... not that I'm selling it. XD
Once we got our things signed, we started doing crazy things, like fooling around with our props and making crazy poses. Guess all of us got real high because of the seiyuu's presence. XD
For photos of our crazy stunts and serious event shots (aka in character), do lookie here!
I'd say that this is the best event I've been to since I've started cosplaying. Morita-san brought up everyone's spirits on the second day as well. I probably wouldn't be doing lots of cosplaying in the coming few years (and you guys should know the reason...), but GACC would be one of the events that I will make myself available for!! Speaking of which, I'm already wondering which seiyuu they will manage to invite for next year. And I'm keeping my fingers crossed that one of my favourite seiyuus would drop by soon. ^_^
Piisu.
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