Anime Expo 2005 Report (Sachi)

Back "by popular demands", Seki Tomokazu has once again taken presence at AnimeExpo2005! This time, the con made up to around 35,000 attendees. Hundreds of fans showed up for his panel, and although he was only at AX for a short time, fans adored him nonetheless. Here are some good quality pictures I took. f you want to use any pictures in here, please email me or otherwise link back to http://sekitomokazu.com. The Meet the Guest Reception AND the Seki Focus Panel were on July 2.

Photos courtesy from Nyriane ^_^:


If you have any AX2005 Seki pictures and would like to contribute, feel free to! ^__^

Personal Experience:

Note: Please be noted that this is my own experience, and there is a lot of fangirling in here. Therefore insanity reins. Written on 7/5/05.

-- PANEL EXPERIENCE <taken from my LJ>

*GRINS* Rady, Ci, and I, along with Audrey and my sister, got first row for the Seki panel! *___* We planned it from the start that whoever arrived in line first will save for the other party. I called Ci and insisted on buying lunch for her and Rady, so we can eat and wait for the Seki panel together ^^ We went to the same cafe, and I bought yakitori for them and myself just to make life easier XD By the time we came back, the line has gone 8 times longer already @_@ Thank God dear Ci was there. So we finally sat down to talk and got to know each other, and OMG they rock so much XD

The panel line moved! *_* OMG we got the first row of seats, only we were at the way left end of it. Ah well, at least we get to see the side candid view of Seki XD! So, while we were all waiting, they entertained us with Gankutsuou - The Count of Monte Cristo. What was very cool was that, Seki and the staffs silently walked to our corner, waiting to go up the stage, and thank God we were at that end *_*! We got to see him first! At first it was just our corner's cameras that were flashing, and then when everyone else realized, all cameras began to flash! The crowd (surely made up by majority of females) cheered, and our party, we shouted, "SEKI DAISUKI!!!!"

I was holding the camcorder to report his panel, sadly the batteries died after 45 minutes ^_^; His personality is extremely cute of course, and his answers to our questions are rich and fulfilling. I cannot recall every single question that was asked, but I'll list the highlights. Crispin Freeman asked questions for half of the panel, so there wasn't a huge amount for fan questions ^^; So here we go.

He said his impression on the American fans is that, they are most of the time very happy and energetic and tends to overreact on everything he says (and it is so true, but we can't help it XD). He said he came back also cuz he wants to taste the steaks here in America again *LAUGHS*! He performed few lines as Chichiri and Yzak and Kyou-kun too *o*!!! SO ADORABLE AS CHICHIRI~ his voice is still there alright.. Yzak.. he did some uhm... start-mode phrase.. *_*; for Kyou-kun, he yelled about Yuki, but Seki was born in the year of the rat, so in the beginning of his role as Kyou, he didn't want to say bad about the rat ^o^; When someone asked him about his impression on Shuichi, he answered, "kare wa... chotto gay." He recalled his 'bad experience' of being kissed by a guy in elementary and said it was a "bad trick". Seki did not want to sing though ^_^; he was prolly tired and whatnot. His best experience was when, as Chichiri, for a 15 minute part of an episode, he got it perfected on the first take, and they didn't have to do it again. As Ken Hidaka from Weiss, while he cannot relate to the main plot of Weiss, Ken's normal life (former?) is something he can relate to. He also mentioned about having lots of fun at this Harukanaru Toki no Naka de party that he attended ^^

So by the end of the panel, everyone crowded in front to shake his hand. >///< I got to shake his hand and said "Ganbatte" to him~! He is so nice, not to mention PATIENT with the hundreds of fans O_O

-- Meet the Guest Reception EXPERIENCE <taken from my LJ>

So there we are again... me, sis, Audrey, rady, Ci, velessa, Risa-chan, and new buddies setra and baranoneko... we are at the front of the line *____*! Being at the front of the line, we got to be on the Seki table first *__*!! I was two seats away from him. Oh God... to see him up close is so... wow. Audrey gave her Kon doll to him, and he loved it so much! And then I gave him kidchan jiejie's picture, saying it represented all Malaysian fans, and after... I gave him mines >//////< Seki and the translator were looking at it, Seki asked if I made the whole thing, and I said, "Hai".. exchanges of thank yous afterwards~ and the questions start XD!

I asked him about his new role as Suneo-kun in the beloved Doraemon, how he can relate to him (the question came out all choppy when presented;;;), and Seki said... "Well, our family isn't rich to begin with (Suneo-kun is a rich kid), but there are many times when Suneo failed (despite his wealth), and it is very human-like to fail, and that is the part I can relate to." Then my sister asked him what's his favorite item from Doraemon's pocket, Seki's answer is the pen that writes out all the answers on tests for you XD!! Audrey asked him about Ed from Meine Liebe, and his impression on Ed is that, he's a friend that you'd want to have and be around, and while everyone else in the series has something "special" around them, Ed is very normal and therefore his role is not difficult for him to play. He was asked what character he had difficulty playing as, and he used my picture for reference *_*;; his answer was Shuichi because "he's so cute" *LAUGHS* Rady asked him if he would do more live action movies in the future, and it is cute when he responded and asked if she loved Cosmo X ^__^! Isn't he darling.

And finally... my final 'question' was, "...May I give Seki-san a kiss on the cheek...?" The translator had a VERRY hesitant look on her face (and I don't blame her), but the bell of the first round rang, and I assumed it was okay. So... I went up to Seki and kissed his cheek...*TURNS TOMATO* he had this bewildered look afterwards, and exchanges of arigatou proceeded. I have officially kissed him (And there is �l暕�� - people proof and material proof XD;) The initial spark actually came from the fact that I saw someone at the panel kiss his hand, so I went, "okay, Im not holding back any longer!" The translator had to refuse the next fan who asked if she can do so as well, because otherwise Seki'd have to deal with a mountain of them. The whole con will hate me now... anyways, and then proceeded to Kazue-sensei's table and got a picture with her, and she's so nice *_* she passed out her business cards to us! She love drawing guys and girls. After some refreshments, we struggled to get a photo with Seki (Audrey being the lovely photographer), and I helped rady and ci and velessa on their photos.

Overall impression: (more sane)

This year, most definitely we did not have as much time as last year to interact with Seki. He barely got to rest: He arrives on Saturday (meaning he missed the opening ceremony), not long after that day was his panel - Crispin Freeman as his host. Then there is a 30 minute transition after and then the Voice Actor Panel, and with no transition, it is the Meet the Guest Reception right after in the evening. The poor guy just haven't got to rest >_< His autograph session was Sunday at 8 AM (I overslept T__T at least I got his last year), but it did not last for even an hour, only 20 minutes.

But most definitely, I had as much fun time as last year, and it is so nice to see him again! Besides, another fun part is meeting up with Seki fans such as the dears I mentioned above *__*! It felt lots more on the personal level, in which last year I did not get to feel due to the big crowd. At the panel, I got to shake his hand and say ganbatte to him, and he responded. At the reception, the table was not as crowded, so when we asked questions, it felt more direct or face-to-face than last year's reception. I got to give Seki a gift (w/ love~), in which he stared at for few seconds (assume he liked ^///^) , asked him questions, take picture with him, and even got to kiss him on the cheek. I did not stick to his table because others deserve as much of chance, and it is more respectful to Seki than to act as a clingy fan.I definitely felt less distanced, in a way, this year from him, and if he ever comes again, I would want this friendliness to continue. He is such a sweet and wonderful person; I am so thankful he even squeezed in a small amount of time to visit America again despite the busy schedule he has.