The weekend that everyone was waiting all year for was finally coming to a close. Anime Expo was on its last day. Deb, Jared, and I had cake and tea for breakfast. We had a panel to run at 10:30AM in the morning, so we made no time to waste. Deb and I decided to cosplay from Heart Catch Pretty Cure just to see how many people can recognize us from the underrated magical girl show. (and why should Madoka have all the fun?)

Moon Prism Poptarts: Remember to Set Your VCRs to UPN at 7:30AM by Victoria Erica

At the beginning of 2011, Scarlet Rhapsody began to tour around California conventions giving panel presentations on the history behind Sailor Moon's localization in the US. The panel series was known as Moon Prism Poptarts. Considering that I grew up watching Sailor Moon on UPN Channel 13 in the Los Angeles area, I was hoping people in the audience would remember waking up at the crack of dawn catching Sailor Moon at 7:30AM. Set those VCR timers!

For a last day of the expo, we had a pretty good turnout. Most of the audience were kids who grew up on watching Sailor Moon. When I asked the audience, "How many of you can say that Sailor Moon was your gateway anime?" 90% of the audience had their hands up. We played clips of awesomely bad DiC and Cloverway moments. One of our favorite traditions with this panel is the Sailor Moon theme song singalong.

Overall, we were glad to bring back memories to the moonies. People suggested we should bring poptarts at the next panel. Whether or not you side SOS or the Lunarian Inquisition, Sailor Moon is a nostalgia bomb for all otaku in the 1990s.

Dealer's Hall: The Otaku's Mall by Victoria Erica

The exhibit hall is one of the main draws of Anime Expo. This year, Anime Expo brought back the exhibit hall only passes for $25 for the entire weekend. They also offered free admission to the hall after 3:30PM. This gave otaku an opportunity to shop for dvds, manga, and other anime paraphenelia.

One of the more popular booths this year was the NIS booth. Throughout the weekend, you can catch someone wearing a Prinny hat. The Disgaea penguin hats were sold out by Monday morning.

Another great find at the dealer's room was the massage booth. Massages were a dollar a minute. Cosplayers get three minutes free. They offered foot massages and back rubs. I visisted the booth twice during the weekend and it was very helpful and very relaxing to have the booth there. Anime conventions need more of these!

The selection this year at the dealer's room was fairly decent. However, if you are going to shop at Anime Expo, keep your eyes on the prize. What you want could be gone in sixty seconds. New DVD releases can be easily gone by the end of the weekend. For cosplayers and J-fashionistas, there were plenty of wig dealers (The Five Wits, Epic Cosplay, and Arda Wigs) and cosplay and J-fashion dealers (h.Naoto).

Compared to previous years (2007 and the Anaheim years), the dealers hall seemed fairly small. Even with the load in / load out fiasco from last year, it was mesmerizing to see popular dealers return to Anime Expo. Perhaps it is because of the stagnant nature of the anime industry, we can no longer see the ADV towers and their t-shirt cannons. However, the Crunchyroll booth was a happening party on Monday. House tunes played, as Crunchyroll streamed the last dance at Anime Expo.

Jared ended picking up a few games and freebies from Aksys. He also picked up a few discounted Fate Stay Night Figures. I ended up picking up a wig from Epic Cosplay and a few Cure Marine plushies from Hobbyfan. Unlike Fanime and Anime Central, it was nice to finally find Heart Catch Pretty Cure toys!

All's Well That Ends Well by Victoria Erica

Even though Monday was the last day, it was certainly a busy day. We were planning to leave the convention center around 3:30PM to grab an early dinner in the South Bay. Deb and I found our favorite photo spot in the convention center for Heart Catch Pretty Cure photos. We said our "bye bye for now" and "see you at next con!"'s with our friends. We slowly made our way back to the South Hall parking lot and reflected on perhaps the best Anime Expo to come out in a while.

Pictures are copyright by Scarlet Rhapsody . Feel free to use any photos of you, just link us back. If you want us to remove something, kindly email us. While you're here, do sign the guestbook. This site was brought to you by the font Still Time.