Hello, can I come in?
Konnichiwa! Finally taking a day to myself to recover. I'm finally ready to play catch up. As you may or may have not known. I had the pleasure of going to Anime Expo AX & Anime M Squared AM². These are both very important milestone venues & I will explain shortly on why.
Going back to the beginning...
I have to shed a light on the culture phenomenon of why go to these conventions? I've heard it all, they're too nerdy! Geeks & Nerds only go to there. At one point, I would be inclined to agree to the sentiment but being apart of the convention culture -- the sights, the sounds, the feel -- for almost over 10 years, I've grown a humble appreciation of why folks attend these kinds of venues & even more recently, the inner workings & politics behind all of it. To be simply honest, you would have to attend these conventions to fully understand my point of view. Now I know I may be completely avoiding the question of why? Well there's a simple answer to it - an opportunity of where the famous & anonymous can simply hang out & enjoy similar interests. But of course...there's always more to it.
The pathway...
As I have mentioned, I've been to these lovely venues...the infamous well known San Diego Comic Con International...to Anime Expo...and the more recent ones...San Diego Anime Conji...and...Anime M Squared. Yes, I am quite aware these are centered around comics & anime, but I have made it very clear that I am a type that loves comics, anime & video games (yes, I am girl & I do exist). This has spanned over the 10+year venture I've found myself to be a participant of. From the largest conventions to small homely conventions in hotels...I've been lucky enough to participate in all kinds...so far from what I'm aware of.
But ... I am not here to discuss San Diego Comic Con International seeing that it hasn't happened quite yet. And I have discussed Anime Conji in March.
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Anime M Squared AM²... (July 1st - 3rd) @ Anaheim Convention Center
A 3 day event held in Anaheim Convention Center, backyard to Mickey Mouse's home. Considering this is a free event (technically) me & my associates decided to crash the party July 2nd. This is their first convention! :)
First off, I admit, this is my first time making my way to Anaheim to see the ill-famed Anaheim Convention Center. Home to Anime Expo for a bit, Blizz Con & Winter NAMM. Seeing the convention center in its 3rd expansion, I can clearly see why Anaheim has been making its bid to host Comic Con International, but that's another story that I will get into in the future. First off, it is stunning & beautiful, hence why I could understand the reasons behind such a plausible move.
Overall, the feel is nice, not to mention this is AM² very first convention. I was a little skeptical considering this was held the same weekend Anime Expo AX was held. First off, this was an impressive first start considering majority of fledgling conventions are held in hotels. Considering the sponsors who were backing AM², to be held @ the Anaheim convention for its 1st year has something to be said.
It was sneaky to really feel the full extent of how many people were actually here because if they weren't on the main floor where the vendors & food carts were at, they were on the 2nd floor watching anime, going to the maid cafe, singing, or playing videos or on the 3rd floor being apart of the main event concert venues that were held.
First off, I admit, the food geek I can be, ventured out to see what food carts were there. Since the Los Angeles area has been known for their food carts. From there, I went over to the exhibition section, seeing what vendors had to offer. Tons of plushies, wallscrolls, import video games, toys, cosplay items & artist stuff (such as copic markers). After being such a art nerd & going over to the Copic Marker booth to color to my heart's content, I went to watch one of the small time bands play. They were pretty good & loved watching them perform. On the way out, we checked out artist alley, one that fascinated me the most was a sugar sculptor who made customized lollipops. Least to say, that was very impressive watching him work.
We stayed for a little longer before venturing to the 2nd floor, saw what anime they were playing, walked by the animaid/host club cafe & played video games.
After all that, we checked upstairs on the 3rd floor & realized there were a lot more people who were at one of the concerts. Hanging around & evaluating the feel, it almost felt reminiscent to how Comic Con International was in '98-'99. We didn't hang around for too long, we wanted to make our way back down.
We were there to catch the end of another small time band performing before the Pirate Auction was held. It was a bit fun to watch & a little unfortunate at the same time because we weren't around to get gold coins to bid for some of the auctions...and yes these auctions were people but it was all for fun. After the bidding, there was a bellydancer contest that we stuck around for a little bit, we wanted to make our way to the masquerade ball.
Waiting in line for the masquerade ball, we got to socialize a bit with a former vendor. Sitting around to watch 10+ skits & costumes, they were all notable, stunning & I give much credit to cosplayers who take the time to make their costume. It takes a lot of time, effort & money to do it. So when folks say 'cosplayers pretty much wear their blood, sweat & tears' they are not lying. Finishing the night & cheering on the winners, we made our way out to our car only to catch fireworks from Disneyland. Hanging around there, we watched the fireworks before making our way home to my associate's place cuz they lived a little closer to the drive up to Anaheim & Los Angeles. Stay classy AM² ~ that was a wonderful 1st year for you.
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Anime Expo... (July 1st - 4th) @ Los Angeles Convention Center
A 4 day event held in Los Angeles Convention Center, returning for my 3rd year. An increasingly costly event me & my associates decided to crash the party July 3rd. This is the unprecedented 20 year anniversary for Anime Expo.
The drive up, we got there in the morning. My associates & I split up with wanting to do what they planned to do. I checked out the vendor/exhibition floor & got to see more merchandise I can't get cuz I'm just strapped for cash. Walking around, I found one of my acquaintanceships working at one of the vendor booths, we chatted & caught up, took a picture to support & help him out.
We met back up shortly only to check out the food carts, yes, more food. We wanted to go mainly cuz we heard White Rabbit was going to be there. While making our way out, I had watched a guy practice his contact juggling. A cute little blonde girl who was pro'ally 3-4yrs old watched, his girlfriend came up from behind & tapped the little girl's shoulder, she was shocked & surprised cuz well...his girlfriend was dressed up as Tinkerbell. She knelt down & stretched her arms out to offer the little girl a hug, the little girl didn't hesitate & hugged her. To be honest, the reason I do mention this cuz I thought it was the most cutest thing I've seen. Making our way out of the convention, we went to the food carts & waited in the hot sun.
White Rabbit did shortly show up & we got to try their filipino fusion food. One of us got the tocino pork burrito, the other got a pork sisig burrito. Now keep in mind, these burritos are filled with garlic fried rice, cheese, meat & egg, so we were very intrigued. While waiting for the food, I had my odd strange luck of speaking with the original cooridinator of the food cart gathering. It was fun & enlightening. Along with the burrito, had lumpia & dessert. All very yummy!
Making our way back, went back to the vendor floor only to end up camping out cuz phones were dying & we needed a common place to meet. While my associates checked out the vendor floor, got to talk 'bout folks & their con going experiences. A friend of mine from Audition was trying to find me all the same, he got close tho! :D Until he had to be dragged away to go sit in on the standby land for masquerade. My associates & I had stuck around the vendor/artist alley/exhibition area cuz the venues we did wanna see weren't until later. When my friend from Audition mentioned 'bout the standby land, my friends & I ended up going.
Settling at the end of the line, one of my friends spotted my Audition friend so I decided to do a little stalker ended up being the stalkee by texting him. While texting & playing a game of Munchkin, we got up, got our tickets & made our way to the Nokia theatre to watch the Masquerade Ball. My Audition friend who was trying to find me, well I ended up behind him in line while we were getting our bags checked in. Of course...he didn't realize it until we took our seats. LOL
Impressive Masquerade Ball as usual, with 40+ entries & funny skits. The MCs were awesome but the chanting was sparce to kinda semi heckle the MCs. One MC returned had seen a new different MC for this year. Overall tho, the entries were as equally impressive. Announcing the winners for the steampunk, teatime & eventually the masquerade ball, it was an impressive ending considering the winners for the Masquerade Ball got $10,000 in cash.
With all of that being said & done, it was time to go home. Happy 20th Birthday/Anniversary Anime Expo AX!
Making our way home & having a 4th of July moment to recover, I still have plenty to do, like upload the tons of cosplay pictures me & my associates were able to take. Clean up & prepare for guests to stay at my place, why? next event - San Diego Comic Con 2011!
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