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!
Tags: ANIME EXPO, Anime Expo 2009
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July 9, 2009 at 10:01 am
Glad to hear you had a great time. Yeah, Friday was a crazy day. I bought a lot of stuff. You totally didn’t miss out much, though, unless you’re an artist or 3D modeler.
This year’s cosplaying was simply fantastic. Especially Yoko cosplay.
July 9, 2009 at 9:18 pm
Yup, I had a pretty good time at AX. It was my 3rd year going, and the expo never ceases to amaze me. But, I wasn’t excited for some of the panels or entertainment this year. I don’t know why. Maybe I was expecting too much this year.
I felt that I didn’t miss out TOO much, as what you said. I agree that the cosplay was pretty good, but you should’ve seen the ones last year and 2 years ago. They were pretty damn good. =)
Thanks for the comment.