One of the best ways to quantify this convention was a line from our podcast 'when it was good it was good, but when it was bad it was BAD'. Anime Expo tends to be a controversial convention as many decisions they have made over the years have been questionable at best and horrible at worst. This year felt like more of the same, but that doesn't make this a terrible convention. Instead, we got a strange mix of good and bad and that leads to difficulty in judging the value of an event. Highs that best most conventions and amature level failings that should never have happened are what tend to define Anime Expo to most attendees. While this year did have some great moments, the weaknesses of this convention are dragging it down into the swamp of bad public opinion every year.

The LA Convention Center is a problematic location for any event, but especially for large events like Expo. The parking can be difficult as the structure is not designed to hold enough cars for 100,000+ people and parking in the LA Live area can get very expensive, very fast. The narrow halls get crowded with lines and loiterers fast and the dealer hall becomes wall to wall bodies even on the light days. While there is a large amount of square footage at the facility it isn't being used properly making getting around difficult during the majority of the event. The panel rooms fill up quickly and even those with premiere or press badges were getting turned away. The neighborhood brings in street venders and panhandlers taking away from the safety one should feel at a convention. Worse than that, the line ended up snaking into the less desirable parts of town putting even more people at risk. There are very few redeeming factors for the convention center and unless Anime Expo does something to better handle the location someone is going to get hurt or worse.

Despite the location issues there was plenty to do at Anime Expo this year. From concerts to industry panels to gatherings there was always something going on until late night. However, the crowding did cause problems for example there were long waits for events like the Final Fantasy anniversary meet up, panels got filled up fast, and the entertainment hall was a maelstrom of noise. While seeing the premiere of Lupin and Card Captor Sakura was great it got frustrating when smaller panels were blocked out. Also, not every event comes with the price of your badge and tickets were required for many events like they were in previous years. While that is normal for concerts at the Microsoft Theater it can be vexing when some of those ticketed events are at the convention center like the masquerade. Add to that, stories of problems with several autograph lines and things start to take a major turn for the worse. Conflicts like these should have been considered long before the convention began and yet year after year they are not solved.

On the good side, this year's dealer hall was a throwback to the days of the early 2000s with large booths and bombast. There were plenty of great booths featuring anime, manga, and video games that lit up the hall with lights and sounds. There was even a booth offering dance lessons, but one of the people at that booth was far from friendly with the attendees. One can hope that she will not be back next year. Worse than that, there is that fact that one company took steps toward shutting down other booths to eliminate competition. That company tried to shut down several smaller booths as well as larger booths like Bushy Road and Kinokuniya. While crowding is unavoidable no company should be allowed to bully other companies at the convention. Having a company get away with that kind of behavior is completely unacceptable and people should be aware of that company's business practices. On the other side of the convention was the entertainment hall. This year the entertainment hall was even more packed than ever with a Blizzard booth, photo shoot zones, gaming, and several other booths. It was rather chaotic, but people were generally polite and there were plenty of spots to game. The sponsored zones were nice and will likely expand over time giving attendees much more to do in the hall. The pointless cosplay senpai zone was still around this year, but was placed in a zone where it could be easily avoided, a nice step up from last year. The entertainment hall will only really offer anything to a select few, but those who went seemed to enjoy themselves far more than I did.

One of the biggest problems with the convention is that the general attitude of people is negative. People are stressed from the lines, the traffic, and the smell of bacteria roasting on handcart grills. This made the convention far less fun, but then things would turn around at some of the events where everyone would forget their troubles and have fun. This was the case with the premieres and concerts as well as the Cosplay Wrestling Federation. There was a strange mix of the morning anxiety and the evening joy that makes the social experience of Anime Expo strange. However, negativity was the prevailing feeling due to the lack of any attempts to boost morale for the attendees on the side of the convention. It's not like a spirit team or team of clowns are needed, but when you go to a convention and feel like convention could not care less if anyone was attending then there is a problem. Anime Expo has a tendency to alienate people and make them feel unwanted. That must change because the more people who leave dissatisfied the worse things will get for AX on the PR side of things. Expo needs to learn that attendees do matter and try to take steps toward making them feel like part of the fandom family and not like numbers being pushed through long lines.

While the majority of my final thoughts sound like I didn't have a good time the fact is that there was plenty that I enjoyed. That being said, Anime Expo brought up some very mixed feelings for me this year. I had to deal with some personal problems during the convention while still facing the same overcrowding issues from last year. It begins to feel like AX is taking two steps forward and one step back this year. I had fun at the Mari Ijima concert. Cosplay Wrestling was amazing. I finally got to watch a Lupin movie on the big screen, and I even had fun at the Kantai gathering. On the other hand, the entertainment hall is a mess, the crowds are inescapable, and apparently no attendee has learned the word 'sorry'. Add to that the general sense of apathy coming from staff and the security and you get an event that just isn't as much fun as it should be. I cannot recommend Anime Expo because no matter how good it gets there are just too many problems to counter the fun. The only reason to go at this point is to specifically meet a guest or watch a concert. If you are just going for the atmosphere then save your money as there are far more enjoyable events out there.

While I am grateful that this convention ended on a mostly positive note I know that it wasn't possible without several really good people. Special thanks go out to Nancy, the Pip Star Pop team, my great roomiies, the people at TMS, the nice lady at the Aksys booth, the NISA crew, the Kantai guys, the whole Cosplay Wrestling Federation, Universe, Steph, Hanyaan, Chel, and Amber Arden. I am thankful that everything worked out at Anime Expo and I am glad I won't have to deal with it again until next year. Until the next con I leave you with my list and ask you to give my love to all the idols, yes all of them.

THE LIST:
1. Not so hot
2. Three times
3. Lost or stolen?
4. Distracted by gaming
5. Prinny!!!
6. The waiting game sucks
7. I could do without the entertainment hall
8. Asada Fries
9. Crowds, just crowds
10. Italian Game
11. Clear Card Prologue
12. Re: 11 – Better than Tsubasa
13. No migraine… until Thursday
14. Hotel makes things better
15. The Admiral is here
16. Rule Breaker
17. Fate/GO
18. No panels means more free time
19. Zero-G Love
20. Bad shoes, man
21. That competitive brat
22. See Dub Eff
23. Survival TV
24. No time for work
25. Can't keep track of the days
26. Random encounters
27. I know where I'm going… I think?
28. Next Cosplay: Your Salt Bae
29. Note to self: master more knots
30. Once again, thank you Nancy
31. The big summer rush is over, at least for me

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