When I left E3 two weeks ago I waved goodbye thinking I wouldn't be back in Los Angeles for another year. Two weeks later I managed to make a nice trip back for the Anime Expo, having rush applied for a press badge and got approved. Funny thing, my parents were laughing at the event and were waving off the expo as being empty and non-crowded since it was Fourth of July... big mistake. I'm very glad I left early. Left the house at 5AM and got there at 6AM, and there were already a few thousand people waiting to queue in the entrance.
Being a member of the media for Anime Expo is nothing short of amazing. The amount of line cutting you can enjoy as a member of the media is hilarious. The main entrances opened up to allow people to roam at 8AM, with the show floor opening at 10. Members of the media are free to pass in and out at their leisure. So what does that mean? At 8AM when thousands of people are rushing in en masse, I literally just walked to the glass door, and walked through, with no need to go through the mandatory baggage check and weapons check in. Flashing the badge around is amazing because it gave me a lot of priority access to the really big ticketed events that were going on.
Keep in mind I only attended AX for July 4th, too. Show floor opened up at 10AM and I managed to get to squeeze in even ahead of the Premier line (who paid like $300 to attend the event) and basically cut in front of all of them, since I'm technically there on work. Had a few appointments with a few teams that I wanted to meet, and other than that, the show floor was absolutely insane. There were thousands of people roaming the event and the exhibit hall got hot very quickly. With all of the magic happening in South Hall, it was a sad departure from E3 where all the magic happened in West Hall. For Anime Expo, West Hall got turned into the video gaming/cosplay display tournament.
West Hall is also a location where the ticketed events usually play out. Think of small mini amphitheaters. Ticketed events at Anime Expo are separate events that require payment. Think like a concert ticket. So on top of the badge you need to pay for a pass to these specific events, which means they're absolutely big. I bought a ticket just in case, unsure at the time if media would cover it. Thankfully, they did... and for ALMOST FRONT ROW SEATS! More on that...
Main event for me this time was being able to get near front row tickets to the Fate: Stay Night Unlimited Blade Works event featuring guest stars such as Aimer, Ayano Mashiro, and Ayako Kawasumi, alongside members of the development team at UFOtable and Aniplex. And this event was super good. Ayano Mashiro kicked off the conference with the opening to Unlimited Blade Works, ideal white. Dear God, Ayano Mashiro nailed it and she's an incredible singing talent live. Her vocal range is incredible and she has such a powerful stage presence. She's definitely a beauty and I would love to see a concert of her stuff, actually. She also threw in a few surprises that got the crowd basically losing their minds, having sung the opening of Fate/Zero, Oath Sign. That was a kicker because the song is one of my favorite piano pieces and openings. And she nailed it. After that little dose of great, the panel continued on with an English dub of one of the Unlimited Blade Works episodes, which I was a bit indifferent towards. There was then a panel with the minds at Aniplex and UFOtable with Ayako Kawasumi joining in as well, and a lot of cool things like how episodes are developed managed to make their way in. We also got to see Fate characters being drawn by hand. The final drawing was incredible. Ayako Kawasumi (the voice actress to Saber in the Fate series), is wonderful to listen to because she sounded genuinely grateful for being able to take on the role of Saber for eight years. Very warm person to listen to, and incredibly epic when she was able to voice off her trademark "Excalibur" line. Unfortunately, the conference made no references to Heaven's Feel, with a usual response of the fact that it's being worked on but they wouldn't say more. The event was concluded with the Aimer mini concert, where she sang Last Stardust, broKen Night, Brave Shine and did a cover of Believe by Kalafina. Aimer is a great singer, but for me I found Ayano Mashiro to be a lot better with the stage. That's just me personally. They're both incredible singers that I will probably purchase albums from in future.
With that main event over it was a lot of fun just roaming the different hallways, and seeing what cosplay outfits people had in store. Of course, there were a ton of extremely suggestive cosplay outfits, but everyone looked like they truly had fun, and that's all that matters. The event is more than sufficient to attend one or two days, any more than that and it just might be a bit dull. I managed to find a piano player who was letting convention goers play with his piano, and you know, I decided to hop on it to have a bit of fun... and I brought down the house. It was fun, and I turned the piano into an open request and made covers on the fly by ear. It was great.
Other than that, that's my wrap on this year's Anime Expo. For only a day's worth, the event was tons of fun! Getting lots of things to do, getting to line bounce and beat the Premier fans, it's an awesome experience that makes me want to travel a lot more. I would really recommend going at least once just for the fun of it, because the atmosphere is just amazing - even if it smelled like bad hygiene and was filled with scantily clad women.
Being a member of the media for Anime Expo is nothing short of amazing. The amount of line cutting you can enjoy as a member of the media is hilarious. The main entrances opened up to allow people to roam at 8AM, with the show floor opening at 10. Members of the media are free to pass in and out at their leisure. So what does that mean? At 8AM when thousands of people are rushing in en masse, I literally just walked to the glass door, and walked through, with no need to go through the mandatory baggage check and weapons check in. Flashing the badge around is amazing because it gave me a lot of priority access to the really big ticketed events that were going on.
Keep in mind I only attended AX for July 4th, too. Show floor opened up at 10AM and I managed to get to squeeze in even ahead of the Premier line (who paid like $300 to attend the event) and basically cut in front of all of them, since I'm technically there on work. Had a few appointments with a few teams that I wanted to meet, and other than that, the show floor was absolutely insane. There were thousands of people roaming the event and the exhibit hall got hot very quickly. With all of the magic happening in South Hall, it was a sad departure from E3 where all the magic happened in West Hall. For Anime Expo, West Hall got turned into the video gaming/cosplay display tournament.
West Hall is also a location where the ticketed events usually play out. Think of small mini amphitheaters. Ticketed events at Anime Expo are separate events that require payment. Think like a concert ticket. So on top of the badge you need to pay for a pass to these specific events, which means they're absolutely big. I bought a ticket just in case, unsure at the time if media would cover it. Thankfully, they did... and for ALMOST FRONT ROW SEATS! More on that...
Main event for me this time was being able to get near front row tickets to the Fate: Stay Night Unlimited Blade Works event featuring guest stars such as Aimer, Ayano Mashiro, and Ayako Kawasumi, alongside members of the development team at UFOtable and Aniplex. And this event was super good. Ayano Mashiro kicked off the conference with the opening to Unlimited Blade Works, ideal white. Dear God, Ayano Mashiro nailed it and she's an incredible singing talent live. Her vocal range is incredible and she has such a powerful stage presence. She's definitely a beauty and I would love to see a concert of her stuff, actually. She also threw in a few surprises that got the crowd basically losing their minds, having sung the opening of Fate/Zero, Oath Sign. That was a kicker because the song is one of my favorite piano pieces and openings. And she nailed it. After that little dose of great, the panel continued on with an English dub of one of the Unlimited Blade Works episodes, which I was a bit indifferent towards. There was then a panel with the minds at Aniplex and UFOtable with Ayako Kawasumi joining in as well, and a lot of cool things like how episodes are developed managed to make their way in. We also got to see Fate characters being drawn by hand. The final drawing was incredible. Ayako Kawasumi (the voice actress to Saber in the Fate series), is wonderful to listen to because she sounded genuinely grateful for being able to take on the role of Saber for eight years. Very warm person to listen to, and incredibly epic when she was able to voice off her trademark "Excalibur" line. Unfortunately, the conference made no references to Heaven's Feel, with a usual response of the fact that it's being worked on but they wouldn't say more. The event was concluded with the Aimer mini concert, where she sang Last Stardust, broKen Night, Brave Shine and did a cover of Believe by Kalafina. Aimer is a great singer, but for me I found Ayano Mashiro to be a lot better with the stage. That's just me personally. They're both incredible singers that I will probably purchase albums from in future.
With that main event over it was a lot of fun just roaming the different hallways, and seeing what cosplay outfits people had in store. Of course, there were a ton of extremely suggestive cosplay outfits, but everyone looked like they truly had fun, and that's all that matters. The event is more than sufficient to attend one or two days, any more than that and it just might be a bit dull. I managed to find a piano player who was letting convention goers play with his piano, and you know, I decided to hop on it to have a bit of fun... and I brought down the house. It was fun, and I turned the piano into an open request and made covers on the fly by ear. It was great.
Other than that, that's my wrap on this year's Anime Expo. For only a day's worth, the event was tons of fun! Getting lots of things to do, getting to line bounce and beat the Premier fans, it's an awesome experience that makes me want to travel a lot more. I would really recommend going at least once just for the fun of it, because the atmosphere is just amazing - even if it smelled like bad hygiene and was filled with scantily clad women.
A toaster is "High Tech" to me