{"id":21990,"date":"2025-01-19T23:48:35","date_gmt":"2025-01-19T23:48:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scarlet-rhapsody.com\/?p=21990"},"modified":"2025-01-20T07:09:41","modified_gmt":"2025-01-20T07:09:41","slug":"ala-2025-impera","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scarlet-rhapsody.com\/?p=21990","title":{"rendered":"[ALA 20(\u201925)] Impera"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the twenties, we’ll be singing in a reign of pennies<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

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ALA 20 signage has a familiar looking priestess…<\/p><\/div>\n

The first convention of the new year! Los Angeles was experiencing a series of fires from the north of downtown LA. While the City of Long Beach did not receive any evacuations, and the city is far away from the fires, most of us decided to stay indoors for the first part of the convention.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Cosplay Green Room discord friends!<\/p><\/div>\n

This is my first convention carrying an industry badge as an author. Wearing my industry badge felt like a badge of honor, I finally made my name in the anime industry. In fact, the first thing I did at Anime Los Angeles was host my panel, \u201cIn My Cringe Era,\u201d which does highlight the themes of my book – the millennial anime experience in the 90\u2019s and early 00\u2019s. I was able to host this with Geki and Magical Senpai to also get their perspective as well.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Dealers hall finds. Spot the classics!<\/p><\/div>\n

After the panel, I had ribbons to trade and give out. For alumni of Anime Expo\u2019s Long Beach era, I gave away a ribbon featuring Anime Expo\u2019s first mascot with the text \u201cI remember it all too well.\u201d Anime Los Angeles is best known as \u201cribbon con.\u201d This was adapted from the Boomer ran science fiction and fantasy conventions. Ribbon traditions and culture is now being adapted by millennials and Gen Z keeping this tradition of having up to hundreds of ribbons by the end of the con. I have heard of friends getting over 400 by the end of the weekend!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Let’s trade some ribbons! This board shows who’s trading and where to find them.<\/p><\/div>\n

I was able to get my ribbons through Anime Los Angeles\u2019 ribbon services. My usual ribbon dealer was going through rebranding so I had to go through other means. Right before the December 21 deadline, I gave Anime Los Angeles\u2019 ribbon department six designs for pickup at the convention. I would highly recommend this service; this was far more affordable for badges that are sturdy and colorful!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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I was giving away Anime Expo ribbons to those who have attended the Long Beach years. I was requested to deliver a few to Jason Fiore of the AMV dept.<\/p><\/div>\n

Anime Los Angeles has a pretty chill vibe matching the Southern California way of life. This is a spread out convention with so much to do in a span of four days. I spent some downtime in the Seaside Ballrooms; this was the basement level of the Terrace Theatre. There was a chill Japanese Festival style area where you can just hang out with friends on bean bag chairs, or if you needed a break from the crowd, this was a good quiet zone.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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E-gaming was very cozy and couch-tastic<\/p><\/div>\n

I also wandered around the gaming hall. I loved the amount of cozy couches set up in front of consoles. I had a few friends play in Tekken 8 and Street Fighter 6 tournaments. There were several rhythm game machines from various Dance Dance Revolution families, but when I went they were always broken down. Sadly, I was mostly wearing cosplays that would not be appropriate for DDR. I did like the tatami mat section of the gaming room; it was a very nice, cozy touch!<\/span><\/p>\n

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Tatami room setup for console gaming<\/p><\/div>\n

I also help ran the ballroom dance, otherwise known as the Twilight Gala. I was mainly in charge of selecting the Royal Court – this is like our dance\u2019s prom king and queen. What I love about this formal ball is that we play anime and video game music. Sometimes, we play special mixes of anime and video game songs that sound more appropriate for a romantic night on the dance floor. Some of these include a big band Frank Sinatra style rendition of \u201cHead Cha La\u201d and a Soul Bossa Nova inspired version of the Lupin III theme. I wore my Princess Mars cosplay to this because I wore Princess Mars at my homecoming dance where I wore the homecoming queen\u2019s crown. The night concluded with Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars\u2019 \u201cDie with a Smile.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Twilight Gala Royal Court!<\/p><\/div>\n

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Dance lessons were held<\/p><\/div>\n

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Twilight Gala was Thursday’s main event<\/p><\/div>\n

Some nightlife included Fountain Con, later moved to Island Con. I had friends who hosted room parties, but my social energy wasn\u2019t really feeling the night life. I did check out Island Con while on the way out, and it was a chill party group. My friends and I did have a party at their fancy suite on Saturday with pizza, mac \u2018n cheese, cake, and honey meade.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Room party selfie with my League of Legends friends!<\/p><\/div>\n

However, Anime Los Angeles is very much a cosplayer\u2019s con. I cosplayed for all four days. I ended up checking out a few cosplay meetups. I went to these meetups on a whim. I literally was told about the Magical Girl Gathering and the 90s Anime Meet the day before the convention. It just happened to fit my schedule. For both gatherings, I wore some version of Sailor Mars. I wore Princess Mars to the Magical Girl Gathering and Idol Mars to 90s Anime.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Everyone gang up on Great Teacher Onizuka!<\/p><\/div>\n

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Easy to find when you have a sign<\/p><\/div>\n

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A tasting of the magical girl gathering. More in the Saturday galleries.<\/p><\/div>\n

I also wandered into other gatherings including Delicious in Dungeon and the neighboring League of Legends meet.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Massive League of Legends meet up…way more photos in my Saturday gallery<\/p><\/div>\n

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Delicious in Dungeon antics<\/p><\/div>\n

The convention also had a brand new way of hosting the Hall Cosplay Contest. They wanted to model their Hall Cosplay Contest after the likes of east coast conventions. While my HMS Queen Elizabeth and Miaka Yuuki cosplays have won this honor in the past two years, I decided to throw Idol Mars in the mix. Unfortunately, I didn\u2019t win this year, but my friend who went as Litten did – he ended up taking home a ribbon and rosette for his efforts. (I did like the tea booth right across!)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Hall Cosplay judging<\/p><\/div>\n

The convention also had musical entertainment from local talent. I went to Anime Los Angeles\u2019 Next Top Star which is an American Idol style competition where contestants perform a song and get constructive and productive feedback from the judges. Among these performers were the city pop lovin\u2019 Nekopuf and a CSUN Theatre student performing \u201cNo Good Deed\u201d from Wicked.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Convention of giant pokemon!<\/p><\/div>\n

Additionally, I went to the Sunday Idol Showcase. I was able to check out Berry and Aquarious perform. Both acts were a delight to see on stage. Berry brought in the energy and sensation of Akihabara. Aquarius brought in a variety of ballads, covers, original songs, and concluded it with the Y2K classic of \u201cRenai Revolution 21.\u201d I talked to a few of my friends at Idol Showcase and a friend said that idol shows at cons had given them a reason to enjoy conventions again. Sunday is a quiet day, and the Idol Showcase is a must see for any anisong fan!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Original music sung by Aquarious<\/p><\/div>\n

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Berry making your Sunday even more kawaii<\/p><\/div>\n

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Aquarious is one of my favorite local idol groups. Mad respect!<\/p><\/div>\n

The dealers hall was pretty big. After the Idol Showcase, I went to the\u00a0 dealers hall to get photos and selfies with my idol friends. Voice actors were also signing for fans as well. Most booths had model kits, figures, anime books, clothes, snacks from Japan (we had quite a few selling Japanese Kit Kats!), jewelry, anime inspired clothes, and more. We also had one of the most robust artist alley\u2019s I\u2019ve been to. I appreciate the variety of art and fandom presented here. I appreciated the growing amount of Arcane in artist alley, including the gay scientists and lesbian cops. A lot of artists were a part of the ribbon trading game; if you spent x amount of money, you could also get a few artist alley exclusive ribbons.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Arcane cosplay was all over the place. I’m ok with this.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Some shonen protags need 7 balls, this only needs 2.<\/p><\/div>\n

Perhaps the biggest highlight of Anime Los Angeles was the Shinichiro Watanabe panel. The anime auteur behind Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, and more. Watanabe-san talked about his early inspirations from The Godfather and Dirty Harry. Wantanabe said he aspired to be like Robert DeNiro, but couldn\u2019t get the voice down. We were also treated to an early premiere of A Girl Meets A Boy And A Robot. This short film is about a girl navigating a post-apocalyptic landscape and comes across a few sentient friends along the way. Beautifully animated with surreal visual storytelling; it\u2019s great to see Shinichiro Watanabe continue to grow in his craft.<\/span><\/p>\n

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No photos at the Shinichiro Watanabe panel though…so here’s Ranma!<\/p><\/div>\n

After the con, I decided to re-watch Macross Plus, to which he co-directed with Shoji Kawamori. Watanabe describe the insanity of working with the mecha maestro.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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But what’s your favorite Gundam series?<\/p><\/div>\n

Overall, Anime Los Angeles\u2019s 20th was a great experience. I had more fun than last year, it helps not being sick. I love this venue for the con. I love the photo spots from the rainbow bridge, terrace fountains, the lagoon, and the bridge to shoreline; getting some cosplay shots during my downtime (while avoiding Gooners with Camera\u2019s) was nice. The con is very organized, there\u2019s always something going on. Also, if you need some downtime, there\u2019s a few spots where you can take a break or a breather. I would recommend taking advantage of the Black Friday deal if you are serious about attending Anime Los Angeles. This is a convention that I would recommend to others out of state looking for an alternative to Anime Expo. It\u2019s not as crowded, the venue is much more navigationable, there\u2019s no lines that will eat up most of your free time, and the dealers hall has a variety of goods (and takoyaki!).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Simping for Shadow<\/p><\/div>\n

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Who would win?<\/p><\/div>\n

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Thank you, ALA Staff!<\/p><\/div>\n

Oh yeah, I was also in Cosplay Wrestling Federation! I think Emporer Nero formed Neko World Order (NWO) with Litten at the forefront and won the PNW title or something.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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The Stig was a fan favorite. Wait…weebs watch Top Gear?<\/p><\/div>\n

It’s the words that were never spoken that echoes through the times<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

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Long live all the magic we made!<\/p><\/div>\n

And a special thanks to Magical Senpai and Geki for being on my “In My Cringe Era” panel and to Geki for always being our Hired Goon Number 1.<\/p>\n

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Written by Cosplay Ancestor Eri
IG: @cosplayancestoreri
TikTok: @cosplayancestoreri
BluSky: scarlet-rhapsody.com<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the twenties, we’ll be singing in a reign of pennies The first convention of the new year! Los Angeles was experiencing a series of fires from the north of downtown LA. While the City of Long Beach did not…
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