Sinister 6...

What seems to have become a sort of tradition, 

I ended the summer by spending time with my friends,

attending the ever-growing con, San Japan!

Day 1:

  Luckily, we arrived early to the hotel and got checked-in and went through badge pick-up amazingly quick! None of us really knew what to do with ourselves, so early in the con! We spent most of this day roaming the Dealer's Room, Artists Alley, and just enjoying all of the cosplayers! I ran into a number of friends that I hadn't seen in a while, so it was really nice to catch up!

 Around mid-day, we discovered that there was to be an Avatar: The Last Airbender demonstration!! None of us knew what to expect; nevertheless, we were all excited and rushed to the front row seats! Sifu Kisu, this hilariously wonderful man pictured above, explained and demonstrated a number of bending techniques. Sifu, it turns out, was one of the founders of the original Avatar series, and remains to be its head martial arts specialist! It was so amazing getting to see bending come-to-life!!

  To close-out the night, I attended my first EVER Rock concert!! Almost two years ago, now, one of my friends, Stacy (whom I've taken Japanese &&& VA classes with), got me into their music. Like most fans, I had heard about the band because its lead-singer, Johnny Yong Bosch, is a big-time Anime voice actor (also the original Black Power Ranger); however, not until Stacy gave me access to their music did I really fall in love! Now I own all of their albums & I was so happy I finally got to see them perform live!! 

  Another great thing I've learned: Short people get the BEST concert spots!! Upon entering the stage, Eyeshine told everyone to move closer to the stage in order to have a more intimate concert setting, so I was near literally ON the stage! Polo, the lead-guitarists was RIGHT THERE!! I had to keep taking steps back because I was scared he was going to hit me! But still, it was so FANTASTIC! Polo is such an amazing guitarist & I got to see his playing and facial expressions up-close & personal!!

The BEST part of the night, though, was getting to see Stacy pulled on-stage!! She is seriously Eyeshine's biggest fan: she talks to Ginny and Polo over Facebook all of the time, she brings them their favorite snacks every time they meet, and she makes sure to attend every concert she can! Partway through a song, Polo reaches over the crowd and pulls her onstage, gives her his guitar, and she got to jam out with Johnny!! Her face was so red and I was so happy for her!! 

 I'm so happy that Eyeshine was my first rock concert! They were amazing and so much fun!! All of their fans obviously love them, and the con atmosphere made it all so much more intimate and exciting! I'm hoping I can tag along with Stacy to more Eyeshine concerts in the future!!

Day 2:

  The following day happened to be just as exciting as the first! I made it to the Finals of the San Japan Ani-Idol competition! It was a lot of fun performing, but with only 2days of preparation, I knew there was no way I would be able to advance any further... Teehee, but there's always next year!! (*0*)

  Besides the competition, I got to meet this awesome lady, Kieran Strange! She's a British singer who is too amazing and has an adorable accent! I had never met her before, but I knew by how we subconsciously matched shirts & the way she freaked out at my Spider-Man USB drive, that she was going to be cool... After meeting her, I decided to listen to some of her music & I love it! She's become so big recently and will be starting her Japan tour this fall, traveling around performing her own creation of "British nerd-rock!" I can't wait to see her career blowup in the near future!

The second day, I was so busy running around trying to get from panel to panel, as well as attending the competition, so I didn't get to take as many pictures as I would have liked! However, there were so many that I loved! I saw so many classic Anime characters, which made me so happy! And, of course, the usual abundance of Naruto and Poke'mon cosplayers were there as well!

I was so happy to catch quite a few Sakura Kinomoto cosplayers! I just had to stop and take a picture of my favorite Anime characters!! I am desperately hoping that I will be able to cosplay next year too!! Sakura, of course, is my dream cosplay, but at this point, I'll do whatever I can manage! Other personal cosplay ideas are Ciel Phantomhive from Kuroshitsuji / Black Butler, && Vanellope von Schweetz from Wreck-It-Ralph!! o(^ ^)o

  Besides the Ani-Idol competition, my goal for the second day was to attend every Voice Actor panel! And I did!! All of the panels were back-to-back, all in the same room, so it was pretty convenient! The VA panels are always my favorite part of attending conventions! Even if I've already met the person, I still love hearing all of the stories! 

  This guy... Just... Let's just say, he was hilarious, vulgar, and soooo hyper! I don't know why people kept giving him sugar throughout the day! Haha, but it was great to meet the infamous, Scott McNeil!! Voice of Van Hohenheim (FMA), Koga (Inuyasha), Wolverine (X-Men Evolution), and a million other credits, but more importantly- Piccolo from Dragonball Z!!!! 

  My friends and I just happened to run into him about a hundred times throughout the day, and every meeting was an event! Eventually, we got his autograph and the chance to be a part of this San Japan photo-op! He also gave me a bunch of hugs because he claimed that I was "height-efficient and so adorably huggable!" Haha, I loved this guy! (^-^) 

  After seeing her at panels a number of times in the past couple years, I finally got to officially meet the amazingly talented and adorable, Carrie Savage! Another one of the "greats" with a million voice credits including, Maromi (Paranoia Agent), Momoka (Ouran High School Host Club), Kaname (Madoka Magica), &&& Mokona from Tsubasa: Resevoir Chronicles & XXX/Holic!! She was such a sweetheart! And don't be deceived, the only reason why she looks so tall compared to me is because she was wearing heels! (-u-)

  My highlight of the weekend, or maybe of the year: I got to meet the amazingly awesome, Jerry Jewell!!! I found out that he was attending San Japan months ago, and just as I did with all previous guests, I was so excited! Except, as the days passed, I thought more and more about the characters that he's done and I realized- he's voiced basically every one of my FAVORITE Male Anime characters!!!! Claire Stanfield (Baccano!), Russia (Hetalia), Kyo Sohma (Fruits Basket), Jin/ Sakamoto/ Suzaku (YuYu Hakusho), Happiness Bunny (Shin-chan), and of course a million other amazing characters I could throw in there, BUT, his most important one for me- Jimmy Kudo from Case Closed!!!!

  After I realized this, the con just became a mission: GET JERRY JEWELL'S AUTOGRAPH! And I did... I mean, sure, I had to be one of those fangirls that bombarded him at his very last panel (the 18+ panel, which was SO GREAT, by the way), but hey, at least I got it!!! And it was so weeeeiiird!! I hadn't been "star-struck" in such a long time! I didn't know what to say when I met him! I'm just so happy I did.

Day 3 

  All we did was hit the dealer's room for all of its sales and check-out of our hotel, but none of this mattered to me, because, basically, my dreams came true this weekend!! I got to meet so many awesome people, attend my first rock concert, and meet one of my FAVORITE voice actors!! 

  It's times like these when I just want to hit fast-forward on my life and be a voice actress already! I mean, I'm optimistic enough to fully believe I will be someday, and even though I'm only 20years old, I feel like it's taking FOREVER!! I want to be that person that makes people feel as amazingly happy like I do right now, just thinking about this weekend! Anyways, San Japan Sinister 6, definitely one to remember! I can't wait till next year, but till then, I've got about 9months of school to deal with! Wish me luck!!

Sincerely Yours,

Lisette Monique Diaz

ৎ꒰ ¯ิ̑﹃ ¯ิ̑๑꒱ુ ୭ ~Sweet Dreams~ ৎ꒰ ¯ิ̑﹃ ¯ิ̑๑꒱ુ ୭