Anime Expo 2012 Day 2 Report

 
I was only able to make it to AX for one day, and while I wasn't able to participate in any blogger meetups (someday!) I had fun nevertheless.

 
I think that it's worth mentioning that this was my first AX, because I was surprised by the mob that was already present when I got there. I was warned to expect crowds, but I wasn't expecting this. On the flip side, it only took me forty minutes to get my badge through the pre-reg line. I feel like that's some kind of record.

Anyway, it was packed. Once the exhibit hall did open, it still felt like wall-to-wall people. That said, everyone was pretty courteous to each other. No one got mad if you ran into them unexpectedly and cosplayers and photographers were respected. I'm just glad that everybody was polite despite feeling like sardines in an anime-decorated can.

 
As expected, the Exhibit Hall and Artist's Alley were packing some cool stuff. The industry booths at the very front had the most flash to them, since they had the money to put into it. Crunchyroll had live guests and cosplay spotlights all day. Aniplex had half their booth dedicated to an autograph/free stuff area and the other for sales. Bandai had an elaborate figure display and store in the back that reminded me again how much money I save by not caring about Gundam. The presentation was pretty nice though.

 
NISA and Aksys games had their own booths, offering pre-orders and free game demos. Speaking of games, there were also working demos of the recent Dragon Ball and One Piece games as well as the English version of Ni no Kuni, which I've been excited about for a while now. Next to them was Funimation's booth, and I have to hand it to them, they do a good job with their advertising. The trailer playing for Fractale was far better than the actual show. They also had an actual stripper pole for Panty & Stocking.

 
I was probably most impressed by Bushiroad's booth, which was dedicated to promoting Cardfight! Vanguard. It had a sleek feel to it, with episodes of the English dub playing outside and some of the original artwork displayed inside. There were also tables set up to play the game. It's clear that they really do want the title of "the next Yu-gi-oh."


I couldn't get a good picture of the panel, so have a Barnaby cosplay instead.
I was only able to make it to two panels, the first focusing on the English dub of Tiger & Bunny. They're about halfway through the dubbing process right now, which puts the release date for early next year. They played a clip from the first episode and in my opinion, they nailed the casting. The VA for Fire Emblem was particularly hilarious; when asked what he has in common with his character, he said that he also enjoys wearing spandex. One of the Japanese staff members also talked about alternate endings that were considered; originally, either Rock Bison or Origami Cyclone were going to be killed off! He said that he was happy that everyone did make it through.


The second was the Madoka Magica panel, which was just a lot of fun all around. The announced the fan's favorite episodes (3, 10, and 12, no surprises here), had the voice actresses compete to see who the best magical girl recruiter was (the lengths some of them went to were hilarious), and they aired never-before-seen bloopers, which were hysterical. My personal favorites were Homura complimenting Madoka's butt and Sayaka suggesting to her would-be boyfriend that they go paraplegic base jumping. They were hilarious, I swear! I also got a free Kyuubey mask. I'm in this picture, lost in the glare somewhere.

 
Since I'm a broke graduate student, my haul is not very impressive and mostly made up of free stuff. I picked up the complete series of Madoka on Blu-Ray, a Petite Nendo of Sayaka, the aforementioned Kyuubey mask, artwork postcards from the Aniplex booth and the Tiger and Bunny panel, a Blue Rose figure, and some manga and a dub DVD from Bushiroad. I also got Rider's command seal stamp at the Aniplex booth and despite it being off center, it looked pretty nice and stayed in place for a few days. Not pictured is the free poster I got with my Madoka purchase.


Overall, I had a lot of fun. Sorry if you were expecting anger at consumerism or teenagers cosplaying Homestuck. Maybe in a few years I can complain about how AX has "changed" and that it should go back to how it was. Kidding aside, it's really nice to hang out with people who actually understand your hobby for a day. As a side note, the X Games didn't really get in the way of anything expect when it literally did in terms of how to get around the convention center and traffic. Otherwise, it was a non-issue when it came to my enjoyment of the con. Hopefully I'll be able to go for a few more days next year.

Cosplay Pictures



This Luka was gorgeous. Too bad you can't see the butterfly clips in this pic; they were really well done.



I was behind these people in line for the T&B panel! Flawless cosplay is flawless.




You have no idea how happy I was to see Magi cosplayers.

Have an R2-D2 for the road. :)

Images by me.