Anime Expo 2014 – Anime Expo is the largest anime convention in North America. Anime Expo 2014 was a four daylong event from Thursday July 3rd to Sunday July 6th that hosted hundreds of vendors and exhibitors, and thousands of fans, dedicated to the love and enthusiasm of Japanese Animation. Last year’s Anime Expo reached a record of 61,000 attendees, but considering they sold out of badges, this year likely broke last year’s record.
Day 0 of Anime Expo started off a bit rocky, at least in terms of badges for exhibitors, artists, and press. They rolled out an entirely new, untested, system for looking up and printing badges on the first day. The system went down and forced a lot of people to wait for hours to get their badges, some waiting upwards of seven hours. The system was restored and backed up with information from June 22nd and before. If your registration was confirmed after that date, you would not be in the system and would have to insist on your registration even with your confirmation in hand. Considering the size and popularity of the event, it seemed careless to risk the event’s success on an untested system. What made it worse was the lack of consideration and urgency to accommodate for the inconvenience. Understanding technical difficulties happen, but the knowledge of the system being restored to a previous date and the lack of sequential logic of a person having their registration confirmation in hand and being in the line for hours was infuriating.
Aside from the registration debacle, Anime Expo had a lot to offer. Many major Anime and affiliated companies were present, and a few American companies like Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim, with their fan favorites and lesser known series as well; many with exclusive merchandise, inside scoops, and unique paraphernalia that would be hard to find or much more expensive elsewhere. Bandai in particular had a really generous sale on video games that were not only discounted, but came with unique souvenirs to go with them. One vendor, Sentai Filmworks, even hired the Fluff Ice Truck to give away free Fluff Ice.
No convention would be worthwhile without dedicated fans. The fans of Anime are a very dedicated and unique group. There is a very different feel in the atmosphere especially in contrast to that of say Comic-Con or Wonder-Con. The difference is likely due to the influence of the mediums, Comic Books versus Anime/Manga, and Anime being a much newer medium here in the U.S. But like any diehard fan base at a convention, you have the cospayers. Cosplayers are what really make cons a cultural experience; the craftsmanship and creativity, the pure dedication to a character, and the excuse to wear a costume that is not Halloween. The only thing somewhat off putting about the cosplayers at Anime Expo, are the ones who have no ties to Anime… Just saying, there is no connection for Elsa from Frozen to be at Anime Expo. Regardless, people get extremely creative and put in an amazing amount of effort into their cosplay and it pays off. Their works should be admired and inspire other fans to give it a try.
Anime Expo’s most prominent piece had to be artist alley. Comic-Con and the larger conventions have world renowned artists, which of course are beautiful and awe inspiring. What was great about Anime Expo is that is it featured lesser known artists who will likely make their way to the bigger stages. Being lesser known also means their work is less expensive. Most of these artists are independent creators who are simply there to share their works and relish the opportunity to meet and attract new fans.
One such artist is “Cha” the founder and creator of “@EpicPillowFight.” Cha has had a booth at Anime Expo for years and can also be found at Stan Lee’s Comikaze. She makes handmade custom pillows of various characters and weapons from numerous genres of fandom, her big seller being the wearable and throwable Captain America Shield. Cha’s work has been a fan favorite, even making a fan of Stan Lee with a pillow of Stan Lee. Check out her work on Instagram and Twitter “EpicPillowFight”.
Anime Expo is quickly becoming one of the biggest conventions in country. Much like Ramen and Sushi, Anime is part of Japanese culture that is attracting a lot of fans throughout the country. With its growing fan base and implementation of the medium into American shows and series, like DC animated films, Black Dynamite, and The Boondocks, Anime is becoming one of the most popular genres in American culture. Despite the technical difficulties, Anime Expo offers a lot for all fans of Anime; providing exhibits, panels, exclusives, to the same degree as any good con would, without seeming like a carbon copy.