Anime USA 2014 Part 1 ~ Perfect Garden

Hello Everyone!

I just got back from Anime USA about 3 days ago. I had planned to make a prelude post before the con but I jest you not, since my last post to about an hour before I left for the con, I was just dealing with so, so, SO much getting ready that there was no time to write. Everything from roomies for the hotel dropping out up and down and having to find new ones in little to no time to important new dresses not arriving; preparing for Anime USA has been little more than hell.

But, in the end, was it all worth it? Absolutely! If for any reason, because of Sunday alone, that had to be not only the best day of the whole con but also one of the happiest days I’ve ever had as a lolita. But I will get to that euphoric day in a little bit.

Naturally, I went mostly for Schwarz Stein. I had originally planned to go to Rufflecon this past weekend but due to strange hints from others and odd feelings in my heart all throughout the year, I decided back in May to cancel all of my Rufflecon plans and prepare for AUSA. And in August, my feelings were finally justified when Schwarz Stein was announced and h.Naoto designer Mika Takeguchi soon after. It was gearing up to be a fantastic con, and it was! I was so happy to meet Kaya again and I was also happy to meet Hora too, Hora is actually very funny and kinda dorky too to my surprise! XD

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After a sleepless Wednesday night, and running around like a madwoman with last minute errands most of Thursday morning, we left for DC around 1pm. With me this time was Camille, Thomas, our other mutual friend Kendall and even Kitty got to go too! And waiting for us at the hotel was Amanda and her friend Kiki! I was so happy to see Amanda again since we had not seen each other since Anime Next last year.

In any case, we checked into our room and unpacked. There was still a lot of time before the Thursday night events began so we decided to visit the Smithsonian Zoo which was actually a very short walk away. The grounds were still open but a lot of the exhibit buildings were about to close. I REALLY wanted to see Bao Bao the new baby panda and we were extremely lucky that we managed to get into the indoor panda exhibit room before it closed and there inside was Bao Bao!! She was sleeping in a high up corner all curled up like a little ball of black and white fur and sadly I could not get a good picture of her but she looked so adorable.

Another one of the pandas in the same cage as Bao Bao, also apparently sleeping.

An adorable wild fishing cat, stalking it’s prey. Kinda reminds me of my Jasper.

Elephants!

And seals!

In the gift shop at the end of the day, can you tell that I really love panda’s?! XD

By the time we got back from the zoo it was nearly night time. We got our badges and went to a few of the pre-con panels. When we got back to the room we all celebrated my birthday with pizza and chocolate mocha cake from my favorite Asian bakery! All in all Thursday was a great day, even if it started out rather stressfully! *o*

Friday was the first day of the con but I was feeling strangely down for nearly half of the day, I don’t know why though I think part of it is because the outfit I had originally planned for the first part of Friday had gotten messed up and I spent a great deal of the morning trying to come up with a new one.

Trying to go for sort of an onee gyaru look.

But I really like how my alternative outfit cam out. I started feeling better around the evening when it was almost time for Schwarz Stein’s Q&A. I met up with Kitty again and my two friends/colleagues from VKH whom I had not seen since Otakon. I also met two very nice girls who also followers of this blog! It’s always surprising meeting other people who know me from online and follow me and stuff. Anyway, while in line for the panel I also got the chance to sign these fanbooks for Schwarz Stein, finally the panel started and I started getting very anxious again, but in a good way!

The panel was awesome, if not for any reason because I just loved watching Schwarz Stein and their responses to some of the questions. Kaya was adorable and charming as always but this was my first time seeing Hora so I spent a good part of the panel listening to his responses to questions and trying to figure him out more. He’s also very adorable but also kinda dorky and his some of his answers really had me cracking up! One person had asked Schwarz Stein something along the lines of what were their favorite traits about each other and Hora blurted out in English: “Nothing!” We all laughed but Kaya looked shocked and was like “Really!?” so Hora changed his answer to that he likes Kaya’s “softness”, attention to detail and how he caares so much about everything like the music and fans. When it was Kaya’s turn he said “Everything.” But Hora said in English “He is a liar!” lmao! But then Kaya replied that he also likes that Hora writes songs for him too.

 Another time someone actually asked the band the boxers or briefs question and Hora decided to answer for Kaya and replied that he wears traditional Japanese thong (I forgot the word for it, sorry). When Kaya caught wind of what he was answering to he quickly replied "No! NO!" and then said he would "leave it to our imagination"! OMG! Also, I already kind of knew this already, but Hora loves video games and manga and is a big sneaker otaku! XD

During the panel there was real loud music blaring from the other room so much that it leaked into our room, at one point everyone in my row was dancing to Pharrell Williams' "Happy". XD I did not get the chance to ask a question but after the panel was an autograph session and I was able to get my chance then. I decided to ask my question to Kaya but the minute I got to meet him again I was immediately struck by his sweet smile and amazing beauty and became completely tongue-tied! I’m afraid parts of my question may have gotten lost in translation because of it! I asked what Kaya’s favorite historical era since he really likes history (like me!) and he replied the Rococo era! When I told him it was my favorite era too he gave me a very big, cute smile that all but melted my heart! It can’t be put into words how happy I was; I also loved meeting Hora too though sadly I was by this point too frazzled to say anything else besides “Hello” and “Arigatou”. Afterward I got to also take a cheki with them since I had bought more than $60 worth of merch.  

So now I actually have 2 pictures with Kaya! Well actually 3, but again I’ll get to that later. I really adore this picture but I look so short compared to them because I was wearing flats for once! But I find it hilarious how Kaya and I are both posing cutely and Hora is just standing there being all cool and statue-like! XD

It was such a fun evening! Afterward I met up with my VKH colleagues and we hung out for a while until I decided to return to my room for the night for some needed rest after such a lovely first day of the con…until Kitty, our mutual friend Syra Kiki and Amanda came back to the room and convinced me to go out with them to the rave! Which I did with little objection! I don’t even want to think of the time I actually went to bed! XD

The next day would be the concert and then on Sunday, a special tea party with Kaya!

Yours Jasmine

P.S.

OMG! How could I possibly forget this?! Well, while buying stuff at Schwarz Stein’s merch booth, guess who I see? Tomo! Apparently he was doing staffing things for Schwarz Stein during the weekend; it was great to see him again! :)