It’s been a few years since I’ve been to Anime Expo. The last time I was officially at this convention was 2004. It was a few months before I joined J!-ENT. The convention was still held in Anaheim, CA and had about half as many attendees as they get now. There were many reason why I suddenly quit going to this convention altogether. Even back in 2004, this convention was having some growing pains that were tough for me to deal with as a paying fan. It was getting more and more difficult to get into the events that I wanted to go to. Crowds were getting larger. I’m one who really doesn’t like extremely large conventions. I went to Comic Con International in San Diego a few years ago because all my friends said it was an awesome convention. I went for one day and I absolutely hated it. I’ve never gone back. I suppose it’s a fine convention if you’re a big fan of TV and movies and comics and can put up with the crowds and long lines. It simply wasn’t for me. Anyway, back when I started going to Anime Expo, it really was the only anime convention in the Los Angeles area. After the 2004 convention, I decided to try a few other cons because I now had a choice to go to other conventions. Pacific Media Expo held their first convention that year. The following year, Anime Los Angeles held its first convention. I also went to established conventions such as Ani-Magic and FanimeCon in San Jose. It was nice to have a choice and I decided that I didn’t have to go to Anime Expo anymore.
This year, I returned because there were a few press related things that needed to to covered and so I volunteered.
One of the guests that I covered was voice actor Katsuyuki Konishi. It’s been a long time since I’ve been to a panel at Anime Expo. He’s well known for his roles as Kamina in Gurren Lagann and America in Axis Powers Hetalia. If you’ve been to an anime convention recently, it’s crazy how popular Axis Powers Hetalia is right now. There were also a few concerts to cover. Before arriving at Anime Expo, I didn’t know that I was going to be able to cover any of these concerts, but since press photos were allowed this year, I fit a few concerts into my schedule. Eventually, I made it three shows–AKB48, Megumi Nakajima and May’n, and Beni. All of these shows were incredible and it was nice to have these in the Nokia Theater, which is one of the newest concert venues in Los Angeles.
Of course, during my down time, I used it to take a few cosplay photos. I didn’t have time for very many, but managed to squeeze in a photo session with cosplayer “Itsuka” in her Umineko costume and an Axis Powers Hetalia group.
I never really liked this downtown Los Angeles location for cosplay photos. It’s basically a concrete jungle, which isn’t really appropriate for all costumes, but you have to deal with it. Also, security is pretty strict in a lot of places. I was asked to move the Axis Powers Hetalia photo session because I was too close to Staples Center, which is right next to the LA Convention Center. I know many people who were asked to not take photos in the JW Marriott, which is an official convention hotel and may most likely be the headquarter hotel for next year. People were even asked to stop taking photos at a nearby park. It was one of the more photographer unfriendly conventions that I’ve ever been too. Generally, it’s difficult to take cosplay photos with so many of the nicer location being taken away.
So, in all, it was an interesting experience at Anime Expo. It was fun being able to cover a lot of events, but I’m not quite sure if I enjoyed it. It was rough.