I Kantai, so can you by Jared
This panel looked at the popular game Kantai Collection and not only went over how to play, but also discussed several popular and important ship girls. The panel covered several of the memes and fan theories that helped clarify the game for new fans. This was a great panel for both current and new fans of KanColle, it worked as both an introduction and a celebration of the cute ship girls and their battles against the Abyssal Fleet.

Disgaea by Jared
Nippon Ichii Software knows that when it comes to their games the most popular series is, and always will be, Disgaea. This panel not only went over the story of the main series games, but also took a look at how the series has evolved over the years. Once they had covered the first four games the panel became an extended preview of Disgaea 5, with a brief discussion about the main cast and hints at what the story will be about. The panel concluded with a Q and A session where my question of the character design changes in 3 was met with a ‘I don’t remember that, do you have any pictures’. Sadly, I could not find a single image of the early version of the game that I played years ago at Anime Expo that featured different character designs.

Pretty Cure Army Meet Up by Eri Kagami
I learned about this meet up from Anime Jam Session. When I learned that a massive meet up of magical girls was happening at Anime Expo, that was my definite deal breaker attending. Pretty Cure is a long running magical franchise in a post-Sailor Moon world under Madoka’s reign. Typically, Pretty Cure has feature length presentations every year where all of the magical girls team up against evil. This is very much like the super sentai team up movies. The series has been running for over 10 years. The goal of this cosplay meet up was to get every single Pretty Cure present. I represented Milky Rose and Deborah represented Tsubomi (Cure Blossom in civilian form). Jared joined in as the human form of Nuts. This was a really nice get together hosted Sparkle Pipsi and Cospix. I had a great time meeting other cures and I hope we can do this again next year with a bigger, better, and uncut group!

Art and architecture in Japanese pop culture by Jared
It is always interesting to watch the educational panels and see different academics talk about theories and analyses of aspects of Japanese art, history, and media. The panel I attended looked at how artists used architecture to help tell a story. Sadly, the first presenter went long and was rather boring, which led to half the audience leaving once he finished. The remainder, thankfully, were far more interesting and entertaining. It was a mixed panel, but overall it was interesting to learn about how city design and framing can impact the emotion of a story. Hopefully next year they can set up panels with more interesting presenters.

Gaming @ Entertainment Hall by Jared
One of the more interesting additions to the entertainment hall is the video game gallery which features displays with game systems from old Atari models to the newest systems in addition to the various pieces of memorabilia that were also on display in cases. The set up was large enough to avoid getting crowded easily and the wait for playing wasn’t all that long depending on the system and day. This is a great way to see the history of gaming up close and reminisce on some of the great memories of classic gaming. It isn’t something you usually get to see at a convention and I wish I had spent more time looking over and playing everything.

E-Gaming by Jared
The arcade area of the entertainment hall was decked out with a large number of rhythm games this year. While there were still beat ‘em ups and shooters, it really felt like Dan ce Dance Revolution and Taiko Drum Master were center stage. The best part is still the large screen and seating set up for the game tournaments throughout the weekend. It’s a great way to kill some time while watching skilled players do their thing for prizes. Overall, there was a good amount of space and lines were not very long which made gaming fun for everyone. It is definitely worth checking out if you are into competitive gaming.

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