• Uguu~
Posted By:
Shoju
on July 9, 2002 1:25 A.M. (PST)
My Anime Expo 2002 report:
Day 1 - Opening Ceremonies was a nice event. After I wanted to go to
the Gonzo Panel, but because of poor signs/directions, I missed it. I
didn't find the 'Live Program 2 Room' until Thursday. I spent a few hours
in the exhibit hall and left early. Thing I wish I had done was attend the
Evangelion Panel.
Day 2 - Got to the Music Video line around 9 and got the tickets. We
then went to the Tsukasa Hojo Panel. I have never read or seen the City
Hunter manga/anime, or any other mangas of his, but I still wanted to see at
least one of the Guest of Honor's Panels. Accompanying him in the panel
was his editor and president of Raijin Comics and a voice actor for City
Hunter. In the panel, somehow Dragon Ball came up. The president
explained that Dragon Ball was not a very popular manga until Akira Toriyama
started the Tenkaichi Budoukai. Normally, the manga would have been axed immediately
when they knew it wasn't selling, but because he had made a very popular manga
before(Dr. Slump), they let him have more time to try to get it more
popular. After the panel, I spent more time in the exhibit hall. I
then went to the Yoko Ishida concert. It was kick ass. Now that I
think of it, I probably should have bought her box set of Parapara CDs.
After the concert, I wasted many hours in line for the Music Video
contest. Seating was supposed to begin at 7:00 P.M. It didn't and
the crowd was obviously angry. Someone actually played a few music videos
for us on his laptop, but only a few people were actually able to hear
them. Another person got his laptop and tried to tell the AX staff to 'Let
us in!' By the time they let us in, they told us that the contest would be
delayed until tomorrow morning. That announcement got an enormous amount
of 'boos.' The final plans for the MVC was that the contest would be
tomorrow morning, but a reshowing would be done on Sunday as well. To
entertain the people that were left, they showed Metropolis(sp?). This was
the first time I saw the movie. It's not bad, but I didn't like
either. I could have gone to the Nobuhiro Watsuki Panel or the Anime
Challenge thing than waste my fucking time. For those of you who don't
know, Nobuhiro Watsuki is the man who created the Rurouni Kenshin
manga!!!
Day 3 - I tried going there around 8:00 A.M. to get Masquerade tickets, but
they ran out long before we were anywhere near the people who were passing them
out. We went to the Pioneer Panel next. Here, they showed us all the
anime they licensed. Among them were Ai Yori Aoshi and Chobits.
There were mad pops for Chobits when they showed the opening, even though the
quality of the opening sucked. At the end of the panel, they raffled off a
few items. My friend won an anime version of a Chobits Promo poster.
To him, I give you this: <^>(O_o)<^> Immediately after the
panel, was a Pioneer Music Panel. This panel included Yoko Ishida.
When one of the panel guys asked who's music we would like to hear, Ayumi was
mentioned among others. Too bad none of the mentioned names were with
Pioneer Japan. After that, I believe I watched all of Read or Die.
My friend had already seen it, but I haven't. I liked it, even though they
showed it raw. After that, I went by myself to the Toshiharu Murata
Panel. He is the character designer for Hellsing, and since my friend
hasn't seen Hellsing yet, he opted to go to the Bandai Panel instead.
Here, I learned that there might be a sequel to Hellsing after the manga has
finished. 14 SOBs got Hellsing coffin sets. 11 were the
American pre-orders, and the other 3 were some special Japanese realease
versions. After that I met up with my friend in the Console gaming room,
and went to go wait in the standby line for the Masquerade. We were two of
the first ten people in line so we were able to get floor seats. By the
time we got in, the first half of the first act was already over. My
favorites of the night were: the guys who did YMCA(mad props to the guy in the
Gundam suit for falling over!), the girls who cosplayed Sephiroth and Kuja, the
guy who cosplayed Alucard from Hellsing, and the Fruits Basket skit. After
the Masquerade, we were treated to the winners of the Music Video Contest.
I totally love the 'A total waste of 6min 35 seconds' comedy music video.
If you know where I can download this, MESSAGE ME! The other
winners were okay.
Day 4 - Arrived to watch the Music Videos around 8:00 A.M. Only real
reasons I came were to watch the 'Dragon Bebop Z' video and rewatch 'A total
waste of 6min 35 seconds' video. After, I went to the exhibit hall one
last time. I came and bought some stuff, and picked up a fan-made
watercolor picture of Ayu Tsukimiya at the silent auction. As I was
waiting for the auction to end, I took a look around and found that there was a
big fan-made art piece of Lulu. It was a kick ass picture. It had no
bids and I would have bought it too, but I had only around $19 left. I was
a little depressed. After, I went to the Auctions. Here, I became
super depressed when an original art piece of Ayu came up. It only sold
for $90/$190(I forgot how much it sold for.) All I know is I would have
paid up to $1,000 for it. >.< The very last piece auctioned off was
a Kenshin piece drawn by Nobuhiro Watsuki. It sold for around $6,000 I
think. I'm not really sure. After that was an award Ceremony that
wasn't really good. Then Closing Ceremony started. As the Guest of
Honor were giving their last comments, Hiroaki Goda, told the audience that next
year, Onegai Teacher will not lose to Read or Die. Then one of the guys,
who worked on RoD, told the audience Read or Die will never loose to Onegai
Teacher. Toshiharu Murata told the audience he never expected to meet
someone who helped make Onegai Teacher, and he also said that the audience
didn't have to watch Onegai Teacher or Read or Die, they only had to watch
Hellsing. Nobuhiro Watsuki told everyone that they should all watch Onegai
Teacher, Read or Die, and Hellsing, and they should enjoy his next manga he is
working on. Then they announced that Anime Expo would be going to Japan in
2004, and next year's AX would be returning to Anaheim.
List of what I bought:
Katana
'Campers Suck' t-shirt
Kisaragi Nimomai figure
A few laminated cards of Shishio, Satsuki, Kisaragi, and Tohru
Kanon art book
Vandread art book
Tales of Eternia art book
Peorth pin
Onegai Teacher clear poster
Ayu Tsukimiya fan-made watercolor picture
What I wanted to buy:
Alucard's gloves (I don't think there were any there.)
Ayu Tsukimiya original art piece
Ayu Tsukimiya plush doll (I don't think there were any there.)
Satsuki Gokajou figure
Dun...eh, I forgot how to spell it. It's a huge ass model of a Cannon with
a Gundam in it.
Shinobu Maehara bust
Lulu fan-made picture
Yoko Ishida Parapara CDs
Evangelion Perfect Collection DVD Box Set
Hellsing t-shirt
Highlight of the entire expo: One of the exhibitors cosplaying as
Marone Bluecarno. Uguu~ I totally 'marked out' (in my mind) when I
saw her.
The day before I went to pick up my badge, I re-watched all of Fruits
Basket. After re-watching it, it has been bumped up to being my #4
favorite anime, and I really like Tohru Honda and Hatori Souma now(along with
Yuki).
I will begin writing reviews again later today. After Anime Expo,
Neverwinter Nights will be on the shelf for a little bit.
Pics of my stuff and a few cosplayers will be posted as soon as my friend
develops his film.
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