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<\/a><\/p>\nAs with every convention at the LA Convention Center my biggest problem with the location is the location.\u00a0 First off getting to the event can be a pain due to LA traffic and the fact that yet another pointless protest occurred during the weekend to compound traffic another level.\u00a0 Parking can be difficult and expensive, not to mention the terrible people who take up two spots or try to shove a van into a compact spot.\u00a0 Then there is the heat, with tepatures exceeding 100 degrees anyone attending had to not only battle lines but the oppressive heat.\u00a0 This was made worse by the fact that many lines go outside so those who are wearing anything more than a tank top and board shorts will find themselves sweating to death.\u00a0 The only major respite is the fact that the building has powerful air conditioning and there were several food truck locations.<\/p>\n
The programming was mostly strong this year.\u00a0 This is aided by the abundance of guests who took up most of the panel time.\u00a0 However, there were still some panels run by inexperienced or outright terrible hosts.\u00a0 Moreover, most cosplayers are experts at notohing more than wearing clothes so perhaps skipping them on the panel line up next year.\u00a0 Despite some problems there were plenty of great panels featuring artists, directors, and game designers.\u00a0 It\u2019s great seeing more game content and having professionals run panels is a much better choice than going with an untested schlub with a podcast with no audience.\u00a0 The lines were mostly handled well, but sending people out into 100+ degree weather with no shade is a terrible idea.\u00a0 Overall, there was usually something going on to pique my interest and plenty of other options during the times when no programming interested me.<\/p>\n The dealer hall was huge with some good spacing between booths.\u00a0 It could be a little overwhelming at times, but I\u2019d expect no less of Anime Expo.\u00a0 The big companies had booths up front with the booths getting smaller as you reached the back.\u00a0 There was a good variety of booths this year and while it wasn\u2019t easy to find DVD\/Blu-Ray booths from some of the smaller distrubuters after some exploring one could find anything anime merch that could be imagined.\u00a0 It was also nice to see that the artist alley was in a different location which gave both zones more space.\u00a0 They made good use of the space this year and even the entertainment hall felt more robust.\u00a0 It was nice to see the cosplay sempai area shrink to make room for the Square-Enix booth, Fate\/Grand Order VR, and more gaming space.\u00a0 The only problem we faced in the entertainment area was a rude staff member at\u00a0 the cosplay repair.\u00a0 Beyond that the entertainment room was a crowded mess, but that was due to the sheer amount of things to do in that area.\u00a0 Those three areas make a day pass well worth it and have enough value to warrant a weekend pass, especially if there is a guest you want to meet.<\/p>\n The vibe at the event is mostly good, at least this year.\u00a0 There are far too many people at Anime Expo, but most of the people I met were generally polite.\u00a0 There wasn\u2019t much of a stroller army, which makes navigation a little easier, but the foot traffic can be so crazy that making it across the hall can take far longer than it should.\u00a0 The numbers also meant that rooms filled up fast and popular panels could get nearly filled from premium pass holders before anyone else could even step foot into the room.\u00a0 However, very few people showed any attitude when this happened because it is part of the bonus for having a higher ranked pass.\u00a0 There were some reports of creeper types at the convention and some staff had attitude problems, but those few instances didn\u2019t kill the vibe for me.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n