Anime Expo Coverage Part 2: The Things I WISH I Saw

By Von Jared Omo

YO! It’s Von again from Anime Social Scene. This time I won’t be talking about what I saw, but what I WISH I SAW at Anime Expo this year. There were three (3) things I was interested in seeing, but wasn’t TOO excited for. Nevertheless, I still wanted to check it out for curiosity’s sake.

1. The MORNING MUSUME Concert.

MORNING MUSUME Performance at AX09
(Picture Courtesy of Anime Expo 2009)

There’s no other Asian style of music I enjoy listening to than Japanese music. So, when I heard that MORNING MUSUME would perform at this year’s AX, I was kinda excited to see some other Japanese musicians perform, because…c’mon…when am I actually gonna go to Japan and see them live? Sad to say, I didn’t get to see them because they were performing on Saturday…the day after my attendance. If you guys went to see them, drop a comment and tell me how it went. Did I miss out? Or Didn’t?

2. The AniMaid Cafe

I passed by the AniMaid Cafe when I got lost in all the detours at LACC. I was not able to take a peek inside nor was I able to see any of the maids. The reason why I say I wanted to see this cafe was to see if AX could really pull it off and write it down in my coverage review. It was the first time AX has ever tried to pull off this concept and I wanted to be a part of it. PLUS, I wanted to see if the girls were cute enough to fit into those maid outfits. Again, if any of you guys were able to check this cafe out, leave a comment and tell me how it went!

3. The Masquerade

AHHH…I’m ashamed to say this, but in all my 4 years of attending Anime Expo (2006-2009), I have not attended a Masquerade. I thought this year would be it, but then that plan fell through. In the past years, I thought I shouldn’t even bother going to one seeing that I could see all the Cosplays on the exhibit floor. But, something inside me was telling me to check it out this year. Maybe next year I’ll be able to experience it…or maybe I could experience the Cosplay showcase it at Comic-Con this year!

Anyway, those were the things I wanted to see this year. If you guys saw something or attended something that was cool and was worth it, drop a comment and let me know how it went!

PS. I wish I attended the Power Rangers panel, but then again…there’s videos of it already posted up. Check out the previous entries if you guys would like to watch it.

Once again, this is Von from Anime Social Scene, and this concludes my Anime Expo coverage.

Peace

Anime Expo 2009 Coverage Part 1: Oh, the things I saw!

Hey guys! It’s Von from Anime Social Scene giving you a POV entry about my day at Anime Expo 2009!

(WARNING: This is a REALLY LONG ENTRY. Please be advised…or screw this warning and read on anyway!)

Due to unforeseen circumstances, I was only able to experience this year’s Anime Expo for only 1 day. But, that’s all I needed!

The entrance to AX…and yes…that’s not even half the line.

THE FLOOR

So, Friday the 3rd at 9:05am was when I arrived to the Los Angeles Convention Center. I picked up my badge and headed into the exhibit hall…which took me about an hour to find due to all the detours and closed off walkways that prevented my friends and I from taking short-cuts into the hall. Believe me, just because I had my press badge on, didn’t mean I was getting an all-access pass.

Demo station for Persona and Devil Survivor

Anyway, it was about 10:15am when we reached the entrance to the exhibit hall. The scene of all the booths never failed me. With my Shinji Ikari cosplay (tight black pants and a white button-up short…not too hard!) I walked the floor. The first thing I see when I started walking was the Crunchyroll booth. I was surprised to see that they were right there in front of me. To top it all off, I was able to see Mimi from Catblue Dynamite perform…and HOTT DAMN! She’s really nice in person and performs alright (not too bad, not too good…). Crunchyroll was also showcasing the Sky Crawlers game on the Wii. For those of you who don’t know about Sky Crawlers, it’s an anime film by Mamoru Oshii adapted from the novel of the same name.

Mimi from Catblue Dynamite

As I continued to walk the floor, I passed by the iMagi booth. And HOTT DAMN! I saw the trailer for their new CGI movie Gatchaman, which is based off another anime. The trailer pretty sweet and, should I say it….EPIC. I also stopped by the CAPCOM booth and saw that they were showcasing the upcoming epic title “Tatsunoko vs. Capcom” which looks by far, one of the coolest fighting games that is going to be released on the Wii.

Above: The board and TV at the iMAGi booth showcasing Gatchaman
Below: The billboard for the upcoming movie

The floor also had some cool vendors with some awesome stuff. The shirts with the Angry Little Asian Girl were there, TOFU ROBOT, and of course J-LIST shirts were there as well.

Trust me…this bag is a LIAR!

THE COSPLAY

The cosplay wasn’t as strong as it was last year or 2 years ago. I remember seeing some pretty hott cosplays over the years, such as Remi from Black Lagoon and Psylocke from the X-Men. Now, it seems as though the only cosplays around are the Bleachers and the Narutards. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t see the crime in buying cosplays online…but please…at least buy one that hasn’t been already played out! I didn’t even get to see the guy dressed as a Wii mote this year. BOO! Anyway, I saw some pretty new ones this year, such as one guy dressed up as Alphonse from Fullmetal Alchemist (whiched looked pretty heavy and epic by the way), Afro Samurai, and (get this) HARD GAY!

Oh yeah…EPIC!

GO GO POWER….RANGERS?

That’s pretty much all I saw on Friday…my ONE day. But that was all I needed. I did not attend any panels, seeing that it would mostly be covered by those big sites and AX already posted up videos anyway from some of the major panels. I wanted to focus on the small stuff, because that’s what makes AX a complete experience. You can go to as many panels as you want, but where it really counts is walking around the floor and meeting all the cosplayers that put as much passion and energy into their character and give more meaning to the AX experience.

Stayed tuned for Part 2: The things I WISH I saw!

Message from the power rangers

power rangers panel event at anime expo 2009

AX Power Rangers Panel

AX 2009 Gundam 00panel preview

Anime Expo AX 2009 Robot Chicken with Seth Green

ax anime expo 2009 Steve Yun Giant Robot Rumble 1

ax anime expo 2009 Steve Yun Giant Robot Rumble 2

AX Idol 2009 Singing Winner – Charlotte Camp