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I came, I saw, I.. Hey, WHO'S THAT GUY DRESSED AS?!?!? - Reflections on AX 2010

By AnimeEv 1 year, 10 months ago

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AnimeExpo 2010 was a weird vibe, man. An awesome one, for sure, but definitely dream-like. After well over a decade of fandom, I still can’t believe that I finally made it to one and that we launched the site there.

I had to say that I was expecting chaos. Ass-blasting, eye-melting, be-prepared-to-take-a-hostage-to-get-your-press-badge chaos. The reality was much smoother than that, thank Bob. My friends who drove down swore that they only waited a few minutes for entrance, and hours later I hopped on a plane and got dropped off at our launch party to find my credentials waiting for me. Painless.

I guess next week I’ll return the chainsaw I bought.

Regardless, access and ticketing was excellent and I’m going to give the AX staff props for getting that together. I did truly and honestly expect nightmares of epic proportion and hanging out in a bread line for my pass. Bullet: dodged.

With that said, AX felt strange to me for two reasons:

One being a noticeably decreased industry presence on some fronts (no Viz booth? No Dark Horse booth?), and the other being a real detached attitude to publicizing events and presentations. It’s not that I didn’t mind not being shouted at by people with bullhorns who were insistent that I line up at “x” place for “y” event, but there was so much going on that you’d need to have had a decent amount of time getting to know both the layout of the labyrinthine LA convention center as well as the program guide so as to holistically grasp the con. Case in point: I totally missed the Macross Frontier concert with an appearance by the most deviously talented woman in the history of anime music, miss Yoko Kanno. There were panels on top of panels, too, which is never easy for a discerning super-nerd.

Sometimes self-reliance is a bitch, ne?

Still trans-versing the AX plane was fairly painless despite the sheer amount of events occurring and the mass of foot traffic and big hair. A big shout-out to the fans who kept their (post) teenage drama under wraps and kept it movin’ while at the same time making us feel welcome. I’ve never passed out so much promo material in my life! Industry guests also get a big fat kiss on the forehead for their accessibility. Shinichi Watanabe, aka “Nabeshin”, wore one of our stickers from Saturday morning onward. During every interview! Every picture! Every one of his (presumably) dozens of a cigarettes! I know somebody who just made my Christmas list, Nabe, you charisma machine you.

“YEAH YEAH, DUDE, NEWS ME!”

News-wise, I felt as if I was finally reaching that sublime state of hyper-connected bliss where I was between two worlds at once. Philosophy degree overload!

Release and license info was pouring forth simultaneously from both the con and the web, turning me into a human typewriter. The same day that I arrived I twittered about Section23 getting High School of The Dead, which WASN’T a con announcement despite S23 having a small booth this year. Bandai announced at the con that they had acquired the first season of K-on!, which I still don’t know how to properly use in a sentence due to grammar fail. Durarara!! got the stateside green light from Aniplex of America, while So-ra-n-o-wo-to and Utena TV got their nods to head towards Right Stuf’s Nozomi imprint. Viz’s panel brought news of the mention of Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan being licensed, as well as updates about the 834 other manga they’re putting out in the next five months.

And Funimation… sweet lord… get ready for this epic sandwich:

Simulcasts:

Shiki, Black Butler 2, Sekirei: Pure Engagement, The Legend of the Legendary Heroes, and Sengoku Basara Two

2011 Licenses:

Darker than BLACK Season 2, Shakugan no Shana (season 2, movie, OVA), Toaru Majutsu no Index, Toaru Kagaku no Railgun, Black Lagoon: Roberta’s Blood Trail, Hellsing Ultimate volumes 5-7, and the Trigun: Badlands Rumble film.

Geneon “saved” Licenses:

Texhnolyze, Ai Yori Aoshi, Armitage III, Haibane Renmei, Hellsing (TV Series), Serial Experiments Lain, Tenchi in Tokyo, Tenchi Universe, the Tenchi Muyo! OVAs, and the Tenchi Muyo! movies.

Sheesh… do your eyes hurt yet, or is that just me?

I’ve yet to receive total attendance numbers but the con was never empty nor super slow. Unlike some events held at hotels or smaller spaces, AX was held at a convention center that could double as a factory for manufacturing rocket ships in terms of space and size. Sweet buttery space was everywhere, which was a welcome predicament when carrying a tripod, a ton of bags, and a small vivacious Australian girl who’s hosting your video segments. The dealer’s room was a testament to commerce, cosplay rage, hilarity, and innovation, with industry giants such as Funimation, J-list, and Bandai taking space along the usual menagerie of retailers, collectors-turned-dealers, smaller licensors, doujin game creators, clothing manufacturers, and random peddlers. The artist’s alley this year was phenomenal and we did quite a bit of interviewing work there for both the video and “print” departments of Ani.ME ! Keep it tuned here for that, ya heard?

On a personal level I can state that I had a really good AX and on a “pro” level I feel that all of us at Ani.ME had a GREAT first AX. We’ll be back next year with more noise, news, fun, games, and parties… so stay tuned in the interim while we post up our pics, info, and interviews!

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