Greetings from the Forth Estate…

Sometimes you need to take your personal feelings and throw them in box next to your pile of swag you brought home from the convention. You need to take away the way people make you feel in order to look at an event with fair eyes. I have been to plenty of terrible cons where others tell me “it was fun because I was with my friends”, but that does not make the convention good it only is your emotional paint that is making the event good. Conversely there are plenty of people who look at Anime Expo as “the evil empire” or as “not fan friendly” and that can paint a fun convention as bad because you want the event to be bad. When you work as a journalist you need to turn off your emotions and just see an event for what it is and that is exactly what I intend to do with this report.

I must admit after a few years of hitting the LACC for Anime Expo I have begun to really like the locale. Granted it does force this convention to be a commuter convention and that will affect the social aspect of the convention. On the other hand we get a huge dealer hall, we get plenty of space for panels and events, and we get many different locations for cosplay photoshoots. It would be nice to have some cheaper restaurants around, but if you are commuting anyway it is easier to just bring a lunch or have a large breakfast then get a dinner when you get closer to home. While I would love the convention to be back in Anaheim or even in a more fun locale like San Diego or Las Vegas, I am happy enough with the location.

This year we got a nice upgrade to the specialty rooms. The dealer hall was in the same area as last year, but it was better spaced than last year. Strangely, I could not find many of the booths I was looking for this year including a Toei booth that was hidden somewhere. However, despite that I still found plenty of great booths and rarely had to deal with clogged aisles. Once again the artist alley was stuck in the back of the dealer hall. I am not very fond of this because I tend to forget that the artist alley is stuck back there. It would be a better idea to give the artist alley a unique room rather than having to trudge through the dealer hall to find the proper area. Overall, the hall was well set up and there was a good variety of booths.

The other major hall was used for the Entertainment Room an area that was filled with many different distractions. This featured a gaming area, a cosplay area, the costume repair area, an arcade, table top gaming, and the art auction. While it may seem like there is too much in one area it was easy to get around and find what you want. The best addition to this area is the giant screens used for both competitive gaming and for fun at different times. The arcade was just a good as last year and had a nice mix of shooters, rhythm, and old school games. It was well designed and easy to get around and unlike some of the previous years I did not hear complaints about the change machine running out of quarters. Sadly, the table top area was buried in the back and not very popular. It did not help that people were using random tables for games as well. I think it would be better to open up the table top area and not have it tucked behind the giant screens. Finally, the cosplay areas were well set up too with the repair section had plenty of room and supplies and the backgrounds were appreciated and everyone really enjoyed the different options to expand their photo catalogue.

The measure of a convention is often the programming and events. This year I was involved in the masquerade again and overall it was a good experience. The staff was friendly and helpful and despite a few hiccups that annoyed me during the contest they did a good job. The two biggest problems I had was the half time acts taking up practice time for the skits which led to some teams having no practice time. The second problem was the lack of water which we were promised. I get the feeling outside forces were involved, but that is just speculation. The programming schedule on the other hand was fumbled majorly. While there was a multitude of panels it seems like this year the programming forgot to put the “anime” in Anime Expo. There were almost no major series or genre panels, several redundant panels, and even a few panels that were dedicated to US cartoons. It does not seem that difficult to keep the schedule on topic and filled with anime related panels.

The general social vibe was a bit more subdued from the usual tension of Anime Expo. While it was not easy to meet new people, no one seemed outright rude. I was lucky to avoid the majority of people I prefer to avoid so that made my time a bit more fun, granted that is easier to do when you only hit two days of the event. People may not like the LACC too much, but they are getting used to the venue and are starting to just relax and enjoy themselves. In fact, most of the people I talked with seemed to be having a good time at the convention.

Overall, this year was middle of the road. Better than last year, not as good as the Anaheim years just an average event. While this may make some SoCal people happy it probably is not what out of state fans will be expecting. As for me it was difficult to keep an open mind about this event when upon my arrival I had to deal with the press staff trying to revoke my press badge after I had gotten confirmation earlier this year. Hopefully, next year they can fix their computer errors before I have to waste time arguing my status as a reporter and it is those kinds of problems that give this event such a bad reputation. This is Anime Expo it should be the biggest and best, yet the convention has been in a rut for years now and I doubt it will change any time soon. That being said, there is plenty to enjoy at Anime Expo and if a guest you want to meet is going I suggest going for that reason alone. Expo does tend to bring in more Japanese guests than any other anime convention and the event can be fun if you experience it with friends. Before we close out this event I would like to thank the Scarlet Rhapsody team, the masquerade staff, Todd 1 and 3, tasty rice, Belldandy, everyone who liked the puppet, and naps. Until next time feel free not to contact me (jared -at- scarlet-rhapsody.com). I hope you enjoy the list and this time give my love to the Type Moon girls.


The List
1. Here we go again
2. Puppet Time!
3. Prinny Hat!
4. Food… food… need… food…
5. No Gundam panel?
6. Drama, no surprise there
7. I wanted more
8. RE7: More?!
9. RE8: Wonder if anyone gets that reference
10. Kinda wish I’d brought Nine, that could have been fun
11. Note to self: Hydrate!
12. I should take more naps
13. Didn’t get through the whole dealer hall, I think
14. Next Cosplay: Box Voltron… I mean Go-Lion
15. Where are my fun panels at?
16. Where is my practice time?
17. At least I had some fun… I guess…
18. Avoidance!
19. Figure lament
20. Getting a little bored here
21. Giant screen!!
22. Could have brought Magic Ops
23. At least I get a year long break from this con

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