Okay, we're getting ready for the Bandai Entertainment liveblog. There probably won't be very much at the beginning, since it's usually trailers for current releases first-- if I catch any dates or details that I think are new I'll post them, but you can probably expect any big announcements to be another ~15-20 minutes in.
Sidenote: this panel room is cooooold! Hopefully there'll be some hot-blooded Gurren Lagann stuff to keep me warm.
So we've actually got four reps on board this time. Left to right: Gurren Lagann and Kurokami US producer Toshifumi Yoshida, marketing director Robert Napton, president Ken Iyadomi (not pictured), and marketing assistant(?) Loy Fruel (formerly of Bandai Visual USA).
Surprise news about Kurokami-- there'll be DVD and Blu-Ray, their first Blu-Ray release for a new series. They were going to save that announcement for Comic-Con but changed their minds. Surprise!
In conjunction with NYAF and Kinokuniya they'll be doing an Eureka day on September 20th, the week before NYAF-- more info coming soon. They'll also have a cosplay contest for Eureka 7 with American Cosplay Paradise. (That's also the day that Kannagi volume 2 comes out.)
And now for something completely different...Yutaka Yamamoto returns to the stage! Heehee. Just for more surprises. Toshi translates once again, natch.
Napton asks Yamamoto-sensei if he's ever accidentally destroyed something that was technically sacred a la Jin in Kannagi. Yamamoto-sensei says he may have doodled in a temple. Next Napton asks who Yamamoto-sensei would rather date: Haruhi, Konata, or Nagi-sama. He responds: "Miku Hatsune." Because he's not involved with her through work. As for places he particularly wants American fans to focus on in Kannagi, Yamamoto-sensei says that there are plenty of things. This is a title that depicts goddesses and girls from other worlds, but it also depicts real life. It's also an orthodox love comedy about the day-to-day aspects of a relationship so it's interesting that way too.
From the audience: Did he buy anything in the dealer room? A Giant Robo figure. Who would he cosplay and why? "I seem to recall doing something...what did I do...I wonder...this isn't related, but I'd like to try on a school uniform like Mizuji-kun from Air (did I hear that right?). I didn't hear the last question, but the answer is: "He's not here, so Mr. Maruyama from Madhouse. He hasn't asked me to do anything yet."
Shirt giveaways from Lucky Star-- but this'll be harder than normal. The attendees have to confess! Yamamoto-sensei has to confess something new to the public to get us going...but I'm not allowed to tell you what he said <3
The first confessor, a Nagi-sama cosplayer no lees, confesses her love for Yamamoto-sensei. Next up, a girl just confessed to liking her best friend of 11 years, who is sitting right next to her right now. Next, a girl walked on the grass that had a "don't walk on the grass" sign on it. Boooooo! Hiss! ;)
Our first guy gets up and confesses that he has had an illegal alien in his basement for six months. And now someone got up and confessed that he ONLY watches fansubs-- and yes, he still got a t-shirt. But only because it's a night panel. (Toshi says: "but as soon as he leaves the room, security-- jump him." ^_~
Another guy admits to tracking down a girl he'd liked a long time ago, confessing his feelings, and...getting rejected. Now he can cry into a Lucky Star t-shirt.
A girl this time, confesses that she knew after this convention she'd either want to break up with her boyfriend or be with him forever, and with all the chaos she decided-- if he asked her to marry him, she'd say yes.
Yamamoto-sensei interjects that these don't sound like things you'd say in a "confessional."
Next up a guy talks about a program called Kona Dance, which brings up a dancing Konata from Lucky Star...and sometimes when he's playing H-games he brings up the program so that she's "in the game." Yamamoto-sensei says: that's more like it. (Kinda.) One girl claimed to her professor that her dad was dying of cancer in order to go to Otakon....I'm starting to get worried here.
A very loud woman got up and declared that on February 9th, she eloped, and NObody knows, even her parents. Whooooa. Another girl says she has a 90% chance of getting fired for coming to Otakon and she's proud of it.
Okay, last one...a guy says he told his parents that Konata is his wife, and he says they approved. Okay....one more. End it on bang!
And finally, a guy says he just came here...for the free t-shirt. And there you have it. That's the end, I think! Toshi tells a story about another con when he was misquoted during opening ceremonies, and he will repeat it as part of his confession. "Hi, my name is Toshi, and I like to drink." (I don't know if that was really misquoted.....^_~)
Wait, one more! She saved $100 by switching her insurance to Geico!...she got a Hare Hare Yukai record. Well, that's the end of confessional.
We did a little Kannagi dance, thanked Yamamoto-sensei, and that's the end!
