Official Sailor Moon Panel by Eri Kagami
Sailor Moon still remains a relevant title in today’s anime scene. Anime Expo designated Day 3 as “Sailor Moon Day.” This included the official Viz panel, autograph signings from the new cast, a cosplay meet up, and a screening of the newly dubbed episodes of season 3 (Sailor Moon S). The official Sailor Moon panel is run by Viz marketing rep, Charlene “Char” Ingram. Many Moonies were waiting at the crack of dawn to get a sneak peak of what Viz was going to announce. We were given trailers for the upcoming Sailor Moon Crystal domestic release. We also had some Moonie trivia. Likewise, we had a majority of the new cast for Q&A from both Char and the audience.

The highlight of this panel was the announcement for Sailor Moon S part 1 pre-order for Right Stuf. Additionally, the audience was treated to an episode of Sailor Moon S. Usually, when an episode is premiere; it is the first of the upcoming season. However, because a majority of Moonies want to see Uranus and Neptune in their loving glory, we were given the flashback episode of when Haruka met Michiru. I have originally seen this raw without subtitles accompanied by Hitoshi Doi’s episode summaries in 1997. The episode appears in the first quarter of Sailor Moon S and it’s a flashback of how the two sailor guardians met each other through a mutual friend. It was very nice to see the episode totally intact and uncensored. As a Utena fan and knowing that Ikuhara had a hand in directing season 3, it was also interesting to see images and concepts that would inspire Utena in this episode. The audience was very much engaged and in awe of this never before seen dub and cheered on as Michiru and Haruka drove off in the sunset.

Entertainment Hall: Arcade and E-Gaming by Jared
When not at panels or the dealer hall the entertainment hall is often the choice for those looking for a fun way to spend their day at Anime Expo.  One of the major attractions is the arcade area and the small video game section.  The arcade is mostly made up of rhythm games, but there are also shooters and fighters as well, beyond that they have classic games like pinball and air hockey.  The video games are made up of the expected titles like Smash Bros and Rock Band.  They have a couple competitions and they are often played on the large screen so the passers by can watch.  Wile it did lack the museum from last year it was still a good gaming zone.

Entertainment Hall: Art Show by Jared
The art show was rather small this year.  There were several Japanese posters and some character sheets, but beyond that there wasn’t all that much original art.  It was nice to see everything, but it could be covered in a couple minutes unlike some of the larger shows that take a bit longer to view.  It would be nice to see more in the art show, but due to the sheer amount of things shoved into the entertainment hall it isn’t surprising that this area is rather small.

Entertainment Hall: Bang Zoom Open Auditions by Jared
Every year Bang Zoom has their workshops to help aspiring voice actors learn what will be expected of them when working.  However, only recently have they started having auditions so people could experience first hand the intensity of having to show your skills to directors and other actors.  This year they held the auditions in the Entertainment Hall in front of an audience of those using the hall and those waiting for their chance to audition.  It looked exciting and nerve racking at the same time, but a talented person can perform under pressure and this looks to be a good way to sepeerate out those who can’t perform under pressure.

Using Manga in Education by Eri Kagami
This panel had educators from secondary and post-secondary schools interested in learning more how anime can be used in the classroom. Several teachers I spoke with in line for the panel talked about how Anime Expo was a vacation for them and one of the only cons they do. It was nice getting to know the different types of teachers attending – English Language Learners, science, substitutes, etc. The presentation had three speakers. The first speaker spoke about digital literacy in secondary schools. While she did tie in how manga and reading manga online ties in with Common Core, her presentation mostly focused on what is Digital Literacy. I would have loved to seen lesson plans with some of the manga she alluded to (Bakuman, Mu Shi Shi, etc) and how these titles can be used to teach emotional intelligence and cultural diversity. The next presenter is a teacher from Daly City that utilized pop culture in teaching ELL students. She emphasized using familiar pop culture references to teach new skills. The next presenter was a university professor who taught gender studies and spent most of the time talking about the female gender in Soul Eater.

Aksys: State of Anime Gaming by Jared
One of the gorwing parts of Anime Expo is the amount of panels dedicated to Japanese video games, especially those that are anime stylized.  The Aksys panel showed off several new titles and announced more PC ports of popular games.  The biggest draw for me was the reveal of Exist Archive, which was also available to play at their booth.  They also showed off some new visual novel games including Bad Apple Wars where ghost students battle it out for control of the campus.  This was a great panel and got me hyped to learn that more of their games were getting PC versions so I wouldn’t have to worry about buying a new console.

Gaia Online: People Still Play This? by Jared
One of the most popular social games (which predates most other social games) Gaia Online still have a large following and both vetran and new players showed up to learn what was up next for their favorite game.  The panel showed off a few upcoming event items and even had people vote on what itmes should show up in upcoming draws.  There were plenty of giveaways both physical merchandise and digital items to enhance your Gaia character.  The panel was lively and fun and filled with behind the scenes trivia.

Cosplay Wrestling Federation by Jared
Cosplay Wrestling Federation was back for AXtreme Rules 2016 with a cast of new and returning characters.  Some of the most popular characters were Jolyne Jostar, Mr. Satan, and Mario.  The show ended up having a special preliminary match between Freaky Fish Guy and Reality (from South Park) with the winner taking on the champion Yami Yugi.  The final winner was Freaky Fish Guy whose mix of whitty insults and anti-hero behavior won the crowd’s favor.  The strangest part of this year’show was that the audience was a ‘heel’ audience.  Insults were coming left and right, the heel characters were getting the most cheers, and the audience took down anyone who did not play to their attitude.  It was a wild show and worth watching because there is nothing else like it at con.  The only problem with the show this year as the room was too small for the large audience, hopefully next year they can get a bigger room and have an even wilder show.

Karaoke: Open Microphone by Erica Kagami
The Los Angeles Convention Center quiets and calms down some after 7PM. However, there are a ton of late night happenings at Anime Expo. One of these is open microphone karaoke. This means you can sing to your heart’s content until the convention center closes. The downside is that there’s a long wait to sing. A lot of people come here to get a late night karaoke fix. The nice thing about open mic karaoke is that it is entertaining even if you don’t sing. I saw a few rounds of Love Live and someone going up and singing Drake. Everyone is singing along and just having a great time after hours.

Karaoke: Ultimate Karaoke Fighting Championship by Eri Kagami
Karaoke is a huge part of Asian culture; I should know. Much like the AMV (anime music video) programming, karaoke has expanded to be a separate programming track. In addition to open microphone karaoke, there were several karaoke themed game shows. Ultimate Karaoke Fighting Championship is much like the gong show of karaoke. It filled an entire panel room. Basically, they had participants take upon challenges while singing a randomly assigned song to them. They would pick a category and once they pick the category, they would do the game while singing an assigned song to them. For example, if a pair picked “Idol Trash” they would singing an idol themed song with a trash can on their head. If they picked “Sports Anime,” they would sing a song to pump up the audience while dodging ball pit balls. This was a series of eliminations to determine who would be the ultimate karaoke fighting champion. This was a really fun event to see people have fun on stage and to end the night.

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