So there I was on the morning of June 27, 1998, riding the GO bus all the way from Meadowvale with my equally-obsessed anime friend, on my way to check out the Canadian National Anime Expo at the Metro Convention Centre in Toronto. I knew that it would be a really neat experience to see lots of new things relating to some of the anime thai I like-especially Sailor Moon!
We arrived at Union Station at noon and decided to stop off for lunch before checking out the expo. After having a lunch of hamburgers and Cokes, me and my friend walked along the Skywalk (which by the way links Union Station with the Convention Centre, the CN Tower and the SkyDome) and found ourselves at our destination. I checked out the attraction boards located just outside the exhibit hall, and noticed that some of the voice actors from Sailor Moon were going to be there for a question-and-answer period, followed by an autograph session. I knew that this would definitely be something to check out as we entered the exhibit hall.
And it was so kawaii to find so much manga, videos and assorted paraphernalia around as I walked up and down the aisles, stopping by the Voice Stars area to pick up a poster for the autograph session. I was very fortunate to be a part of the Sailor Moon Q-and-A with a whole drove of other fans, finding ourselves face-to-face with the likes of five awesome actors. Those who showed up to entertain the fans included Tracey Hoyt (Rini), Susan Roman (Sailor Jupiter), Stephanie Morgenstern (Sailor Venus), Roland Parliament (Melvin) and Kirsten Bishop (Zoicite/Emerald). Even CITY-TV's sci-fi sister station, Space, showed up to cover the event! I asked a question about whether or not the cast related to their characters in real life-and I was surprised to hear the results-some of them actually did relate to their characters!
Afterwards, I was among the many fans waiting to get autographs from the cast...right near the front of the line! It was cool to meet the stars one-to-one, then getting an autograph from each of them. I left the line with an autographed poster.
When I left the expo, I had also left with a Japanese Sailor Moon comic and a lot of great memories. It was a very cool day!
