Anime Expo 2013 Con Report
Thursday, July 4
First day of Anime Expo. I headed out at 8am from Torrance because I wasn't sure how traffic would be and also because I wanted to get relatively good parking at the convention center. Today, I worked at the Bushiroad booth in the stage area, so I was on my feet pretty much the whole time. I had a lunch break at 1pm, so I went to charmwitch's, milk_of_lime's, and kurot's tables to purchase prints. (I was on a shopping mission as proxy for maiki. XD) I also randomly ran into Alysa briefly before returning to work. Had dinner with Yoshi and his mom at their house.
Shiro from Deadman Wonderland
My Shingeki no Kyojin-themed phone for the weekend
Friday, July 5
Headed out again at 8am. Worked at Bushiroad booth again, and had lunch break at 12pm. Spent my lunch break outside eating my lunch and checking Twitter. Then worked until closing. At sometime during my shift, during different times, Aya, phi, kixies, and xaevyn stopped by. Took KL and Kurot to get more prints, then had dinner in Koreatown at Kang Hodong Baekjeong (Korean BBQ). We also made a stop at the grocery store before I took them back to their hotel. When I got back to Torrance, Gen (shiba inu) was very hyper because he'd been alone in the house for several hours (Mrs. W went at the DBSK concert), so I played with him for a little while before showering and turning in for the night.
Milla and Jude (phi) from Tales of Xillia at Bandai Namco booth
Klein from Sword Art Online
Hummingbird from Deadman Wonderland
KBBQ @ Kang Hodong Baekjeong
Saturday, July 6
Yoshi forgot his phone at the house this morning, so I had to wait to meet up with him in the convention center to return his phone to him. Then, I visited Christine, Vinnie, and kiwimangoodness at their tables as well as Lav, KL, and Jamuko at their respective tables. At about 10:40am, I went over to briefly see Nita, Jo-Ann, and their two guests (Okada and Kikuchi) at the NIS America Booth. Then I went back to the Artist Alley for a little while before wandering in the right side of the dealers' section. I found a booth that was giving out its last 4 big The Garden of Words posters, and also saw they were selling the movie early.
I then bought some snacks and waited outside the Lounge 21 from 12:30pm to watch for the line for The Garden of Words Reception. Met a girl named Kelly who was also there for the same event, and we talked while we waited. When it came time for going in, we had the VIP pass to enter early, so we both went in at the same time. Also, Ayli had one of the passes I got, so she also came in with us. Turned out it wasn't so much a reception as an autograph session. (They skipped the reception portion because the event started late.)
I spoke to Shinkai in Japanese, told him I my favorite was 5 Centimeters Per Second (I was having him sign the novel). He asked me if I had read the book yet, and I replied that I had already read it. He also indicated that he was currently working on the novelization of The Garden of Words. So, I said I'd definitely read it. XD
All this time, I had the omiyage that I had meant to give him in my bag, but I forgot to give it to him during that exchange. So after, I wrote a note with it and passed it over to his staff/handler. That guy had me include my email address for later. (I guess for Shinkai to email thanks later? =Oa)
Then, I went back to the exhibit hall and stuck around with Bushiroad booth people to kill time until it was time to meet up with gem2niki, lucathia_rykatu, her brother, and charmwitch for dinner. G2N and Lucathia went to the Porno Graffitti concert, and it seemed to be running a little late. So by the time we were going for dinner, the place we originally wanted to try, Restaurant Aoi, was going to be closing soon (that and we saw a lot of people outside of it). So, instead, we went to Suehiro Cafe, just a bit down from it but on the same street, since it opened longer. After dinner, we went next door where Angie and I bought boba drinks. Then I drove them back to their hotel (they all stayed at the same hotel) before I went back to Torrance to pack, shower, and sleep.
The Garden of Words Reception @ Lounge 21
Shinkai signing for girl before xaevyn
Annie from Shingeki no Kyojin
Titan-version Eren from Shingeki no Kyojin
Karaage @ Suehiro Cafe
Zaru soba @ Suehiro Cafe
Sunday, July 7
I headed out at 8:15am today, but packed up my car with my stuff since I wouldn't be returning to the house. I went to line up for the Shinkai panel early, but they hadn't formed a line yet because the Naruto line was there. Anyone there for the Shinkai panel had to wait until the Naruto line went in before forming the Shinkai line, so we just hung around near the line area. I ended up being 5th in line and met these two other people from Texas who lined up with me. Eventually saw Phi, but she lined up in the back, and then Ayli came and lined up with me. Steph went in as Industry, but she saved the 3 of us seats (we sat 4th row). I took notes on the panel. 9 people asked questions, including someone I knew from UCLA Anime Club back when I went there.
[NOTE: When I have more time later to type up my notes from the panel, I'll link to them here.]
After the panel, Ayli, Phi, and I went back to the exhibit hall so Ayli could run a shopping mission for a couple people, then we parted from Phi. I went with Ayli to see the GR people because I knew a number of them but hadn't had a chance to see them most of con. Then I went back one last time to see Bushiroad people before dinner.
Dinner was at Curry House in Little Tokyo's Weller Court with without_reason, @Jamuko, and a few other friends of Feria. We finished dinner at just a good time because then it was time to take Feria to the airport for her flight. Then I took Jamuko to my old house, where we loaded some stuff in the backseat of the car to take down to OC, and then I dropped Jamuko off at her place which was less than 10 miles away from home.
The Garden of Words Panel pic 1
The Garden of Words Panel pic 2
The Garden of Words Panel pic 3
Teppan Neapolitan @ Curry House
The Haul
The Garden of Words poster x3 (from Sentai Filmworks booth)
The Garden of Words postcards x4 (from Sentai Filmworks booth)
Taisei Corporation Notepad x 2 (given out at Lounge 21 event)
Taisei Corporation clear file x2 (given out at Lounge 21 event and panel)
[vid for Taisei Corporation → here]
The Garden of Words big poster (from some booth behind Sentai Filmworks booth)
The Garden of Words Blu-Ray (from the same booth as the big poster)
Solstoria prints bought from charmwitch
Dangan Ronpa, Shingeki no Kyojin, and Free! prints bought from kurot
Shingeki no Kyojin, Evangelion New Movie version, Pokemon, and Free! prints bought from milk_of_lime
Shingeki no Kyojin purikura stickers from milk_of_lime, Shingeki no Kyojin print from @LavenderIce
Autographed 5 Centimeters Per Second novel by Makoto Shinkai! ♥
Other con reports:
gem2niki → Part 1 Part 2(f-locked)
First day of Anime Expo. I headed out at 8am from Torrance because I wasn't sure how traffic would be and also because I wanted to get relatively good parking at the convention center. Today, I worked at the Bushiroad booth in the stage area, so I was on my feet pretty much the whole time. I had a lunch break at 1pm, so I went to charmwitch's, milk_of_lime's, and kurot's tables to purchase prints. (I was on a shopping mission as proxy for maiki. XD) I also randomly ran into Alysa briefly before returning to work. Had dinner with Yoshi and his mom at their house.
Shiro from Deadman Wonderland
My Shingeki no Kyojin-themed phone for the weekend
Friday, July 5
Headed out again at 8am. Worked at Bushiroad booth again, and had lunch break at 12pm. Spent my lunch break outside eating my lunch and checking Twitter. Then worked until closing. At sometime during my shift, during different times, Aya, phi, kixies, and xaevyn stopped by. Took KL and Kurot to get more prints, then had dinner in Koreatown at Kang Hodong Baekjeong (Korean BBQ). We also made a stop at the grocery store before I took them back to their hotel. When I got back to Torrance, Gen (shiba inu) was very hyper because he'd been alone in the house for several hours (Mrs. W went at the DBSK concert), so I played with him for a little while before showering and turning in for the night.
Milla and Jude (phi) from Tales of Xillia at Bandai Namco booth
Klein from Sword Art Online
Hummingbird from Deadman Wonderland
KBBQ @ Kang Hodong Baekjeong
Saturday, July 6
Yoshi forgot his phone at the house this morning, so I had to wait to meet up with him in the convention center to return his phone to him. Then, I visited Christine, Vinnie, and kiwimangoodness at their tables as well as Lav, KL, and Jamuko at their respective tables. At about 10:40am, I went over to briefly see Nita, Jo-Ann, and their two guests (Okada and Kikuchi) at the NIS America Booth. Then I went back to the Artist Alley for a little while before wandering in the right side of the dealers' section. I found a booth that was giving out its last 4 big The Garden of Words posters, and also saw they were selling the movie early.
I then bought some snacks and waited outside the Lounge 21 from 12:30pm to watch for the line for The Garden of Words Reception. Met a girl named Kelly who was also there for the same event, and we talked while we waited. When it came time for going in, we had the VIP pass to enter early, so we both went in at the same time. Also, Ayli had one of the passes I got, so she also came in with us. Turned out it wasn't so much a reception as an autograph session. (They skipped the reception portion because the event started late.)
I spoke to Shinkai in Japanese, told him I my favorite was 5 Centimeters Per Second (I was having him sign the novel). He asked me if I had read the book yet, and I replied that I had already read it. He also indicated that he was currently working on the novelization of The Garden of Words. So, I said I'd definitely read it. XD
All this time, I had the omiyage that I had meant to give him in my bag, but I forgot to give it to him during that exchange. So after, I wrote a note with it and passed it over to his staff/handler. That guy had me include my email address for later. (I guess for Shinkai to email thanks later? =Oa)
Then, I went back to the exhibit hall and stuck around with Bushiroad booth people to kill time until it was time to meet up with gem2niki, lucathia_rykatu, her brother, and charmwitch for dinner. G2N and Lucathia went to the Porno Graffitti concert, and it seemed to be running a little late. So by the time we were going for dinner, the place we originally wanted to try, Restaurant Aoi, was going to be closing soon (that and we saw a lot of people outside of it). So, instead, we went to Suehiro Cafe, just a bit down from it but on the same street, since it opened longer. After dinner, we went next door where Angie and I bought boba drinks. Then I drove them back to their hotel (they all stayed at the same hotel) before I went back to Torrance to pack, shower, and sleep.
The Garden of Words Reception @ Lounge 21
Shinkai signing for girl before xaevyn
Annie from Shingeki no Kyojin
Titan-version Eren from Shingeki no Kyojin
Karaage @ Suehiro Cafe
Zaru soba @ Suehiro Cafe
Sunday, July 7
I headed out at 8:15am today, but packed up my car with my stuff since I wouldn't be returning to the house. I went to line up for the Shinkai panel early, but they hadn't formed a line yet because the Naruto line was there. Anyone there for the Shinkai panel had to wait until the Naruto line went in before forming the Shinkai line, so we just hung around near the line area. I ended up being 5th in line and met these two other people from Texas who lined up with me. Eventually saw Phi, but she lined up in the back, and then Ayli came and lined up with me. Steph went in as Industry, but she saved the 3 of us seats (we sat 4th row). I took notes on the panel. 9 people asked questions, including someone I knew from UCLA Anime Club back when I went there.
[NOTE: When I have more time later to type up my notes from the panel, I'll link to them here.]
After the panel, Ayli, Phi, and I went back to the exhibit hall so Ayli could run a shopping mission for a couple people, then we parted from Phi. I went with Ayli to see the GR people because I knew a number of them but hadn't had a chance to see them most of con. Then I went back one last time to see Bushiroad people before dinner.
Dinner was at Curry House in Little Tokyo's Weller Court with without_reason, @Jamuko, and a few other friends of Feria. We finished dinner at just a good time because then it was time to take Feria to the airport for her flight. Then I took Jamuko to my old house, where we loaded some stuff in the backseat of the car to take down to OC, and then I dropped Jamuko off at her place which was less than 10 miles away from home.
The Garden of Words Panel pic 1
The Garden of Words Panel pic 2
The Garden of Words Panel pic 3
Teppan Neapolitan @ Curry House
The Haul
The Garden of Words poster x3 (from Sentai Filmworks booth)
The Garden of Words postcards x4 (from Sentai Filmworks booth)
Taisei Corporation Notepad x 2 (given out at Lounge 21 event)
Taisei Corporation clear file x2 (given out at Lounge 21 event and panel)
[vid for Taisei Corporation → here]
The Garden of Words big poster (from some booth behind Sentai Filmworks booth)
The Garden of Words Blu-Ray (from the same booth as the big poster)
Solstoria prints bought from charmwitch
Dangan Ronpa, Shingeki no Kyojin, and Free! prints bought from kurot
Shingeki no Kyojin, Evangelion New Movie version, Pokemon, and Free! prints bought from milk_of_lime
Shingeki no Kyojin purikura stickers from milk_of_lime, Shingeki no Kyojin print from @LavenderIce
Autographed 5 Centimeters Per Second novel by Makoto Shinkai! ♥
Other con reports:
gem2niki → Part 1 Part 2(f-locked)