Wicked Cosplay will be at Gen Con Indy this year! YAY! But I’m actually working as a product demonstrator for the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game, licensed by Cryptozoic, rather than cosplay and press. There will be cosplay though! I plan on making a Sylvanas hoodie to go with our staff uniform. It’s Apotheosis Agency‘s first big event and we want to stand out! All of the ladies are super excited for it. But on to what everyone really wants.

Pictures!

Our 3 hour training session at Cryptozoic turned in to an all day adventure complete with lunch and tour of the Blizzard Entertainment Headquarters. It was amazing! There was art work everywhere. Every desk was decked out with figurines, artwork, and blizzard merchandise. We met many of the artists that help create and develop the game art and characters, as well as the heads of the art department. Jeff gave me an undead warlock figurine. It owned my soul. We hung out in the Karazhan meeting room and fixed a CRITICAL error on their wall mural.

They also had movie posters inside the room. Just outside this room was a StarCraft themed hallway. They had a library filled with RP and Warcraft reference books with the coolest dungeon doors complete with bars and peep-door.

After the tour and lunch we were walked over to Cryptozoic where we were escorted around the office. We got to ogle at their game room that would make any tech savvy nerd weep, complete with red leather couches, every game you could dream off, and an HD screen that nearly took up the whole wall. Our meeting was in the epic unicorn room where the models got to play with  decks that were so exclusively under development most weren’t even named. There was a Worgen and Goblin deck that got to be tested, but of course not before we were given the run down and demo of the current TCG.

Photo is courtesy of Apotheosis.

The 4 models at the card demo in the unicorn room. For our participation that day we each got 3 decks of WoW cards! For more pictures of our awesome day, please check out our site gallery.

Sorry about the delay in the final post kids, I’ve been under the weather and spending most of my time asleep. But now I’m awake and here to fill you in.

This blog might come up a little short because day 4 itself is a little short. There wasn’t much left to do but hit the exhibitors hall for last minute sales and wander around to catch the remaining cosplays. We did however manage to catch the How to Build a Mecha panel that was going on around noon. It was amazing! We all sat enraptured as the guys up front talked about all the details of an in the process Mecha that they were building (having started last year), going over flaws they had run into, and different methods of corrections.  I think one of my favorite aspects of what they’re doing in this project is that they’re not looking for military sales (unlike in most animes) but to actually have these machines serve as a functional part of our daily worklives. Imagine, using a machine for the job of several types of construction jobs with only one pilot.

We even managed to give them our information of hopes of helping out! Be it through recruiting or whatever, we want to see this dream come to fruition.

After that, it was catching some last minute pictures of random cosplays that we’d see here and there, chat up friends that we made, bid our fairwells, and head on home.

In all, it was a great year at Anime Expo and I’m glad we got to attend. I can’t wait for next years convention which will, thankfully be back in LA! As much as I loved 06 and 07 in Anahiem (and thank god we’re not back in Long Beach) the convention center itself is so much more accommodating for cosplayer needs.

I’ll be posting again soon with further updates as to planned conventions, cosplays, and other such wonderful goodies!

~Raven

The Air Gear gathering was large and included a dance off between the divided group. All the competing dancers were amazing and there were many well made costumes at the gathering. Be sure to see our AX gallery to get you picture fix there!

The early evening Hanna gathering lasted nearly until midnight, dinner included, and yielded a cosplay and fan base of almost 40 individual people for dinner. The young comic’s author, whom probably never imagined such a huge success in such a short amount of time (I believe the comic has been published for only 9 months now), was also at the dinner! Most of the Hanna staff was there, conversing and busily thanking everyone for their support. They were all very humble and very approachable. The evening was full of Hanna laughs and drinks. Yaaaaay! Booze!

The masquerade was a well planned evening with a winning Sailor Moon act (stung right from my heart, me and my soft spot for the show) of a transformation and battle from civilian to scouts on stage.  Certainly not an act I have ever seen before! There were several other skits that rang laughs and cheers, but the crowned winners certainly had their work cut out for them in design and costume.

Kaori

This is Kaori Night with some sad news. While I’m waiting for my partner to finish the MANY photos we took and the Day 3 and 4 reviews of AX I regret to inform there was an issue with MY camera used Day 3. The wonderful images from late on in the Air Gear gathering to the last of the day were some how lost between camera and computer and then deleted.. Our videos throughout the day and pictures past 3:00 all vanished.

I’ve been so disappointed and saddened by this, but as we speak I’m uploading the images that HAVE been edited and saved.

Also, my house has had no internet all weekend, thus the late update. For those following our facebook and Twitter you got this miserable update!

There are still many great pictures from the convention and a lot of great things to update including a Hanna gathering and dinner review.

I’m very sorry! Forgive me! I should have brought my D200 instead of my CoolPix. This is all my fault. D:

Kaori made of Fail

We had no planned gatherings, so while I walked around in normal civilian attire Kaori Night walked around as the same named character from the well known show, Sailor Moon. This was done mostly in the exhibition hall. I love the way the entire area is set up. It feels as functional as it can with droves of people milling through the large hall, brushing past each other, trying to avoid bumping into anyone and yet avoid accidentally crossing into more cosplayers getting their photographs taken. It’s hectic, but in a way that you can’t help but enjoy.

The day before we had stopped at a booth by Timeless Trends and met a handful of helpful and eager individuals who provided a great fitting experience and proved that they had superior quality corsets available to buy! We hit other booths, such as Bodyline, where Kaori got an adorable dress (which she wore around for part of her time as Kaori from Sailor Moon today), and various manga and anime sellers.

Then we hit the artists alley, which was wonderful to wander about. Sure browsing DeviantArt is fun to do, but walking through artists alley is a completely different experience. It’s fun to see what the people behind the art are like in person. I got to spot artists like Bara-chan who I have been a fan of for a long time. There was one for who I was searching though, and that was Tessa Stone author of HINABN . I myself didn’t get a chance to really talk to her, but I did however, get a great Worth pin (one of her characters) which I wear now with girly pride.

We managed to get a great series of pictures from several gatherings including Full Metal Alchemist (in which we saw a great ‘Angel’ Hughes and his wife, who both were received with cheers from the crowd). There were large groups of Ed’s and Roy’s, quite a few homunculii, and even a couple rather well done Hohenheim’s. In all a great gathering that was fun to watch.

The second gathering I managed to attend today, was the Hanna is Not a Boys Name (HINABN) and while it was a small group that gathered (who later went out to dinner) it was fun to see everyone dressed up as the various well loved characters that I and so many others have grown fond of. After a few pictures, we bid each other all farewell, and went about the rest of the evening. From that point, we wandered.

As we continued to meander through the convention center we continued to take pictures, socialize, and simply enjoy the company of  all of you wonderful con goers.

It’s only day 2 so far, and we’ve been having a great time. Thank you all of you for being such great people to work with! See you tomorrow!

~Raven

We started the day like any other serious cosplaying day: bright and early! Team Rocket was playing today for the Pokemon gathering at 1:00 and consisted of several ranking agents and, of course, yours truly as Madam Boss, the founder of Team Rocket (according to the Japanese CD drama Birth of Mewtwo).

Along the way we played a Rocket scavenger hunt and recruited several rogue agents while we played our game. There were tons of Poke-Jin cosplays, in astounding numbers, as well as canon trainers that are rare to find, especially in recent years at Anime Expo. Every Gym leader was accounted for, including a Giovanni which Madam Boss had a long winded argument with about not calling her on her birthday (what a bad son!). After several group pictures were taken at the gathering, the entire group of Rockets chimed in with Jessie and James’s infamous motto that was soon overridden by the trainer groups tune of a Pokemon opening theme song. Not liking this overturn, the group was stormed by the Rockets, led by Giovanni and Madam Boss and a louder group effort was front stage yet again.

Not long after that, the Wicked Rockets agents and Madam Boss fled the scene to prepare for the next cosplay. Queen Nehelenia (Nepherenia) was next to make her way to the convention center. Our representatives caught the Sailor Moon gathering in time and witnessed only two villains! Baddies are a rarity this year, it seems. Nonetheless, the gathering was a phenomenal effort.

Now the main event watch. AMVs! 7 choice videos in 4 amazing categories; Drama, Action, Comedy, and Professional. The drama category was surprisingly lacking in wrist slashing disparity and gave a wider spectrum to what drama AMVs can cover. Action had more than just mechas this year with a little sizzling “action” romance that gave a refreshing twist to the category and stepped away from traditional fighting and machines action videos. Comedy had a great selection, including an introduction that required a disclaimer from the M.C. about Nazi propaganda and a charming Hellsing medley that nearly combusted our souls.

After the AMVs ended it was nearly midnight and we were beat. Check out our picture gallery for Anime Expo 2010!

Kaori

After a brief detour to pick up a few things, we were all off to pre-reg to get our tickets! And although we didn’t stick around for that very long (the line was the longest I had seen in years and we got there late in the day) we did have plenty of photo-ops and a great time talking to the people there.

The four of us went as Team Rocket and it was great to hear the occassional cheer and to have photographers stopping us with a smile for quick pictures. We even had the pleasure of running into an Ash and his pikachu! And in being a great sport, played along as we not only stole his pikachu, but ran away, then played keep away with it. He was a fantastic guy about it, and it was a pleasure to pose with pictures.

A big thank you to that Ash! And if anyone has pictures from that moment (or if you have pictures from us walking the line), or if even Ash himself wants to give us a holler, we’de love to hear from you all!

Tomorrow its the Sailor Moon and Pokemon gatherings as well as some panels and the AMVs.

See you there!

I have a lovely design for her, consisting of a built-in corset with fabulously accurate deep green silk. Any future Lust costume will probably be in black, sadly, since this material was bought during my time in the middle east.

I’m still waiting for Matilda’s wig to get in, but I’m so happy to report that Nehelenia’s hair pieces are here! Now all I need are extensions! I’ll post my progress when I begin. I’ll be making clip-in bangs for her as well. I think it would be an understatement to say we’re very excited for anime-expo! We’ll be covering the main events as well as as many gatherings as we can!

Cameras ready, con-goers!

Kaori

But that’s all fine and well. Today more stuff arrived for my cosplays, so I’m that much closer to being done with everything.

In my last entry I commented on what Cosplay gatherings we would all be attending. Well, I thought it’d be fun to mention just who we’re going to be as well. So keep an eye out for

Pokemon Characters – Matilda and Rikachae (personal characters with Wicked Rockets ) who will be wandering around during Pre-Reg! You’ll also be able to find the rare and beautiful Madam Boss! So look for her. There is a -chance- of a Domino appearance as well.

Sailor Moon Characters - Queen Nehelania and her minion Zirconia will be lurking around the scouts to cause general havok and mayhem, what with stealing dreams and all that. We might be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of Kaori during one of the other days as well. Cross your fingers.

Air Gear Characters - Ume, Nike, and Sora will be making an appearance! Keep your eyes open for them.

And there are the plans! So for now, I scamper back to work on all the funzies.

Hope to see you guys there!

~Raven

This is probably a very insignificant accomplishment to most and not worth reading the update, but if anyone has coded PHP they’ll know my joy!  So long story short our store page has a lovely functioning front and will soon have merchandise for everyone to browse.

We’ll soon have some fun t-shirts and character-themed sweatshirts ready for order in this store and I’ll be gathering the rest of our costumes and placing the images into our completed costume gallery.

Props and wigs are soon to come! Keep it WICKED!

Kaori