Sunday started off with a hearty breakfast at the homestead. At about 9:30AM we left the house for downtown Los Angeles. A 20 minute drive from on 110 North and we were there!

20 Years of Anime Expo: Trials and Traditions by Victoria Erica

We have been attending Anime Expo for the past ten years, we thought about going to the Anime Expo Anniversary panel. Current and past staff, including the former chair, Mike Tatsugawa participated in the panel. Projections at Petree Hall showcased photos of Anime Expo through the years. Each panelists talked about highlights and lowlights from each year. Lionel Lum (Usagichan Company Search and Rescue) talked the Disneyland Hotel year. Past staff also recalled past masquerades in the late 90s on trying to simulcast the masquerade. Essentially, it was an Anime Expo war stories and these men have the nuts to talk about their battle scares. When in doubt, if Anime Expo flubs it, let it go on record that someone on staff was on acid

This was a very fun panel to attend. I wish I were two hours long, rather than just an hour because it seemed like the panlists had more stories to share with the audience.

Psycho Otaku Show: Channel Awesome At Anime Expo by Jared Griego

One of the more anticipated panels for our team at Anime Expo was the Import Gaming with Psychotaku panel. The panel was hosted by Psychotaku, Psychoneko, and Freddie from the popular series The Psychotaku Show. The panel began with the Para Para Paradise video that features the introduction of Psychoneko. The panel then became a question and answer session with many fans asking about different games and about how The Psychotaku Show started. The panel concluded with the newest Psychoneko episode which has a cameo by Yanki J.

After the panel I went up to the Psychotaku crew to talk with them. As it turns out Psychoneko remembered Jared and Victoria from Fanime earlier this year. It was fun to spend an hour with the crew and we hope they come back to do more panels at more conventions. For more information about the Psycho Otaku Show, visit Retro Dojo.

AX Idol: No Need for Coke Plugs! by Victoria Erica

After seeing how fierce the competition was during the auditions round, I decided to attend AX Idol with fellow auditionee, Jeff B. AX Idol, like all main events, took place in the prestigious Nokia Theatre. For Los Angeles area locals, the Nokia Theatre is well known for hosting award shows and concerts. The show was running late, but the projector screens played clips of hillarious outakes from Durararra, Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, and K-On. In addition, they also played snippets from Conan O Brien's visit to Bang Zoom Studios.

The competition began half an hour past it's original start time. We were given profiles of the previous winners, Eric Kimerer and Mario Bueno. Bang Zoom also showed a highlights reel of Friday's auditions. Each of the finalists from the singing and voice acting round talked about what inspired their dreams to entertain others. The show was hosted by Jonathan Meza and Kyle Hebert.

First, the judges were introduced. Eric P. Sherman, Kaeoko Sakamoto, Jason C. Miller, and Blake Smith were on the panel. The contestants who sang material from Full Metal Alchemist rocked the house. One in particular Mailorder who sang "Rewrite" from Full Metal Alchemist really put on a show. Rachel Heger sang "Mizu no Akashi" from Gundam Seed. Unlike most of the contestants, she performed a ballad. As the spotlight was on her, everyone began to raise their cell phones or cande apps (if they had iPhones). Even the judges were getting into the act. For someone who sang a very melodramatic ballad, she captured the audience.

The voice acting round was equally as fierce. It was very pleasant to see talent among young otaku. For the voice acting round, the five finalists were given a scene from an anime to dub. Scenes were from Durarara, Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, Blue Exorcist, and K-On. Jeff and I both agreed that everyone gave 110% and no matter who wins the title of AX Idol, a future in the entertainment industry was in store for them.

By the time all finalists went on stage, it was anyone's game. The winner for singing was Rachel Heger. The winner for voice acting was Amanda Lee who did the K-On clip. Even when Amanda performed, Eric P. Sherman's first comment was to offer her a contract with Bang Zoom. Rachel would be recording a studio demo with Jason C. Miller. Amanda Lee would take a tour of Bang Zoom studios, audition for a project, and record walla with a loop group. Both winners recieved a year time supply of Hi Chew.

Overall, it was a great show. The audience cheered everyone on. There was an immense amount of positive energy in the theatre. However, AX Idol only filled 30% of the theatre. I am surprised why no one really attends AX Idol. It's a free main event and you're guaranteed to be entertained. Check it out next year!

Durarara Makes It's Way to Late Night Television by Emil Mombay

Aniplex held a Durarara!! Panel on July 3rd that was one of the most hilariously wacky, fan-oriented events that ever occurred in Anime Expo. Rather than take a business-like approach to this event, the fans and audience were instead treated to surprising amounts of fan service (and it was indeed fan service) than they could have possibly imagined, wowing the fans with clips from the show and segments involving the crazy but funny voice actors. The session started off with moderator Tsukimoto introducing the cast that included big shots like Yuri Lowenthal, Crispin Freeman, and Patrick Seitz to a wild and frenzied screaming audience that never truly stopped screaming or laughing until the end of the show. They never could stop because one after another, segments of the show such as the top 5 Durarara!! scenes from the anime along with each voice actor’s crazy antics kept the session entertaining and fresh. These segments also included “Please Say That Line!” where the cast repeat lines selected by Durarara!!’s facebook fans and a very hilarious “Marriage Proposal” segment that had the cast say marriage proposal’s based on their respected character’s personality and traits, which had the most fans screaming from all the mild sexual tension in the air. The panel was truly catered to the fans enjoyment but towards the end, the voice actors themselves were caught by surprise as they were all given a card that each fan signed appreciating their work and cheering them on later in life. The panel ended with this touching goodbye and each fan applauding as the cast takes their leave to sign autographs at the exhibition hall.

Doujin Work by Jared Griego

As a fan of obscure and independent games it was nice to stop by the Doujin Games panel. While the term “doujin” may refer to slash comics to many American otaku the term is more closely related to independent or fan-made in Japan. The panel featured several independent game developers talking about their current works. The panel was more than just a showcase, it also featured a question and answer section. The panelists answered questions about how they got into bringing over and translating games, how they distribute games, and the possibility of making original games. Many of the games looked like fun, but were only available for purchase at artist alley. It was good to hear that Carpe Fulgur had gotten one of their games on Steam and are looking to get more games onto the popular online distribution service.

Little Voice, Big Heart: Q&A With Sandy Fox by Victoria Erica

I attended another Bang Zoom Inside the Voice Actor's Studio panel. Sandy Fox, voice actress for Sumomo (Chobits) and Flonne (Disgaea). Also the wife of voice actor Lex Lang, Sandy Fox discussed her start in entertainment by talking about her days working as Tinkerbell in the Disney theme parks. Sandy Fox also gave advice to aspiring professional voice actors:

Like Patrick Seitz, Sandy Fox also critiqued anime fans who participated in Bang Zoom's live dubs of anime.

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