Registration Line by Eri Kagami
One of Anime Expo’s nicknames is “Line Con.” The registration line is notorious for long wait times. I went to the attendee registration line at 11AM on Day One. Thankfully, the registration line was moving fast. However, it was really hard to find where the line began because it was moving so fast. Staff members were hardly keeping track of where the line began; we were getting mixed messages. The line on Day One at 11AM took about an hour to get through. The good news is that Anime Expo staff was handing out free bottles of water in the humid Los Angeles July heat. People were sardined together making the temperature feel hotter than it should be.  However, once you get into the convention center, free AC all around. Scan your ticket from your smart phone and you’re in!

The AMV Game Show by Eri Kagami
Hosted by a prolific amv (anime music video) creator, Vlad G. Phnert, the AMV Game show is a different event from what I’m used to watching. Essentially, an anime music video was shown. The audience had to pay attention to certain details. Contestants from the audience were randomly selected. They were asked random trivia about the anime music video shown. Basically, it was a memory game; you had to really pay attention to lyrics and what was shown during said lyrics. Questions started getting harder when mash up style videos of various anime were being shown. This was really entertaining to watch; the videos shown were nicely done and fun to watch (Rock the World, Rasputin, etc to name a few).

Entertainment Hall: AX Archives by Eri Kagami
Similar to the Otakon Museum at Otakon, AX Archives is a display in the entertainment that showcased memorabilia and collections from Anime Expo past. In celebration of the 25th anniversary, AX Archives had programs, badges, t-shirts, and other memorabilia through the years since Anime Con in 1991. It’s much smaller and compact than the Otakon Museum, which is a small panel room in a hotel. However, there were some interesting finds such as a letter from Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to Anime Expo. Browsing through the AX Archives brought back memories of Anime Expo years gone by. I spoke to the staff managing the booth; they said they had more things they wanted to display and showcase, but did not have the room to do so. It would be nice to see more Anime Expo memories for future conventions.

Dealers Hall by Eri Kagami
What was different from this year’s dealers hall was the fact that it was completely taken over by vendors.  In years past, South Hall’s exhibitions were taken over by vendors, artists, and autographs. This year, it was pure vendors. More room meant for more room for big name anime companies to have bigger and better displays. Toei Animation had a gallery of their most prominent works. Voltage games had a booth where you can take selfies with samurai bachelors. Neko Atsuime had a booth where you can selfie with Tubs the fat cat from the beloved mobile game. Viz had a Sailor Moon cosplayer meet and greet. Bushiroad had Love Live School Idol Festival demos and they were selling the track jackets for each member of Muse. There was a surprising amount of Japanese RPG’s and ero-games present in the dealers hall. I felt that there was more interaction and more room to move around. The dealers hall is pretty huge and some of the best deals require cash on hand – Sakura Sakku had several cash-only flash sales. For figure collectors, this was an instant gold mine for waifu statues. Overall, I am very impressed with this year’s vendors. In spite of the background check policy, vendors I have met and interacted were very friendly and happy to make a sale.

Artist Alley by Eri Kagami
If dealer’s hall took over the main south hall exhibit hall, Artist Alley was moved to Kentia Hall. Frankly, Artist Alley has had the short end of the stick at Anime Expo. For the past several years, Artist Alley was always held at the back of the dealers hall leaving congested and cramped foot traffic making it hard to see everything and pay attention to what is being sold. The upside of Artist Alley being in Kentia Hall was that you could spend a few hours going through various booths and merchants. There were some unique being sold. I picked up some Sailor Moon themed earrings for Sailor Moon Day. However, there were legitimate complains about Artist Alley being held in Kentia Hall such as the lack of air conditioning for vendors.

Right Stuf and Nozomi Entertainment by Eri Kagami
One of the biggest announcements at Anime Expo were rescue licenses from classic anime titles that have lost their North American releases. First of all, trailers for new anime licenses were announced such as Big Windup – though no sound was in the trailer (Room 411 has always had this issue), the audience started MST3K-ing through the trailer. Another new title announced was A Town Where You Live which looked like your standard modern day slice of life affair, but the Right Stuf rep said this is an anime “where life can kick you in the balls.” Rescue licenses included Galaxy Angel, Martian Successor Nadesico, and new complete re-release of Revolutionary Girl Utena. Gundam licenses included Char’s Counterattack, Reconguista in G, War in the Pocket, and Stardust Memory. “We are ignoring the fact Gundam was not marketable in the states,” said the rep.

Opening Ceremonies by Eri Kagami
Opening ceremonies played to a full crowd in Hall B. Most main events were being held in West Hall on this main stage. The show started out with showcasing 25 years of Anime Expo through anime music videos. Of course, Anime Expo has a huge guest list every year and surprise acts. The group that was putting on the Cowboy Bebop Jazz Cat festival showcased a music video to promote their Sunday affair. Voice actors were introduced. Lia, best known for her work on Clannad, talked about her background in studying music at Berklee college and recording music for various anime series in Los Angeles. She also treated the audience to a few of her memorable tunes. Anime Expo also throws in Akihabara-Kei personalities such as fashion designers and musical acts. I like that Anime Expo always picks up and coming performers. This year, we had the very cheerful Maiddreamin’ group perform a few songs. Audience were given free glowsticks to show their love for the idols. What everyone was waiting to see were the performers for the Anisong  World performers – members from TM Revolution, JAM Project, Flow, etc showed up towards the end of the opening ceremonies to promote the festival.

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