anime-expo 'exclusive'
a n00b in 0t4KU L4ND
by jonathan on 07/24/2002 00:47:12 -0700
Sunday, July 7 2002
Sunday morning at 8 was when I actually sat down and watched some anime. I got to see all the Music Videos I missed on Saturday morning when I was getting Masquerade tickets. Once again, you can read a report here. You can probably find some of the videos here as well as many others. My favorites were Adagio for Fireflies, View or Die, Dragon Bebop Z, Radinov’s Bad Habit (A Gunsmith Cats video!), Excel Scat, A Total Waste of 6min 35sec, Everybody’s Free (To Watch Anime), Death Violence and Hate (in an All-Girls Dorm with a Hot Spring), Shameless Rock Video and Beboppin. I also like the Gundam 08th MS team and Kenshin video to Madonna’s Frozen but I forgot their names. So check those out if you can find them. Also, XStylus’ video was rather gimmicky, but I guess that’s what the crowd liked. It was certainly original, though I dunno if you could call it a video.
One thing I’m sick of in Anime Music videos is the use of Evangelion footage. I think there must be at least 100 different videos with Eva footage. And, no more Linkin Park please. I hear In the End enough on the radio! When I saw the videos with Linkin Park and Eva together, I just sighed. Luckly, all the EVA/Linkin Park videos were good. (Sumir's note: I have a Cowboy Bebop music video to Weezer's "Only in Dreams"; wonder if I should watch it before or after the anime?)
After the music video showing, I checked out the character designer panel. It was great. I got to see Watsuki-san and Masunari-san get in line with other fans to ask the panel questions.
My last real event was Murata-san’s autograph session. The line was quite short; apparently this was the case at the open autograph session earlier that morning too. This was a good thing however, because it meant we all got quick sketches, which I certainly appreciated. I felt awkward demanding a Hellsing sketch so I just told Murata-san that I loved Hellsing and he got the hint. I noticed that I was the first person to get a Victoria sketch; I’m guessing Murata-san got bored of the 8+ Arucard/Alucard sketches before me. Interestingly enough, the 3 people before me all got eX-Driver sketches. Just goes to show me that every anime has its fans. I felt a bit sorry for Murata-san though, as Hellsing and eX-Driver haven’t been officially released in North America. I wager if he showed up to next year’s con that he would have a line rivaling Watsuki-san.
Before leaving AX, I attended the charity auction. There were some crazy items being auctioned off, but the thing that amazed me was how much some people are willing to spend for one picture / sketch / miscellaneous item. The biggest item was Watsuki’s colored sketch of Kenshin (though he spelled Samurai X wrong in the sketch and thereby proved what a silly title it is) which sold for $6,000. Murata-san had great colored sketches of Victoria and Arucard/Alucard and each went for $1,000 plus.
And thus, my AX experience came to an end. I went back to Saxon tired as hell but I still ended up talking with some of my friends before leaving the next morning. Ironically, I didn’t get that much sleep despite how tired I felt. I guess sleeping for only 3-4 hours becomes a habit.
Afterthoughts (10 days later)
What better way to summarize my thoughts than to use a clichéd series of separated bullets! Here we go….
The Good
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Panels and Guests of Honor. ‘Nuff said. |
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Lots of anime merchandise in one place... you can pick up a lot of cool stuff as long as you have money. |
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And even if you don’t, there’s tons of fr33 sw4g to swipe! |
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Ramen and Rice... these two arrange and play their own music! (I’m not quite sure many people know how difficult it is to arrange music, which is why I think these two don’t get as much appreciation as they should.) |
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The atmosphere, where else can I argue about Gundams, the proper spelling of Arucard/Alucard, and why Griffith is the Macbeth of anime? |
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There are truly some awe-inspiring cosplayers out there. I’m glad to see sewing and other such skills are still alive today! |
The Bad
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Long lines... but obviously this can’t be helped. Still, this is America and I can whine as much as I want. Oh yeah. |
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The chaos and lack of crowd control at many, if not all of the events. It’s quite clear that AX is either understaffed or staffed by people who don’t really know what to do. I’ve been told this is to be expected. Well, as a newbie, I think things can improve. Especially after the AMV contest fiasco. |
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Speaking of the AX staff, some of them are downright rude and mean. After reading about other people’s experiences, I’m glad I got my autographs / sketches without being hassled or kicked out of line! |
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Some fans and convention goers are also a mean lot, but I guess this can be excused by the combination of crowding and sleep deprivation. |
And The Ugly (or Beautiful depending on how you look at it…)
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The GG tournament lasted like what? 4+ hours? Sounds about right. |
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How much is that Newtype magazine going for on eBay? ~$40?! Next year I’m getting two of all freebies. |
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The food prices, which I guess can’t be helped. All conventions have expensive food because if it’s in the convention hall. Though I believe those fruit cups are a deal. Still, next year I’m packing more food than Promax bars and water! |
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While I’m all for cosplay, I think that people should be realistic about the costumes they choose. I’m not talking about crappy costumes. Even the crappiest costume is better than what I would come up with. (I don’t sew.) I’m talking about not revealing your body if well, your body isn’t exactly... the nicest thing to look at. Not all of us can be Faye Valentine, Lulu from FFX (Sumir asks: You didn't get her picture???), Kenshin’s master, and others. Regardless, cosplayers have guts!!! |
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Check out these links for cosplay pics: here and here. |
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In closing, there’s also this: |
