June 30th, 2010 – Day 0.:

Ah yes, the much awaited day 0. In past years for me, it would have be: Lines, Lines, and  more Lines. That was actually still true this year. (I waited almost 2 hours to get my badge.). This time however, my friend and I headed to the Westin Bonaventure Hotel. We arrived a little before 11 am. We, un-wiredTV, had an  interview with voice actor Yuu Asakawa first. However, things have already begun to go out of control. The press staff was unable to find Asakawa-san in her room. 「大変だ」 indeed. Returning along the way to the press waiting room, lo and behold, There was Asakawa and her people dining at one of the hotel’s restaurants. Can’t blame her though when you’re stuck in a room all day answering roughly the same questions every 15 minutes.

Moving on, our next appointment was American voice actor, Kyle Hebert(voice of Ryu, Kamina, Gohan, etc), the only English voice acting Guest of Honor. The interviews were very straight forward. At first, I was really intimidated by Mr. Hebert himself, but he turned out to be a really chill dude. After the interview, there was more than enough time for a small chat. Hearing him do the narrator voice from DBZ sent me back to 1999. “Next time on Dragonball Z!” And thus the reminiscing only lasted 10 seconds before our allotted time was over.　What a shame!

Our next guest was the stunningly beautiful Yuu Asakawa. Asakawa is famous for roles such as the adamant, but adorable Motoko in Love Hina, the sly servant, Rider in Fate/Stay Night, and the extremely popular Vocaloid, Megurine Luka. Unfortunately, My friend had to go grab our translator so I was the only one present at the time. Thanks to our translator’s note I was able to fire off the first question without much delay. I had a big faux pas with the question but it was alright since Asakawa-san cheered me on. Probably my most embarrassing moment of the day though. Luckily, our translator arrived with haste. Big thanks to Iwai-san for getting me out of a bind.

Next up was CEO of the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation(SPJA), Michael Lattanzio. We asked him what does the future bring for since a huge event such as anime expo. He hoped Anime Expo will only get bigger and bigger, something I too hope to happen in the future expos.

After the morning interview, the un-wired crew took a small lunch break before getting amped for the next round of interviews. Man, that Quizno’s sub was pretty good. Without much time to let the food sink into our stomachs, the next guest of honor awaited!

The next guest was the one I looked forwarded to the most, the amazing and talented May Nakabayashi, more commonly known as her stage name, “May’n”! The singing voice of Sheryl Nome in Macross Frontier, May’n became one of my favorite singers to come out of the Japanese scene in recent years after her performance as Sheryl but I will spare you all my infatuation with the Macross franchise. Sporting a cute hat armed with a great smile, May’n greeted us as we entered the room. I was extremely nervous being around such a prolific singer, especially with what seemed to be her producer and staff accompanying her. The interview went underway without delay. I was rather disappointed that Megumi Nakajima was unable to make it in time for Day 0. A tfterward I was able to get a picture with May’n herself and congratulating her on her US debut at Anime Expo.

Anyone who’s into teen pop idols will certainly know AKB48, while not a big fan myself(Sorry, Morning Musume mostly whatl I care for!), my friend, Jess, would be extremely jealous at my close encounter with Japan’s idol supergroup. Unfortunately not all of them could make it out to the states, with 5 of them present at the interview. However, they were very cheerful and excited to perform to their america audience!

Last, be certainly not least on our interview schedule, Mr. Rei Hiroe, creator of the manga “Black Lagoon”. One of the coolest dudes I’ve met. This guy was so cool, he was wearing sunglasses INSIDE the room! When we asked him about his favorite action movies, he started listing off Arnold Schwarzenegger’s muscle-packed features, including Commando(in my opinion one of Arnie’s most badass roles to date). I mean, as someone who’s created one of the most badass manga in recent times, I wouldn’t have expected anything less.

Day 0 was certainly a great start to a very prospective Anime Expo 2010. However, not every thing went according to plan, due to scheduling conflicts we were unable to secure an interview with I’ve sound artist, MELL.  Interviewing the guests were a lot of fun and I have high hopes this will be an AX to remember! Stay tuned, and we’ll have more exclusive Anime Expo content, only on UN-WIRED TV.

okay, i feel “slight better”

d’awwww cubone is 萌え～

YEAH! FIRST “FUCK YOU KEY” POST OF THE YEAR!

ONE MONTH AND 14 DAYS TO GO.