Above: Some fans lined up at the front of the store a full day before the event.
Braving the heat to meet their idols
Brandon White, his girlfriend, Amanda, and their friend Shawn lined up near the entrance of Gallery Nucleus at 2 p.m. Friday afternoon, exactly 24 hours before the shop would open its doors to the public. To mark the special occasion, Brandon decided to show off something he has been working on for the past two years: a costume of one of FFX’s most memorable characters, Auron [below right]. As a reward for lining up so early, Brandon and his group already had a chance to meet Kitase and Naora when they stopped by later that Friday.
Above: Brandon’s impressive Auron costume.
But other fans weren’t as lucky. Square Enix limited meet-and-greets to the first 200 people who showed up. That line already wrapped around the building by the time I arrived at noon Saturday.
Beyond that was yet another line that snaked its way through the parking lot behind the gallery. Those who showed up late had to wait back there. Some brought umbrellas to shield themselves from the sun, while others who didn’t have anything for cover used pieces of cardboard leftover from Square Enix’s empty water bottle cases, which they passed along to those waiting in line.
It was here where I spoke with Crystal, who dressed up as the Final Fantasy X-2 version of Yuna [below left], an outfit that she had always wanted to make. A nine-year veteran of the cosplay scene, it took her three weeks to put it together while also working at her full-time job. She drove down from Northern California to meet the developers and buy one of the new Final Fantasy figurines that were also making their debut at the event.
Above: Crystal dressed up as FFX-2’s version of Yuna.
Just a few seconds after she told me this, a representative from Square Enix announced to the crowd that autographs were sold out. Though visibly disappointed by the news, Crystal remained upbeat about her experience.
“I love talking with everyone in line and reminiscing about our favorite moments from the games,” she said. “It’s been really fun wearing this, even though it’s really hot.”
Humbled by their fans
Kitase and Naora don’t take their fans for granted — at some point after I’d left, they both went outside to greet more people in the parking lot. But a few hours before that, when we were still talking in the second floor signing room that overlooked the gallery, I asked them if, after all these years, they were still surprised at how passionate their fans can be.
Kitase noted that due to his constant traveling for community events and media tours, he’s always aware of just how big the fanbase is and how much they continue to support the games. While Naora hasn’t traveled around the world as much as Kitase has, he keeps up with fans on various social networks, and he said he can’t wait to share his experience here with his colleagues back in Japan.
“Fans come up to us and ask for autographs,” Kitase said. “Often times, they bring all their FF games or even [the Super Nintendo JRPG] Chrono Trigger, and they’re already autographed by others like [designer Hironobu Sakaguchi] or [composer Nobuo Uematsu]. And they want our autographs to be on it, too. That’s the difference between the Japanese and Western audiences: Western audiences still value and really appreciate even the older works. I very much appreciate that.”
Click the pages below to check out more pictures from the event.