An Otaku Confesses

Part 5: Anime L.A. - Ole!

By Hurricane Heeran

In an article ("A Fan's View") that ran in Super Manga Blast #48, Kevin Lillard posted some very interesting facts about anime conventions that caught my eye and attention. They were: 18 - the number of anime conventions held in the United States in 1999. 70 - the number of anime conventions held in the United States in 2004. 12 - the number of anime conventions held in California in 2004. 8 - the number of new conventions that will be held in the U.S. in 2005. I think that last figure may now be in double-digits, as NarutoCon (a convention that's about the Naruto series) has been announced as happening at the Pasadena Convention Center at the end of July. Even without those figures, I could easily tell you that Southern California is already home to a pair of major conventions that feature anime programming for the fans. Of course, I'm speaking about Anime Expo (which is currently calling Anaheim home, although it has been held in Long Beach and several years ago at a hotel near the Los Angeles Airport), and Comic-Con International: San Diego.

There are also several other gatherings that appeal to the anime fan, such as Pacific Media Expo and Ani-Magic, and, at times, the Japan Expo (held in the Los Angeles Convention Center in late November). We can add to their number a new event held at the beginning of the year in the Van Nuys section of Los Angeles: Anime L.A.

While I wasn't there for the whole convention, here"s a report of the time I spent there, with some afterthoughts and a quick review of an anime series.

Saturday, January 29, 2005 I woke up late (8am) because I incorrectly set the timer to one of the TV/VCRs. Still, I got to the Airtel shortly after 10am, and found that there was quite a bit of parking going on along Valjean Avenue. The convention was being held in the Tower section of the hotel complex. (The main building was holding several other events, including a SAT course.)

By 10:30am, I was officially registered and, along with my badge, I got a Perfect Attendance ribbon. (I'm guessing from the number on my badge that I was the 52nd person to preregister.) I also got a Convention Program booklet (10 pages double-stapled) and signed a large get-well card addressed to Fred Patten (who was to be the Guest of Honor until a case of pneumonia struck Fred). [Special Note: Fred left the hospital for home before the convention started and last we heard he was doing very well.]

The first thing I did was attend a panel on animation that was so last minute that it wasn't in the program book. There was only one panelist there, since the rest were animators and, as such, they were night owls who tend to find events before Noon as too early in the day (to use the old saw about artists). There weren't too many people in the audience either, which could explain how I ended up winning a trivia quiz twice.

After that I decided to check out the dealers. There wasn't a Dealer's Room set up, more of a "Corridor of Dealers" (as one person quipped) in which a small guest room was used as a dealer's booth. Because the beds and furniture were still there, it made for a series of very small boutiques.

The corridor also held the screening room for live action movies. I poked my head in and saw that Princess Blade was showing (a movie that I caught last year at Pacific Media Expo).

I decided to check out another panel, this one on sewing costumes, but they were still setting up the sewing machines, so I left. I noticed that there were a lot of people doing cosplay.

Before 12 Noon, I left the hotel and drove off to run some errands (like picking up my comics) and have lunch at a Chinese Restaurant. I returned around 1:30 and checked into the hotel. Even though I live nearby, I made the reservation a few weeks prior because I didn't want to find myself getting stuck in the rain driving to the convention. Also, I wouldn't have to worry about what to do if an anime that I wanted to see ran at an odd hour of the day.

I was assigned Room 243, and got my gear into it. I read a bit and studied the program guide for things to catch. I decided that the first five episodes of Mezzo, set for 3pm, were a must-see screening.

The anime screening was originally set in the Dealers Corridor in Room 1008, but somebody had the bright idea of moving it to a bigger place, namely the Pilots' Lounge next to Room 176. All one had to do was follow the numerous signs that pointed out the way.

Two hours and several minutes later that screening was over. Since I caught Escaflowne The Movie a few years ago, I decided to take a dinner break. Which meant that I headed over to a nearby Subway for a meatball sub, then returned to the hotel and read a bit more.

I dressed up in my Gwailo costume and went to attend the Masquerade. I found myself waiting in a line that didn't move until 7:45. Normally this would be good news, exception this event was scheduled to begin at 7:30 instead of 8pm. Still, it looked as if everyone was able to get in.

As everyone was getting into their seats, a video from Japan was being shown. At first it looked like a basic ping-pong game, until you realize that the ball was attached to a stick held by someone in a kuroko costume. (The kuroko dress in black costumes with a black veil so they look a bit like ninja, but happen to be "invisible helpers" in theatre plays (in that the audience is meant to not see them).) With the help of the kuroko moving and turning the tables and the players in reference to the video camera, a live ping pong game began to look like something out of The Matrix or a cartoon.

After that, the Top Two winners from the Anime Music Contest held the previous night were shown. Then Tadao Tomomatsu, who would serve as the MC for the evening's proceedings took the microphone and began to set up things for the evening. The various judges and organizers of the event were introduced and the No Flash Photography rule was stated several times. We were told that 551 people had been registered at the convention and that next year's gathering would be in the main building with a real Dealer's Room in existence.

Then the 21 entrees took to the stage. There were a few technical glitches regarding the audio, but no wardrobe malfunctions. Because we would be voting for our own favorite, I kept making mental notes on the various people that took to the stage, and several times felt that an anime character had come to life.

After the 21 entrees had made their appearance, the judges went off to decide who would receive what award, and we cast our ballots that were to be quickly counted. While that was happening, we were given entertainment from a comic on the love of Pocky (a snack from Japan). Then the band called Random Ninja performed. Once again there were glitches with the audio (resulting in some painful feedback), but, by the end of their se,t they had really begun to groove with the audience. Among their songs were the original opening song of Ranma½, Sailor Moon, and Neon Genesis Evangelion.

After they were done playing, the MC came out and stalled for a few minutes until the judges had finished making their decisions. There were three classes in this Masquerade: Novice, Journeyman, and Veteran. Certain awards such as Best Design existed in each class, however Best Costume was a prize that had all entrees competing against each other.

Then came the Audience Award (that was from our recently cast ballots), which gave the winner fifty dollars along with a certificate. I'm happy to say that Number 15 (Zelda) whom I voted for, won the Audience Award.

It was 10pm and I left to catch the screening of 12 Kingdoms, which was scheduled to run in the Pilots' Lounge. Howeve,r the English dubbed version of Mezzo was being shown instead. So I went to my room to read, write, and relax.

Sunday, January 30, 2005 – Got up at 8am and slowly packed up. I checked out of the hotel just before 11am, then walked down to Beeps for brunch.

I returned to the hotel and went to the Pilots' Lounge, where an anime was already in progress. So I went over to the Tower section and registered for next year’s convention. Then I headed for the Live Program Room 1, where a course on making costumes was already well in progress. Since it wasn’t too noisy, I sat in an empty chair and read some manga.

The foyer area of the Tower was more organized on this day than it had been on Saturday morning, so there was an Artist Alley present. One artist had a black and white sketch of a punkish girl in a cat suit that I ended up buying.

It was nearly 1pm, so I headed over to the Pilots’ Lounge in order to catch Yu Yu Hakkusho: The Movie, only to find that it was already in progress. This time I stayed, and after it was over came a series that I was hoping to see: Fruit Basket. We got the English dub version to watch, and the first four episodes of the series. At that point it was 3pm, time to go home and resume my so-called Normal Life.

Reflections and Ruminations – I have to admit that the fan conventions I've attended have had bigger rooms, and this was a bit of a shock. Similar, I suppose, to attending a baseball game that wasn't in the Major Leagues. You can still have a wonderful time enjoying the game without all of the big time stars.

If I had to compare this convention to the large ones that I usually attend, I would have to say that this one was more in the spirit of "by the fans and for the fans". Which isn’t to say that the major conventions aren’t fan friendly, but they do have a lot of big professional companies and major stars.

Big gatherings have their glitches as much as smaller ones do. The bumps in the roads that happened here probably won’t occur again. Now that the convention organizers and the hotel have a good idea of the potential crowd size, next year's convention will have events scheduled in the main hotel building (although a few proceedings will probably have to spill over into the Tower section).

Not that I can think of a fan convention that is anti-cosplay, I also can't recall going to one that was so pro-cosplay. There was a Costume Repair Station for convention goers to use. Also there were several sessions that involved costume making. (There was even one called Sewing Machine 101 that would help you learn how to use a sewing machine.)

There's one other aspect of this convention that I want to share with you: it has plenty of badge ribbons. Everyone was issued a "Perfect Attendance" ribbon just for showing up and getting their convention badge. There were other ribbons given out to people who helped in the running of the convention as volunteers or for taking part in certain activities. In some ways, it looked like the Boy Scouts with merit badges and other patches that some scouts would attach to their uniforms.

Anyhow campers, that's a wrap for this report. See you next month with a trip down memory lane.

Herein we discuss ... all the things you watch read and play