The morning began early with preparation for Moon Prism Poptarts. Jared and Victoria got dressed for the occasion as Sailor Pluto and Professor Tomoe. Leaving the room early Jared was able to hit the Ani.me panel at 10AM. Ani.me featured two guys talking about older anime they enjoyed and making jokes about popular anime titles. As it approached eleven we began setup for the première Sailor Moon panel of the West Coast.

Moon Prism Poptarts drew in a great crowd of fans of all types. There were some minor technical issues with the panel, but it still ran smoothly. The clips went over well and there was an abundance of questions after the panel. After the panel we met up with our friends Becky and Miguel for lunch. Lunch was made up of home made shrimp tacos provided by Miguel. Lunch got us recharged for the remainder of the day.

Stop! Toku Time by Jeff

I caught the tail end of Moon Prism Poptarts which I’ve seen twice at Fanime and Anime Expo but it was mainly to meet up the rest of the crew, see how Friday went and also because Plastic Joint's tokusatsu panel was right after and having missed it at Anime Los Angeles (ALA) and Fanime I figured this was a mistake that needed to be rectified. I am a huge fan of super sentai and Kamen Rider so it was nice to finally see Stan, Ramses and Deb’s panel on the subject which included clips from various shows, brief history of each franchise and a look at some of the merchandise produced for each series. There were also trivia questions most of which had me stumped because they were about some shows I haven’t seen yet so I couldn’t challenge Stan’s knowledge if I wanted to. Overall it was a great panel although the end was a bit rushed due to having to clear out for the next guest but this is something I’ll go back to come ALA.

Voice Actor: Matt Mercer is Fierce by Jeff

The first Voice Acting related panel I attended was for industry guest Matthew Mercer. I only attended the last half because I was still walking the con space learning where each event room was to make it easier for attending later panels but the half I caught was quite good. Matt was telling stories of fooling drive in employees with a Scottish Accent or a Korean accent, how he got his agent and above all how he got interested in voice over. There were moments where attendees asked him about current games he was playing and talked about having a girl friend prevented him from returning to the World of Warcraft but that Dark Souls was the big thing consuming his time. The one thing that stuck with me as inspiration were his parting words which were towards aspiring Voice Actors like myself just to be a good person and great things will happen if you give it your all.

I Want My Anime TV by Jeff

A little later I attended the AnimeTV panel hosted by director/show host Jonathan Meza who remembered me from my AX Idol audition and greeted me with open arms. Also in attendance were regular cast members Roy Pitts, Bailey Chadwick and newcomer Thomas Yang. The panel was mainly a talkback about the show now in the middle of its fourth season, how far it’s come since its original inception and what they’ve got in store for upcoming episodes. The show is very much by fans for fans which was emphasized greatly by the show promising more interaction with fans to provide short reviews of Anime titles at cons. Each panelist spoke about shows they were currently watching right now, favorite/least favorite shows a few debates came up when discussing shows like Angel Beats but it was a fun time and interesting to hear other perspectives on certain Anime titles. AnimeTV panels are always fun to attend because you get so many discussions about certain Anime shows and the people who work on the show are truly professional fans and they really know what they’re talking about. Jonathan Meza really knows how to put on a show and lead a panel discussion. I encourage everyone to check out the show and go see these guys at their next con appearance.

Black is the New Black by Jared

After lunch we attended the Yasuhiro Imagawa panel who discussed the various super robot anime he had been involved with. One of the highlights of the panel was Imagawa discussing why there are very few female super robots. He also revealed that the design of Nobel Gundam was because the designer was a closet Sailor Moon fanboy. The panel was great and it was fun to learn more about various super robot anime series.

The panel was followed up by the Walter Jones panel. It was nice to attend another Power Rangers themed panel. This time it was just Walter Jones, but he was very entertaining. One of the most amusing stories he told was about filming the food fight scene wherein the whole cast threw food at the crew when filming was completed.

Jared was off to the Japanese Media During the Cold War panel. It featured discussion about cartoons and video games from the Cold War that vilified Russians or communists. It was surprising how many action games that Japan produced that featured the US fighting Russia. When the panel ended, Jared began his setup for the History of Lupin III panel.

This was the first time that Jared brought his internet show into a convention as a panel. The Lupin panel featured discussion of the evolution of the popular manga and anime series and several silly clips from the various TV specials. One of the fun parts of the panel was when members of the audience started shouting out their favorite episodes and specials. The panel was a success and will be returning to more conventions in the future.

We Heart Japan: American Otaku Here to Help by Jeff

Right after AnimeTV was Stephanie Sheh’s We Heart Japan panel which was a reflection of the charity events they put together all throughout the year as well as pictures of progress going on with earthquake relief efforts in Japan showing where all that charity money has gone. Also there was Takayuki Karahashi who spoke of his experience in Fukushima at the nuclear plant when the earthquake occurred. Mr. Karahashi stated that his personal belongings were still at the hotel he stayed at in Fukushima and that the money raised by We Heart Japan would allow for him to go back and retrieve them. After that was the raffle where Stephanie gave away goodies like out of print Bleach Trading Cards, Wall Scrolls and a full display for Blue Submarine No.6 which wrapped up the panel. I’ve been support We Heart Japan since their karaoke event in July they really do good work and they’ve shown that the anime industry can indeed give back to Japan in times of need.

Parties and Panels: I Love the Nightlife by Jared

Having met members of the Chocolate Covered Cosplay team in the past it felt like a fun idea to check out their panel. It was great to hear the gals talk about their experiences in the world of cosplay. As the panel wrapped up Jared gave his regards to the C3 team and preparations for the next Scarlet Rhapsody panel began. The busy day had ended, but the busy night was about to begin.

The evening began with the one and only wacky Filipino media panel: WoWoWTF: Filipino Cinema Gone Wrong. This time the panel featured all new clips from action movie trailers to silly singing to the commercial featuring the “Cosplay Queen of the Philippines.” Everyone had a great time and we wished we could stay to play more clips, but we were pushed out of the room so they could play episodes of a K-Drama.

After the panel the team met up for some dinner at the hotel bar. We shared snacks and drinks while talking about our PMX adventures. After we finished up having dinner the team split up again. The gals went to the lobby to socialize, while Jared, Jeff, and Miguel hit the swap meet to see if they could find any deals on the floor. While some things caught their eyes nothing got picked up. Everyone regrouped in the lobby to decide what to do with the remainder of the night.

After some socializing Victoria and Jeff went to the karaoke room, while Jared helped Becky and Miguel pack up. After that Jared went to the Secret History of Anime panel. This panel covered old school series and the panelists talked about early experiences in anime fandom. Even Jared who prides himself on his old school knowledge learned a few things at the panel. His is now actively seeking out a copy of Iczer-3. It was great to see a panel that talked about a part of anime history that is rarely touched upon, the early days of anime in the US.

After the panel Jared took a trip down to the dance. It was great and full of energy. The midnight crowd was having fun at full steam. The music was pumping and got you moving on the dance floor. One of the wilder parts of the dance is that various gals would get up on the stage to dance go-go style for those who would like to watch rather than dance. When it got to one in the morning Jared decided it was time to join the nightlife at a friend’s room party.

Karaoke: I Like to Boogie by Jeff

After a nice long break from panel hoping all day Victoria and I decided to head over to the Karaoke room to get our singing on. I have done Karaoke at previous conventions like Anime Los Angeles, Animation on Display, Fanime and Anime Expo. Out of all of them PMX easily had the best selection of music primarily because unlike the other four listed above PMX has American artists in addition to all the Japanese and Anime songs you would expect to hear at a con. Jonathan Meza from AnimeTV who also there. As it turns out he is an amazing singer. When It came to me singing, I stuck to some classic songs from Poison, The Doors and Elvis Presley, and overall the positive energy in the room added to the success of the night. My only gripe however is that in the later hours of the night the Karaoke staff got pissed when I wanted to make a quick change in song choice, I understand getting pissed if you do it at the last possible second, but I gave them plenty of notice and they gave me an attitude. However, it didn’t really detract from my first experience of PMX karaoke. They have the best collection of music and I am sure with each passing con it grows bigger and bigger and improves with every year. I’ll be checking this out again for sure next year.

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