Anime Expo 2012 coverage and photos

Yesterday I returned home from my 4-day stay at Anime Expo 2012. I had a fantastic time to say the least – I met up with a lot of cool people, went to great events, saw amazing cosplay, and bought lots of goodies! You can see my full coverage and photos of the con after the jump…


Anime Expo amongst X-Games construction

Day 1 – Fri. June 29th

Getting started and AX vs X-Games: Since I already picked up my badge on Day 0 of the convention, I didn’t have to wait in line for it on Day 1 like I usually do. So upon arriving in downtown LA at 8am, I checked into my hotel, grabbed a bite to eat, and headed off to the Los Angeles Convention Center.


Giant Hot Wheels car loop for the X-Games

Unfortunately AX ’12 was going on at the same time as another big convention, the sports convention X-Games, which was being held right next door in Staples Center and the LA Live area. Because of X-Games, much of the area around the convention center that Anime Expo attendees usually use was inaccessible. Not only that, the streets in the area were totally blocked off due to X-Games events, making traffic and parking for AX a nightmare. Luckily I commuted by bus, but even walking to and from the convention center was a drag as AX attendees were forced to take long detours in order to walk back to the main streets due to X-Games. It was also rather awkward having the sports jocks of the X-Games walking around amongst the artistic geek culture of Anime Expo – lots of culture clashing going on. Hopefully the two conventions won’t be held at the same time again and AX attendees can have the entire area to themselves XD


A booth at the Exhibit Hall

Exhibit Hall shopping: The AX Exhibit Hall, which is a huge room full of dealers selling all kinds of anime and related products, opens at noon on Day 1 and is typically greeted by a mad rush of con goers eager to get dibs on good products before they sell out. After spending some time relaxing in one of the anime viewing rooms watching Haruhi episodes with my friend Ultimatemegax, we got in the already long Exhibit Hall line that zigzagged around many corners of the building. The Hall opened about a half hour late, meaning extra time standing outside in the sun (luckily I had a hat and water with me). The crowd of people rushing inside as soon as it opened was quite a spectacle, but somehow everyone managed to get around despite the lack of elbow room.


Aniplex’s booth in the Exhibit Hall, complete with eerie Kyubey eyes


Madoka cosplayers pose in front of Aniplex’s Madoka banner


Funimation’s booth


AnoHana promotion going on at NIS America’s booth

Most of the anime companies such as Funimation, Sentai, and Aniplex were giving away freebies at their booths, such as free postcards and posters – Aniplex was even giving away Fate/Zero Command Seal hand stamps and Kyubey masks. It was nice getting freebies, but as I always I couldn’t resist blowing my money on other things too.


Some freebies from Aniplex and Sentai’s booths


I went on a bit of a T-shirt binge this year and bought the above four shirts. Prices for shirts at the con were not bad at all.


I’ve had my eye on this Haruhi figure for a while and I finally decided to buy it this time. Much cheaper getting it at the con than having to pay for import shipping XD


Quiz questions onscreen before the Aniplex panel started

Aniplex industry panel: The Aniplex panel was pretty good. They promoted their current releases of Madoka, Fate/Zero, and Blue Exorcist, as well as upcoming releases like Bakemonogatari. They also announced a re-release of OreImo, the Kara no Kyoukai movies, and a dub for Blue Exorcist. Nothing I got terribly excited about or that I wasn’t expecting already, but still a good panel.

Yuki Kajiura focus panel: It was awesome seeing Yuki Kajiura and the four girls from FictionJunction in person ^_^ Kajiura speaks English pretty well and was patient with the many squealing fans telling her they loved her XD The panel mostly consisted of people from the audience asking them questions, ranging from what inspires Kajiura’s music to what each of the FictionJunction girls are interested in besides music. As what usually happens in guest panels, the interpreter had trouble translating complex questions and answers, but luckily I know enough Japanese to figure everything out. Unfortunately photos weren’t allowed at the panel nor was I one of the few lucky winners of an autograph session with them. Oh well.


Live music at Lounge 21

Lounge 21: Since 2012 is Anime Expo’s 21st anniversary, this year they had a 21+ lounge open pretty much all day where attendees 21 and older could buy alcoholic drinks, mingle with each other, and listen to live music. Even though I don’t drink, it was still a pleasant, relaxing atmosphere in the lounge away from the younger and more hyperactive fans.

Day 2 – Sat. June 30th

Exhibit Hall round 2 and Artist Alley: After I signed up for the Super Smash Bros. Brawl tournament in the morning, I spent another hour or two looking around the Exhibit Hall again and going through all of Artist Alley.


Beautiful Princess Mononoke print I bought from Artist Alley


I couldn’t resist this Chopper plushie ^^ It’s a special birthday plush celebrating his birthday (on Dec. 24th) for 2011. As you can see, the card opens up to reveal a birthday message from Nami and Robin. So cute~

Super Smash Bros. Brawl tournament: Smash Bros. Brawl is one of my favorite games, and even though I’m not a competitive player, I thought that entering the tournament would be fun nonetheless. Each participant pays $5 to enter and the top 3 winners get a share of the total amount. I wasn’t expecting to get far in the tournament amongst the competitive players there and I didn’t. I got fairly close in my first match, losing by only one stock. Luckily the tournament implemented a losers’ bracket, so even if you lose the first match you get one more chance. Unfortunately I was pitted against a very skilled player in my second match and lost without even knocking him out once. It was still fun though and everyone was a good sport, shaking hands before and after each match. Not sure it was worth $5, but I don’t regret it XD


Even the lion statue has a Kyubey mask on!

Madoka Magica panel: The Madoka panel hosted by Aniplex was so much fun. First off, everyone who attended got a Kyubey mask and they took a photo of us in what they called the “largest gathering of Kyubeys ever!”


So many Incubators!

The five main English voice actresses for the series were the guests, with veteran voice actor Kyle Hebert as the comical MC, and they did a lot of entertaining things such as saying fans’ favorite lines in their characters’ voices, impersonating each other’s character, and coming up with the most convincing, and hilarious, skits for making a contract with Kyubey XD I recently watched all of Madoka dubbed and it’s a very good dub in my opinion. Watching the fun and energy come out of the voice actresses at this panel further confirmed that to me =)


The Madoka English voice cast

Other things they did at the panel was show clips from fans’ top 3 episodes (3rd was episode 3, 2nd was episode 12, and 1st was episode 10) and show exclusive bloopers that the voice actresses made upon recording.


The funny recording bloopers shown at the Madoka panel

Anime Bloggers & Podcasters Town Hall: This was a panel hosted by Benu of Anime-Gen.com. It was mostly a seminar where the audience could ask and answer questions about blogging and podcasting. It was pretty interesting and I got to see some fellow bloggers there such as Shinmaru, Inushinde, kevo, and first-time AX goer sdshamshel.


Unfortunately photos and videos weren’t allowed at Kajiura’s concert

Yuki Kajiura/FictionJunction concert: One of the highlights of the convention this year, the Yuki Kajiura concert didn’t disappoint. It started over a half hour late but definitely worth the wait! With Kajiura on keyboard, the four FictionJunction girls doing vocals, and the other members on drums, violin, and guitar, the group performed a ton of beloved anime tracks such as those from .hack, Mai-Hime, Madoka, Fate/Zero, as well as two of my favorites – “salva nos” from Noir and “Parallel Hearts” from Pandora Hearts. In between some of the songs, Kajiura would say a few words to the audience (in English!) When she played her last song and the group left the stage, there were passionate cries of “Encore!” from the audience, which made them come back and play one more song for us =) Despite the acoustics of the concert being a bit too loud (not sure if the sound person or the room setup was to blame) it was still a thrilling concert.

Day 3 – Sun. July 1st

Japanese Lessons with Ganbare! Japanese: I think a lot of people went into this panel expecting to be taught Japanese words, phrases, or whatever. But what it mostly consisted of was the host, Vijay, talking about his site, Ganbare! Japanese, and how it can help teach visitors about Japanese language and culture. After that, a few people in the audience talked about their experiences with Japanese learning, culture, and what not, but actually learning Japanese didn’t happen until the last 10 minutes or so. It looked like he had a long Power Point set up but only managed to get through a few slides. Vijay was really nice, but the disorganization of the panel made a lot of people leave in the middle. Since I’ve been studying Japanese, I went to the panel out of sheer curiosity. Even though the panel itself wasn’t very engaging, the Ganbare! Japanese site looks interesting. I’ll definitely check it out.


Non-flash photos and video were actually allowed at LiSA’s concert!

LiSA concert: The LiSA concert was another highlight of the con and it was great. Unlike the serious and somber atmosphere of Kajiura’s concert, LiSA’s was full of upbeat energy! She was constantly engaging with the audience, asking us to do certain hand movements for songs, even asking us to shout and sing along sometimes. She jumped around with the beat of the songs, ran from one end of the stage to another, screamed at the top of her lungs how much she loved AX and LA, and was overall quite the energetic singer! XD

As for songs she sang, I can’t complain because she sang all the ones I wanted to hear – she started the concert with the Angel Beats! opening, “My soul, your beats” and also sang the gorgeous Angel Beats! finale song, “Ichiban no Takaramono.” She even sang Girls Dead Monster songs such as “Crow Song.” Of course, we can’t forget Fate/Zero; she sang “oath sign” while footage from Fate/Zero played on the screens. And quite the surprise was that she sang “crossing field,” the opening for the brand new summer ’12 anime, Sword Art Online. To conclude, it was a great, uplifting concert.


LiSA singing the one slow song from her concert, “Ichiban no Takaramono”


I guess LiSA really appreciated her Western fans as she had two autograph sessions as well as photo sessions where fans could get their picture taken with her. Pictured above is her signature on the Aniplex banner, expressing a great amount of gratitude. Even though fans hollered for an encore after her concert, she didn’t return to the stage but promised she would come back again another year.


Precure cosplayers at the Nihongo de OK meetup

Nihongo de OK: Like last year, I went to the unofficial AX event called Nihongo de OK, where native Japanese speaking anime fans, as well as English speaking fans interested in Japanese, can meet up and talk. My friend Neo-Shonen Fujoshi and I stayed at the meetup for a while. Unfortunately the lack of raw Japanese practice I’ve had these past few years didn’t let me say more than a few things at the meetup (plus me being a soft-spoken person even in English didn’t help). But I managed to say a few things that the Japanese speakers in my group understood and likewise I understood most of what they said.

Anime Girls of TGWTG: For those of you who don’t know, That Guy With The Glasses(TGWTG) is a popular site where the staff post video reviews of various media works, from classic American TV shows to anime. Three of the girls who review anime on the site – MarzGurl, JesuOtaku, and Psykoneko – were at this panel.


Anime girls of TGWTG – MarzGurl, JesuOtaku, and Psykoneko

The panel consisted of the girls answering questions from the audience, mostly about their opinions on certain anime series and anime topics. Being the established video reviewers that they are, they were all very funny and charismatic, which made the panel go by surprisingly fast. After the panel, they invited anyone interested to have an autograph signing and picture taken with them.


I decided to take a picture with them XD

Day 4 – Mon. July 2nd

Exhibit Hall round 3: There’s usually not much to do on Day 4, so after taking a swim in my hotel pool with friends, we headed back to the Exhibit Hall to see if there were any good last-day bargains. I couldn’t resist buying one more thing…


I had seen this Angel Beats! blanket online and I wanted it, but the online price + shipping was too big an expense. It was cheaper at AX however, so I snatched it up!

Music and Its Impact on Notable Anime: A great panel put on by zzeroparticle and Yu of Anime Instrumentality. They discussed anime of various genres, showed clips, and described how the background music in the clips conveyed the settings and atmospheres of the anime.

Cosplay photos

That just about wraps up my coverage of the AX events I attended, so lets get to the good cosplay I saw!

Brooke from One Piece
Sasori from Naruto
Oshino and Shinobu from Bakemonogatari
Sakura and Kero
Sonic
Horo from Spice and Wolf
A prinnie from Disgaea
Amaterasu from Okami
Minori from Toradora!
Mew
Penguindrum cosplayers
Black Rock Shooter cosplayers
Kisame from Naruto
Merida from Disney’s Brave
The Black and Green Power Rangers
The Professor from Nichijou
Fate/Zero cosplayers
Yu-Gi-Oh! cosplayers
Rei and Asuka from Evangelion

—–

Overall, this was one of the best Anime Expos I’ve been to. I stayed longer than any of the previous ones I’ve been to and also went to more events than usual. I met up with a lot of friends and had a wonderful time. As always, I can’t wait until the next one~

No Comments… read them or add your own.

  1. foshizzel says:

    Whoa great post on AX! I died laughing watching that Madoka blooper reel I love the fact Aniplex shows them off because oh my god they are always fun and the dub for Madoka actually sounds great I can’t wait to hear some actual episodes.

    Wooooo! Hearing Ichiban no Takaramono live is great! Well I watched the youtube video but still great to hear that song sort of live-ish?! Ohhh and the cosplayers? I like the Saber and Irisviel shot very nice.

    I have to attend a con one day! Being from FL it is a bit tough to attend some of them xD

    • Yumeka says:

      Thanks, I’m glad you enjoyed my con coverage.

      Yeah, the Madoka bloopers were a pleasant surprise XD

      FL is a bit far, but people come from various states and countries to go to AX. I do hope you’re able to come one of these years.

  2. Marina says:

    Looks like you had a blast! I’m also surprised to see myself (with the piano necklace) in your Madoka panel photo ><

    A great choice of photos you've got here, and I really wish I had considered taking non-flash photographs during both of the concerts. I regret that I wasn't able to do much but say a brief hi to you during one of the waiting lines, but hopefully I'll be there again next year!

    • Yumeka says:

      You know, I was looking at that photo after I posted it and I was like, “Is that Marina?” It was hard to tell with the Kyubey mask hiding part of your face XD It’s funny finding ourselves in other people’s photos and videos. I can see the back of my head in that Madoka blooper video!

      I’m so glad you were able to come to the con and that you had a good time. I hope to see you again next year ^_^

  3. Cely_belly says:

    I see you used my YouTube video ^^ Yeah that person yelling woo…that’s me lol.

    I’m glad you had fun. It looks like you did a lot. I didn’t get to attend any panels since I never plan ahead of time ugh. But I am definitely going again next year. Wasting money never felt so good!

    • Yumeka says:

      Oh, that was your video? It’s one of the better ones I’ve seen of the concert so far =)

      Hope you’re able to come again next year too!

  4. vincidercolano says:

    Yumeka!! Great post and great trip!!
    You increase your bonus points for these T-shirt in particular Haruhi’s and Sonic’s…

    Wonderful photos, too…. bye!!! XD

  5. Kal says:

    It looks like it was awesome! Glad you had lots of fun! Yeah, sharing the convention center was probably a little painful (for both groups), so I hope next year is better. That Angel beats blanket is really cool :)

    • Yumeka says:

      Thanks! I do hope there are no other big events going on in the convention area next year. It really was a drag with all the X-Games construction.

  6. Myna says:

    The Princess Mononoke print is by one of my favorite artists on dA! I’m so jealous~
    I’m glad you had a fantastic time!

    • Yumeka says:

      Oh, I didn’t know that artist was from dA. I wish they had it in a larger size since it’s such a gorgeous picture – the print I got is small, less than a foot in length. But it only cost $4 so I guess I can’t complain =P

  7. LovelyAngel says:

    Looks like it was a blast, as usual. Nice pictures! Someday I might return.

    • Yumeka says:

      Thanks! I know the crowds look intimidating compared to when you used to go, but everyone manages to get around and have a blast anyway ^_^,,,

  8. pKjd says:

    Hah that’s awesome you took a photo with some from TGWTG. Didn’t even know they had a panel there. Sounds like you had a really fun time =)

    • Yumeka says:

      I didn’t know you knew about TGWTG =) I mostly watch Nostalgia Critic, but I was curious about the other reviewers on the site, so I went to the panel. The girls were entertaining so now I’ll have to check out their videos more often XD

      Anyway, hope you had a good time there too~

  9. KRILL says:

    It was fun! I liked seeing some of the x-games through the window on down time. My bud entered the tournament of brawl, dressed with fire in his hair he was supposed to be some mob boss, he ALMOST beat one of the top guys. That was a lot of fun. Got Steve Blum autograph and the LiSA concert was cool too. Spent 60 bucks on 3 posters and food, I budgeted well! Got a sick Evangelion poster too. I room shared with some crazy people too I’d never met, for 4 days, it was a great first time for Anime Expo. Glad we all had fun.

  10. Adziu says:

    That Mononoke-hime print is to die for!

    • Yumeka says:

      Yeah, it’s a really nice one. Just wish the print itself was bigger than it is (it’s barely the size of a very small poster…but only $4).

  11. It really was a good convention overall this time. Those Nihongo de OK people were fun. As I said, if it’s a club that meets once a year, I can do that. XD

    You have way more energy than I do for taking photos! o_O I usually get tired after taking a few and just put away my camera…

    • Yumeka says:

      Heh, I tend to keep my camera strapped around my arm at all times so I can quickly take a photo if a good cosplayer goes by. But there actually were plenty of times this year where my camera was in my bag and I just didn’t feel like getting it out. I probably would have had even more photos if I did XD

  12. Nopy says:

    Aww man, I decided at the last moment not to go to the Madoka panel, but I really wanted a Kyubey mask :(

    You also found a Kero cosplayer with Sakura, that’s awesome. If I had found them, I would’ve taken a picture too. I seem to be the only person that missed that “see you nextyear” sign. I always left the exhibit hall from the sides for some reason and I never looked behind me when I went up the stairs.

  13. Daniella says:

    Lucky you, one day I hope to be able to go! The cons on the east coast just aren’t as impressive, I’ve never been to one with an anime company or musicians actually present, so thanks for sharing the pics! Love the cosplay photos, especially the Sasori one!

  14. Mikoto says:

    Sounds like you had a great time at AX, despite the other convention taking up some space! lol Last convention I went through had a whole area under construction so many of the usual gatherings weren’t as organized as other years.

    From what you described of the mood from the Yuki and LiSA concerts, it sounds like they felt exactly as they should have been.

    Wish I was there. The Kyubey face looming over the dealer’s hall would have made everything I bought felt like some kind of screwed up contract. xD

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