More July Events - London Anime Con & Hyper Japan

London Anime Con was next for July’s event marathon, and the Saturday I got to dance with my friends as the first act upstairs on the main stage! Charlotte wasn’t with us this time as she was still in Japan (lucky!) so we adapted a few dances and did new ones with our remaining trio. It was heaps of fun, and I love dancing to Japanese music - something about the songs just fill you with energy! It was still amazingly hot and sunny, so I was panting quite hard by the end of it (maid outfits are not the most weather friendly) but I went outside later and had a great time chilling by the pond.

Seeing as it was an Anime Con, and not missing the chance to cosplay, I changed into my Orihime Inoue outfit, which was a bit cooler in the sweltering heat.

The voice actor for Grimmjow from Bleach (English dub) signed my pass and said I made a great Orihime, which made me smile.

The Sunday I was on the Q&A panel for Cosplay! When I was getting changed, Kitty Brucknell (the lady off the X Factor a few years ago) was also getting ready with a camera crew. She was a lovely lady and I listened to her performance later on - she has one hell of a voice!

I watched Abi and Kelsey do their show (helping protect their camera) and then got to sit with the other cosplayers (making friends with Nomes and the sweet Serena who came all the way from Germany!) and answer questions about our experiences, material choices etc. Afterwards there was a lot of photos and mini interviews, and even the recording of a little music video, which gave many a laugh.

I was dressed as Holo from Spice And Wolf.

Hyper Japan now - almost there!

I was in the fashion shows both days (a last minute addition as I found out the week before) and getting ready with the other girls and boy who were showcasing their styles was a hoot! I made a lot of friends and getting dressed we admired each others outfits. I particularly liked the schoolgirl style of Phantasien and it was great to see Shironuri in the flesh!

I wore Moi Meme Moitie both days.

I tried to do a cool thing with hair elastic where you put it around your elbows to look like a Ball Jointed Doll.

Parading was a blast, and I kept on trying to think of inventive things to do with my parasol, and funny “Gangster Kawaii” poses (it will catch on one day!) and loved strolling around the stage representing Gothic Lolita.

Afterwards, we stayed and watched Yun*Chi perform. We got filmed doing Otagei and bopping around in the wings and even ended up in her new music video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDBp3-EjIx8&feature=youtu.be

The day was spent derping around, playing Animal Crossing and getting Streetpass hits, whilst getting the FREE BENTO and looking at all the stalls.

When I left for good the next day I realised I was so busy I didn’t even get to see them all.

The bonnet eclipses all!

After Kawaii Star, (two years ago can you believe it?!?) Hyper Japan will always have a special place in my heart, and it was nice to see it in a bigger venue at Earls Court. What was disappointing for me though was that there wasn’t as much variety this year - it was mainly handmade accessories, which were fantastic (I bought a blinged up bat clip) but the sheer multitude eclipsed other booths. 

There was a lot less pop culture stores as well.

The amazing Shiro-A performance comprising of projections, comedy, precise timing and very clever effects was one of my highlights, as well as listening to the first Western Geisha talk about her experiences. You could even see the Maiko taking their lessons and practising throughout the day!

The second day featured the fashion show again, and this time we were allowed onstage to dance while Yun*Chi sang! Then I quickly got changed (and had a strawberry kakigori from the Nice Ice stand, whose owners I am on first name terms with, and then got my amazing vegetarian FREE BENTO - did I mention I loved them?) ready for the Cosplay contest.

I was really nervous as I had never entered a competition in an event as large as HJ, but all of the contestants and organizers were lovely and really kind and supportive! I prayed my veil would sit right on my Seth Nightroad costume (Trinity Blood) and thankfully the judges seemed to like it as I won the Judges Choice Award! It was fabulous going back onstage and receiving a prize along with the really talented cosplayers!

I got a goodie bag from “Wizard Wand Cosplay Tours” which contained a voucher for a free tour (I just have to go to Japan to use it XD) a beautifully jeweled mirror and.... a breast binder! XD XD XD I think the Japanese are trying to tell me something!

I had visited their booth earlier that day and they were extraordinarily sweet, giving me a Hitman Reborn mirror because I was “so beautiful”. *_* My mirror count rising I had fun with my new friend Laura and got some pretty hair pins, manga and a novelty necklace.

Once again, fantastic memories made from a fantastic Hyper Japan event!

Austen & The Abbey Part 2

The second day of Austen And The Abbey dawned just as hot, however I got to ride to the venue, the beautiful Stoneleigh Abbey, in a taxi cab with the designers and Coco! It was a bit of an experience as my Japanese is barely conversational, and when they mentioned how “Kirin” was refreshing and delicious (meaning the beer), I thought they meant “kirin” as in the word for giraffe. >_<

Anyhow, after the hilarity I met up with my fellow Loli Crew and had a light refreshment in the Orangery before heading to the guided tour of the building.

You forget that such wondrous places still exist until you visit them! The paintings, the architecture, the decorations (as the coat of arms contained it, there were lots and lots of unicorns) and the lighting was all spectacular and a perfect setting for a Lolita event.

We held actual books that Jane Austen herself would have read when she briefly lived at the grand manor house, and got to see some very gorgeous and pristine rooms.

Lunch was a free buffet with all sorts of wondrous food! I particularly liked the fact that we could sit in the shade of a wonderfully old tree next to the river and eat al fresco, taking in the vista.

Some of the shops from yesterday were re-set in the basement. I bought an Atelier Pierrot headdress but it unfortunately went missing T_T.

Yuko managed to find something that fit my mutant breasts (hooray!) and I was clad in an amazing Atelier Pierrot outfit once more. Fairy Wish decided to casually not tell me I was replaced by a more delicately feminine girl XD

After explaining what to do with me, I got to teach the other AP models what poses to do, which was a lot of fun with us all practicing in the hallway and then in the adjacent room to where the show was. It was very enjoyable sashaying around the room to Coco’s wonderful piano playing!

A photo was even put up on the Atelier Pierrot website!

Finally, I helped pack up all the boxes etc before heading back to the guest house, thoroughly tired and hot. Before the taxi arrived I was chatting to my friends and as I was wearing my Moi Meme Moitie dress, Alice said she used to design for MMM before starting Fairy Wish, and Coco had a text from Mana himself on her phone! I think we all fainted with sheer awesomeness when we saw it.

I received some sad news that evening, but it didn’t dampen the fact that I had a magical weekend in Leamington Spa. Before I left, I went to the park opposite the Pump Rooms to feed the pigeons. ;)