Anime Expo 2018

I originally did not plan on attending Anime Expo this year. I’m not too sure why I originally wanted to pass up on Anime Expo 2018 but it probably had something to do with crazy badge pick up lines, overly excessive people (Rumor has it that tickets were oversold or something.), cancellation of showings/screenings at the last minute and not wanting to spend a lot of money. (If you’re curious, you can see what I bought last year here and here.) So, what was it that made me decide to go this year, borderline last minute? I really don’t know. A specific panel perhaps? A desire to visit specific game booths?

Since I decided to attend Anime Expo borderline last minute, my ticket was not cheap. To make matters worse, the ticket was for a one day pass only and my, was the cost steep! It’s interesting though because I purchased a day pass borderline last minute in 2015 and that ticket was a lot cheaper than the 2018 one day pass. Hmmph. If only I knew I’d be attending, I would have gone for a 4 day pass early on or when they had a sale going on. Ah, oh well.

Anyway, moving on. Day 3 was my first and only day at Anime Expo and I started it off by watching a screening of Chobits at the JW Marriot. I arrived late but didn’t feel like I had missed out on the anime so much in that I was having way too many wtf moments throughout the screening to really care. My wtf moments revolved around the main guy’s thoughts/reactions. He’s cute and all on the surface, but I found myself to be disgusted with his personality. And the robot girl didn’t make things any better by being a pretty doll that could only say “Chi”. All I can really say is that there were way too many innuendos and perversions in this anime for me to stomach. And on a Saturday morning? Can we say no thank you? Needless to say, I ended up leaving the screening before it ended. But this had more to do with the fact that I had things to get done outside of the JW Marriot and just had to leave regardless.

Minus the heat and how slow security was, getting inside the Los Angeles Convention Center wasn’t too bad of an experience. I think I should mention that things are quite different from past Anime Expo events in that your badge has a RFID chip and you must tap in and tap out each time you enter/exit a building. I personally think this system is better because it removes a lot of the nonsense and time from staff having to check everyone’s badge. I should also mention that their badge pick up system is a lot more organized and has improved amazingly. (I’m not sure why they didn’t come up with such a system earlier.) I actually had come before Day 1 to pick up the badge along with my swag gear and it was an overall good experience. (Of course, for those that buy their passes early enough, you would have gotten your badge in the mail!)

Once inside the Los Angeles Convention Center, I went straight to the Exhibit Hall. I had my eyes on three booths: NTT Solmare’s Shall We Date booth, cybird’s Ikemen Series booth and Idea Factory’s booth. Because I’d only be there for one day, I had no time to waste and went to these three specific booths first. If you’re curious about my experience at these booths, I’ll blog all about it in an upcoming post!

After finishing my booth rounds, making purchases and revisiting of a booth for an event, I got hungry, ate my own food (Yes, I brought my own food because everything at LACC is just way too overpriced.) and made plans of where I’d go to next.

If I had hustled instead of wasting my time on sitting and eating, I probably would have been able to attend a premiere but then again maybe not because I’m not too sure if I would have made it to the line’s cut off” mark. Meh.

So, I took my sweet time, whatever I had left of it and went to a panel I had specifically came to AX for. I knew I couldn’t miss it no matter what. So, I go to the room for the panel only to be informed by a staff member that people can’t wait here due to fire hazard reasons and that I needed to go to “wherever she said”. So, I did that only to be told by another staff member that I needed to go back to where I was at. WTF This annoyed me because by the time I got back, people were already inside the room and I could only manage to get a seat in the back. To make matters worse, an attendee attends this panel with an interpreter and they sit not too far from me. I’m all for interpretation but when it is disruptive to others, I feel like it’s a major nuisance…

AX Cons

So, if there was anything I didn’t like about AX this year, it would have to be what I just mentioned up there. If staff isn’t going to be on the same page about things, then they certainly can at least create a visible sign telling people where to go. I mean, can you imagine a first timer going through that disorganized nonsense amongst the throngs of attendees? Yeah, not fun. Fortunately, I’m not a first timer but still…

And this wasn’t the only thing I wasn’t too crazy about AX. The next thing I’m going to mention has more to do with attendees now. I noticed that the majority of them walked way too slow for my taste. I understand if we’re in a crowded area, like inside LACC or something but when you’re outdoors or in an empty hallway inside the JW Marriot, can you not act like you’re stuck on the 405 North or something? Perhaps I’m being a little harsh here since I was only on a one day pass and had many things to get done but I think it might also just be a personality of the bulk of attendees. And that’s fine but please don’t get in the way of someone that lives life in the fast lane.

More on attendees. While not every attendee is the same, I did encounter a snotty girl that asked me to take a photo of her and her friend. I didn’t mind doing so but was actually busy tending to whatever I was doing when I was asked. To make matters worse, she wasn’t even nice to me when she asked. It was as though she expected me to take a photo for her. What the flipping F and who the F do you think you are? First, I have a right to say no if I want to. Secondly, if you’re going to ask someone (especially a stranger) for a favor, you need to be nice. If you don’t know how to be nice or don’t want to be nice, well, you need to at least fake it because no one, especially a stranger owes you anything. I could be wrong and shouldn’t be making any assumptions but I wouldn’t be surprised if these teens/tweens were “daddy’s girls” from another state. The entitlement I sniffed from them was just disgusting.

AX Highlights

Fortunately, I also encountered pleasant attendees that brightened my day. I had questioned a couple of ladies I was in line with for a premiere where they had gotten a Sanrio Aggretsuko sticker sheet. They informed where I could get it for free. I thanked them and shortly after, one of the ladies offers me an Aggretsuko lanyard that she had gotten for free as she owned more than one. (I was thankful because I never was able to make it to the Artist Alley to get an Aggretsuko sticker sheet or lanyard.) I was not expecting that but then again, I recall getting a freebie from an attendee last year as well. People that offer random acts of kindness to strangers are truly amazing. These people deserve to be blessed as they have low levels of selfishness.

As mentioned earlier, I never made it to the Artist Alley. What I did make it to though was the Entertainment Hall. And this was important because for whatever strange reason, I had never been in there before. WTF, right? Yeah and apparently, this is the place where the photo sets are located at. I’m glad I finally found out where the photo sets were located at because I had the opportunity to enjoy looking at these realistic sets as well as pose in a couple of the sets. Since I was there alone, it was helpful that I could easily ask a staff member to take a photo for me. One particular staff member was super enthusiastic to take photos of attendees. I don’t know her name but kudos to her and a big thank you to her for taking photos for me at one of the sets.

In addition to becoming a model (*cough* lol), the Entertainment Hall was where I ran into a very epic Death Note cosplay of “Light Yagami” and “Ryuk”. Ryuk was legit! Super spot on, I tell you. They had their own photographer, of course, but I couldn’t help but to also become a photographer at two of the photo sets they visited:

My encounter with them would have been even more epic had I been able to snag a photo of myself with them… <3

Oh, and for your viewing pleasure, I also came across a sultry (Is that the right word to use? lol) Naruto cosplay as I was walking around the Entertainment Hall. All I can say is: Wow. lol

Sultry or not, at least they were dressed right for the occasion. Considering the fact that it was at least 100 degrees Fahrenheit on Day 3, I’m kind of glad they were cosplaying in minimal clothing. (Never thought I’d find myself saying that, but I just did! lol) Talking about how hot it was on Day 3, I was stinky as heck by evening time. And I know I’m not the only attendee that was stinky because I smelled other stinky/sweaty people at AX as well. Can we say ew? Yeah.

Anyway, my day at Anime Expo involved a lot more than what I’ve shared in this post. If you’re curious about the additional things I did and bought at Anime Expo, stay tuned as I’ll be blogging all about it soon!