Anime Expo 2009

Anime Expo 2008. How did it go?

I would give the experience a 50/50 score.

The Los Angeles Convention Center was too big that everything in the convention was spread out. By walking from one event to another, takes time making us miss other core shows.

Our day started out slightly wrong. The video cam I bought for a cheap 20$ got broken right out of the store and needed an exchange.

We spent 50$ just for the gas going there. The car were in had no aircon, we needed to have our windows down on desert heat weather.

The good news is there was no line anymore on the badge claim section. And there were fewer Naruto cosplays. Not that I’m against Naruto however, most Naruto cosplays always ended up in disaster. There were fewer Deathnote cosplayers though.

The place was HUGE parking was 13$. And the cafeteria was too small for all the thousands of attendees. But there was some decent short ribs.

There was Japanese Traditional dancing and Japan paranormal panels both I missed because I got stuck in the cosplay exhibition.

But when I saw the Gravity station I basically stayed there as much as I could. There were to give away RO2 box sets. I didn’t win it though I got through the raffle. The Gravity exhibitioners were nice enough to tell me that the USA team for RWC were preparing for their server eliminations.

I do feel though there were fewer cosplays this year.

There were other kiosks too like Funimation, Manibogi games ( RO competion in Korea) Maple Story, Xbox, Viz media, lots of Lolita/Goth fashion stands and many more.

We skipped the 2^nd day fast and decided to enjoy the rest of LA by going to the beach. Santa Monica Beach ( Beverly Hills was too far).

The beach had a pier with a small theme park. The Jonas Brothers were there as well. They had roller coasters, a small beach memorial for the soldiers and victims who died in the Iraq war.

Back at the hotel was a slight disaster. We booked a semi posh hotel with a nice whirpool and soft beds. Like the one in the websites. Well websites are misleading. The hallway stinked of cigarettes, the pool was by the paring lot and the outdoor Jacuzzi had a smell.

The good news, we had a place to sleep and we had the pool to ourselves at night.

Next year though we may not anymore participate for the 09 Anime Expo but instead do the Comic Con instead. Depends if I have cash