Anime Conventions

[SirFirestorm]

Although the anime community on this board is smaller than the ones I usually frequent, I'd like to hear about any experiences you guys have had regarding anicons or cons in general.

Has anyone been to a con in Japan or is interested in cosplay or anything like that? I don't get the impression of a vocal otaku community around here but I guess I'll try.

I'm flying to Anime Expo in California around the end of the month, they have an all-star lineup of guests this year including the cast of Suzumiya Haruhi (Hirano Aya and the voice actors for yuki and mikuru!) and I'm really looking forward to it.

[charizardpal]

You're actually flying to Long Beach just to hang out with anime geeks? You mean to say that you've scrapped up enough money to fly from one coast to the other just so you can hug cross-dressers and take pictures of ADHD kids pretending to be ninjas? That convention occurs in my backyard every year but I've never bothered to pay the dough to go in. (Was it 40 dollars? Can't figure what I'd do there if I went.)

[SirFirestorm]

hehe you seem to know all about it, but I'm going with a couple of friends to check out Long beach and the convention not really to explore the wonders of 10000 otaku not showering for 4 days.

This year there are gonna be some big name concerts namely the US premier of SKIN consisting of Gackt, Yoshiki, Miyavi, and Sugizo. Visual Kei isnt really my thing but those guys are kind of a big deal. Anna Tsuchiya who sang the opening for NANA is also having a concert. SOS invasion tour with Hirano Aya and the other voice actors for yuki and mikuru from Suzumiya Haruhi are having a concert and panel. Chiaki Ishikawa, Halko Momoi, and ORESKABAND are also gonna be there, I dont really care about them but they are having concerts too. There is AX Idol, which is a Singing and voice acting contest and the Masquerade event. Those are the big events scheduled.
Theres all sorts of other little things you could do, screenings of old episodes of dubbed anime or something. 35mm movies and all sorts of anime/manga/japanese panels. The video game room with occasional gaming contests. Cosplay events I dont really care for but there are those. Manga Library, stuff like that.

Dealers hall and artist gallery are also a main attraction, they sell anime stuff and imported merchandise from japan, original artwork, fanart, and the doujinshi porn of course. Theres the sponsors booths, guys from adv, bandai, tokyopop, and other big name companies that got their booths promoting their stuff.

Theres also a summer festival going on around there. You can go eat takoyaki or yakisoba or whatever and try goldfish scooping and other festival activities.

Not that big a deal if you have a job, if not, save up your allowance and lunch money if you want to see a real live geekfest, just follow the smell. Maybe you'll see me, I'm gonna be wearing a business suit in 100 degree weather with a buttload of cologne.