My Experience at Anime Expo 2011

KazeHydra

Japan2788 Posts

July 07 2011 02:40 GMT

As much as I love Starcraft, I admit that I am an even bigger anime fan. So this past weekend, I finally made my way to my first anime convention, the annual Anime Expo in Los Angeles. I flew down from the bay area and stayed at my friend’s who would also be going with me. I attended all 4 days (5 including day 0) and still felt like I didn’t really do anything. In reality, I didn’t actually do that much aside from taking a lot of pictures of the cosplayers and wandering around the exhibit hall. It was extremely tiring walking/standing around most of the day for 5 days in a row and taking breaks to rest just made me feel like I was wasting time. In the end, I had a ton of fun and really hope to go to future ones.

Day 0

Day 0 was June 30th and involved standing (they wouldn’t let us sit

) in a line for hours just to get our convention badge, followed by another line to get main event (for me, concerts) tickets. I arrived at the convention center at 12:30pm to find a huge line of thousands of people already formed. Pretty ridiculous when you consider that the line didn’t open until 3pm.

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although this looks like a blob, it is actually a snake-like line. see that door way in back in the center? That's the entrance. The left side is the front, the right side is the back. There's also a bunch of people behind this picture. Long line indeed.

The only reason to do this would be to avoid standing in line when the convention has already started the next day. Finally, after 6 hours, I was pretty happy to get my concert tickets and held onto them with great paranoia. After all, the 2 concerts I planned to attend, Kalafina and Hatsune Miku, were sold out completely.

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There were a surprising amount of cosplayers on day 0, but I didn’t take pictures because I’m a loser who would feel bad about leaving and re-entering lines without a legitimate reason.

Day 1

I got to the convention around 11am after spending too much time in the kitchen making sandwiches for myself to find a huge line just like the day before. I walked past them all and straight into the convention without a care – hey, I had to do that the day before. What I found when I walked in was a huge lobby filled with hundreds of people, lots of cosplaying, and lots of picture taking. However, I did not quite have the time to indulge in pictures, as the Kalafina panel would begin in half an hour. While I waited in line, I saw a lot of Madoka cosplaying; no surprise there as a good percentage of people there only knew Kalafina because of their latest single Magia was the ending song for it, which was hugely popular.

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Finally after an hour, the doors opened, the line moved, and I got to see Kalafina in person! No pictures were allowed, unfortunately. The trio of girls had decent English, for foreigners, and their personalities were nothing like I expected. Known for their “dark” music, I sort of got the impression that they would be more on the stoic and boring side. On the contrary, they were fun, lively, and excited to see all the fans and dare I say: cute? +1 for Kalafina.

Afterwards, I hopped into another line for a Miku keynote. Unfortunately, as you may have noticed, the panels were delayed more and more as the day passed, and the keynote started at 3:20. It was supposed to end at 3:20 and I needed to go to a Kalafina autograph line at 3:30. Sorry Miku, but a simple keynote speech is not as great as autographs. On my way there, I flagged down a salesman for

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MORNING LESCUUUUUEE

I met some pretty intense Kalafina fans in line and felt very out of place. Although I enjoyed their songs, I wasn’t much of a fan. To me, Kalafina was like those artists who you have a few of their songs that you enjoy, but they aren’t good enough that you would go looking for their music. Of course, even though I wasn’t much of a fan, I wasn’t going to give up the chance at their autograph! When it was finally my turn, I was quite flustered. They were actually much prettier than I expected and I was standing right next to them. They spoke in simple English to me and I was too happy to say any of the Japanese that I knew from watching hundreds of subbed anime series. I managed to spit out a “konichiwa” and “arigatou” to each of them and nothing else. Regardless, they were very friendly to me and felt like super normal people. Moreover, I completely forgot to ask to get handshakes! Disappointment ensued, but I was equally excited to be holding an autographed CD. +2 to Kalafina

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I tried to sneak a picture of Keiko, but it was blurry because I had to dodge several pairs of suspicious eyes.

The rest of the day proceeded slowly and quickly at the same time. I didn’t have any other plans and as it was still day 1, I wasn’t in the picture taking frenzy yet. Nevertheless, I wandered around aimlessly as I hadn’t learned the layout of the place yet, and snapped a few decent photos.

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very impressive Bumblebee

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Alois Trancy - Black Butler

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only way to look up a stranger's skirt without anyone thinking poorly of it

I ended the day by watching a dubbed version of Shakugan no Shana – for two reasons. Firstly, my legs and feet were way too exhausted to walk to the car. Second, because I thought it was the best thing playing, despite being dubbed. Many facepalms occurred as I had forgotten how bad dub can be. In the end, I learned a single great lesson of life: Kugimiya Rie and her infamous triple urusai can never, should never be dubbed in English ever by anyone. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Much pain ensued.

Day 2

I had no plans for day 2 until what would be the greatest concerts of my life later that night, so I spent some time at the exhibit hall looking at all kinds of anime related things – from things I liked to things I would never touch to things that I never want to see again. For the record, while I may one day put up anime posters in my room for people to judge my character, I would never, NEVER buy a body pillow of a naked Horo or Yoko. And yet, wherever I looked, someone was carrying around a purchased one. It is a dangerous thing when you try to bring your love for the 2D into your 3D life. I also began what would become a photo frenzy the next day.
+ Show Spoiler [Day 2 pics] +

Tomoyo - Tsubasa Resevoir Chronicles

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Charlotte - Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica

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pretty good predator

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Ganondorf - Legend of Zelda

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almost a full set of Rozen Maidens

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long cat is long

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not sure what they are but pretty amazing costumes
edit: Final Fantasy VIII characters. thanks danmooj1

CC, bringing product placement to cosplay - Code Geass

Then it was concert time. I’ll be honest: I did not expect anything impressive from Kalafina. When they started singing and all those crazy fans cheered, I was just standing there (standing only to begin with) and listened with enjoyment. 30 minutes in, I was jumping, clapping, screaming, cheering, and following whatever the crowd was doing as well. When they started interacting with the crowd, I got really excited and to say I was disappointed when it ended would be an understatement. On top of all that, Kalafina’s MCs were quite entertaining as they had preprinted English speeches to read off of, but they didn’t let that hinder their entertainment value and stage presence. Furthermore, the small venue allowed for the craziest of fans to talk (shout) to them directly to which they responded. Sorry, but I don’t think they’re willing to go home with you, person who asked. +5 to Kalafina.

One of those hands is mine...I think.

Next up was what everyone (who had a ticket) was waiting for, Hatsune Miku! For those who don’t know, she is literally a 2D celebrity and singer. Her voice is computer synthesized and projections are used to give her a 3D like appearance on stage. I’m not much of a Miku fan (compared to the extremists that were there), but I do think she is amazing and awesome and I love her singing. From the moment she appeared, the majority of the audience (everyone except the front ~20 rows) jumped to their feet (this venue had chairs to sit). For the entirety of the concert, my dying legs and angry feet would be slaving away to keep me upright, but I didn’t care: THIS. WAS. MIKU. I expect this was the reason the front rows did not stand. When Rin and Len appeared, my voice started hurting from the screaming, and when Luka appeared, my throat was very upset with me too. At the end of Just Be Friends, my arms were exhausted from the waving. My body was not pleased with how I abused it this day. Honestly though, the quality of the singing is almost the same as listening to youtube videos, the one drawback of being a computer program. Sure, if you’re an audiophile you can hear a clear difference, plus the obvious difference in decibels, but in the end, the fans were who made the concert amazing and fun, not the performer.

Day 3

There was only one thing to do day 3: get another Kalafina autograph. I knew the drill, got in line, waited patiently, and then I heard those fateful words: “No handshakes allowed.” But, but…I want to…touch them…in a completely acceptable and professional manner. Then my friend and I noticed that they were actually giving out handshakes, even though that silly staff person said otherwise. So I do get to mutually touch Kalafina in completely appropriate places in a professional manner after all! It was the best ~30 seconds of AX. I remembered to say my prepared sentences to Hikaru and Keiko and they responded. Then I got to Wakana and I totally messed up my Japanese. GOMEN! Regardless, it was still even more exciting than day 1, mainly because I had become a true Kalafina fan and got their handshakes this time. Kalafina +100

another signed CD. 2 hearts this time <3

The rest of the day + day 4 was nothing but picture taking. Seeing all the cosplaying and joining huge crowds of cameras was extremely fun for me. Recognizing characters and seeing awesome characters that no one else dressed as was like a treasure hunt. Ironically, I did not take pictures of the popular characters because so many were poorly done. When I did see a good one, I would think how I’d already seen enough, forgetting I didn’t actually get any pictures yet. I fixed this thinking day 4, but by then, a lot of people were gone or didn’t dress up.
+ Show Spoiler [day 3 and 4 pics] +

nyannyannyanyanyan

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super amazing Hatsune Miku

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Trigun gathering

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the contract is complete...

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amazing Left 4 Dead. the girl was totally into her part, screaming in a bloody rage.

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Zoro - One Piece

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TWGOK gathering.

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Princess Mononoke

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Morning Rescue being handed to a Yukiatsu. not a Menma. I saw many Yukiatsus...as Menma.

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Master Roshi

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Best way to use children: make a more accurate cosplay

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Togame - Katanagatari, I was very happy to find this one

Orange-kun!

Greed and Pride - Full Metal Alchemist

I feel like this is WoW, but I've never played it so I don't know.

this girl is crazy. she prepared a mysterious brown liquid which she slowly oozed out from her mouth during photoshoots

Assassin's Creed group

Although I took way more than what I’ve shown, I still missed so many good characters that I either saw but didn’t manage to get a picture, or saw on someone else’s AX photo album. Shana, Mayuri (Stein’s Gate), Tomoyo (Clannad), Death the Kid (Soul Eater), Hitagi (Bakemonogatari), Saber (Fate/Stay Night), and many, many, more. Regardless, I still had an awesome time even if it was mostly Kalafina stalking and picture taking, and I can’t wait to (hopefully) go next year. Nana Mizuki, I expect you there, but that's for another time for another blog.

Some things to note that I’ve learned for those who plan to attend in the future:
-line up early for good seats. If you don’t care about seats, that’s fine, but even lining up an hour early got me only half decent seats sometimes, and then coupled with the fact that the events got delayed, the lines got VERY long.
-bring stuff to do while you wait in line. Those lines, especially to get your badge, are no joke.
-bring water and food from home. The food there is beyond expensive, and even if you have the money to shell out, they can actually run out of food since there’re so many people there.
- take breaks. You do so much standing and walking around, your legs will thank you if you take breaks even if you aren’t tired yet.
-if you want a picture, just ask! I was pretty timid about asking the first couple days, but I regretted not getting so many pictures, so I just went all out days 3 and 4. All the cosplayers are very nice about it and are almost always happy to pose.
-carpool as much as possible. LA traffic can get very bad and you also save money on parking ($12 every day)
-don’t feel like you have to stay with your friends. Sure, things are more fun with friends, but if you have conflicting interests, it’s worth it to separate. Meet other people with similar interests!

Thanks for reading my first blog!
TL;DR - Kalafina is amazing.

edit: TL bot is angry with me. gotta resize those pics

danmooj1

United States1855 Posts

July 07 2011 02:44 GMT

not sure what they are but pretty amazing costumes

Final Fantasy 8 I believe

cool pics!

Ryusei-R1

United States2106 Posts

July 07 2011 03:05 GMT

Yeahhh I went to AX this year also. The only memorable things was the loot I gathered and the Niconico.com booth. Last year me and my friends went to the panel (Nico Nico 101) and the sequel took place this year. The Mega64 panel was also fucking hilarious.

Other than that, AX was a let down this year.

blahz0r

3030 Posts

July 07 2011 03:09 GMT

On July 07 2011 11:44 danmooj1 wrote:

Show nested quote +

Final Fantasy 8 I believe

cool pics!

Definitely Final Fantasy 8.

Most of the cosplays I saw from other sources were pretty 'meh'. Surprisingly I thought there would be tons of Steins;Gate and/or Hidan no Aria ones but I could barely find any.

KazeHydra

Japan2788 Posts

July 07 2011 03:20 GMT

On July 07 2011 12:05 Ryusei-R1 wrote:
Yeahhh I went to AX this year also. The only memorable things was the loot I gathered and the Niconico.com booth. Last year me and my friends went to the panel (Nico Nico 101) and the sequel took place this year. The Mega64 panel was also fucking hilarious.

Other than that, AX was a let down this year.

I see. If it was a let down, then I hope next year's isn't. Since this was my first ever anime convention, I didn't really have anything to judge it by so it seemed awesome to me, but on second thought, the majority of my amusement came from cosplayers and not the actual panels.

On July 07 2011 12:09 blahz0r wrote:

Show nested quote +

thanks for the confirmation ^_^ It would be from one of the few FF I never got around to playing. I was really hoping to see some Kurisu's or Kyouma's but yeah, I didn't notice any Stein's Gate. I only saw a very good Mayuri who I didn't get a picture of

neobowman

Canada3324 Posts

July 07 2011 03:59 GMT

We never get anything as amazing up north.

udgnim

United States8024 Posts

July 07 2011 04:37 GMT

MichaelEU

Netherlands816 Posts

July 07 2011 11:34 GMT

The best cosplay is clearly Canon-chan as Yukiatsu.

+ Show Spoiler +

Zergneedsfood

United States10671 Posts

July 07 2011 12:44 GMT

I'm sooo jealous.

I swear the girl on the left in your first picture is someone I know.....but I doubt it....

Luckily, my friend got me something for AX so I feel a little better.

Ferrose

United States11378 Posts

July 07 2011 13:42 GMT

#10

On July 07 2011 20:34 MichaelEU wrote:
The best cosplay is clearly Canon-chan as Yukiatsu.

+ Show Spoiler +

+ Show Spoiler +

@ KazeHydra: I could not be more jealous of you because you got to see the Kalafina and Miku concerts.

Do you live in California? Are you going to Comic Con later this month?

Garnet

Vietnam9043 Posts

July 07 2011 13:47 GMT

#11

You deleted a lot of pics didn't you?

KazeHydra

Japan2788 Posts

July 07 2011 20:09 GMT

#12

@Ferrose: Yeah I live in California but the trip down south to LA/SD area is no small task. It was worth it this time for Kalafina and Miku, but usually it's too far for me to choose to go. It's bad enough that I have to do it several times a year for college already.

@Garnet: Nope I just moved them into a spoiler tag.

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