I reviewed Anime Expo in general already in my last post, this post will focus on the panels and events I attended. These include the main events, panels, workshops and cosplay gatherings. All links for events/panels will lead to photos on our main site.

Note: If I reviewed one of your panels or events and said something harsh, it’s not to be mean, or hurtful. It’s to help you create a better panel next time. I encourage everyone who gets a rough review to try again! There was an issue with this last year. Everyone makes mistakes, so learn from them!

Day 1: Thursday

Red Carpet and Opening Ceremonies (AX Sponsored Event)

On Day 1, which was Thursday, I attended the Red Carpet event before Opening Ceremonies as press. It was a great way to start off Anime Expo. It gave the fans and press an opportunity to see the Guests of Honor before Opening Ceremonies, up close. I liked that press was given their own space to take pictures during this. My photographer (Russell Atkinson of Why I Focus) did mention that the set up was awkward because you had to take pictures in the direction of the sun, often making it a little annoying. But the best part of this whole event, the fact that it actually started on time! This is extremely rare for AX, and I truly appreciated it.

I personally did not attend Opening Ceremonies, but Russell did with his friends. He said that it was interesting and that they liked the Nokia Theatre.

BlazBlue Cosplay Gathering

At 11:00 Am, I attended the BlazBlue Gathering. If you don’t know what a gathering is, it is a group of people, generally unrelated to the con’s staff, who organize a meet-up for fans cosplaying from the series. Usually, this is organized on Anime Expo’s forums, or another website like cosplay.com prior to the actual convention.

As far as this gathering goes, it was pretty unorganized (sadly, this went for almost all gatherings this year). It was hard to tell who was in charge, and there always needs to be someone to take charge and organize the pictures, which is the main reason for the gathering. A lot of the other cosplayers were snobby, too. No one wanted to interact with one another. What’s the point of a gathering if that’s how people are going to be? With cosplay in general at Anime Expo this year, that seemed to the trend. The competitive attitudes were a little much (which is funny because most bought their cosplays, and matched).

Besides the attitudes and lack of a real leader, the absolute worst part of this gathering was some pervert jerk in a cheesy, cheap Arakune costume. He went around behind people and humped them. I really wish someone would have called security on that loser. He almost ruined the entire thing.

I wasn’t too upset by the gathering, mostly because I only went for Loren, who cosplayed Iron Tager. He’s the real BlazBlue fan.

“How to Host a Themed Event” Panel

We caught the tail end of this panel, which was practically dead. I will try to be kind, considering how I pretty much made someone cry last year. This event, like I said had very few people in the room. I’m not sure if there were more and they left, or if it just never attracted anyone. Anyways, this could have made the presenters nervous, or sucked the energy out of them, but they had barely any enthusiasm for their own panel. Their information was also weak. They presented info that anyone could have thought of if they put 5 minutes into planning. There just wasn’t much point to the panel, which makes it hard to review.

Copic Beginner Workshop

I really enjoyed this panel. It had a lot of good info, and was presented in a clear way that made it easy to understand. I actually felt like I learned something, and if this panel repeats next year, I highly recommend it. The woman in charge of the panel really seemed to know what she was talking about. My only complaint was that there weren’t that many tables in the room, and although I sat at the front table, I could see myself not enjoying the panel as much if I was in the back, not able to participate.

Some of the items covered were inks, types of pens, paper, and how to use the markers (including how to refill them). I found this very useful because I was taught with Prismacolor markers, which are very different from the Copic sketch markers, which are almost like a paint brush on one side. Again, I would really recommend this panel if it is at next year’s Anime Expo. The presenter’s website can be found here.

“Self-Publishing for Online Manga-ka” Panel

I attended this event with high hopes, and they were exactly met. The info was basically not very informative, and the presenter seemed so fresh and new to it, (and sadly, not successful) I kept thinking, “Why should I listen to you”. The only good thing out their panel was their resources print out. I’m sure I could have googled any of the info on it myself, but it was nice to have someone bring it to me. You could tell the presenters were nervous, especially the girl. I think if they had planned a little more, or waited until they had a little more knowledge about the subject, the panel would have been much better.

Midnight Tea Party (AX sponsored event)

I always make time to see the Midnight Tea Party, and every year I’m a little disappointed. This year was no different, with except of one table, a Kingdom Hearts table. I felt they were the only ones that made a really effort at showing their inspiration in a unique way. The overall event was a bit empty, and many of the tables were uninspired. I’m always shocked at how the staff seems to rush you through. I think Anime Expo should organize the event so that press may enter first, alone to adequately photograph the contestants’ tables. It was very hard to get a good shot without some putting a Subway cup on the table, or standing in the way. I think they need to do check ups on the contestants (perhaps through email) to make sure they are putting in enough effort to be worthy of entering this event.

Watched “Ghost Stories”

Watched a few episodes of the ever funny, Ghost Stories with Loren, Kawaii Clare and Russell. I like that Anime Expo plays anime so late, especially something funny and weird like Ghost Stories. It’s a great show to watch with friends.

To look at the rest of the photos for Day 1, including cosplayers, click here.

To read the overall review of Anime Expo 2010, click here.

To read the report on Day 2: Friday’s events, click here.

Tags: 2010, angeles, anime, ax, con, convention, cosplay, expo, gathering, los, photos, report, review

This entry was posted on Monday, July 19th, 2010 at 12:07 pm and is filed under Anime/Cosplay events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.