"I thought there were more 'Utena' cosplayers than other series for the most part," Ikuhara continues. This despite that fact the each character sports a highly detailed school uniform and long, brightly colored hair. "The clothes are European, so I think it's easier to make. Kimonos are probably harder. 'Utena' costumes are not only easier to make, but each character is also distinguishable. And the colors stand out and are pretty."

Attending the conventions, Ikuhara got to witness the popularity of "Shoujo Kakumei Utena" first hand, even though so far Central Park Media has only released the first 13 episodes. He has high hopes for the remainder of the series, which includes 26 more TV episodes and one feature-length movie. "The Adolescence of Utena" premiered last July at Anime Expo to an enthusiastic fan response.

"In Japan, there are a lot of fans of the second season. A character named Mikage appears, and a lot of girls like him. The second season is the most popular of the series, among girls." Mikage is a male-version of Utena that appears in the second season who plots to turn Ohtori high school against Utena and Anthy. He looks like Utena, right down to the pink hair. Mikage wants Chida, the male counter-part of Anthy, to become the rose bride, and therefore schemes to get rid of Anthy.

Central Park Media recently announced the acquisition of the "Utena" movie, for which they plan to reassemble the cast from the first 13 episodes of the TV series.

Aside from wanting to meet fans in North America, Ikuhara also had another motive for attending conventions, location scouting for his planned move to the US, where he plans to get involved with the North American release of the "Utena" movie.

"I plan on critiquing and checking the DVD subtitles and other translations for the movie. So the quality of subtitles should be okay," he says.

When asked about whether or not he plans on attending more U.S. or Canadian conventions since he's going to be living in Los Angeles, Ikuhara said he has nothing planned, but he may attend if the opportunity arises. "Since I'm going to be living in California, I would like to get to know the local fans as much as possible," he says with a smile.

His primary concern, though, is to pick up conversational English and, as he re-iterates constantly - each time exposing his underlying nervousness - relearn the art of driving.