Day three was on a Monday, a lighter day compared to Saturday and Sunday. There were virtually no lines in the morning for registration. Normally, a day three is lauded as the busiest day of the con. However, it was refreshing not to see too many crowds on a Monday. This was our day to check out a few industry panels.

Viz Media Presents Sailor Moon by Eri Kagami
Happy Moonie Monday! Viz Media dubs day three as "Sailor Moon Day" at Anime Expo. They started this trend in 2014. The panel always opens up with a singalong to "Moonlight Densetsu." Charlene, director of marketing at Viz Media, leads in the full house in song. Also in Sailor Moon Day fashion, the Sailor Guardian squad was brought in with voice actors from the Viz Media dub. Stephanie Sheh, Robbie Daymond, Cristina Vee, Amanda Miller, Cherami Leigh, Sandy Fox, Erica Mendez, Lauren Landa, and Christina Cabanos. Charlene lead in with questions for the voice actors including what was it like to be in the Sailor Moon franchise to advice they would give to their characters. Most of the questions were repeats from previous Sailor Moon Day's, but I did like hearing each of the actor's personal stories and connections to Sailor Moon. Veronica Taylor, voice of Sailor Pluto, did not make it the panel, but she did send in a video from Ireland to greet the fans.
Sailor Moon Day also had trailers and treats from Viz Media. This included sales pushes for the Sailor Moon S volume 2 dvd box set. If you bought it at con, you were given extra bonuses. They also announced the release date for Sailor Moon Crystal season 3 on dvd and blu ray. Throughout the 90 minute panel, there was also trivia and giveaways. Trivia this year was easier compared to last year's. I ended up winning a pegasus and Chibmoon statue for answering what was the first ending theme to Sailor Moon Crystal season 3 - the redundantly titled "Eternal Eternity."

No announcements for SuperS or showings of new episodes at Sailor Moon Day. Viz Media also promoted the Sailor Moon cosplay meet up later in the day. The meet was not organized by Viz Media, but rather, organized by fans in the Sailor Moon LA community.

Lupin III: The Italian Game by Jared the Greek
Another major premiere at Anime Expo was "Lupin III: Italian Game" a synoptic movie of the fourth series of the long running franchise. There was a large audience for the showing as Lupin III has fans of many different generations due to its 50 years of existence. There were some minor technical problems in the beginning, but once the film was going everyone was ready to follow Lupin's gang through their wild European adventures. As a bonus everyone was given an exclusive 50th Anniversary shirt. The presentation ended with an announcement that the film "The Castle of Cagliostro" will be coming to theaters in Fall, which is a rare opportunity to see the classic on the big screen. It was great to see so many people excited about Lupin III and it is just a shame that there was no big anniversary panel as this was the best time to have it due to the 50 years being a huge deal overseas. Despite that, this was one of the big highlights as it allowed fans of a major franchise to send time together enjoying a movie and getting pumped up for more coming later this year.

Table Top Gaming by Eri Kagami
Down in the Anime Expo basement known as Kentia Hall, Anime Expo had their table top gaming. This is where you can play against others in card games whether it be Pokemon, Magic, or any related deck building game. Normally, we're always on the go at cons and Kentia Hall doesn't cross our minds. However, there was plenty of seating and even demos from official companies. Japanime Games, known for the maid themed deck building game, had a few demos throughout the day. We ended up demoing the Tanto Cuore maid themed game. Based on the anime archetype of cutesy "moe" maids, Tanto Cuore is about giving your team of maids the most affection. This was a fun game to demo - there are even a few expansions and variations available. The lady who gave us the demo did the art design for the beer maid set.

Food Trucks by Jared the Greek
Each year there is a great variety of food trucks outside the convention center. This year there were several zones to find food trucks around the convention center therefore no matter where you were you could find some lunch or dinner. There was a great variety this year including Korean BBQ, boba, burgers, sandwiches, and tacos. At the same time there was also a plethora of 'ghetto dog' stands. These stands aren't recommended as there is no health codes or standards that they must adhere to unlike food trucks. Each year the number of these stands increases and it doesn't make for a pleasant convention experience. The best part about having so many food trucks is that there is plenty of variety in an area whose restaurants are almost always packed.

Cosplay Wrestling Federation by Jared the Greek
One of the fan events that continues to grow every year is the Cosplay Wrestling Federation. The event features cosplayers taking on wrestling personas and cutting an outrageous promo in front of the audience then moving on to smack talk the other competitors to eventually face the champion in a verbal battle that must be seen to be believed. This time the champion was Mario and nine other characters battled to face him for the belt. These other characters included Jotaro Kujo, Phoenix Wright, Mr. Satan, and Your Waifu an original character. Each character drops their catch phrases and the audience goes along ad adds their unique cheers like "Mama Mia", "That's Our Waifu" and "Wah, Wah, Wah". The crowd was worked up as the show reached the end of the first hour, but sadly due to an accident the show got cancelled before it ended. One of Mario's champagne glasses broke and the room had to be cleared for clean up. This was due to the rules of the convention center and the team from Cosplay Wrestling did as they were told and ended the show an hour early with Mario keeping his belt due to a no contest ending.

However, the event did not end even if the show was over. The audience went into the hall along with the characters to cheer them on and chant their unique wrestling cheers. This helped keep everyone's spirits high even if the show's ending was cancelled. Then things moved to outside the convention center where the characters laid down more smack talk and beat up the Freaky Fish Guy puppet once again. The crowd was so rowdy that bystanders began asking about the show. While this may not have been the ending anyone would have expected it was a great show that got the crowd roaring and left everyone in suspense for the next event. This is the best fan run cosplay show at any convention and must be seen by everyone. Thankfully they do shows at several different anime conventions throughout California so give it a watch because nothing else compares to a whole audience cheering 'spicy meatballs' while Mario holds up his wrestling belt.

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