Sorry that the report took forever. I still needed to set up images. That’s why.
Well, this will most likely end up being the most detailed con report/rant of this year’s Anime Expo you’ll see. Keep in mind that this will be more ugly than the ladies that were invited to the early party in “Great Teacher Onizuka”. Okay, maybe that is a bit too extreme? It will still be ugly and that’s why I attached the word “rant”.
Thursday
I got picked up by Jorge/DarthRyu or rather, a friend of his. Though this was the first time I went to AX, I have not been to an anime con in which I’ve actually did pay for the entry fee or be part of the staff in three years or so. What’s ugly was that I had an irritated throat and I knew that I was going to have some cold.
We reached the Long Beach Convention Center at 18:30/6:30 P.M. or so. There was nothing I could do because I couldn’t buy my badge until the following day. I managed to talk with Ray/Inin and a whole bunch of other Bay Area people. We talked about what we’re doing these days, which in my case would be a lot.
Some time after that, we, Jorge, his friends and I, went to different paths and I thought I was supposed to stay at Queen Mary’s, but I entered the place one day too early. Too bad I left my wallet in the car. I really hate that wallet.
Well, I got to see Chupiler and his friends. I slept at his place, which isn’t really far from the event. So, at least that saved me.
Friday
Pretty much, all I did was stand in line for registration and I forgot that I didn’t have my wallet. It wasn’t until that evening I managed to get a badge. I took some photographs of cosplayers obviously seeing that I’d be here for a while. I did talk with a bunch of people and two south guys I met really emphasized on why Long Beach is a horrid place to hold Anime Expo and some other stuff.
After I got my badge, Chupiler, his friends and I went to have some Hawaiian dinner. Then, we went to Max Karaoke down in Torrance. This is probably the best karaoke experience I had. Period. Of course, I had an horrid throat and it was pretty late, but oh man. It was a riot. If you’re down south, go to Max’s!
The songs I picked were Chemistry’s “Kimi ga Iru” (「キミがいる」), “Tokimeki Memorial II’s” “Yuuki no Kami-sama” (「勇気の神様」), “Groovy!” (「グルービー!」) from “Cardcaptor Sakura” and a “Love Hina” song: “Yakusoku” (「約束」). I think “Yakusoku” now became my 18th song. “Yuuki no Kami-sama” was the only duet I did and I did it with Chupiler, who likes this song.
This was the only night, if I should be saying that, in which I stayed at Queen Mary’s and it was okay, even though there are those stories. Why did I get a bed? I don’t know. They pretty much prefer sleeping in unusual places. Heh heh.
Saturday
Though there were interesting moments this day, this really was the one day I was supposed to be in a serious mode. Part of what I supposed to was to see if Long Beach would be a city I’d move to in two or three years. Of course, at this point, the answer’s “no” not only because of its notorious history, but because of the structure of the city itself. I’d seriously move south, but not to Long Beach.
Saturday showed real signs of horror. We were waiting for a while in regards of the S.O.S. dan autographs. Guess what? They were pushed back a day. This may be a good thing until you realize that this royally messes up my plans because Momoi Haruko-san, Halko-san if you’re sassy, had her panel the following day. Now, I had to start deciding on whether I go have another shot at the autographs or go to the panel.
I didn’t get breakfast until way late in the morning because I left my stuff at Chupiler’s place. After my quick breakfast, I did eat at a place called Wasabi. I made my waitress who was serving me cutely confused because she’s not used to hearing the word “bentou” when I wanted the bentou special and she had to look at one of her coworkers who I was talking with when I came in. It was fun and I got some anime moments in.
Shortly after lunch, I met up with Shin ATProof, who managed to get a cell before the con. He mainly wondered how are my “Rage of the Dragons” skills now and I laughed not only because they were waiting, but because it’s “Rage of the Dragons”. Hardly anyone plays that game. Oh and yes, I did tell him that I can beat Johann with a keyboard, which tells you that I’m some sort of game god.
We went our different ways and I played a few arcades games to kill time as well as reading “Nodame Cantabile” in the manga kissaten. I played “Mushihime-sama”, “Dodonpachi”, “Act Cadenza” and Arc’s “Hokuto no Ken” game. I didn’t really play my hardest in the games because all I wanted to do was kill time. It showed in the shooters because I didn’t go far in either of them.
I told my opponent for “Act Cadenza”, “Watch me become horrible in ‘Act Cadenza’” seeing that I will always prefer “Final Tuned”. It was fun because we talked for a bit in regards of the game like who we picked. I picked Ciel and he was winning with Kohaku and Hisui. I did push him, but not enough to make it a three round bout.
I played “Hokuto no Ken” for the first time and I had a four game winning streak with Kenshirou, which wasn’t bad. Some game couple was teaming up against me. Ha ha ha! After I lost, I smiled, which is unusual for a situation like this because you don’t smile after you lose. I smiled not just because I had fun, but because I had to attend another important matter. This meant I had to miss the S.O.S. concert.
I met with Chupiler and his friends in the evening. They had to take care of matters in regards of the booth they were working with: Doujin Online. I managed to hear an “Idolmaster” album with the girls singing some random songs. We went to some Irish pub and I didn’t remember much what went on other than I was told by one of the AX staff members that I was a good man for knowing Chupiler.
Sunday
Sunday. S.O.S. Dan autographs or Momoi-san’s panel? I had to make a decision. Either way, I’d lose something. I ended up going to the Momoi-san panel because at least I get to experience something other than waiting in line. Not only that, this would be my panel day and adding on, I had an idea that I wouldn’t be getting for sure the autographs anyway.
I felt that I made the right decision because Momoi-san’s panel was a blast. Megane, Akibahara, Under 17, hearing Anise lines (”Tales of the Abyss”), why did her panel get less than an hour? I don’t know. Her panel should have been 2 hours long! That wouldn’t be fair for the other panelists now, ne? Ha ha ha! Well, she should deserve a 2-hour panel if she wants it.
Of course, the panel was not all joyful. Momoi-san was forced to cancel her autograph sessions because AX staff members were still planning out the concert. I’m like, “What is this?!” and I felt like I wanted to enter the Riot of the Blood state, but I kept my cool. Too bad I couldn’t take out all my anger on Vega and Geese.
Right after the panel, I bumped into Jorge and we shopped for various items. I bought for Jorge a “Rozen Maiden” figurine set and a Lumiere (”Kiddy Grade”) shirt. After that, we broke off again. I somehow found out that Circus (who is known as the company that made the “Da Capo” series if you don’t know) was having a panel that night and I figured that I should attend this panel as well.
Remember the two guys I mentioned when I was waiting in line for my badge? I met up with one of them, Dean, and then, the three of us, Ron being the other guy if I’m recall, decided to have lunch at Tokyo Wako. Of course, we had to do some waiting. I tell you. This con was all about waiting.
Once lunch was over, I told the guys I had other things to take care of. I talked with Richie/Richielikesmaids and we talked about the many things that went wrong in this con. It’d be cute if he got to watch over Momoi-san should she come to San Jose. Hee hee! Oh and we so could have had something like lumpia. Ha ha ha!
After Rich went off to sleep and I went to finish my leftovers, which I should have started doing in the first place instead of buying lots of food, I went to the Circus panel. Yes, I went to it instead of the masquerade contest. Anyway, the people presented were the producer Tororo-san and the two illustrators, Tanihara Natsuki-san and Kayura Yuka-san if I remember properly.
This was a silly, but fun panel. Everyone took photos of them and they took photos of the crowd. The staff members were surprised at the fact that majority of the crowd preferred girls with a modest bust because they would think that Americans love girls with a big bust. (In many cases, that’s true, but not here.) Oh and I managed to win a sketch from Tanihara-san, which made my day. ^_^
Monday
I went to Momoi-san’s concert. Of course, I will never understand why there’s that Premire Ticket thing. It’s a waste of time really. Anyway, the concert was fun and I got rave sticks. Hee hee! She sang a whole bunch of songs like “Ai no Medicine” (the “Komugi-chan” opening song) and she and Manzo-san were really excited to see a lot of people at the concert. (Of course, it wasn’t really a lot to me.)
Well, after Momoi-san gave her thanks and cried with joy as well as having a photo, I left a message in her fan book. I wrote in kana, but I rushed it because I still had to worry about the autograph session I won yesterday. I hate it when you’re on some sort of time budget.
So, I went to Circus’s booth and I got my autograph from Tanihara-san. The sketch is of Yume from “Da Capo II” by the way. I told her that writing my name in katakana is fine. Well, I got my name both in roumaji and katakana, which works out too. Ha ha ha! Initially, a Circus staff member’s autograph wasn’t at the top of my item list, but Circus somehow ended my run at AX on a high note.
I helped clean up the Doujin Online booth for a bit and this was the last time I would see Chupiler and his friends. Before, I got a figurine of Eri from “School Rumble” and some other items. I ended my run early as I heard various tunes like “Tank” from “Cowboy Bebop” while I rested. I found Jorge and after we found his friends, we headed back north.
Epilogue
After four days and over $500, this year’s AX wasn’t that bad, but calling it “terrific” would be pushing it. Like I said, Long Beach is not a very good city to hold an anime con. Yeah, it would have been better if it was held in Anaheim because that’s more of a family city. (Disneyland.) In Long Beach, you still have that grim aura. Not only that, you can end up going the wrong way when you walk or drive here.
It’s a shame I didn’t get to touch my Dreamcast. I would have wanted to play against someone in “Moero! Justice Gakuen”, but oh well. There’s that and I wanted to go to Arcade Infinity. I thought the game rooms were horrible in Fanime. AX had worse. Can a person at least get a game like “The King of Fighters 2002″ or “Pink Sweets”?! The latter wouldn’t matter anyway because I’d still be considered slow to play it.
I already knew that there’d be no fan subs at the con, which is why I didn’t bother going to check the viewing rooms. I did get a glimpse of some “Lucky Star” episode before the Circus panel. Ha ha ha! Can’t remember which one though.
In regards of the guests, I feel sorry for Momoi-san and the rest of the guests. I also feel sorry for the people who waited in line for the S.O.S. Dan autographs because I would have done the same and I know that the majority of you people left empty-handed, which is a darn shame. If only there was a way to clone myself.
Oh! Random notes. I went to the Borders store close by on Sunday and I told him that it feels weird for him to serve the enemy because I was wearing a Giants hat and obviously, you can’t wear a Giants hat if you’re in Long Beach. He does like the city of San Francisco though. By the way, I ate at least one Japanese food item everyday while I was down south. I am not going to bother mentioning the ugly stuff.
The ups of this year’s AX? Outside of the outside stuff like the karaoke session, I got to see old friends and I got to see new ones. I even got to have lunch with random people I’ve met, which is something no one would do at AX normally. I bought a whole bunch of items (mostly shirts) and I got an autograph from Circus. Oh and I met a guy with the fan name of “Hanase”! XD
The downs of this year’s AX? I mentioned them already. I didn’t get an autograph from Momoi-san, the reason why I came to AX in the first place. Food’s not cheap. It’s the walking and waiting con. The games were disgusting to put it lightly. Simply put, this was really disorganized.
At the highest, 2007’s AX gets a 7/10 and that’s me being nice. At the lowest, it gets a 3/10. Again, that’s me being nice. So, it gets a 5, which is not bad, but not that good either.
Oh. Next year’s AX will be in downtown Los Angeles. I haven’t been to Los Angeles in years, but while this means that there will be a bigger place to work with for the staff, bigger doesn’t mean better always. This is Los Angeles. I’m worried about the safety of cosplayers, especially those that are not 18 yet. It still has that dark aura and if you thought Long Beach’s is bad, this is worse.
What should be done? If it can’t be done in Anaheim, bring it to a city like Pasadena or Santa Ana. If a bigger city is required, bring it to San Diego. I’d rather travel for another hour plus and have that safe feeling than travel for only a few hours to be concerned about the safety of people not familiar with Los Angeles all the time.
Well, that’s my rant for AX2007. It took me a while to complete this. I am so not going to use a disposable camera if I ever go to a big event again. If you didn’t enjoy AX this year, I feel for you. If you did enjoy AX this year, more power to you. This event was too much of a mixed bag. I wish I could work with guests from now on, but I live up north. I guess it can’t be helped. –’
Photos are below. The reason why there aren’t many is that I was on a time budget pretty much. Also, they look horrible because I was using a cheap camera, which is what I will not do again. Hopefully.
Photos
Max Karaoke in Torrance.
“Azumanga” waiter and waitress gang.
“Guu’s” title character.
“Haruhi’s” title character in that bunny outfit.
Kyousuke of the “Justice Gakuen” series.
Maid in Long Beach.
Maid pair in Long Beach.
Nakoruru and Iori, two popular characters in the SNK Playmore world. (Yes, I know that this looks horrible, but it’s better like this than having them pose in the middle of the crossway.)
“Samurai Spirits’s” Shizumaru. (I’m probably one of the few people who actually knows who he’s cosplaying as.)
“School Rumble’s” Tenma.
Yuki, that mysterious girl of “Haruhi” and Haku of “Naruto”.
