anime expo 2011
Categories: anime
Tagged: madoka magica
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“Mami gives great head.”
I went to Anime Expo for the first time, and, well, timing couldn’t be better and/or worse. The industry is still pretty raw, but it is recovering from the crash. The fans are as enthusiastic as ever. I really enjoyed being part of somewhere where if you’re actually out of place if you’re not wearing a silly costume. Though next year I need to snag a press pass… I see bloggers from even more obscure blogs than blog好ã get them.
Bandai / Gundam Panel
The Bandai panel just was a horrible, horrible Powerpoint mess. Not only did the computer blue screen, but they had audio issues as well. Plus, the slides sucked. Font too small or just too much going on in a slide. And the clips they show tell me nothing about the anime… the clips just don’t convey any sense of plot and just pimp out the creative staff… “From the people who brought you Mai Otome and Gasaraki…” doesn’t really get me interested. “Table humping” gets me interested. Seriously, can’t they make a half-decent promo? The panel eventually devolved into fanboyism once they started giving out K-On! T-shirts.
The Gundam panel was a bit better. Sunrise provided a 10 minute recap of Gundam clip that was pretty good (especially the part when they pretended Gundam Seed Destiny never happened, they literally skipped over it and straight to Gundam 00 from Gundam Seed.) They answered some serious fanboys questions. (Line was super long so I wasn’t able to ask mine. Sigh.) They gave out some gunpla… and had a sneak peak at Gundam Age, which can be summed up as, “For the little brothers of Gundam fans.”
(Also previewed a clip for Sacred Seven… “No one who plays with stones can be bad!” got a good laugh. Seriously, with the anime already licensed, why not show it at Anime Expo ahead of general availability? It would build a lot of excitement and goodwill for fans… much better than showing Gundam 00 episodes.)
Sentai Panel
Seeing David Williams wax poetic about acquiring all anime licenses as if they were Pokemon reminded me of ADV. I mean, how is Sentai/Section23 not ADV at this point? Still, interesting to note that crazy licensing just won’t stop. And… yeah… why is Bakemonogatari still not licensed?
(Interesting to find out that they basically have a day at most to turn around and do the same day streams. They are finally learning from fansubs.)
K-On! Concert
I have to admit. I enjoyed it. The girls were good. They didn’t play the instruments, but they actually sang and were pretty convincing. The crowd was packed and jumpin’. I was hoping a mosh pit would form. There are some serious K-On! nuts out there that make me seem pale by comparison. The VAs did the whole library from season one from Don’t say Lazy to My Love Is a Stapler. They actually didn’t dub the music and instead provide the dub versions as extras on the media discs.
Cosplayers
Still too many Final Fantasy and Bleach cosplayers. A good number of Madoka ones with Kyubey and Mami being very popular, a few Man-mis. Also popular was Miku cosplayers since, well, she is the guest of honor. Saw some obscure characters like Man-ma, Mariya (in a bathroom no less), cast of Nadesico, and Fran. Sadly, I only saw one Nichijou cosplayer.
And, yes, that is no cosplay but the actual black ranger himself, Zack Taylor. He still looks like he did on the show, and he’s probably still living off of residuals for the show.
Masquerade
Hit or miss, mostly miss, but the Nokia Theatre was really nice. Wish I could have gotten tickets to Miku from the night before, but people were complaining that the crowd was quite rowdy for Miku. There were a few decent skits, including one that mashed up Inception with Haruhi Suzumiya and one that just made fun of Star Driver‘s ridiculous transformation sequence (pictured). In both Star Driver entries, Kanako was featured… I guess her S&M captain’s outfit is a hit.
Lewts
I guess Niconico.com was trying to make a splash since I got a T-shirt and a water bottle from them. I stood in line (and eventually bought) a Cheer for Japan Nendroid Miku before they sold out. Got talked out of buying a Ver.Ka Mecha Haruhi for $50. Tried to find some Kyubey toys, but everyone was sold out of Kyubey, “Very popular”.
Tips
For people planning on going to AX, I have a few tips… parking two blocks away from the convention center will save you tons of money; there is plenty of cheap parking around so avoid hotel/LACC parking if possible… food trucks are great for a quick and (relatively) cheap lunch… bring a water bottle… bring a poster tube (if you want to collect posters and there’s going to be free posters)… lines, lines, lines everywhere… Dennys will be very crowded.
Overall, I had a great time. It was tiring and hectic, but it’s nice to chill and hang out with 40,000 or so other anime fans. I thought Fanime was big, but AX is almost three times its size, and it’s bigger than any normal industry convention I’ve been to at LACC. Also, the food truck convention outside was a nice touch. LA foodtrucks are always a welcome treat.
19 Responses to “anime expo 2011”
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That’s… a lot of Morning Rescue cosplays. Seems like a concerted effort along with the Madoka participants.
True story: I was planning to take my nephew to Anime Expo 2011. Ended up in surgery on July 1 in Columbus instead. *heavy sigh*
I’m aiming to go in 2012. If I spot you there, I’ll buy you a drink.
Good to see that you went, I didn’t get Miku tickets either so I didn’t bother making the trip but I can always hope for next year. Did you attend the AX Idol competition at all?
That Mami cosplayer in the first pic… doesn’t quite look like her. Nice Charlotte, though.
I am going to guess that the one Nichijou cosplayer was playing Mio, since people like simple blue hair, and school uniforms and wood blocks are easy. I suspect next time you’d see a Nano, assuming someone figure a good way to make that key in her back (more awesome if motorized).
@ithekro this. need a nano cosplayer now.
LOL All the madoka and morning rescue cosplayers so good xD
Just saw a few clips of the K-on thing really cool! I bet the fans were nuts about the music ahahah
Oh nice! I would have loved to see some Nichikou cosplayers!
Rowdy is a strange way to describe the Miku crowd, how about excited, thrilled, enthusiastic. That’s what I felt there
I added a tips section. Also…
What a perfectly normal looking person. Now where is this Nichijou cosplayer?
.
(Needs a loli professor and black cat plushy for maximum effect)
Much as I like Bakemonogatari, I want to know why Ef was never licensed?
Both ef seasons are licensed by Sentai.
I went to Anime Expo from 2001 to 2005. Let me tell you, it grew like wildfire in those years. I remember when they had to change venues. I also remember all the times they were double booked with religious conferences. I tell you, the most hilarious thing is seeing heavily religious grandmothers next to a satan cosplayer.
One thing that AX never got right in the time I was there were lines. I remember standing in line for the AMV contest for 3 hours in the blazing SoCal sun. Not fun stuff, and they never did get their act together. If something started only an hour late it was considered a miracle.
One of the most hilarious things happened because of the delay. One year, I believe 2002, the AMV contest was starting late. We stood for hours in the sun before being let in. The problem was, even though we were seated in this huge amphitheater, they STILL weren’t ready. The amphitheater had two levels, and people got bored. It so happened that people had their swag bags filled with advertisements, and someone put two and two together and made a paper airplane. Soon people were flinging the things off the edge, and watching them dive bomb the people below. That was until someone made the perfect paper airplane. It glided gracefully, elegantly, staying aloft all the way to the stage…
…where it promptly embedded itself into the giant projector screen. Needless to say, the director came out and yelled at us, saying something like “You just punctured a $1500 screen” or something like that. I forget the actual cost. They didn’t let people in early again after that.
I stand corrected. Upon googling it, it looks like it was a $10,000 screen. Either way it was a hilarious end. They canceled the event and told us all to leave. I can’t say they didn’t earn it though, for running the thing so badly.
Just what are you doing to that Nano at the men’s roo- OH GENTLEMAN NO!
“Both ef seasons are licensed by Sentai.”
Wow its about time, guess that just happened, thanks for the update!
Being the biggest Anime Convention in the USA, it is really something I want to do some day.
If LA wasn’t on the complete opposite coast………
Or well, I’ll just have to live with the second biggest (Otakon) :D
OMG who ever took the nano photo thank you XDDDD <3 thats me :3
do you know anyone who took pictures of food trucks i the smaller lot near the exit of the convention center/ trying to find out the name of a kick ass truck
might have been on the first day