Anime Expo, a first timer’s experience

For those of you who have yet to attend Anime Expo (AX), I believe it’s safe to say that some of you may be wondering if AX is worth attending.  I think the answer to this question depends on whether you’re a hardcore anime fan or not.  If you ask for my opinion, I’d say it wasn’t worth my money, but then again, you’d need to take into consideration the fact that I’m not a hardcore anime fan, I got to the event late, I left early from the event, I didn’t attend anything inside the entertainment hall, with an exception to the quiet room (this simply translates to doing nothing) and I was a super noob to the expo.  Perhaps, I may find the event to be worthy of my hard earned money the following year on AX’s 25th anniversary (?).  I’m thinking by then I’d know what to do and where to go.  If you ask for my honest opinion, though, the AX schedule book/map they give out is one hot ugly mess.  It just wasn’t user friendly whatsoever.  I couldn’t figure out the system in place until after the event, in the quiet of my own room.  (Go on and laugh at me…)  Heck, I didn’t even realize that a portion of AX’s events were held at the JW Marriott.  Had I not been so overwhelmed, I may have been able to figure out the schedule book/map earlier and paid the JW Marriott a visit or two.

If you’re thinking of going just to see cosplayers, then go…  Just keep in mind that a lot of cosplayers will eventually come outside of ticketed areas to hang out, so it’s not necessary for you to attend AX in order to people-watch (cosplayer-watch).

The Pervy Side to AX:
Prior to attending AX, I had heard a plethora of interesting things about the event.  With that in mind, I told myself that I might run into perverts or perverted things (ie. booths).  I must say I was relieved to encounter less pervy things than I was expecting to see.  Inside the exhibit hall, there was a covered booth (it looked like a box) that clearly said, “Adults only”.  I think it’s safe to say that there were pervy things inside this booth/box but I can’t say for sure since I had no interest in finding out.  I’m glad they did this for the sake of the more younger visitors (ie. children/young teens).

There were of course, the sexy anime pillows/pillowcases being sold.  I don’t think I saw anything too risque but then again, I didn’t bother to examine the booth that was selling pillowcases and other items.  I admit that I went back to the exhibit hall after realizing that I had intentions to purcahse a Saito Hajime (Hakouoki) pillowcase, however the exhibit hall had already closed by the time I went back.  Bummer…or not, since it’s almost safe to assume that the booth probably was not carrying a Saito Hajime pillowcase.  (The character isn’t exactly in…anymore.  I mean, think about it…I saw only one Saito Hajime cosplayer.)

I saw female cosplayers scantily dressed.  Their choice.  Not mine.  But I still must say something about it anyway.  There was a beautiful cosplayer that had come with a boyfriend (?).  She had a fit body and was dressed scantily clad.  Her boyfriend had his arms wrapped around her waist, as if she were some trophy or something.  I couldn’t help but to notice guys oogling at her as they passed by her.  There was something about the whole thing that I found to be wrong.  The boyfriend wasn’t dressed scantily clad and he wasn’t even dressed as something.  I just couldn’t help but to get annoyed at how he was basically showing off to the world that a piece of hot meat (in reference to the girl) was his, at least for the day anyway.  Just thinking about this makes me not want to attend AX next year.  I seriously think I might pass…

I must also mention the group of bubbly young female cosplayers I encountered.  I was sitting not far from them, eating my overpriced food in a hallway leading to the entertainment hall.  As I was trying to satisfy my hunger, a perverted man came to sit between me and the group of bubbly girls. The man was recording the girls in a super eery fashion.  I say eery because for a long period of time, he was just recording one of the girls’ legs.  I kid you not!  I saw it with my own eyes; the pervert probably did not realize that someone (me) was paying attention to what he was doing or he didn’t give a care that someone was paying attention.  Just ew!  What bothers me even more is that the group of girls wasn’t even dressed sexy.  Ugh!

Anyway, allow me to move on…

Skin, skin and more skin:
I came across a few males who were dressed with little clothing.  Some of these males were just humorous.  One furry male was cosplaying as some female character.  It was somewhat interesting to see him strutting around in heels.  What was even funnier (or perhaps not so funny) was how he didn’t bother to wax the hairs off his body.  It was quite a sight.  And no, I did not take a photo of him to share with you.  (Sorry readers!)

A male cosplayer I encountered in the entrance hall had on little clothing.  The funny thing is I didn’t notice at first glance that he had practically nothing on.  His outfit was basically just an apron (pink) and his boxer briefs (gray).  I saw the front side of his body before seeing his other side.  I just told myself, “Wow…which anime is this from?”  I will admit that he was cute.  If only I were feeling bold at the time, I would have asked to take a picture of him so that I can show you what I’m talking about…  But seriously now, which anime has a character that simply dons an apron and his boxer briefs? (Update: An anime character that dons a pink apron exists. My apologies for not knowing prior to the event. lol)

I suppose you can say it’s kind of silly how I wanted to attend when I’m not an anime addict whatsoever. Regardless, I bought a one day ticket to Anime Expo 2015, experienced it and did not conquer it. Reason: I was/am a newbie to the expo AND I was late to the expo.  Yeah, I showed up late and to make matters worse, I left the expo early when I could’ve stayed until 3 AM of the following day. (I chose not to stick around because I didn’t want to get back home late and I certainly didn’t want to be around anyone who magically transforms into a pervert(s) after having their dose of hentai…  Not my cup of tea whatsoever.  Besides I value my sleep.  Sleep is precious to me, unless I’m playing Sleepless Cinderella Party or something…  Okay, I will admit that was a poorly made pun of mine.)