Anime Expo 2011 Convention Report (in progress)
Boy, I sure let this LJ account idle for over a month. Most of my documented experience exists in hard copy journals for Anime Expo. There was a big event in Nokia Theater with the Miku Hatsune concert sponsored by Toyota. I am tickled by the Toyota car ads that have lots of Miku but few cars. Wish I got tickets before they sold out. Mikunopolis looked hellla good.
I am grateful for any day of a con I can get. So I am indeed grateful for arriving on "Day 0" of Anime Expo and going through the closings, then topping it off by seeing the third Transformers movie later that night. The next day (today) was a car trip up back North in 107 degree weather. (Farenheit.) Still, I yearn for during my college and post-college years when I had the time to stay a full week down there on vacation. Instead of going back up on the night of the con or the morning after the con, we'd spend a whole day just relaxing with friends. We'd go to Gardena, or Little Tokyo, or the old Gamers store. (I miss that place.) But at least this year I did not have to fly up the morning of day four of AX because I had to work that very same day. Worst 4th of July I ever had.
During Anime Expo, I met the soldier who help make "I'll Save You Meguca" an internet meme. His pal is an artist named Comissar Nyoron with a DevianTART page here.
J-list sure is cranking out cool stuff this year. Sure with they didn't sell out of the Kyubei shirts. So many Madoka Magica fans at AX. At least I got their shirt designed by Culture Japan's Danny Choo. He came back to AX this year and just was fun.
I nearly missed seeing the Anime Music Video contest this year. I only was able to see it because they screened it for a third time. The list of the finalists screened is posted in Anime Expo forums. In fact, RIGHT HERE.
2011 was a special year. It is Anime Expo's 20th Anniversary. It's is also the debut of AM2 in Anaheim at the old AX site and run by ex-AX staffers from the big 2007 schism. To put it on the same weekend in the next city over as AS is epic trollin' to me. AM2 boasts 8,000 attendees. Down from last night's claim of 11,000. Anime Expo tallied 47,000 unique attendees.
One thing also new this year at Anime Expo in L.A. was all of the food trucks. We had over a dozen trucks easy outside the convention center. It was like Off the Grid SF everyday. Ahn Joo, a Korean bar food truck actually hit both Anime Expo and Anime Music Manga. You can find the Los Angeles trucks at Roaming Hunger L.A.
I look at my leftover cash and have a reverse version of buyer's remorse. Some stuff on my shopping list was either sold out or not available. Funimation is cutting several series due to low sales. I wanted to get my copies of "When They Cry" and "Zero no Tsukaima" before they're gone. Funimation's booth also only had new releases for sale, so no go on me finding a box set of AIR with the time I had. At least I got most of what I wanted from Manga Gamer. Just not the Kohime Musou shirt. They'll be your only fix for any "When They Cry" stuff for now.
On the way home, we made a stop atdamned_mayhem 's house. Got my first feel of a Sig Sauer P229 in .40 S&W and P220 in .45. It does have a nice feel in the hand. Looks like it'll be a while before Dragons Anime will post the AM2 and AX 2011 reports.
I am grateful for any day of a con I can get. So I am indeed grateful for arriving on "Day 0" of Anime Expo and going through the closings, then topping it off by seeing the third Transformers movie later that night. The next day (today) was a car trip up back North in 107 degree weather. (Farenheit.) Still, I yearn for during my college and post-college years when I had the time to stay a full week down there on vacation. Instead of going back up on the night of the con or the morning after the con, we'd spend a whole day just relaxing with friends. We'd go to Gardena, or Little Tokyo, or the old Gamers store. (I miss that place.) But at least this year I did not have to fly up the morning of day four of AX because I had to work that very same day. Worst 4th of July I ever had.
During Anime Expo, I met the soldier who help make "I'll Save You Meguca" an internet meme. His pal is an artist named Comissar Nyoron with a DevianTART page here.
J-list sure is cranking out cool stuff this year. Sure with they didn't sell out of the Kyubei shirts. So many Madoka Magica fans at AX. At least I got their shirt designed by Culture Japan's Danny Choo. He came back to AX this year and just was fun.
I nearly missed seeing the Anime Music Video contest this year. I only was able to see it because they screened it for a third time. The list of the finalists screened is posted in Anime Expo forums. In fact, RIGHT HERE.
2011 was a special year. It is Anime Expo's 20th Anniversary. It's is also the debut of AM2 in Anaheim at the old AX site and run by ex-AX staffers from the big 2007 schism. To put it on the same weekend in the next city over as AS is epic trollin' to me. AM2 boasts 8,000 attendees. Down from last night's claim of 11,000. Anime Expo tallied 47,000 unique attendees.
One thing also new this year at Anime Expo in L.A. was all of the food trucks. We had over a dozen trucks easy outside the convention center. It was like Off the Grid SF everyday. Ahn Joo, a Korean bar food truck actually hit both Anime Expo and Anime Music Manga. You can find the Los Angeles trucks at Roaming Hunger L.A.
I look at my leftover cash and have a reverse version of buyer's remorse. Some stuff on my shopping list was either sold out or not available. Funimation is cutting several series due to low sales. I wanted to get my copies of "When They Cry" and "Zero no Tsukaima" before they're gone. Funimation's booth also only had new releases for sale, so no go on me finding a box set of AIR with the time I had. At least I got most of what I wanted from Manga Gamer. Just not the Kohime Musou shirt. They'll be your only fix for any "When They Cry" stuff for now.
On the way home, we made a stop atdamned_mayhem 's house. Got my first feel of a Sig Sauer P229 in .40 S&W and P220 in .45. It does have a nice feel in the hand. Looks like it'll be a while before Dragons Anime will post the AM2 and AX 2011 reports.