Animesou.com

Nichijou (My Ordinary Life):

Wow. Keiichi Arawi’s comedic manga to anime is hilarious. Instead of an anime that tells a story, Nichijou is separated into parts. While some parts are better than others, the anime as a whole is laugh out loud funny. It has been a while since an anime has gotten me to actually laugh as if it was a stand-up comedy act. The gist of the show is about a group of high school students experiencing the weird occurrences of “Everyday Life.” There is a lot of promise in this anime. Hopefully, the comedy does not get old.

Steins;Gate:

As I was watching the first episode, I was lost. I did not know what was going on, what the story is going to be about and all I saw was a guy and a girl. They decide to attend some presentation and weird things happen and someone dies. At the end of the episode, the guy starts to have a revelation and everything began to make sense to him… but not to me. No wonder why this show is related to Chaos;Head another show that is a head scratcher. Steins;Gate is about a group of friends who discover a way to make their microwave into a device that sends text messages into the past. How will this show work? I do not know. But from my early view on it, this show is not one of my favorite shows in the world.

Sengoku Otome: Momoiro Paradox:

Our protagonist, Hideyoshi Toyoomi is a normal teenage girl. One day she witnesses something in a shrine and accidently gets teleported into a world where feudal lords ruled and a world where only females existed. Once she is there, she meets Oda Nobunaga, a feudal lord who is trying to unite the nations. The show becomes about Hideyoshi and her quest to help Nobunaga’s goal. Hideyoshi brings a unique twist to the show because she is using modern techniques to approach issues. Overall, I think this show is not impressive. I was wishing something exciting would happen on the screen, but was disappointed. I do not like Sengoku Otome thus far. Hopefully it will turn for the better as the plot develops.

Hanasaku Iroha:

This anime is about a girl, Ohana Matsumae, who has pretty much relied on herself throughout her young life as her mother is usually concentrated on her work or… her love life. One day, her mother’s boyfriend runs into some trouble and they decide to elope without Ohana. Ohana’s mother decided to send her daughter to Ohana’s grandmother’s inn. Here I start to think Hinatasou? But no, she is sent to live at Kissuisō. When she arrived she thought she was just going to shack there, but as it turns out, her grandmother was not going to let her have any free lunches. Immediately she is told to work for her living expenses.

I honestly thought this show was very uninteresting when it began. But as the story developed, I started to change my views on it. The plot is about how a girl changes her life. From the first time Ohana is introduced, she was portrayed as a self reliant person. As the anime goes on, the situation she is in forces her to change and rely on others in order to gain friendship and in order to coexist with others, along with the different way of life when her work place is based on the philosophy that the customer is always right. This show has potential.

Dog Days:

From the moment the show began, I thought Dog Days was a serious anime. The war between canine (Biscotti) and feline (Galette) races must contain a lot of bloodshed right? We will get back to that point later. Dog Days is about a boy named Sink Izumi. He is athletic and loves to compete in competitions. The current direction of his life is no longer exciting. He lives to test his skills. Ever since he came in second in the national competition, he has been itching to get back on the grand stage. All this happens as the world of Flonyard is going through series of wars between the Biscotti Republic and the Galette Lion Army. As the losses pile up for the Biscotti Republic, Princess Millhiore, summons the legendary hero to save their nation, that hero, turns out to be Izumi.

From all that seriousness from the start I thought it was going to be real war and all, but only disappointed with the actual format of their so called war. It is an obstacle course competition with a few magic spells here and there. There are no casualties, no bloodsheds, only cute dazed fur balls when they are defeated. I felt totally duped, but in a way that may be a good thing. Dog Days is different and while I am not a big fan of it, it is a break from the usual fighting that usually occurs in these type of fantasy nation versus nation anime.

Tiger & Bunny:

The title name just sounds weird. It is the complete opposite of what the title suggests (Bunny girls, cat girls :D). Anyways, when I saw the show, I was immediately thinking of how it relates to Watchmen. You know, heroes being idolized and doing just about whatever they want. The twist here is that these heroes here actually represent large corporations. And as they are fighting criminals they are broadcasted on Hero TV, graded and at the end of a season a king of heroes is crowned. The protagonist of the story is Kotetsu T. Kaburagi, also known as, Wild Tiger. He is not the most popular hero out of the bunch and when his sponsor gets acquired by another, he is forced to join forces with an emerging hero, Barnaby Brooks Jr. The animation was very good, the story was entertaining and the action scenes were great. I liked what I saw thus far and look forward to more of Tiger & Bunny. Watch Tiger & Bunny at Viz Anime!

Toriko:

The first episode was interesting because the cast of One Piece joined Toriko on his first adventure on the screen. Upon watching it, I thought the series was moving in the right direction, but how far can it go? Will this get old? And with the cast of One Piece affecting my thoughts, I had to check out the next episode which was the actual start of the series. Komatsu is a chef and a representative of the International Gourmet Organization, he is given a job to gather the best ingredient for the IGO’s party and the ingredient that they wanted was the Galala crocodile. Komatsu finds Toriko, a bishokuya (gourmet hunters) who is on a mission to capture the best ingredients for his epic full course meal, and upon watching Toriko’s ability to capture his prey; Komatsu knew Toriko was the one and only person that would be able to handle the difficulty of catching the Galala crocodile.

As the show continued on, I was thinking how unique the concept was. It was like Cooking Master Boy meets Fist of the North Star, okay, maybe not so extreme as Fist of the North Star, but you get the idea. But at the same time the downfall that I can see right now is how long can this “catch a big animal and eat it concept work.” I hope the rest of the characters and story will solve that small issue as the series moves further along. But currently, I do like what I see; the show makes me want to down a T-bone steak right now!

Ao No Exorcist (Blue Exorcist):

I remember Viz Media sending out an email about this anime, and at that moment I was intrigued with what Ao no Exorcist would be all about. I have to say, I am very excited at what this show has to offer. An anime with demons versus exorcists and is combined with a great story to start? Sign me up right now. Blue Exorcist is about a character named Rin Okumura, he is a failure compared to his brother Yukio. One day as he gets into his daily scuffles with other teens he is told by a demon that possessed one of the teens, what his true identity was, Satan’s son. That sums up the first episode, but I am so looking forward to this series. The plot just glued me to my seat. You definitely have to check this series out, especially if you are into this genre. Catch the first episode here!

Dororon Enma-kun Meramera:

I have to be honest. I was not expecting much when I first saw this title. I thought it was going to be kiddy and another one of those guy catch ghosts shows. But, the name Go Nagai caught my eye and I had to at least take a peek to pay the man some respect. After watching it, I was very impressed with this remake. Dororon Enma-kun Meramera is a horror comedy that focuses on the ghost capturing adventures of Enma-kun, Yukiko-hime and Kapaeru (Yokai Patrol). As the runtime expired, I thought this show was somewhat like Ghost Sweeper Mikami in terms of comedy, and while it is hard to top the sexiness of Mikami, Yukiko-hime does not do a bad job at playing the sexy role of the show. So a show with good comedy and some fan service? Now that is a great combo. On a side note, I still cannot get over the scene where a monster used his manhood as a weapon and as a result, broke, from the fighting. I was laughing so hard with the monster’s reaction after that little mishap.

SKET Dance:

Support, Kindness, Encouragement, Troubleshoot. That is what SKET stands for. From the title alone, without doing any background research, one would immediately think this anime is about a bunch of kids going around break-dancing their butts off. Now after doing a bit of research, the show cannot be more opposite of the assumption. SKET Dance by Kenta Shinohara, in a way is like MM! and ÅŒkami-san to Shichinin no Nakama-tachi. The SKET club is dedicated to assisting fellow students with any issues that they are having. Now when you mix in a free spirit like Bossun as the leader, a yankee like Himeko and a robotic guy like Switch, you have a weird mix of personalities there. I firmly believe that SKET Dance works because of this mix of characters. The comedy contained here is hilarious. The story is also a joy to experience with the mini twists within. With just one episode, this piece will grab a hold of you and will not let go. This one is a definite must watch for the Spring.

Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi:

Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi is an anime adaptation from the adult bishojo game by Feng. I do not know what is with adult game adaptations, but why does it somehow always come down to characters from the city going back to their old rural town where they once lived and mingle with people there? I was hoping this show is not like Yosuga no Sora, but I cannot help but think of the relation because of the siblings going back to the country side, meeting new faces and old faces. Please do not turn out to be like Yosuga no Sora. Do not ruin it for me. As I have not played the video game, I do not know what happens with the story at all. From my early views on it, this is quite good, seems to be a typical ecchi humor harem anime. If you are into this genre, which I am… check it out.

Hen Zemi:

Abnormal Physiology Seminar by TAGRO is certainly not for everyone. The funny elements here require a much opened mind. I found it strange that within the first few minutes of the show Nanako Matsutaka, the main character, is put into a dilemma, to walk down the stairs with a pervert videotaping her up skirt shot or not. If she does not take the stairs, she owes Komugi Musashi a favor, because he told her about Hishiyasu Ichikawa’s little experiment. And if she did take the stairs, Ichikawa will owe her a favor for doing his so called experiment. So, which choice is she supposed to make? Now, that is just a tamer example of the anime.

Hen Zemi expands further into the oddity by often referencing sexual themes, eating worms, and crazy fantasies. I mean, to be a part of the Abnormal Physiology Seminar, the first requirement is that you have to have some kind of issue. I thought the show was not very funny. I was more amazed at how far it will go to express how weird these characters are. The character design feels too rounded, maybe it is done that way to show to the audience that whatever is on the screen is meant to be a joke and should be taken lightly. Unless you are dying to find an anime with some strange comedy, Hen Zemi is probably not for you. It certainly is not for me.

Honto ni Atta! Reibai Sensei:

Hmm… where to start. For starters, I think the best thing about this show was that it did not waste much of my time. It ran about five minutes. The worse thing about the show was the animation. I seriously cannot get over the fact that this piece looked cel-shaded. As I think about it, it actually looks like some of the Adobe Flash videos that I have seen on New Grounds. Now that we got the best and the worse things out of the way, let us look into the anime a bit. Kibayashi Juri is a new teacher, and her talent is to communicate with the dead. On the first day of class, she shows this ability to her students after Yoshii Akiko asked her what her hobby was. The class gets flipped upside down and the episode ends. I give credit to the voice actors and actresses featured in this anime. They had to work harder bringing out characters with the limited animation. Overall, I feel this anime is good if you have five minutes to spare, if you do not, then you would not miss much.

Yondemasuyo, Azazel-san:

Cute summoned demons eh? How is this going to work? From watching the first episode I thought it was short and entertaining. Akutabe is a detective who summons demons to assist him with his clients. In this particular episode, Akutabe’s assistant Rinko Sakuma practices her summon and calls forth Azazel and Moloch. I was a bit confused with the show because the pictures I remember seeing were of small cute characters. But at the start, the viewer gets to see how vicious these demons really look. When they are summoned inside Akutabe’s building an anti-demon barrier is set up so that these vicious demons turn into cute beings in the human realm. While not a lot is shown in the first episode, I can see myself continuing with this anime. It was definitely appealing to say the least, and I am intrigued at how these demons will help Akutabe in the future.

Oretachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai:

Oretachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai is brought to you by Navel, the same people that were behind Shuffle. As this is another eroge turned anime, I have to say, this one is my least favorite. Right off the bat there are too many characters introduced within the first episode, so many that at the end of the show I do not remember who is who. The flow of the anime is also very jumbled up. You will be shown one scene and then with no connection at all, go to another with different characters. Am I supposed to be connecting the dots here? At least give me some hints. For those into the ecchi-ness of Oretachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai, I was utterly disappointed. There was nothing much to see. The character designs were good and the animation looked up to par, but I just cannot understand what was going on. Maybe it will change in the latter parts of the show, but sadly I will not be staying on the ride to see it.

Astarotte no Omocha!:

Astarotte Ygvar is a succubus. Like a vampire, who requires blood to live, a succubus needs to ingest the semen of men. Judit, a guardian of Astarotte, suggested to Astarotte that she should start to build her own harem so that she can have an early start living the life of a maturing succubus. But the issue is Astarotte hates men. As a child, when she was about to go sleep with her mother Mercelída Ygvar, a member of Mercelída’s harem cuts Astarotte off and went into Mercelída’s room to commit the act… Astarotte witnessed the whole thing and her hatred towards men began from that day on. In an attempt to silence Judit, Astarotte states that she only wants a human male to be a part of her harem.

Astarotte knew very well that the Yggdrasill tree that connects them with the human realm has been dormant for a very long time. In an unyielding effort, Judit finally gets a reaction from the Yggdrasil tree and as her princess demanded, brought Naoya Tōhara, a human male into the realm of the succubus. That is as far as I will go with the summary of the story. As I was watching Astarotte no Omocha, I kept thinking of how similar this show is with Hayate no Gotoku (The Combat Butler), especially when Naoya becomes Astarotte’s “omocha” (toy). Well you really cannot fault me for the comparison because Astarotte is voiced by Rie Kugimiya, the same seiyuu as Nagi Sanzenin. Anyways, from what I have seen so far, I do not think this anime is anything special. As I have stated earlier, it feels completely like Hayate no Gotoku. And if you did not like that show, then you probably would not be interested in this one either.

Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko:

Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko began as a light novel by Hitoma Iruma. It was later adapted into manga and began serialization in Dengeki G’s Magazine. And after that, obviously, it is now an anime. The plot follows a young man name Makoto Niwa who is transferring from the countryside to the city due to his parents leaving for work overseas. In the city, he meets his aunt Meme Tōwa, whom he has not seen since he was a child. At this point, I was saying this was a pretty typical story… until we finally get into Meme’s house where the viewer gets to witness a girl that is rolled up in a futon from her head to her waist; just laying there on the floor.

Now I knew she was not dead, because there would not be a story if that was the case. But it was quite amusing to see Makoto’s reaction and asking himself if he should mention this body on the floor to his aunt or not, as she seems to be completely oblivious to it. When he finally worked up the courage to ask his aunt, he discovers that the girl in the futon is his cousin, Erio Tōwa.

Erio is a strange girl. She mysteriously disappeared for a few months and came back with no memory recollection of the event and began to believe that she is an alien investigator monitoring the life of humans. Her total personality change inhibits her from attending school like a normal teenager. And as the story progresses, you start to discover more about Erio. Is she really an alien investigator or just a person with a high level of alien fascination? This series looks to be entertaining; I will definitely keep my eyes on it.

Hidan no Aria:

Right from the opening theme, I was captured by May’n’s signing voice. She is great! With that fact out of the way, Hidan no Aria or Aria the Scarlet Ammo involves our protagonist, Kinji Tohyama who attends a school called Butei High School. In this high school, you get to learn all your usual school subjects, but unlike the other schools, Butei High School’s other classes in its curriculum allow the students to become mercenaries of certain specializations, from intelligence, assault, infiltration and more.

I thought the plot was interesting. It is an action anime with hints of ecchi humor. I have enjoyed my time watching this series so far. It was funny to see how Kinji E class (lowest class of butei) can turn into Kinji S class (highest class of butei) from being aroused. Aside from his enhanced combat abilities, his personality will change as well. Once in his so called hysteria mode, he will do everything he can to protect the girl that he is with. But of course there is a twist to the story. Kinji wants no part of being a butei anymore, he has decided to transfer to a regular high school. That is when under certain events he meets Aria H. Kanzaki, a transfer student and an S class butei.

After seeing Kinji’s abilities, she tries to recruit him into the assault division, the very division that he had decided to quit. This anime is the one I have been searching for this Spring! Hidan no Aria is exciting and attracts viewers with its gun action and comedy. The characters accommodate each other very well. The plot is told in a way that is easy to comprehend. This title is just awesome. Watch the episodes here.

The World God Only Knows II:

If you have seen the first season or if you have read my views on the first season, I already stated this anime was one to look out for. Now we are one season in and the show continues to deliver. I like how this nerd of a character can pick up girls with his knowledge from dating simulations. He is the epiphany of a nerd’s role model. This time around, I am also more prepared for The World God Only Knows. I have read some of the manga and if season two follows the same route as the manga, it will certainly be a fun ride!

Kämpfer für die Liebe:

Now I have recently watched Sentai Filmworks’ Kampfer and although I do not really feel the whole Natsuru Senō turning into female deal, it is a part of the story that makes other things roll, so I will turn a blind eye to that. Kampfer the series is about characters that are given dolls, and after receiving these dolls, they attain a specific power. At the same time, they are also separated into the blue or red group. Yes, you probably guessed it; these two groups fight each other for a certain reason. As the series unwinds, the story goes from the fighting between red and blue to the cooperative fighting of red and blue against an unknown enemy. Anyways, these two additional episodes of Kampfer focus on fan service. For people like me, who cannot get enough of the show it really is great! The ecchi humor is superb, fans of this genre and series should not miss this.

Deadman Wonderland:

Deadman Wonderland is a theme park. You know, something like Six Flags? The twist here though is that the employees of this Wonderland are prisoners. The concept of Deadman Wonderland, a privately owned prison, derives from the need to spark the economy, in order to raise funds to restore Tokyo. In the world here, Japan has been hit with a massive earthquake, with Tokyo mostly destroyed. The plot follows ten years after that tragic event and focuses on a middle school boy named Igarashi Ganta.

On a seemingly normal day at school anticipating the field trip to Deadman Wonderland, Ganta all of a sudden sees a man in crimson red armor floating outside his third floor classroom window. Before the class can make sense of the situation, they are massacred. In his confused state, Ganta comes face to face with the man in the crimson red armor and the man proceeds to put a crystal in Ganta’s chest. When he awakes in the hospital, Ganta becomes the sole survivor, and the sole suspect of the massacre. He is given a death sentence and will continue to live the days he has left in Deadman Wonderland.

Once the viewer is put into the environment of the Wonderland, you could assume there are going to be a lot of drama. From my early experience with this anime, I thought the concept was cool, and it has been a while since an anime got me emotionally involved. Whether it is feeling Ganta being wronged in his suspected crime, or feeling like punching a prisoner in the face, the show does a very nice job in bringing out these emotions. I look forward to this series, it has nice action, drama, and a plot that is very intriguing.

[C]: Control: The Money Of Soul And Possibility:

Money troubles. Sound familiar? For Kimimaro Yoga, a college student who inspires to be a civil service worker, money is hard to come by. With his parents non-existent in his life due to various circumstances, Yoga has to hold down two part time jobs and watch his expenses carefully so that he can get by. One day, a jester looking man, by the name of Masakaki, appears at the front door of Yoga’s apartment like a salesman, and proceeds to sell the idea of the Financial District to Yoga.

After their meeting, Yoga went to the ATM like he would any other day and sees that his balance is substantially higher. Believing that this is a bank error he searches for advice on whether to tell his bank or use it. When he decided to take out the money, Masakaki shows up and brings Yoga to the Financial District, a realm where members who are called Entrepreneurs (Entré) along side with their Asset battle each other all while waging money for each attack. If you win, you get money. If you lose you go bankrupt. And the finances in the Financial District connect to the actual world. So if someone goes bankrupted, they are in serious trouble once they leave the Financial District realm.

After watching this anime, one thought came into my mind, evil. [C]: Control: The Money Of Soul And Possibility, pretty much shows the weakness in the hearts of people. Yoga represents the average Joe. He wanted his normal stable life with a normal stable family. But Masakaki shows that while he can get by working two part time jobs and hope the whole civil service thing works out, why not earn a tremendous amount of money now, without working so hard with the part time jobs and living a more luxurious college life. Most people will take the money in the fast lane; our protagonist is not an exception. I liked the show, it is very entertaining. The idea to incorporate finances with an anime that includes battles between owners of familiars was quite interesting. Also FUNimation is simulcasting this show, check it out!

Hinatasou’s picks for the year:

Best Action - Kiddy Grade

“Fly and Fly Takaku Mirai no kioku ni tsuzuku yo Precious Time. Nothing’s gonna stop me. (Animelyrics.com)” Éclair and Lumiere are the modern age Dirty Pair. Éclair’s lipstick when applied turns itself into a whip-like weapon. Lumiere can hurl exploding wine bottles and has the ability to manipulate machinery from her fingertips. Add to that their own giant mech and a personal escort ship – nothing can stop them.

Best Drama - Angel Tales

Tenshi no Shippo is heartwarming. It is for anyone who has ever experienced raising a pet and having to say farewell as life takes its natural course. What happens to animals when they die? They become your guardian angels. For Mutsumi Goro, he has twelve of them that are all willing to help him in every way possible.

Most Emotional - Saikano

It is The Last Love Song on This Little Planet. Saikano is a 13 episode series detailing the romance between two high school students, Shuji and Chise, in a bleak World War 3 environment. People are dying by the thousands at the hand of Chise. Is there hope that their relationship can withstand its trials?

Most Ecchi Humor –
1) Mahoromatic Summer Special

The Mahoromatic Summer Special is Mahoro’s battle on ecchi magazines as she attempts to find where all of Suguru’s secret stashes are hidden. Although Suguru claims defeat, the war will never be over.

2) Onegai Twins (Please Twins)

Maiku always seems to get caught in awkward (sexual) positions with Karen or Miina, sometimes both. The two girls fantasize about Maiku. Like sisters they share the same bath scenes. There is even some gay love between Maiku and Kousei Shimazaki.

Weirdest - Puni Puni Poemi

A continuation of Excel Saga, Poemi is a fast talking daughter of Nabeshin. The final clip is straight fanservice with all the girls in bondage poses moaning.

Why? (The Worst) - Final Fantasy: Unlimited

Square can make the best role playing games but when it comes to anime series and the movie the Spirits Within, they set themselves up for financial disaster. Originally it was planned to span 52 episodes, but the low ratings or the lack of funds or a combination of the two condensed it down to 25 episodes. The ending is hastily pieced together. Hopefully the anticipated Final Fantasy 7 movie will break the trend.

Best Kiddy Anime –
1) Dragon Drive

Dragon Drive is a Digimon clone. At first, it is a game with digital dragon monsters. But then, Reiji soon finds himself trapped in another dimension where the dragons are real. He and his friends must compete in a tournament in order to save the world from those who don’t care about its destruction.

2) Yugioh

Special acknowledgement has to be given to Yugioh. Finally after all the online petitions and e-mails, Funi gave into the fans and released the first volume of the uncut version of Yugioh. The English dialogue was re-dubbed. The DVDs feature bilingual support so you can hear the Japanese voices. All the original music in the Japanese version is left in its entirely. No more invisible guns either.

Best Manga - Ragnarok Online

Ten times better than its anime counterpart, Ragnarok Online is based on the Massively Multiplayer Online RPG of the same name by Sueng-Hi Lee and Gravity Interactive. Before Final Fantasy XI it was the game of choice. The manga storyline is much darker than the game.

Best Shoujo - DNAngel

Apart from the Daisuke and Hiwatari relationship, there is a growing fanbase for Dark-san as a handsome bishounen with wings. Wizu is soooo cute!

Favorite Seiyuu - Kawasumi Ayako

Her most famous role might be Mahoro from Mahoromatic. She even sings the opening themes “On the Way Home” and “Something More Beautiful” for both seasons of the series. She was also Aoi in Ai Yori Aoshi, Lafiel in the Crest of the Stars trilogy, and the supporting character Mogi in Initial D.

Most Kawaii Character - Rena (”Black Rose”) from hack//Legend of the Twilight

The character design for Rena is a chibified version of her game counterpart.
http://home.ripway.com/2004-3/80307/aan.sized.jpg

Best Anime Site - Animetopia (http://www.animetopia.com)
A must add to your list of favorite Internet bookmarks. Animetopia is the premiere and official anime search directory. Don’t Google it, Topia it instead!

Best New Series - Chrono Crusade

Who can pass up watching a nun with a gun? From an airship to the subway and crossing the country on a train, demons must be slayed wherever they may be. Angelic swords, apostles, prophecy, stigmata, jewel summoning, a neko girl, and an old perverted man. It’s all there.

A Look to the Future - Naruto

There is a huge pricing battle on who licenses the Naruto anime. Will it be the tri-glomerate of ADV, Gratz, and Viz or 4Kids? Will it one day appear on KidsWB? There are over 100 episodes and without a doubt will extend longer than Inuyasha. It will soon be as common as Dragon Ball.

Dark_Wind’s picks for the year:

Best Action - Heat Guy J:

I’m sure at least a couple of you are surprised by my pick for “best action” this year. “Why not s-CRY-ed or Last Exile Dark Wind!?” you ask. Well, I have an answer. This is for “best” action, not “most” action. Heat Guy J’s action seqeunces were top notch. Involving robots, wolf-men, and arse-kicking police detectives, each action sequence throughout all 26 episodes of Heat Guy J were pulse-pounding ballets of bullets, fists, and kicks (and swords, and…) fluidly animated to the cool beat of techno-jazz and weird bagpipe music (that works, somehow). That’s not to belittle the fun, episodic plotline of the series, but Heat Guy J’s action is its forte. I’ve reviewed Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, which can be found in Animesou’s Reviews section. I recommend checking those out for a more in-depth look into what I’m talking about. But don’t let that stop you: Heat Guy J is worth watching just for it’s awesome fights and gun battles. Seeing the main duo of Daisuke and robot J preventing crimes before they’ve occured and beating down the culprits is always diverse and fun to watch.

Honorable Mention: s-CRY-ed

Best Drama - Kino’s Journey:

If you haven’t heard of this show, you need to be smacked over the head with a baseball bat mutiple times. If you have heard of this show, then I can imagine you’re just nodding your head in agreement at my pick here. Kino’s Journey is the tale of a young girl (her name is Kino, whose actual gender remains ambiguous throughout the show, we only know the person’s a she from a flashback in episode 4, but anyway…) and her talking motorcycle Hermes, who travel together across the world (which world, we don’t know) learning about things as they visit cities and towns. The only rule she has is that you can only stay in any one town for three days, and no longer, no matter what. The show is episodic in nature, but this works to great effect. Each vignette tells a different tale that emphasizes a different moral question we all run into some time in our lives. For example, in one episode Kino and Hermes arrive in a city which used to be constantly at war with another city across from them. One day, they came to an agreement: they would not fight anymore, and instead meet once a year to kill the people in a small town near both of them. Does the end justify the means? Best drama indeed. It should be noted, as well, that Kino is an excellent gunfighter. Just so you know.

Honorable Mention: Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam

Most Emotional - Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam:

For all you Saikano fans out there, I have two words that prevented me from picking that as my top show (or even thinking of it as a good show): pretentious melodrama. Zeta Gundam, on the other hand, provides a riveting story of people killing people for their own moral ideals. Zeta Gundam is the story of spacenoids (people who now live in space) looking for independence, or at least peace, from the oppressive Earth Federation Government and the hateful earthnoids. If that weren’t bad enough, in Zeta Gundam the Earth Federation has created a group called The Titans to wipe out any renegade Zeons (from the previous series, Mobile Suit Gundam). Problem is, The Titans want power, and they hate spacenoids. So they gas millions in space colonies and threaten to drop colonies on cities on the Moon just as a show of power. The Titans create an adversary in the AEUG, a group made up of disillusioned Titans and Earth Federation officers. This group, while outnumbered and outgunned, fight against all odds against the Titans. You get to know a slew of characters in this 50-episode series, and they live and die, because this is war. Someone you got to know and like in episode 1 could die by episode 24, and you feel the characters sorrow and loss of their comrade. People miss their families, their loved ones, and each other. People live, die, fight, and betray. Because this is war. And war is hell.

Honorable Mention: Haibane Renmei

Most Ecchi Humor - N/A:

I like to think that I watch a lot of anime shows each year, but ecchi humor is a genre I’ve always disliked, and continue to avoid to this day. So, I have not seen any ecchi shows in the year 2004. So, I will not even attempt to pick something, since I have seen nothing. If you want someone who knows ecchi humor, see hinatasou’s list of best anime of 2004. She can help you far better than I can.

Weirdest - Dead Leaves:

The weirdest thing I’ve seen is Dead Leaves, bar none. I didn’t enjoy it in the least either, but it was weird, I have to give it that. Having guys whose dicks are made of drills, men with TV’s for a head, and women who are naked for the sake of being naked, Dead Leaves is a acid trip. If you want to know my feelings better on the subject, see the next award.

Honorable Mention: Ninja Scroll TV

Worst Anime - Dead Leaves:
Where to start? Dead Leaves is the worst garbage I’ve seen well…ever. I try to avoid things I don’t think I’ll like, but I thought Dead Leaves would be fun and quirky when I first decided to watch it. Big mistake. Dead Leaves is an incomprehensible mess of everything that gives anime a bad name. It’s shameless and devoid of fun or humor. It’s stupid, and made for those 13-year olds who enjoy **** and fart jokes. The creator himself says it’s probably only enjoyable to watch if your high or drunk. Well…seeing as how I didn’t want to test his word, I’ll just assume it’s somehow good if watched under those influences. For me, it’s probably equatable to a hangover of the worst kind.

Honorable Mention: Blue Gender: The Warrior

Must Have - Last Exile:

“Must have” to me means “show you should definitely must own because it’s an all around solid show.” Last Exile has that in spades. The action, consisting of airships duking it out in the skies, is exciting and fun to watch. The dogfights are animated with a wonderful mix of CG and hand-drawn animation that really gives everything a beautiful, majestic quality to it. The drama is even more prominent. The characters are at war with two other groups, the Guild and the Disith. Like Zeta Gundam, the charcters grow, experience change, and die as war ravages them and their emotions to a breaking point. The music is an eclectic mix of melancholic orchestrated background music and mystical drumming. It really sets the tone. Everything about Last Exile screams “top notch”, from animation, to music, to action, to drama, and even comedy. One of the best shows I saw all year.

Honorable Mention: Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam

Best Kiddy Anime - N/A:

I, fortunately or unfortunately, haven’t seen any “kiddy” anime in 2004. I’m not sure what even defines “kiddy” anime, but, I haven’t seen anything remotely childish, anime-wise. So, again, I recommend going to another editor’s list for some recommendations on good kiddy anime from 2004.

Best Manga - Berserk:

The Berserk manga is the most violent and gruesome thing I’ve ever read. And I love every minute of it. Thus far it’s basically followed the anime story to a tee (disregarding the first three volumes, which were an expansion of episode 1 from the anime), but the manga still holds merit for giving us the best character development I’ve ever read in a manga. The action is great, the drama is tense, and the story is riveting. I could ask for nothing more.

Honorable Mention: Trigun Maximum

Best DVD Covers - Megazone 23:

The covers for Megazone 23 do a lot more than just slap on some pictures from the show and collage them together into a cover. Each one takes a piece of artwork done for the show, touches it up a bit, and puts it on each DVD. The thing is, Megazone 23 had a different character designer for each OVA (it was a 3-episode OVA). What they did for each DVD was take a piece of artwork from that specific character designer and put it on the cover. It looks stellar, and accentuates what each episode of the show is about. It was tough picking between this and The Twelve Kingdoms, but in the end I had to give the nod to Megazone 23, which really put in the extra mile and gave us covers that aren’t just pretty drawings, but symbolize what the show is about.

Honorable Mention: The Twelve Kingdoms

Best Anime Site - Animeacademy.com:

Animesou is the best anime site, right? Right. But, we can’t be that obnoxious can we. So, Animeacademy.com get’s my vote. I love their reviews; short, sweet, and to the point. They are written well, and they cover each aspect of the show with just enough depth without becoming to verbose. They review a lot of things consistently, and have branched out into a lot of other stuff, such as editorials and features. They do a bang up job, and deserve their spot on the animefringe top 25 best anime websites list. Keep up the great work.

Honorable Mention: Animejump.com

Movie of the Year - Memories:

Not really a movie, but close enough that I’ll give this to it anyway. Memories is made up of three short stories done by three different famous anime writers/directors. The first is done by Koji Morimoto, the second by Tensai Okamura, and the third by Katsuhiro Otomo. If you don’t know who these people are, you really need to buck up on your anime directors. If you do, then you understand why I hold this movie in such high regard. All three short stories: Magnetic Rose, Stink Bomb, and Cannon Fodder, all tackle different subject matters with the eye of a visionary trying to make a bold statement about humanity and our world. The first, Magnetic Rose, has a bunch of space junkers investigate an abandoned spaceship/mansion, and tackle the troubling memories of the people who lived their and themselves. The second, Cannon Fodder, is a humorous black comedy about the Japanese economy and when you take things to far. The third, Stink Bomb, while obtuse, tackles the subject of fighting an unknown enemy for the greater good, despite the fact you know nothing about them yourself. Put together, it creates a trifecta of wonderful stories about the human heart and soul, that must be seen by any person who calls themself a fan of anime.

Honorable Mention: Neo-Tokyo

Best Animation - Last Exile:

I have to give the nod to Last Exile. The mesh of CG and 2D cel animation is astounding; I’ve never seen it done this well, and in a TV series no less. It would have been easy to animate say….a romantic school comedy to Last Exile’s level, but Last Exile animates an airship-epic, not some romantic comedy, and so I must give it kudos for attempting to animate something that usually would get shortshrift in the animation department. GONZO went all out with this one: airships, skies, water, land, hails of gunfire, bullets, etc etc. Everything is animated, and to such an extent, that it’s better to see it for yourself rather than me describing it to you.

Honorable Mention: Heat Guy J

Sleeper Hits - Kino’s Journey:

If someone spoke about this anime before it first came out, I sure as hell didn’t hear about it. Kino’s Journey took me completely by surprise, and I’m glad I bought it on a whim in the store. Everyone should watch this. There’s a reason I gave it best drama.

Honorable Mention: Space Pirate, Captain Herlock: The Endless Odysee-Outside Legend

**Note: For all you readers out there, I omitted stuff whose majority of releases were in 2003, or whose majority of releases WILL BE in 2005. Thing such as Full Metal Panic! and RahXephon were up for winning in our 2003 awards, and I have so disqualified them for my picks of 2004. Stuff like Texnholyze, Wolf’s Rain, Stand Alone Complex, and Gungrave will be up for our awards in 2005. Sorry if you wanted to see these, but they will get a chance next year, I promise (since I’m loving some of the aforementioned shows a lot already). This sort of makes 2004 a lackluster year, but oh well.

Alpha’s picks for the year:

Best Action – Get Backers

Here is a toughie. It was a battle between Scryed and Get Backers, and I sided with Get Backers. Why? Because Get Backers has a great compilation of characters with special abilities. Along with these abilities come the way each uses it. And that is where Get Backers surpass Scryed. It was a close one though. If it was a score scale, I would say Scryed only lost by one point.

Best Drama – The World of Narue
 

The World of Narue or Narue no Sekai attracts my attention immensely. The way this anime flows is just amazing. As I was watching this series, I was completely glued to the television screen. It just grips you with everything its got, hence topping my best drama list.

Most Emotional – Doggy Poo

Emotional? Doggy Poo and Junkers Come Here comes to mind. I will have to select Doggy Poo as the winner, because it is constant. What is worse that being a poo? Unlike Junkers Come Here which starts out all happy and evolves to a deeper story that ends like you already know it was going to end that way. For Doggy Poo, I was surprised by the ending, it just crept up, unlike Junkers Come Here which was beating me over the head with a bat with the ending. Most important of all, Doggy Poo is just so cute, that once you watch it, you automatically feel for the kid.
 
Most Ecchi Humor – Gravion

Hear the name Gravion and you automatically associate it to be one of the most ecchi humor filled anime out there… which is a good thing. Maids, breasts, babes and much more; I think those are the elements you need in an ecchi humor. What do you say? Gravion for president!? Of this year’s ecchi humor that is.

Weirdest – Cyber Team in Akihabara

Cyber Team in Akihabara was just disastrous. But because of its weirdness it gets credit here. You see circus looking villains and heroines with their little Pata-Pi’s. Its like a Sailormoon rip off, if you want an example. It is just weird. PERIOD.
 
Why? (The Worst) - Puni Puni Poemy

Parasite Dolls and Puni Puni Poemy fits this well. But at least, Parasite Dolls kept me a bit entertained whereas, Puni Puni Poemy was just straight up bad. Okay, an anime with the Excel Saga flow, crap. An anime with too much fan service that it gets disgusting, crap. An anime that just babbles on with everyone talking so much you do not even understand anything that is being said… crap. Okay so what makes Puni Puni Poemy? —- You fill it in.
 
Must Have – DN Angel, Black Jack

DN Angel and Black Jack are this years must haves. If I were to pick one, I will have to go with Black Jack, simply because I have seen more of it than DN Angel. My first impressions of DN Angel were very good, but since I know more about Black Jack it wins my pick. Black Jack just has the ability to get you so into the show that you start thinking what if being a doctor was that exciting or what if I was able to help people like he does. This anime is just great. There is not other word to describe it any better.
 
Best Kiddy Anime – Dragon Drive, Yugioh

You know, Dragon Drive really is not a kiddy anime, but since it focuses on a kids game and all I consider it a kiddy anime. What makes Dragon Drive the best… well for one the story is captivating. Two, the dragons can be quite cool at times and three, the characters are very well thought out, which makes the viewing experience that much more fun.
 
Best Manga – Ai Yori Aoshi

Ai Yori Aoshi tops this list, as it is a great read. The manga like all manga turned animation, brings things that were not on the screen to you for enjoyment. For Ai Yori Aoshi fans… we all know what that means hehe.
 
Most Kawaii Character – Saizo (Peace Maker Kurogane)

Saizo!!! A pig with a temper. It just so cuuuuuuute.
 
Best New Series – Ichi the Killer

Ichi the Killer goes on my list for best new series. Since I have seen the live action, I did not like it much. But the animated version has gotten my attention. It certainly makes you want to watch it more because of the way Ichi is and the violence it has.
 
Movie of the Year – Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence

Hands down, best of 2004. Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence. What is good about it? Basically everything. Animation, sound, story, and anything else you can think of. If you have not seen this movie yet, what are you waiting for exactly?
 
A Look to the Future – Maburaho

Maburaho is definitely a title in which you shall take notice in the future. It is a great shounen title where the unpopular guy all of a sudden gets three babes who all want his genes… umm yeah, check it out. It is one heck of a show. :P.

Best Action:

1) Noir – Each episode ended in a hail of bullets, guns, and popcorn. Yes, popcorn. Noir is best known for it’s beautifully set up and animated action scenes, synched to an enchanting Yuki Kajiura soundtrack to make a brew of balletic symphonic destruction. It would make the most manly of us weep in tears of joy at all the killing and destruction. While Noir has it’s faults, action is not one of them.  -DW

2) Full Metal Panic – The anime action category cannot go without the requisite mech anime. This year’s FMP brought us the Lambda Driver, a weapon so bad ass that it could create enegy bolts from mere thought. Combining DBZ-like powers with Gasaraki-style mech action created something that is forced to be reckoned with. While FMP’s constant change from the comedic to the dramatic was at times unsettling, it’s action cannot be faltered. -DW

3) RahXephon – Ok. I (Dark Wind) lied. There are two mech action animes this year, RahXephon being the other one. “Mech action” doesn’t really describe the show, but neither does “Evangelion rip-off” as some smug, jaded anime fans have dubbed it. With mech designs that are beautifully colored and animated with a sweeping, dramatic storyline worthy of Tolstoy, the mechs and planes crash and burn into a philosophical mish-mash that make RahXephon worth watching over and over. While it does borrow elements from Evangelion, and it doesn’t beat Eva out, it’s a damn fine showing of “mech drama.” -DW

 
Best Drama:

1) His and Her Circumstances (Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou - Kare Kano) – Gainax’s little puppy that could, this came out of nowhere from Evangelion director Anno creating a story of a boy, a girl, and boy and girl falling in love with one another. Of course, that happens in the first few episodes. -DW

2) Ai Yori Aoshi – The anime said to be the answer to Love Hina. Ai Yori Aoshi is not just some anime with big breasted women, it is an anime with an attractive story of what one women would do to be with her childhood love and what a man would do to battle his past.  -Alpha

3) Please Teacher (Onegai Teacher) – The show with the weirdest name. Looking at this title on the DVD rack might look like some hentai title, but that is one of the biggest mistake anyone could make about Please Teacher. This anime has a lot of fun, but when the dramatic scenes kick in… you will feel it. -Stikz

 
Most Emotional: 

1) Voices of a Distant Star – This OAV’s creator was a one man army. Not only the creation process was amazing, the story was also very compelling. Those who have experienced love or are currently in love with that special someone… picture yourself separated from your love, not only by distance, but time also. There is that heart throbbing pain for me when I think of it, hence Hoshi no Koe or otherwise known as Voices of a Distant Star certainly deserves this spot. -Alpha  

2) Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal – What made this title so sad? Try accidentally killing your loved one. Yeah sad is not it? -Alpha

3) Fruits Basket – This title is deserving because the protagonist of the show is a teenage girl who loses her one and only dependable person in her life (her mom). She survives by living in a tent, then one day suddenly the tent is destroyed by a landslide. The story is well done, it is a must see for any anime fan. -Alpha

Most Ecchi Humor:

1) Mahoromatic – Explanation not needed. Picture a robot maid with a boy who has a perverted mind :). -Alpha

2) DNA2 – Mega playboy, girl from the future, nice mix of female characters, makes DNA2 a winner this year! Check out my DNA2 reviews in the reviews section. -Alpha

3) Steel Angel Kurumi – A surprise title for me, Steel Angel Kurumi is one of the best ecchi humors out there. It is just so damn good. You can also check out the reviews of Steel Angel Kurumi in the reviews section. -Alpha

 
 
Weirdest:

1) Magical Shopping Arcade: Abenobashi – What Bashi? You can tell this title is crazy by the name heh.

2) Risky Safety – Now AN Entertainment pulled a quicky on us. AnimeNation starts their own distributing instead of just selling others’ products. Risky Safety is a weird title in that you would not be able to understand anything. There is Risky and then there is Safety. You make the guess who is good or bad.

 

Why? (The Worst):

The worst titles slipped passed us this year. We have not ran into any 2003 worst titles. If you want worst titles here are three to consider: 
1) Samurai Showdown: The Motion Picture
2) Virtual Fighter
3) Street Fighter II

Must Have:

1) RahXephon – This is one heck of a series that embodies a great entertaining story, nice character designs and an ear popping sound track.

2) Please Teacher – This is this year’s top shounen title. With Kikuko Inoue’s voice backing it up, makes it even better.

3) Samurai X: Trust & Betrayal Director’s Cut – No doubt, Samurai X started the anime samurai craze here in the United States. Without the great success of Samurai X, titles, such as, Samurai Deeper Kyo, would not have made it to the American market. Now it is time to own both of volumes of the OAV in one director’s cut DVD!!!!

 
 
Best Kiddy Anime:

1) Bey Blade – This title got me wondering, “What’s with the Bey Blade craze in the U.S.?” All of a sudden like Pokemon, children and sometimes adults began to collect and battle with their top look alike things. Wow, tops were not even popular until Bey Blade brought it back heh.

2) Dragon Ball GT – I would call this the best Dragon Ball ever, because simply there seems to be an ending…. right?

Best Manga: 

1) Kare Kano – If only Tsubasa-chan could be my personal model….

2) Azumanga Daioh - School girls in uniforms!!!!!!!

3) Trigun – You have seen the anime, now take on the manga.

Simplicity is Beauty (DVD Covers):

1) Samurai X: Reflection – By looking at this cover, how simple can you get? There is nothing too flashy; it just gives me the right vibe when looking at is

2) Excel Saga – The Excel Saga covers have always been nice, it is hard to explain, but it certainly belongs here.

3) Last Exile – Quite a new title from Geneon Entertainment or previously known as Pioneer Animation. Last Exile is a GONZO work, and we all know how I feel towards GONZO’s stuff.  

 
 
Best Shounen:

1) Ai Yori Aoshi – It is not rocket science, Ai Yori Aoshi, deserves a spot, because of it’s attractive story, set of characters and ecchi humor.

2) Please Teacher – I wonder if guys ever fantasize about their female teachers… ehh Please Teacher is funny, short and sweet.

3) Chobits – Persocoms are replacing humans, humans using persocoms as more than just a robot. This title hints the truth of our society as it is saying that people have no courage anymore. They want to be with a persocom, because they know they will not be rejected by their persocom, whereas, another human would have the ability to disagree.  

Favorite Seiyuu:

1) Crispin Freeman – He’s known from these works:
(Read or Die - Joker, .Hack - Balmung, X TV - Fûma Monô, Vandread - Tenmei and many more click here to see (http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0293342/ ) He’s had a very productive year! - Stikz

2) Stephen Jay Blum – The coolest vioce in the industry. You’ve heard him as Spike-Cowboy Bebop, Onizuka-GTO, and Sooooo many more. click here to see (http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0089710/) I’d say Steven Blum and all five of his other aliases’ jobs are very secure. ^_^ - Stikz

3) Jessica Cavello - ADV’s princess, Jessica has quite a unique voice. You may know her from roles in Original Dirty Pair -Yuri, Sorcerer Hunters - Barbara, Excel Saga (1-13) - Excel and others. (http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0130774/) I mean the lady blew out her vocal chords for us in her Excel Saga run. For that alone she gets an honorable mention. Crazy lady! ^_^ - Stikz

Most Kawaii Character:

1) Momji (Fruits Basket) – If his voice does not get to you, his character will. Momji has a sad past, one in which no one wants to experience. If his mom cannot give any love to Momji, we WILL!

2) Marie (Please Teacher) – Marie is the cutest mascotish character to come along in a while. It’s malfunctioned sense of awareness is downright hilarious. Marie just looks dazed and confused most of the time but it occasionally shows a softhearted side when thinking for itself. - Stikz

3) Kazami Mizuho (Please Teacher) – Kikuko Inoue’s voice is what makes Mizuho such a cute character. Every time she says, “I don’t care anymore!” her facial expressions are so cute.

 

Best Anime Site:

1) Anime Agency – It seems anime agency has had some misfortune as of late and they have lost a ton of files. It’s really an ultra cool site and you should all visit it to help build it up to and surpass its former state. – Stikz

2) Anime Academy – It’s time to go to school. And if by school I mean Anime Academy.com then that’s cool fool. This site is set up like a classroom and their purpose is to teach you all you need to know about anime. From reviews to news they do it all. Plus they’ve got some pretty original columns to boot. So go check ‘em out and see if your favorite anime makes the grade! – Stikz

3) Anime Lyrics – Need lyrics for that anime intro you keep replaying? Animelyrics.com is where you need to be. Not only does it have anime lyrics as the name suggest’ it has j-pop, videogame, and dancemania lyrics too. So start brushing up on your karaoke! - Stikz

Best Comedy:

1) Rune Soldier – What does a sorcerer whose desperate for some adventure and a group of female adventurers have in common? Absolutely nothing, find the reason to love this series as Louie tries to join in with the females to have some fun!

2) Maison Ikkoku – Rumiko Takahashi is my goddess, there, simple and direct.

3) Lupin III – If five finger discounts is your thing, then you might find yourself a perfect fit with Lupin the 3rd.

 
 
Best New Series:

1) Last Exile – Besides being the best new spring 2003 anime, Last Exile has become one of my favorite series yet. As an action show, it is nearly perfect. In addition to having an interesting story and loveable characters, Last Exile has some of the most breathtaking animation ever seen on TV. The only serious potential problem I can see with the series is, as with several other Gonzo shows, if the anime ends in the mid-twenties, many important plot holes may be left unfilled; though don’t let this discourage you from watching. - Piro^kun

2) Heat Guy J – Heat Guy J is gorgeous to look at, fun to watch, and has a story that’s unique enough to set it apart from other anime. It displays a beautiful and sometimes odd world which runs on steam as an alternative energy source, and as well, has some very alternative characters who dwell within it. It’s fight sequences are fast and brutal, and gives just a bit of mystery to certain characters’ motivations, urging you to see the next episode. This is definitely a quality series. - Piro^kun

3) Boys Over Flowers – On the whole, Hana Yori Dango is very well-done, and definitely worth watching if you’re a fan of shoujo soap operas. It’s a good deal more serious on average than most, but there’s more than enough here to keep a fan’s attention. The character-driven plotline runs smoothly, and the F4 turn out to be much more developed than the stereotyped school bullies I’m used to seeing in movies and TV shows. The character of Makino Tsukushi will definitely win you over with her determination and self-confidence. And by the time each tape of Hana Yori Dango ends, you’ll be at the edge of your seat asking for more. Now that’s anime for you! - Piro^kun

 

Movie of the Year:

1) Cowboy BeBop: The Movie – Cowboy Bebop is an amazing cinematic experience, and an impressive display of the potential of anime. Slick action scenes, a clever plot, and a surprising soundtrack combine with the dazzling animation to thrill newcomers and seasoned Beboppers alike. Way too cool to be anything but number one this year! - Piro^kun

2) Spirited Away – Spirited Away will hopefully open up the West to what the Japanese have long recognized - that Miyazaki is a visionary genius whose animated oeuvre shows an originality, beauty and awesome strangeness beyond comparison to anything else on the big screen. Take your kids, your parents, your friends and colleagues, and give in to Miyazaki’s sweet, haunting spell, and you will find yourself transported to a magical place, where you can, like Chihiro, forget for a time all the details of your everyday life. - Piro^kun

3) Martian Successor Nadesico: The Prince of Darkness – With a plenty of political intrigue, unsolved mysteries, suspense and action, Martian Successor Nadesico will keep you on the edge of your seat even if you did not particularly care for the TV series. The first part is admittedly quite confusing, and until the pieces begin to fall into place you will feel rather like you are being swept helplessly along, but everything is well worth it. It makes a perfect bronze. - Piro^kun

Best Animation:

1) The Animatrix – Overall I found The Animatrix something really great to have. But that’s only because, I’m a Matrix fan and an anime fan at the same time. So I like this. I’m quite sure all Matrix fans (and all anime fans as well) will enjoy this, in fact I recommend they all take the time to watch this, for it’s the only way to fully appreciate the movies. - Piro^kun  

2) Read or Die – This is a great show to watch all in one night with some friends. It’s quick, it’s simple (relatively), and it has one of the best concepts I’ve seen in a while. There’s not a lot you can find wrong about it, but it’s over so quick there’s almost no room for development of any kind. Get the DVDs ASAP; just don’t expect this show to give you a new perspective on life. - Piro^kun

3) .hack//SIGN – .hack//Sign, what an amazing idea. The story and show all take place in an online game called “The World”. Nah its no car and sky scraper game, its got knights, magic and monsters. Isn’t that Everquest? Kind of, but this game has MILLIONS of players not just around a million, MILLIONS. The players take the game extremely seriously and try to keep real life separate from the game. That plan doesn’t last long as people start to go comatose while playing “The World’. So SOMEONE had better do something about that… - Piro^kun

 
 
Sleeper Hits:

1) Habane Renmei – I don’t even know where to begin. From its classy stylish old-air appeal to its daring themes of fulfillment and abandonment, and finally to its flawless perfectly paced plot, this is truly the best animé ever made. Every episode made me regard my own life, and myself analyze my own actions and my most intrinsic and personal needs. As you watch Haibane Renmei, you will draw parallels to your own experiences and hardships, and may even find yourself driven to change yourself for the better. In the words of ‘As Good as it Gets’, this anime makes me want to be a better man. - Piro^kun

2) Banner of the Stars – Banner of the Stars builds upon the strong central characters that where presented in the first season of the series (called Crest of the Stars) and expands upon the story universe, diversifying the cast, as well as the universe in which the story unfolds. Simply put, Banner of the Stars ups this series to another level, once again combining excellent dialogue and an epic story, now with the added bonus of massive space battle filled with a unique cast of characters. Anyone who enjoyed Crest of the Stars will want to pick this one up. It’s another notch in the belt of a great sci-fi anime series. - Piro^kun

3) Read or Die – The ‘cool-ness’ factor plays a big part in the appeal of Read or Die, and is a prime example of the style over substance genre done right. Whether fighting in a huge arena reminiscent of Moses’s flight across the Red Sea, or battling in the closed confines of a public library, Read or Die always retains a certain breathtaking flair that sets it apart from other similar animes that concentrate on action over plot. - Piro^kun

 

The BIG Editors Wrap Up:

Sorry for the big delay, it was mainly my fault as I went on a vacation during the time this was suppose to debut, which was, January 1, 2004. But oh wells, as long as we get it up, time does not matter much, 2004 just started. Anime is looking real bright up ahead, so again save those pennies, because you will be needing every cent! Here’s a thanks to all those sites that I took pictures from :P. I mainly have to thank Weasl.net and TRSI for most of the pictures.  

Sora no Otoshimono Forte:

What do you get when you put angels and androids together? Angeloids. And if you add ecchi humor into it, you will get a fan serviced filled robots fall in love with human story that pretty much do not have to make a whole lot of sense, other than having some boobs on your screen frequently to keep the average perv, I mean, fan, interested. To strengthen my claim, an episode was dedicated to the main character using his special wrestling move to win (the boob squeeze). So from what I can tell at this early stage of the sequel to Heaven’s Lost Property, is that there will be some awkward parts of action, because they do have to have an actual story other than straight up fan service. But I do not believe the plot would be any good, because the show itself seems so focused on the ecchi stuff.

MM!:

I did not think this was ever going to happen, but making the protagonist of the show a masochist whose little issue only arises when a bishoujo inflicts pain on him (Slapping and punching him in the face, kicking and stomping him out as well as putting him down with a barrage of insults that will make a normal person feel like crap) is kind of unheard of. While the main plot surrounds the main character’s masochistic problem and his search to cure it through attending a club at school that specializes in helping people with dilemma. The sub plots hit other characters’ issues, because as we all know, not everyone is perfect, right? From the early stages of the show, the viewer is shown what it is all about, and continuance of watching the show would be because you either enjoy watching some dude getting tortured by bishoujo and watching the ecstasy that he is in or you have nothing better to check out. I think I am part of the second crew. :x

Psychic Detective Yakumo:

When I first saw the title, I thought Yakumo was Yakumo Tsukamoto from School Rumble… When you think a little, Yakumo Tsukamoto was a psychic and she did dress up as a detective! Anyways, this anime is completely different from School Rumble. Psychic Detective Yakumo is about a man who was born with the ability to see the supernatural in one of his eyes. Using this ability he charges his clients to solve their problems pertaining to the supernatural. Out of the shows I have seen from this fall season, this is the first serious tone anime that I came in contact with. I cannot say I am in love with it, but it is nice change from what I have been watching and I do enjoy it. I guess it is because of the psychic detective thing, there is just something with ghosts, demons, and mysteries that gets me intrigued.

Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls:

Another anime about our favorite Japanese hero, Yagyu Jubei. We have seen this happen in another anime Jubei-chan where the main character becomes Jubei with the lovely eye patch. Now comes a version where the animation is more “adult” and not cutesy like Jubei-chan, and instead of an eye patch this Jubei is activated by a kiss from her master or general. While the supposedly main point is about samurai, the beautiful girls in skimpy outfits that resemble a part of a school uniform says otherwise. Right off the bat you are thrown in the meeting scene between Muneakira and Jubei, from there you will be treated to some cool fight scenes and some fan service. I am pretty certain anyone watching this piece is not in it for the fighting. *wink wink*

Star Driver Kagayaki no Takuto:

There is something about someone being called the Galactic Pretty Boy. The show from its early stages is about Takuto Tsunashi who transfers to this school on an island where all these rich folks go to. Somewhere down the line after extremely minimal introduction, I felt the show skipped a few episodes and all of a sudden, robots, people in weird masks and outfits along with their unnecessary habits of crossing their legs and switching legs after each sentence they begin and finish… (I mean seriously, what is up with that?) show up. From what I have gathered is that the “Order of the Glittering Star Cross” is trying to bring these cybuddies into the real world so that they can wreck havoc. But Galactic Pretty Boy comes out of nowhere and saves the day. What is even strange is that these characters act like they have no idea who each other are during the day in school… Even though they fight each other at night. (FYI they know who each other are). In the end, the show is just weird, a secret organization whose members clearly have issues and a main character that jumps into this cybuddy thing like he has done it before and became a pro at it through his grandfather’s teachings.

Yosuga no Sora:

Here we have an eroge turned anime. I am a fan of ecchi humor, but after watching the end of the first episode I had to stop and think, wait should I really continue with this? Because… It is just wrong on all levels. To prevent that much of a spoiler to anyone who have never came in contact with this title, our main character has a twin sister and sometimes he or they might get a little too close to each other on screen. Anyways Yosuga no Sora is about Haruka Kazugano and his sister, Sora, moving back into the countryside due to the passing of their parents and transferring back into a school full of his childhood friends. I will be honest; I have never played the game or heard of this title, but from what I have seen thus far the show will be about Haruka’s struggle to choose between his sister or the other girls out there. And with every thought he will always have to think about how his frail sister can survive on her own if he were to ever leave her side and not care for her. After all, they are the only family each other have. Hey maybe I am wrong, just making assumptions LOL.

Motto To-Love Ru:

If you have been following To-Love Ru since the first season and the OAVs then most likely you will be checking this out. Lala and gang are back and bolder than ever. I am a fan of the show and looking forward to its developments. Since this is a second season… Do I really need to go into the story? Okay fine, Lala is an alien princess who falls in love with a human named Rito. Rito, although having Lala at his side, likes Haruna instead. So along with a lot more fan service and comedy from Lala’s inventions, I am definitely interested as to how it turns out.

The World God Only Knows:

This anime is in the top two of my fall anime list. It details the life of a dating simulation game genius, Keima Katsuragi. While his character is ordinary on the outside, he was clearing dating sims on an easy basis. So with all this claiming that he is “The Capturing God” and can capture any girl’s heart, he receives a challenge email. Upon accepting the challenge he signs a contract with a demon from Hell (Elsie) to capture spirits. What does capturing spirits have to do with girls? Well, these spirits hide inside a girl’s heart and the only way to get rid of them is through the capturing of the girl’s heart. Making the woman fall in love, will free her from the spirit where Elsie will then bottle it up. What I like about this show is that it is a change of pace. Most of what I have seen recently have excessive fan service, it gets to be too much and the plot suffers from the lack of focus. The World God Only Knows has me hooked; I am excited to see what is going to occur next.

To Aru Majutsu no Index II:

Our super powerful magic books storage nun is back and the stakes are going to be higher. I cannot really say I love or like the show, but it is okay. I did not miss the first season. I almost forgot they left it as a toss-up ending until the second season came out. Anyways I hope you Index fans out there will be delighted with however this turns out.

Otome Yokai Zakuro:

This anime series is the first on my falls’ list. It combines comedy, with nice characters, drama and action all together with a yokai and human race coexistence. The plot is about the Ministry of Yokai consisting of human soldiers and half demons as they are tasked to solve issues where normal military cannot, demons. From the beginning, the opening theme pumps you up for the show and the way the story flowed was awesome. This will definitely be a must watch of the Fall.

Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai:

Really? Another anime about onii-chan? Kyosuke Kosaka has a sister (Kirino) that is smart, pretty, athletic and close to flawless - Aside from the fact that they do not speak to each other and avoids all contact. One day he comes home, bumps into his sister and… Love Hina scene happened. Just kidding. So they bumped into each other and as she leaves in a hurry she drops an eroge on the floor that he happens to pick up. When he returns the eroge back to her, she reveals her secret to him; she is a “little sister” eroge otaku. As she tries to balance her school life with her otaku life, things are not as easy due to the negative views people have about otaku. After a life counseling session from her brother, she decides to attend a female otaku meeting where she gets to discuss about her hobby, rather than fashion and gossip. I really do not know how this show will turn out, as the whole sister brother thing is not my cup of tea. I just hope the fans of this show will be entertained.

Fortune Arterial: Akai Yakusoku

Being Hasekura Kouhei can be hard. Ever since he could remember, he has been transferring from school after school due to his parents’ work demands. Finally, he arrives at Shuchikan Academy, where he is immediately welcomed by Erika Sendo, the student council vice president. After their awkward exchange, he finds out that things could perhaps be different in this school compared to the others, because his childhood friends attended this same school. From the beginning, Fortune Arterial felt like another anime where the main character gets involved with all the girls of the series one way or another. It is until they drop a vampire in the show, where things start to take a turn and make the viewer think for a bit. Now I have not played the video game, so I do not know how things turn out or how they might turn out from having a background of the characters beforehand. I thought it was going to be a straight forward shounen series. Anyways, although Fortune Arterial has a slight twist in concept, I did not think it was anything extraordinary. It feels pretty much like another anime series about a guy transferring to a school, where he finds new and old friends and developing relationships as he gets through the school years. Oh wait, that is what I said from the start! Doh! The girls are cute though, if you are into watching that. Hehe. (^_^)!

Synopsis
Some casualties of war never heal; yet for those who remain in power, the spoils can be sweet indeed. In the aftermath of the Great War, Lt. Alice Malvin is charged to take command of the Imperial Army’s Intelligence Section Three, an elite team where even the newest member hunts down tanks with a handgun. Their code name: Pumpkin Scissors. Her mission: to sharpen IS3 into a deadly instrument of justice, and to expose the corrupt power-mad nobility who prey on the weak.

But as Malvin starts to peel away the layers of a government cover-up involving a defunct super-soldier program, she discovers the existence of a military technology decades ahead of what the Army has!

Review
Destruction is a companion of war. And in Pumpkin Scissors we are tossed in a post war atmosphere where the morales of the people in this country are down. Civilians are scrapping for just enough rations to survive and feed their children, all while the nobles remain entrenched in their luxious lives. When it comes down to it, it is difficult to blame civilians whom has swayed their ways towards preying on those who are weaker than them. After all, in this post war era, it is about survival of the fittest. But with all that going on now toss in the ex-military personnel that have no war to fight, no longer have a goal to strive for, then you’ll have a mix of terrorism from both sides.

Because of this occurrence Section 3, war relief squad was created; to aid those who are experiencing difficulties couping with the aftermath of the war. And while their peers view this section’s job as an easy paycheck from the military kind of work, we are shown otherwise almost right from the beginning. Well, the hints of how this show will not be as easy going is during the opening sequence, where we are provided with a rather dark atmosphere. From that sequence alone, we can pretty much decipher what a part of the show will be about. Which is a good thing as it allows viewers to get a glimpse of how things would be as this piece plays out.

One thing I noticed watching Pumpkin Scissors is how it excited me. There were certain points in the anime where I would yell out things, such as, ‘kick his ass now!’ I believe that, that aspect of the show is what really atrracted me. Of course, the characters were also a reason why Pumpkin Scissors worked well with that theme. We have a mysterious war veteran whom has a kind personality, along with a peaceful mentality until his blue lantern attached to his belt is lit. Then we have a princess type commander who does not care about her nobility but rather will do anything for a successful mission for the Pumpkin Scissors. The combo between the both of them brings out the action and at times keeps the show at an edge forcing the viewer to constantly wonder ‘What’s next?’

The show moves consistently, and because of this, it keeps things interesting. You do not end up waiting around for something to happen as every episode moves the story forward to its end goal. I had a tremendous time watching this anime. The way the characters were interacting with each other and to their surroundings, as well as the nicely directed plot for the viewers, were definitely enticing. I was pretty much glued to my seat until I finished the whole series!

Breakdown
Pumpkin Scissors has great action, so great that it captivates the audience with enticing scenes prior to the events from happening. There is an immense build up of suspense that is broken apart piece by piece to satisfy the viewer.

Anime Expo… ARISE!

Yep, you know it! Anime Expo, America’s biggest and fastest growing anime convention, was back again at the Los Angelos Convention in the heart of downtown Los Angeles. In those short 4 to 5 days, tens of thousands of fans gathered to entertain themselves with the hundreds of events Anime Expo offered. This year, Anime Expo brought over literally dozens of guests of honor from Japan ranging from seiyuus to directors to animators. In addition, Anime Expo offered one of the biggest anime exhibit hall with hundreds of dealers and artists as well as members of anime and gaming industry who brought to us newly licensed DVDs and games. Those will be discussed later in more details but for now, I want to start off by thanking the staffs for their hard work and dedication. From what I heard, the staffs of Anime Expo are some of the most hardworking staff members of any anime convention who work tirelessly to make sure the tens of thousands of fans can get to where they needed to be, do what they needed to do and see what they needed to see. Now without further delay, I give you Anime Expo 2010!

Red Carpet and Opening Ceremony

With the start of every anime convention, it is traditional to kick off and open with a ceremony to welcome all the new and old fans as well as guests of honor who fly from around the country and world. This year at Anime Expo, the many guests of honor were greeted formally and in Hollywood style on day one with a red carpet ceremony. To name a few, Yuu Asakawa, BENi, MELL, May’N, Kenji Kamiyama, AKB 48 and Sophia were all warmly welcomed by their fans. Though this was the first year that Anime Expo held a red carpet ceremony, I have to agree with the idea of a formal and respectable welcome and spotlight for our guests. Following the red carpet ceremony, our guests were brought up on stage inside the Nokia theater and introduced once again. Following an introduction by the new CEO of Anime Expo and his warm greetings to the guests, Anime Expo officially started and people left soon after, dispersing throughout the convention. Overall, opening ceremony went pretty smoothly aside from a slight delay in start time. Again I really like the idea of the red carpet ceremony. I mean, we are in Los Angeles after all right? Let’s give them that spotlight to shine in at Anime Expo.

Dealer’s Room

If there were only a limited handful of highlights of Anime Expo to experience, the dealer’s room would be one of them. From figures to DVDs to you name it (yes… even eroge), the dealer’s room here had it all, bringing to the fans the newest and some of the hardest to find items any single location could offer. Though I’ve heard there had been some trouble with the exhibit halls this year regarding union and the fee of setting up, many dealer’s nevertheless still came and set up to support the fans. Unfortunately on the flip side however, some of my favorites dealers such as Toyslogic and Anime Pavilion either didn’t make it or was very upset with what happened this year. As something as important as this, I hope all this drama won’t jeopardize the future and the prominence of Anime Expo’s dealers room. Keep the dealer’s room as strong as ever and I hope to see this issue solved and many dealer’s happy and returning to Anime Expo next year!

Japan Video Games

Whether you’re a casual or a diehard gamer, Japan Video Games made its presence known to the gaming community of Anime Expo by bringing over the latest domestic and imported games. I had the honor of meeting Kenny who introduced himself to me and showed me around to some of the amazing things he brought with him. Honestly however, I expected nothing less from him and his store and evidently enough, he delivered this year once again. What I like most about his store is that he caters and cares for what his fans want and offers himself as part of the community rather than be a bystander. I can proudly say Japan Video Games is a store worth supporting and I strongly hope the same feeling is with the rest of the gaming community. Thank you for contributing to a part of this fandom Kenny. We hope to see you return to Anime Expo in 2011.

MangaGamer

There were three words to describe my initial response to seeing MangaGamer this year: ‘Oh..my..God’. Yes exactly you heard right. They were just that awesome and I kid anyone not. Like last year, there was a main stage for vocal performances but with a major upgrade in the set up in terms of size and merchandise. Last year, there was one large area with half a dozen tables or so set up. This year, they increased their size three-fold with artists doing sketches, anime tapestries, t-shirts and the list goes on and on.. and oh, free oppai mouse pad with purchase of $50. The only thing I guess missing this year were certain ‘toys’ which I found very ‘interesting’ but mostly, the reactions of other people when they saw them.. hah!

Aside from that, another thing that I liked about MangaGamer was not just what they brought with them for attendees to buy but the people they brought with them. For example one of my favorite singer, Minami Kuribayashi, who was the seiyuu for Haruka from Kimi Ga Nozomu Eien and has done various anime opening and ending theme songs ranging from Chrono Crusade, Mai Hime and Kimi Ga Nozomu Eien, came to put up a performance. For someone as diehard as me, I was ecstatic when she came up on stage and started singing as I have been wanting to see her live for a long time. I strongly suggest people check out MangaGamer in the up coming years and what they have to offer. On a final note for whose who weren’t content with how Kimi Ga Nozomu Eien ended, check out the MuvLuv games. They’ll give fans something new to think about.

Anime Industries

In the past few years, many anime companies have suffered from illegal pirating as the internet offered a new form of media for people to watch and obtain anime. Major companies that have recently gone-under that many loved, such as, Geneon and ADV will not be forgotten. From the ashes however came new anime distribution companies, such as, Nozomi Entertainment who licensed things such as Maria-sama Ga Miteru, Sokou no Strain and Aria along with NIS America that just recently joined the anime licensing industry by obtaining and announcing the fairly new and popular anime, Tora Dora.

This year at Anime Expo, FUNimation, Bandai and NIS America made their appearances and brought with them special guests to promote what they had to offer. For example, Yui Horie who had never came to America was brought over by NIS America along with Eri Kitamura. Kenji Kamiyama, the director of Eden of the East and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, also came with his buddies on behalf of FUNimation. Finally, Bandai showed up with style as well by bringing over Katsuyuki Konishi who was the seiyuu of Kamina from Gurren Lagann. Though I am one who does not believe anime will ‘die’ as a result of online pirating, I do expect people to realize how important these companies were in the past and still are today in introducing and promoting anime. I will continue to show my support for them for everything they’ve done up to now and how much anime has expanded as a result of them. With that said, Bandai announced the licensing of K-On! I guess we can only wonder what special guest/s they could possibly bring with them to Anime Expo in the future?

Aksys

This year at Anime Expo, Aksys games returned for a second time with a set up even more amazing than the last with about half a dozen LCD televisions promoting their new and to be released games such as Blazblue: Continuum Shift and Deathsmiles. Since I first saw Aksys at FanimeCon 2009, I’ve been a firm supporter of them and what they’ve brought for the fans. During the 4 days, Aksys held mini tournament events for Blazblue on each day as well as a major tournament on Saturday where the winner received a Blazblue LE tournament stick, the Blazblue game mailed to him when it comes out and an autographed book by the artist of Blazblue. Not too shabby of a grand prize, no? Anyways I hope Aksys will continue with its success by introducing people to new and unique games that are rarely seen anymore in today’s market of video games. Thanks for coming again Aksys.

Artist Alley

Be the person a fan, an inspiring artist or both, the artist alley at Anime Expo this year was anything but disappointing. What I’ve noticed more and more about artist alley is that people are getting more creative each year, deviating from the typical drawing and printed artwork to crafting things with their hands like pop-up stands of characters from a fleet of anime to t-shirts and even pillows. Creativity, which was a key factor in making a successful artist alley, was seen by me as I wandered through the artist alley. To all the artist out there, keep doing what you enjoy doing if you have a passion for it. Your work amplifies just how much appreciation there is for anime and in general, this subculture. Keep up the good work and I hope to see even more great things next year at Anime Expo.

Console Gaming

One thing that I really like about the console gaming at Anime Expo is that fact that they have nice LCD televisions for people to use on top of different size ones for the appropriate games. For example, Blazblue made its appearance in console gaming with a rather nice set up on a 32 inch LCD TV. Rock Band, which was next to Blazblue, also got the same treatment. Though much of my time wasn’t spent in this location, I could tell from the time that I was there that people seemed to have enjoyed themselves.

Unfortunately, I still have to disagree with the location of console gaming which was in the same room as it was last year: a small room which has a maximum capacity of probably no more than 200-300 people. For a convention as big as Anime Expo and knowing tournaments such as SSB:B and Rock Band 2 would take place, a small location like that no doubt would cause a lot of traffic and interferences beyond just that. Other than that and as far as what I’ve experienced and mentioned, console gaming did a fairly good job in their selection of games. As far as how well the tournaments were held, I can only hope it went smoothly. Either way, gaming is a big part of many people’s life especially with people who are into this subculture. I hope Anime Expo will continue to honor the desires of the huge diversity of the gamer population that attend next year.

Guests of Honor

Oh boy where to start. Well for one never in the history of me attending any anime convention from the West coast to East, big or small, have I seen such an impressive list of guests this year. Then again, this is Anime Expo, the nation’s biggest anime convention we are talking about, so it shouldn’t be a surprise to see people such as oh I don’t know, how about Yui Horie? Or how about both Megumi Nakagima and May’N? Those were just a few of the dozens of guests who premiered this year and with only 4 days, it was a rush for people to get to panels they needed to be at, autographs they needed to line up for along with many other events Anime Expo offered. With each set of guests, there were panels, autograph sessions and even concerts with a few of them which will be discussed later. To boot, let’s start with the panels.

Guests of Honor Panel Sessions

Since Anime Expo brought over so many guests this year, panels would no doubt be one of the main attractions for people with different preferences be it for a seiyuu, director and so forth. I was fortunate to attend a few of the panels such the ones of Yuu Asakawa, May’N, Megumi Nakajima and Kenji Kamiyama. One panel I skipped out on unfortunately was the panel of Yui Horie but that was a whole other story. In general, most of the panels started on time and questions by the audience were appropriate. For example, a fan who attended Megumi Nakajima’s panel asked her to do her little -Nyan Nyan~-skit in her role as Ranka Lee from the popular anime Macross Frontier.

One thing that did bug me a little was during Kenji Kamiyama’s panel when the announcer asked questions he had on a sheet of paper for nearly 45 minutes of the panel session before letting fans of the audience take it away. Though most likely those questions came from gathering questions submitted by the fans, there is nevertheless a difference between a fan who wants to ask the question himself and being there to show his appreciation for the guest than to have a question addressed by the host, announcer.. whatever you want to call the person who read out the questions. I think maybe more time could be used by people who were actually there. In addition though I understand the questions were made very formal and informative for the audience, I think Kamiyama-san would like some down to earth questions on top of those more serious ones. Obviously, this goes without saying for every other guest as well. But still, I enjoyed the panels and they are something convention goers should check out to show their appreciation for people who are part of making what we love. After panels and with never before guests like these, people of course want…. autographs!

Guests of Honor Autograph Sessions

Most of the autograph sessions this year were held at the back of the dealer’s and artist alley exhibit hall. A full list of location could be found on Anime Expo’s main page for those who are still curious. But with autograph sessions this year, autograph vouchers which gave priority to those who stood in line to those who didn’t have one, were given out at the panel session of that specific guest. Rows from the front to the back were given tickets in that order and were only given out at the end of the panel. One good thing I noticed when looking back on the autograph schedule is that most of the guests had at least two different autograph sessions on different days for those who missed out or had other events to attend to.

This worked out perfectly for those with a voucher ticket. For example, an individual could choose to wait in line and get the autograph in the first autograph session. However should he not be able to get the autograph in the first session, he still had priority in the second session with the autograph voucher. In short, someone who had an autograph ticket could choose to bail out of the first autograph session, wait for the people with tickets to fight for the autograph then and go to the second autograph session when there was less people with tickets to have less of a problem getting the autograph.

To me that was a good idea and made it very convenient for people who weren’t very flexible with time, I included. However, there was one huge thing which upset many people including me which was the Yui Horie panel and autograph session. Unlike the other panels where autograph vouchers were handed out, there were none for Yui Horie. All of her autograph sessions were open autographs which meant that it was first come first serve. Though it sounds like a good idea, the big flaw which I did not mention was that people who wanted to line up for the autograph were not allowed to do so until 15 minutes before the start of the session.

Now Yui Horie is pretty much one of the biggest seiyuu in Japan and Anime Expo is the first convention not to mention the first place that she’s ever set foot in America. Given that fact and taking into consideration that it was an open autograph session with no lining up for it until 15 minutes before the autograph session starts, spelling it out in one word would be this: chaos. Of the two autograph sessions, attendees were cutting, crowding, creating traffic, creating confusion and so forth. To top it off, her first autograph session ended prematurely by 20 minutes and started late. Her second autograph session was extended by 15 minutes to compensate for the first. Finally to put the cherry on the cake, people who lined up for her panel didn’t realize that tickets weren’t given out at the end so fans had to choose to either line up for her autograph and miss her panel or miss the panel and line up for the autograph.

However, it seemed people sacrificed one and didn’t get either in the end. Now, in no way am I blaming any of this on the staff as I know this was the decision of the manager of Yui Horie. In fact, the whole reason the second autograph session was extended by 15 minutes was because Anime Expo staffs fought hard for it for the fans seeing how long the line still was. Though in the end I was disappointed not being able to get her autograph being only behind a dozen people before getting cut off, I still had the pleasure of seeing her in person.

To end this I will say that even though many fans were disappointed, Anime Expo at least was very careful with how it treated its guests this year. For example when Horie’s first autograph session was cut early by 20 minutes, take into the fact that she was still in Japan’s timezone where she should normally be sleeping. It would be unfair to push her too much and make her feel unnecessarily uncomfortable. For me, I had a very good experience with autographs this year at Anime Expo. This wasn’t because of my status either since I was treated the same as everyone else as I lined up normally like any other fan and waited patiently for my turn. I hope next year Anime Expo will bring back equal number of guests as this year and I do have my fingers crossed for the cast of K-On! since it was licensed by Bandai. We’ll see what happens next year!

Megumi Nakajima

As weird as it is, I really want to single out and dedicate a section to Megumi Nakajima. As people may or may not know, she is the seiyuu of Ranka Lee in Macross Frontier and people LOVED her at Anime Expo this year. One of the main reasons of me bringing her up is because I really see her as a fan-oriented individual. In this industry, it can be easy to forget those who are important and those who are responsible for making that person who he is: the fans. Thus, it is important to show equally how much he or she love the fans just as much as they love that individual. Her autograph session was a prime example of this.

On Saturday, Nakajima-chan had an autograph session from 1:30PM to 2:30PM. However as long as she wasn’t tired, she was free to continue as long as she desired and that was exactly was she did. For an additional 2 hours until nearly her NEXT autograph session at 5PM, she signed everyone’s autograph until the next crowd of people for the 5PM autograph started to line up. When it was my turn to bat, I asked the translator to please thank her for staying for her fans. She replied thanking people like me for staying just as long. It’s highlights like this that really touched me and gave me joy in going to these conventions and meeting people like her. Did I mention she was also a great singer? Keep reading =P

Concerts at Nokia Theater

Concerts at Anime Expo took place for the first time at the Nokia Theater and both the outside not to mention the inside of the theater were simply beautiful. Of the many concerts that took place there, I was able to attend the May’N and Megumi Nakagima concert as well as the MELL concert. For both events, there was a slight delay with the start time but they were both well worth the wait.

May’N and Megumi Nakajima Concert

As the lights dimmed, the crowd began to roar as May’N, the song vocalist of Sherly in Macross Frontier, stepped into the stoplight to get the show going. Song after song, fans cheered and glow sticks flew into the air as the excitement and sound of the people grew more and more with each passing song. Half way through the concert, May’N stepped off the stage as Megumi Nakajima took the stage to remind everyone how awesome Ranka Lee was. As the concert drew to an end, May’N stepped back onto the stage and sang alongside with Megumi Nakajima as the whole Nokia Theater shook and thundered into the finale.

What I really liked about both of these singers was that one seemed to be the complete opposite of the other. For example, May’N really stirred up the crowd with her very outgoing and forward personality while Megumi Nakajima had almost a cute, gentle and innocent side to her (which I guess makes sense as her character Ranka Lee). For example when she sang Aimo, the whole crowd became silent as the piano melody harmoniously flowed and blended in with her soothing voice, reaching the ears and hearts of everyone who was there. At that moment, I was able to proudly say that my breath was taken away. All in all, I loved this concert and it was probably one of the best one I’ve seen to date.This was one concert I wouldn’t mind watching again and for those who missed out, pray you can catch it somewhere somehow.

MELL Concert

MELL is no stranger to anime fans as she is known for songs such as Red Fraction which is the opening theme song in the very popular anime Black Lagoon and Proof which is the ending theme song of Hayate no Gotoku. What I really liked about MELL was how she was not only a singer but also as an on-stage performer as witnessed in her opening act which really gave me this strange feeling of almost watching the start of a magic show. However, that later tapered off as she got to the heart of the action by starting strong with none other than Red Fraction and she continued to keep the crowd on their feet by banging out song after song. Half way through the concert, MELL stopped to speak with the audience as she became emotional at the sight of the large number of her supporters. It was truly a touching moment as she gave a shout out to everyone who was there. I think I even saw her tearing up a little which in turn, almost made me shed some manly tears myself. It was an amazing concert despite the delay in start time and it was worth staying until the very last song. Thank you for coming MELL!

Cosplay

It goes without saying that an convention without anime cosplayers just isn’t complete. But fear not, Anime Expo lacked nothing but that this year. Though I have to admit I have seen a decline in cosplayers throughout the country in my previous attendances at Anime Boston and FanimeCon and strangely just in the last year, I was still very much surprised to see the creativity and hard work by those who did put the time and effort to create the costumes and cosplay as characters they love at Anime Expo. I really encourage those who have never cosplayed to do so in the future. Why not represent the character you love right? Go out there and diversify this community. With every convention, I want to focus on 5 cosplayers I really took a liking to be it for their choice of character or creativity. That said though these 5 cosplayers were my personal favorites, I want to thank everyone for going to Anime Expo and cosplaying with the deep affection for that certain character. You people are one of the main reasons why there is diversity in this community to go above and beyond not as just simply fans of anime but also contributors. Keep up the good work and give yourselves a well deserved round of applause.

Afterthoughts

This was the third Anime Expo that I’ve attended so far and I have to admit, it was by far the most fun that I’ve had. So far, no other convention that could even rival the number of guests of honor this year. Though the stories from 2007 about Anime Expo had been sealed away and suppressed by many, I could say that I’ve seen a change with how Anime Expo treated the guests this year.

For example as mentioned, this year was the first year of a red carpet ceremony for the guests of honor, something that was very appropriate as these people did deserve every bit of attention for everything they’ve done for the subculture. In return, I felt as if the guests also enjoyed their time at Anime Expo. With May’N and Megumi Nakajima’s as well as MELL’s concert, I saw the strong support fans had as they threw their hands in the air, tightly gripping glow sticks on each hand and their eyes sparkling with joy with each passing song.

Throughout the panels and autograph sessions, I saw fans laugh and smile as they had their chance to speak to one of the many specials guests of honor who came all the way as far as Japan. From these guests, I saw a new star in the seiyuu world who showed us just how truly she cared about her fans by staying nearing 2 hours longer than her scheduled autograph session. From everything so far, it seems as if most of my writing has been focused on guests of honor but the fact is, that is exactly what I am doing.

Though the dealer’s room was fun, artist alley was exciting and arcade was a great way to pass time along with everything else there was to do at this mammoth convention, I felt as if people sometimes overlook those responsible for making what we love take shape. Directors, voice actor/actresses, animators, character designers and whoever else. Those people should never be overlooked and I feel that that was one of Anime Expo’s most defining features: a place where a bridge of appreciation between them and the attendees could be made. This doesn’t mean other conventions don’t do the same, but Anime Expo seemed to focus heavily on guests and I applaud them for that. In summary, both the guests and fans were great this year and I hope the bond and appreciation will grow stronger in the up coming years.

Another thing that’s been buzzing is the new CEO of Anime Expo, Michael Lattanzio, as well as his fleet of staff members. Both him and the staffers have done a good job this year and Anime Expo was able to continue making history as a result. Though however I did get an attitude from a few staffers where one even threatened to pull my badge, most were very helpful this year and in general, better compared to the last. For example, I had the opportunity to introduce myself to the assistant manager of guests of honor, Larry, as he kept me very well informed with when, what and where things will start. For many staffers this was their first year and given, a learning curb through many years to come where humility, respect and dedication will all be progressively strengthened. As a previous staffer myself of another convention, I know of the stresses and hardships and even more so for those at Anime Expo, the biggest convention in America. Therefore it is my hope in the future that these new staffers will continue to grow, to learn and to support Anime Expo as its backbone.

With that, another Anime Expo has concluded as tens of thousands of fans who littered the floor of the convention center return home, anticipating and planning the route of attack for next year. Though there are many events to attend at Anime Expo be it the exhibit hall, concerts, cosplay gatherings or whatever else, we are ultimately here as fans and individuals, or should I say as a collection, with an appreciation for this subculture and everything it offers to us. Anime Expo this year has done just that by expanding our knowledge and respect for not just the anime that we watch but also those who take part to create them as well as those who bring them to the States for us to enjoy. I truly believe that Anime Expo is a major cornerstone in bridging not only anime but also the subculture which revolves around it. Anime Expo has been impressive this year and I could only imagine the surprises it will bring in the future. But until then, keep your dedication as a fan stronger than ever. Until next year, ADIOS!

FanimeCon 2010 Has Arrived!

FanimeCon took place this year again at the beautiful McEnergy Convention Center in downtown San Jose. Like every previous years, this year’s convention was a very special event for old and new fans alike. People around the world traveled to see what FanimeCon had to offer this year and this year was anything but disappointing with a huge line up of guests of honor ranging from musicians to seiyuus to popular video game creators and character designers.

For a convention that started with nothing but a few hundred people, it has grown almost exponentially to what it is now and what many take pride in help running and going to. The “By Fans, For Fans” motto of this convention is what fuels the diversity of the people, events and guests and every year, the proof is not in the number but the types and diversity of attendees. Like every year before I proceed, I would like to thank the hard working staffs who make this convention happen and for us to enjoy. Some work tirelessly as they sacrifice their own free time and even sleep just so this convention can happen for us to enjoy. I’m sure each and every staff member in one way or another take pride in being an integrated part of this fandom. Vice versa, we as loyal fans also take pride for everything that’s done for us by them. But without further delay, I proudly present FanimeCon 2010.

Swap Meet

A few years back, Swap Meet was somewhat of an experimental event. Questions lingered with whether or not dealers might be upset with its presence. However as the years passed by, swap meet has thrived and has proved to be one of the biggest and most unique event of FanimeCon. This year, hundreds if not thousands of fans set up and gathered to sell and buy. It was unbelievable what one was able to find there, but taking into the consideration of the huge diversity of people who attended FanimeCon, it should in some way be expected. In comparison to last year, the crowd was moving much more fluid without the massive cluster of people who were not able to move past the E-Gaming tables near the wall. Things were set up swiftly and smoothly and overall, I saw many happy faces. For me, I would say this year’s swap meet was by far the best in terms of what was sold and like last year, the majority of my money was shelled out just at this one event. With those things said, a few things came up with the swap meet that I would like to briefly address.

One of the biggest complaint by fans this year is the overlapping of FLOW’s concert with Friday’s swap meet event. Many felt unhappy about the fact that they had to choose between one or the other. The fact of the matter is however that at conventions especially bigger ones like FanimeCon, overlapping of events is bound to happen and not everyone can be satisfied. From a swap meet seller’s point of view, I can in some way see that person having a bit more of a disadvantage since someone who’s just browsing could simply go to part of each event at separate times. However again, the question is what’s more important: a concert by a famous Japanese band who’s featured their songs in popular anime such as Code Geass and Eureka 7 or making a lot of money? I guess the answer depends on each individual but I have an idea what the majority of the fans chose. Another issue I want to address goes back to my previous point about dealer’s possibly being upset that their business could be dimished by people who plan to save their for money solely to spend at the swap meet. However, I see it as an opportunity for fans to take advantage by making money so they actually have money to spend at the dealer’s room. At Anime Boston, I commented on the fact that their swap meet was very small and would benefit if it was more developed and given attention to. However FanimeCon is a prime example that both swap meet and dealer’s room could be successful. On a final note, I hope to see even more fans return next year to share with us not only their merchandise but also a piece of their memory and their record as dedicated anime fans.

Dealers Room

There is both a good and a bad for the dealer’s room this year at FanimeCon. The bad is that the economy still sucks and the US currency conversion to Japanese yen is still amazingly horrible for importing just about everything. The good is that dealers are still true to the fans and came to support the subculture by providing the things we want. Some dealers are veterans of FanimeCon while others are fairly new. However, all of them, With a smile on their faces displayed their products with pride as attendees passed up and down the aisles looking for certain items to fancy their specific taste. For me, I was pleasantly surprised with a few items such as the imported figures by Toyslogic and Toylet. Also, another booth sold a set of Clannad plates that I really wanted which, unfortunately, was a little out of my budget. Nevertheless, I have not been disappointed by the dealer’s room though I have to admit I really wanted to find a Railgun t-shirt. For those K-On fans though, there was an abundance of their products.

Speaking with a few dealer’s this year, many were pleased with the treatment the staffs at FanimeCon provided for them and I was even told they were treated like ” Kings” in comparison to other conventions. Hearing that made me feel at ease since dealers are no different than the general attendees. People need to realize that those who sell to us were and are still a fan of anime and this subculture and they deserve every bit of respect like the rest of us. They started out as anime fans and many ended up being a seller years down the line as their way of trying to reach out to other new generation of fans by making certain products accessable to people who aren’t able to easily obtain them. Unfortunately, many sellers were not able to enjoy what the convention had to offer because they were tied down. Speaking personally, I would love to run an anime store in the future. However, it would be a shame to forget and lose in touch with myself as a fan that made me who I am today. My hope is that dealers next year can enjoy the convention and the many events there will be. I thank each and every dealer for coming this year and I hope to see their return next year and beyond.

Aksys, Daisuke Ishiwatari and Toshimichi Mori

Back for a second year in a row was Aksys in the dealer’s room to demo their new line up of games to come, mainly Blazblue: Continuum Shift and Death Smiles. For many, Blazblue: Continuum Shift was something new for people who have never been exposed to its style of fighting and art. For others, it was an opportunity to take a glance at and play the sequel to the previous Blazblue game, Calamity Trigger. Again, their set up at FanimeCon looked very nice despite the small amount of space that was provided. Merchandise ranged from comics books, older hit Aksys games and even a limited edition Blazblue fighting stick. Nearing the end of the convention, Aksys even auctioned off a large banner of Blazblue: Calamity Trigger that was used in Anime Expo 2009 from what I remember. Overall, I would say many had fun whether they watched or played the games Aksys set up. I was really glad to see their return in promoting games that aren’t very accepted or even known by the general public. Keep up the good work Aksys and keep bringing over games for people to experiment and fall in love with.

Along with Aksys this year came the creators of Guilty Gear and Blazblue. Both Daisuke Ishiwatari and Toshimichi Mori held autograph sessions and a panel for the loyal fans and the curious. Though I haven’t played Guilty Gear too much, I have played Blazblue and I love the game for its music, character design and even the background art. Though the Guilty Gear series is done and over with, I already can’t wait to see what Mori-san has to offer with the third installment of Blazblue be it the storyline or characters buffed or nerfed. I hope to see them again in the future and I hope they will keep supporting the fandom.

Artist Alley

Before I start, I would just like to say wow to this year’s artist alley. Of all the conventions I’ve attended from as far as I remember stretching from the West Coast to the East coast, this year’s artist alley at FanimeCon was just simply amazing and probably the best that I’ve seen in a long time. Just to make it clear, when I say ‘best’, I am in no way putting down previous years. It wasn’t a change in quality of art work that made this year my favorite year. Making a judgment based on that fact would be too narrow-minded. No, it was the creativity of each artist for their booth and what they sold that made this year’s artist alley most fun and memorable. What I mean by that is that there were so many diverse things artists offered this year outside of just drawings and prints. For example, how about some Touhou t-shirts in which I was lured into buying? Or how about miniature Gamecube console decorations made out of little plastic beads? Better yet, how about large sushi roll pillows? Artist after artist, I was very impressed with what I saw and again, especially with how creative most went about their booths and merchandise. Besides, isn’t creativity one of the biggest factors for an artist? On top of that, the type of artwork followed closely with the newer anime and games that are out currently in Japan and America so finding more recent things like K-On, Sora no Woto and Railgun wasn’t too big of an issue. Keep up the good work prospective artists and don’t stop what you love doing!

E-Gaming and Arcade

Compared to past year, the layout for E-Gaming this year was simply beautiful. The tables were organized and the games provided by e-gaming was overall for both old and new generation gamers. Last year, I remember ranting about how Rock Band 2 wasn’t made available for the general public to play. But guess what, this year the game was set up in all it’s glory. Sadly for me, I lost all my finger pressing skills on the guitar but I was nevertheless glad to see crowds of people tentatively on standby waiting for a chance at the spot light. But like last year, there was a game I was disappointed with not being present and that was Blazblue: Calamity Trigger. Though I understand the fact that Aksys will be setting up a booth to promote Blazblue: Continuum Shift along with an arcade, there should at least be a tournament for Calamity Trigger. With the excuse that there are many other tournaments, I still don’t understand how a very popular fighting game that was released less than a year ago was not part of the list of tournaments while games from ages back made it to the scene. Other than that, e-gaming was good from what I saw. I know e-gaming staffs work very hard since it’s opened 24 hours. Some get single digit hours of sleep throughout the duration of the convention so I want to thank them
for all their efforts and hard work.

Like the layout of E-Gaming, the arcades were set up really nicely and organized. The choice of games was excellent ranging from the new Aksys fighting game Blazblue: Continuum Shift to DJ Max Technika. Along with new games came older games and even fun, obscure games not many know about such as Mushihime. Both of these factors made arcades this year feel more complete. In addition, the prices for the arcades were very reasonable. On that note, this year FanimeCon recruited a new head of arcades and he has worked very hard to make sure these games made their appearances for the people to enjoy. A job well done and I hope to see what his big plans are for the up coming years.

Stage Zero

FanimeCon delivered with Stage Zero this year again as it sets itself up to be one of the most diverse attractions. Many events happened on the stage ranging from the Maid Cafe’s performance, Halko Momoi’s live concert, Yukie Dong’s performance, Reuban Langdon’s buttwhoopin’ in Street Fighter IV and beyond. Whether one needed some down time in-between other events or just a place to rest his legs, stage zero was constantly providing entertainment. Many of the events that happened on stage zero were done by the fans for the fans. As previously mentioned, Halko Momoi who was last year’s FanimeCon’s special Japanese guest of honor, returned again this year to put up a show on stage with the maids of the maid cafe. Also, Yukie Dong who has been to many cosplay gatherings and an avid support of her fans, bravely put up a show by singing songs from popular and new anime titles. And yes, good old Reuben Langdon was back to show off his Street Fighter IV skills but this time, I heard that he got much better compared to last year (since I remember him losing to Abel more than just once). The charity auction, like every previous years, also took place on stage zero to raise money for the unfortunates. Stage zero is truly the life of the party of FanimeCon and I hope to see the same dedication by the fans next year to put up even more shows for us.

Masquerade

Like every anime convention, masquerade is an event for the fans to be creative and put up a show as characters they cosplay as. It is both a creative and cooperative process by the fans to deliver originality in entertainment. Though I did enjoy some of the acts during masquerade such as the infamous Super Yaoi Brothers, I was still in a way dissapointed by some of the cosplays. At times, I wasn’t even able to relate with some of the characters since I didn’t know who some of the characters cosplayed even were if they were even anything at all. In a way, I was hoping to see cosplayers who were more in tuned with current anime and games out in Japan. Though I have nothing against Ghibli, Naruto, Dragon Ball, Bleach, One Piece, Pokemon or any of the more mainstream anime out there, I did in some way wish some of the acts were a bit more diverse and reached out to not just casual anime fans. I mean, how awesome would it be to see a Kuroko parody of the anime Railgun and her constant ” oneesama~~!” cries? Or how about some K-On skits which are not even hard to think of in terms of being original. Heck, times like this I even miss the overly done Haruhi skits back in FanimeCon 2008. With all that’s said, I want to not send out the wrong idea that I don’t appreciate the hard work and efforts of the people who performed. I am also in no way saying every skit must be relating to anime or some game. However, I do hope that people who put up acts that are relating to anime can dig a little more and maybe find something new, fun and exciting to share with everyone in the following years. It brings closer the diversity that is of masquerade by catering to fans of all ages and preferences. Still, good work with masquerade this year and all your efforts to putting up a show for us.

Maids Maids and more Maids! Maid Cafe and Maids on Stage Zero

What started only four years ago has turned into one of the most popular attractions of FanimeCon under the guidance of the recent head of maid cafe, Jun, and the rest of the maids and staffs who worked with her. The set up with the table was organized and beautiful with ballons stringed to the center of each and the overall layout was very nice which created a comfortable atmosphere. As people ordered their food, they were greeted by lovely maids before being seated by them. Whether it was one person or a group of people, there was a maid available for whoever. After the meal, the maids would keep the customer company and play a small game with them or even spark a genuine chat. When the customer was ready to leave, they had a choice to take a picture with the maid/s who served them. One of the complaints I hear from people were the prices for the food and dessert. However, people need to understand that the price was according to convention pricing and not any more expensive than anything else bought at other locations of the convention. Also keep in mind that these maids and staffs did get paid for their hardworks and services. They were there for the fans and they enjoyed seeing people appreciate an aspect of this subculture they provided.

One of the things I love the most about the maid cafe at FanimeCon was that it tried to retain the authenticity of what a maid cafe was like in Japan. Even the music played in the background were selected carefully. The maids at the maid cafe should not be underestimated in terms of what their duties were either. They were not only there to serve people food but they were also performers and entertainers. For example, the maids put up a grand show on stage zero with Halko Momoi as they brought the whole crowd to life as they sang and danced. The time and effort put in by them were countless and I want to thank them for being a prime example and proud representatives of the motto ‘ By Fans, For Fans’ of FanimeCon. I also want to praise, again, the hard work by the staffs of maid cafe as I know some of them barely slept at all preparing for the many events during the convention on top of running the cafe itself. Thank you for diversifying FanimeCon and please put up a great show for us again next year.

MusicFest: FLOW and LM.C

By now, I am assuming people have already read the little rant about having FLOW and Friday’s swap meet overlap so I don’t think there is any need to go more into it. However I do have to mention that yeah, of course I went to FLOW’s concert between the two choices =P. At the moment, I’m still amazed with how the staffs of MusicFest pulled off getting these two major bands to come to FanimeCon. First it was the announcement of LM.C who’s done the theme songs of the anime Red Garden but then when FLOW was announced, everything hit the roof. They are known for their songs in very popular anime such as Code Geass, Naruto and Eureka 7. With the actual set up and start time, things went without delay and everything seemed to have gone smoothly. Fans were lined up long before the start of the concert to get the best seats in the house. Their popularity was not without base and the whole-hearted appreciation at the concert was seen by the uproar of the fans cheering and standing up song after song. Even I stood up and got into the mood for a few songs and at one point, I made a phone call during one of the songs for a close friend who wasn’t able to be there with me. Aside from a slight ringing in my ears after the concert which was most likely due to how close I sat, everything was very enjoyable. The only negative thing I’ve heard so far was the LM.C autograph session which happened only in a single time block on the last day of the convention with lines that stretch and snaked around the second level of the Hilton into who knows where. Other than that, I thinkmany people had a one in a life time experience or experiences with these two very hard to see bands perform live. I think MusicFest staffs did a bang up job this year and I thank them for their hard work. My hope is still to see Kotoko live but who knows. Maybe it will happen one day.

Halko Momoi Returns!

Yep, you guessed it! Halko Momoi returned to FanimeCon for a second year in a row. As people may or may not know, Momoi-san has taken on various roles relating to what we enjoy such as a seiyuu for video games and anime. In addition, she has released numerous discographies and has even written a book called Akiba Love which is an autobiography. Last year, Momoi-san performed a concert during MusicFest and now this year, she was back for round two since her fans could not get enough of her and vice versa. Most importantly as a self-proclaimed otaku, she came back as a fan and to simply just have fun. Instead of a large concert like last year, Momoi-san performed on stage zero and set up a Momoi Quest where fans would gather clues at each of her events for the ultimate prize of eating with her at the maid cafe while being served by the lovely maids. During her performance on stage zero, she sang and danced with the maids of the maid cafe and brought the crowd to life as she even ran into the audience to get them even more into the groove of things. With that, there were a few things I noticed about FanimeCon and their guest relationship which I greatly respect, one of which was how laid back and hands off the staffs of the convention were. What I mean by that is how much freedom Momoi-san had to do what she wanted to do. We as fans want to see our guests interact with us as much as possible for we are not just attendees but supporters of the things they contributed to everything but not limited to the fandom. As it was obvious, Momoi-san had just as much fun performing as we had watching. Secondly, I noticed how much respect the people of FanimeCon, both staffs and attendees, had for Momoi-san. What this indicates is that people are opened to new things at the convention as new doors open to possibilities people can take with their appreciation for the subculture. This shows the maturity of the majority of the fans of FanimeCon as compared to for example Anime Boston when Mimura-san performed at her performance only to be ridiculed and heckled by several people. Momoi-san also had an autograph session in which it was fully packed and went until the end of the session. Two, not one item, was even allowed to be signed by her and even a photo could be taken with her. All in all, having Momoi-san at FanimeCon and seeing how much fun everyone had proves how much in tune and just how much the people of FanimeCon care about the guests that are brought over. From what I know, there has been nothing but positive things by her about this convention and I for one don’t doubt any word that she’s said regarding that. In future hopes, I of course want to see her come back to FanimeCon and even bring along a few of her friends to experience what fans can do in return as a way to show their appreciation. FanimeCons close ties with her is a strong sign that the convention can treat their guests right and that respect for them can be met. To the staffs and attendees, thank you for presenting FanimeCon. Finally, I had the opportunity to interview Momoi with about two dozen questions so please look for it at the end of the report.

Cosplay

Cosplay is one of those things that’s almost a must and to be expected at any anime convention. Regardless of the reason a person decides to cosplay as whatever character, it is nevertheless good to see fans show that affection. This year at FanimeCon, I saw many diverse cosplayers ranging from both mainstream anime to those newly released in Japan. Though I saw a decrease in cosplayers of certain anime series, I saw a boom in other cosplays especially Vocaloid and Touhou cosplayers to the point that the gathering of the latter was causing a “traffic jam” near the main entrance of the convention. Still, I hope to see more cosplayers in future FanimeCon conventions with people who cosplay as something new and exciting. Though I have never cosplayed, I do know for a fact that cosplaying is a very special not to mention a time consuming thing for some people. Though there are many purposes that people have for cosplaying as previously mentioned, one should keep a clear and strong motivation in mind that as a cosplayer, you are representing the character and you love and as you most likely see something special in that character. While this may be the case for many, some seem to solely want to grab attention by cosplaying which isn’t exactly a sin, but I hope they will find a more meaningful purpose down the road. But away with the rant and let’s get on to some pictures! As with every year, I want to dedicate five slots for cosplayers who I really took a liking to be it for their creativity or choice of character. Keep in mind it does not mean every other cosplayer does not deserve recognition for his hard work and efforts to put together and contribute to another important aspect of FanimeCon. You not only share with us your costumes but most importantly, you also show us your passion and your dedication as fans.

Afterthoughts

For the last seven years that I’ve attended FanimeCon, not one year has been boring with important and meaning memories I took with me that has been carried over to the next. The friends that I made, the events that I took part in and even the smiles I have seen on the faces of people walking past me will be with me for the rest of my life. I have come to terms with this convention the fact that it will only grow stronger as the years pass. For those who created this convention as mearly fans of the subculture, they have provided the gateway and the opportunity to share with the rest of the world our passion and our dedication in what we love. For that, you have the highest honor and I hope those take pride in themselves for that. Thus from then on, FanimeCon has always been faithful to the motto ‘By Fans, For Fans’ as it has proven year after year. Though FanimeCon has increased in numbers, the most important thing that this convention has gained are fans with the deep appreciation and understanding of the fandom in which were original created and ultimately upheld by us. As one look around the convention, it is easy to see the big gap in the difference of age between attendees. However, that is the ideal convention I envision where the collection of people is not of a specific group with a specific preference but of anyone regardless of age or sex who has the appreciation for this subculture. FanimeCon has proven to those who are young and those who are old that this convention can be fun for anyone and everyone. That is a sign of diversity and integrity. Though there are several things I usually go into in my afterthoughts about things I disliked, I would rather skip that and allow people to step back and take a look at what they take part in when stepping into the convention center. You as a fan represent yourself including us and is a part of this fandom equally with the person next to you. Please realize what you do and reflect on them carefully. The increase in the number of attendees means there will undoubly be those who are new to anime and everything surrounding it. Though there are many types of people going to FanimeCon, please don’t forget to be respectful to not only those around you but also to yourself. In other words, please rethink random glomping, running around carelessly jumping up and down the elevators and etc. I remember this year at Masquerade when random people were trying to start up the whole marco/polo deal that was seen at Anime Boston. However, that only got so far as some called them out to stop the nonsense. By mentioned these things, I don’t mean people can’t have fun but one also can’t have fun while neglecting the responsibility to be representatives of FanimeCon.

So again, another year as passed for us and many memories created and people met. For many, FanimeCon 2010 went just as fast as it came from the crowded line at registration to the last and final day of the convention when people were saying their farewells with hugs and waves. For some on the ride home, many words were exchanged between people while others sat silently reflecting upon the precious four days filled with joy and excitement. Days will return to normal again and life will move on from morning to night, through the weekdays to the weekends and from month to month. However as each day passes, keep those memories of FanimeCon close to you. Remember the excitement of registering for the badge, remember the smiling faces of people who walk pass you, remember the wonderful events and most importantly remember who you are when you set foot into the convention center once again. You are FanimeCon. Until next year, sayonara!

Interview With Halko Momoi -

Q: This is your second time at FanimeCon, so what brings you back again this year compared to last?
A: This time it’s not a normal concert but it’s a stamp rally.

Q: What are some of your favorites events and what are some of the events are you looking forward to FanimeCon this year?
A: The singing and dancing of Fanimaid.

Q: How would you compare the Otakus at FanimeCon and the otakus back in Japan?
A: All otakus are similar to each other.

Q: If an otaku were to vist Akihabara, what stores would you recommend him to check out in Japan?
A: It’s really hard but if you walk around in Japan, you’ll find something interesting.. I think it’s different for everyone.

Q: Is there any place in the world that you have not visited but want to visit in the future?
A: I’ve been attending different cons around the world. I want to Brazil in France because I knows there are otaku there.

Q: What place is your favorite weather.
A: California has the best weather!

Q: Are there any other favorite foods outside of Japanese cuisine outside of Japanese food.
A: *In English* Hamburger! American Hamburger is very big and tasty.

Q: If you had to pick the most moe-iest character from an anime or game, what would they be?
A: Pac Man!

Q: If you had to classify moe as any type of food, what would it be and why?
A: Ohh!.. Ramen! There are lots of types of ramen like lots of different people.

Q: Doreamon has been around a very long time. How many episodes have you seen of that show?
A: I’ve been watching Doreamon since I was two years old.

Q: Which anime character that you were a seiyuu for did you connect the most with?
A: Anise and Komugi

Q: If you could be any anime character, who would you be?
A: Komugi so I cosplayed as her.

Q: What is your favorite role of all the working roles that you’ve done did you enjoy the most?
A: Going to anime conventions and seeing all the people

Q: How is your Seiyuu Relationship Between Sakura Nogawa (Nemu) Yui Horie (Kotori Shirakawa) and Yukari Tamura (Sakura Yoshino) during you voice acting takes while creating Da Capo 1st Season TV series?
A: I remember the show from six to seven years ago. Our relationship was very good.

Q: What are your favorite video games?
A: I like old video games. I like the Angry Video Game Nerd and his reviews.. I liked his review on Friday the 13th.

Q: Are there any cosplays that you are particularily looking for and have you seen it?
A: Transformer cosplays with all the parts on and I couldn’t see the face. I want to see big cosplays and BIG swords because those are banned in Japanese cosplays.

Q: Was there an arcade at FanimeCon you are looking forward to playing?
A: Dance Dance Revolution because we don’t have that anymore.

Q: If you were to see Yamaga-san in the arcade room, would to challenge him to a dance dance revolution high score competition?
A: *laughs* I can’t imagine Yamaga-san playing it but I would challenge him.

Q: If there were ever a battle between giant Mamori and giant Tokunaga, who would you be rooting for and who do you think will win the fight.
A: Don’t fight! Draw!

Q: Is there anything you would like to say to you fans at FanimeCon?
A: Thank you for having me back again!

So it Begins: Anime Boston

Anime Boston took place this year from April 2rd to April 4th at the beautiful Hynes Convention Center. As a first time attendee of a major East coast anime convention, I was very excited to see what there was in store. My previous experiences were mainly with major West coast anime conventions such as Fanimecon and Anime Expo, with the exception of Anime Iowa, so it was an opportunity for me to not only incorporate myself into a new group of people of the fandom but also gain a better understanding of the different types of anime fans that stretched across the country. As with every convention report, I want to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of the staffs and volunteers who make Anime Boston happen. Without their efforts, these conventions would cease to exist but more about this will be covered near the end of the report. For now though, on with the show!

Registration

Registration is a very frustrating thing especially if one failed to pre-register or in my case, not pre-registering and arriving close to noon due to an exam early in the morning. Fortunately despite the fact that I was backed up all the way to the second floor, I claimed my badge on the 1st floor in just a short hour of wait. Part of this was due to the abundance of registration booths and the other due to the professionalism of the staff members who directed people accordingly and kept people organized through crowds of convention and non-convention goers. Pre-registration also had a line of its own and was moving even more efficiently as a result of a barcode scanning badge system. Overall, registration was smooth, well planned and professionally organized.

Artist Alley

Artist Alley at Anime Boston took place on the third floor in Ballroom B and C where dozens of aspiring artist traveled from across the country to share their works with their fellow anime fans. Overall, I saw plenty of originality in what was presented. In fact, I actually enjoyed what I saw to the point where I spent more money that day there than in the dealers room. That said however, I would like to see a little more art work relating to actual anime in the direction of things that are a bit newer and niched. For example though there were plenty of popular US anime art works such as Bleach and Naruto, I would like to see artists cater to the fans who were also in tuned with the newer anime titles out in Japan. Nevertheless, I was still very impressed with what I saw at the artist alley and I hope to return next year to see an even grander presentation. Keep up the good work artists!

Dealers Room

In Exhibition Hall A and B was the dealers room and it was anything but small with close to 100 dealers who came from close and far away. Even in this horrible economy where the dollar is weak and fragile, dealers still strive to bring us things we love through the stress of dealing with costly imports. I saw plenty of diverse items ranging from Touhou to K-on on top of merchandise for the general and more casual anime fans. In other words, I liked how the dealers provided a full spectrum of merchandise for the broad range of people. With the dealers themselves, they were very hospitable and courteous. One dealer called me out as I walked passed his booth and offered me a bag when he saw me carrying a figure with my hands while another dealer, coming all the way from Kansas, sparked a conversation with me as I commended their effort and dedication with opening an anime store with all the risks attached.

In the dealers room were also big name anime and video game industries such as FUNimation and Sega bringing for us popular and newly released titles. Currently especially with the US anime industry, a lot has changed in just a short amount of time and it is very sad to see FUNimation as one of the few companies left. I am glad to see them show up at Anime Boston. Overall, the dealers room was solid and I want to thank their support.

Swap Meet

Unlike other anime swap meets that I have been to, Anime Boston really applied the meaning of swap meet. The rule was simple: you trade stuff with one another with no money involved. While that sounded like a fun idea, I did not realistically see how two people could just happen to have something to trade where both were happy with the outcome regardless of how much taste they had in common. What if one happened to want something from another but had nothing to trade for it? I have heard from someone that swap meet was not the way it was this year and that the rule with no money involved was something recent but I could understand how something like selling at swap meet would upset the dealers. On the other hand, one could see it as a way for people to earn some cash so they actually have money to spend at the dealers room.

With the location, I felt that the room used was very small and crowded with limited space and a need for line and crowd control. At times I would almost be pushed to the side of the wall from people going in both directions and at times walking through a pathway as narrow as 2 feet wide.

Given that, swap meet at Anime Boston is still a fairly new event that is being shaped year after year. I myself strongly support swap meet and do not see it as a form of taking business from the dealers as extreme as some suggest. People need money to spend money and what better way to do that than passing on the item to another who sees it as treasure and buying new things with the earned money in the dealers room. For now regardless of whether swap meet should involve money or not, I at least hope to see an upgrade with the location and more importantly the size of the room. Best wishes to the fans that came and I hope to see more show up at the swap meet next year.

Video Gaming

From Rock Band to Street Fighter IV to Beatmania, the video gaming room had many popular and well diverse games to accommodate con-goers as they seek out a place to relax in between events and show off their skills in whoopin butt. The set up was good with LCD TVs for games that looked more presentable with them and CTRs for others which played better on them. Chairs were abundant and TVs were placed on a platform with staffs watching over the consoles on the side. Tournaments were fairly organized from what I could tell with staff members keeping track of the brackets. Controllers were made available to check out if it was needed and people were even able to bring their own equipment to use and plug in for the systems.

Overall, I would say the video gaming at Anime Boston was organized for the most part. The only section that was lacking in the video gaming area were arcades but I also understood the difficulty and cost those things can get especially around this area. Either way, keep up the good work and bring back an even better next year for the fans!

Masquerade

Originality is typical of masquerade and Anime Boston this year was no exception to that. Skits ranged from groups dancing to the beat of Michael Jacksons Smooth Criminal to Vegeta crossing over to the world of the game Portal. One thing I did notice however was that the variety in the cosplay costumes was a bit lacking. Not saying that this was a negative point of masquerade but as someone who loves to see cosplayers from newer shows, it was really something that I looked forward to. For example, it would have been nice to throw a few K-On or Railgun cosplayers in the mix or even from popular and current anime in the US such as Lucky Star, Spice and Wolf, Gurren Lagann and Code Geass. However as with any performance in front of an audience large or small, these people bravely stepped into the spotlight to both have fun and to create something amazing for us to see so I want to acknowledge their efforts. Keep representing the originality that is masquerade. I look forward to it again next year.

Video Game Orchestra

Video game orchestra was founded very recently back in 2008 by Shota Nakama but has seen a drastic jump in popularity and is well received for their diversity and for the more obvious reason of playing awesome music from a variety of video game titles. As someone who both plays an instrument and loves video games, the video game orchestra main event for me was on the level of eating a Girl Scout Chocolate Mint Cookie dipped in saturated chocolate sauce. Yes, this event was just that amazing?

Seating for VGO started an hour early and by the time the pre-event show began, the room was already filled to the rim. After a short while, the band members came up to stage and started to tune their instruments. Following a quick introduction by Mr. Nakama, the video game orchestra began to fill the room with such beautiful and harmonious sounds that left me sitting there in awe. Thousands of people like me sat there silently while they allowed the music to flood into their ears through their auditory canal and finally into their brain as they reminisced about the game they once played recently or long ago. The choice of songs ranged from Chrono Trigger to Mario Galaxy to even Sonic: The Hedgehog. If as little words could be used to describe this orchestra, it would be the follow: simply.. amazing. I would consider this one of the most entertaining and favorite event I have ever attended at an anime convention and I suggest people to take the opportunity whenever they could to attend one of their concerts. I hope they return to Anime Boston next year and I thank them for not only reminding people of how important music is in a video game but also of how important is it to our lives.

Nobuo Uematsu

Yes, this was not a mistake. One of the most if not the most renowned video game composer, Nobou Uematsu made his debut at Anime Boston this year. As a self-taught musician, Uematsu-san has composed music for numerous video games such as Chrono Trigger and the majority of the Final Fantasy franchise. It was an honor for me to see him as I still remember picking up the copy of the Final Fantasy IX OST that he composed almost a decade ago. For me and many other generation of fans young and old, his works gave life to the video games we played and still do to this very day.

At Uematsu-sans panel, the room was filled to the point where people were crowded to the side of the wall and against the door. A line of people curving towards the back of the door formed as fans stepped up one at a time to ask questions. Most if not all the questions were appropriate and some were even personal from aspiring young musicians who looked up to Uematsu-san as their role-model. It was a funny yet touching panel with an undertone of seriousness where everyone in the end felt connected with Uematsu-sans soft spoken words of advice, suggestions and encouragement.

I hope Uematsu-san will return again and I hope he has been touched by the praises of his fans as much as those he has touched himself. And oh according to him if you ever pass out in front of him, apparently beer and not Phoenix Down is the key to being revived. Just a little heads up =P

Reni Mimura

Reni Mimura, a cosplayer singer from Japan, moved to the United States in 2008 in hopes of introducing the idea of maid events, moe~ and her bunny ears to the people on the East coast and beyond :3

Her concert was on the very last day of the convention but a good number of people still showed up to show their support. When the concert started, Mimura-san got the crowd going and even taught them moves to dance along with her. Luckily for me, I had the opportunity to learn it before her performance along with her so I was already a pro at it. Overall it was fun and the audience was good for the most part but still, there were some people in the crowd who were immature and laughed at some of the hand waves and cheers due to the differences in culture. I guess it was to be expected but maybe next time an 18+ sign should be used for some of those people for the purpose of preventing immaturity and lack of respect. Keep it up though Mimura-san! You have my support! :3

Cosplay

With every anime convention come fans who dress up as their favorite characters from that certain anime. One thing I did notice at Anime Boston was a lack of them and a lack of diversity within the cosplay community. Either I was not looking hard enough or I did not get lucky but regardless, the majority of the cosplayers were from Pokemon, Dragon Ball Z/GT, Bleach, Naruto and so on and so forth. Of course there were cosplayers from other anime but those were sparse to the point where I was almost trying to chase and hunt a few down (not to sound like a weirdo but it is my job lol). Though anime like K-On, Lucky Star, Toradora and Kannagi are fairly new, I would still have expected to at least see more than one or two of them or if ANY walking around. At times I would even see random cosplays of absolutely nothing relevant to anime or even video game..and maybe even a tree at one point. Also, I tried to look for where the cosplay gatherings were being held with no luck. Bottom of the line is more than being disappointed, I am more hopeful to see a diverse cosplay community arise next year. If there is a character one likes and can relate to, do it. The purpose here is not to get attention, it is to do it because there is something special you see and like in a character you are cosplaying as. Unfortunately for me, I would have cosplayed as Neko-arc but that is a whole different issue dealing with gender(less) stuff =P. But with every convention, I want to acknowledge those who did put the time and effort to making their cosplays so I will dedicate 5 slots to those individuals.

Afterthoughts

All in all, my first Anime Boston experience was in general a very positive one. For example artist alley, dealers room and video gaming were top notch and a good way for anyone to pass time and easily spend the whole day there. I especially enjoyed the video game orchestra and Uematsu-san and I really liked how Anime Boston used the theme of video game music this year by having both guests complement each other. Other guests of honor such as US voice actors and actresses seemed to also have been treated well and they seemed to have enjoyed their time as it was obvious in their special reenactment of the War of the Worlds with Carli Mosier, Chris Ayres, J. Michael Tatum and so forth. Of course these were only major events along with dozens and dozens of other things to do at Anime Boston.

One thing I want to mention and talk about is the staff members of Anime Boston. To start, they acted very professional and that in general kept the convention in order and organized. Main events started in a timely manner and delays were not long if there even were any. Also, they were very hospitable and knowledgeable. At one point I had requested to enter into the balcony area when it was at maximum capacity for the video game orchestra event to take photos in which I was allowed to. Also during Nobuo Uematsu panel session, I was allowed the freedom to move around and even up close to take photos as he was answering questions from his fellow fans. Finally, the coordinator of masquerade had allowed me freedom to move about throughout the event to take the necessary photos that I needed. I would say Anime Boston has an incredible team of staff members as they were professional, understanding and laid-back.

With fans and the attendees of Anime Boston, most were fairly young and I would even say the average age was 15-16 (which I guess is the typical age of anime fans anyways). With that however, I was surprised to see proper convention behavior from them. I saw no glomping ( thank god), I saw no running and no/very little screaming. The Hynes Convention Center joins together with a mall where non-convention people mix in with the crowd. The fact that I saw no police or mall security arresting and calling his mother for public disturbance was a good sign. However, I did find the occasional and sometimes non-stop Marco-Polo fad that people did a bit annoying.

My hopes for Anime Boston in the future for both the convention and fans are to open up to more possibilities in this vast subculture. For example, I look forward to seeing a possible maid cafe, a more promoted cosplay gathering event and invitation of Japanese seiyuu. To the attendees, I hope more will open up and be in tuned with not just what is out and popular in the US (or what is seen on /b everyday) but look into and really appreciate those who make anime happen as those are the ones who contribute to what we love. From there, one can start to appreciate and see anime on a whole new level if he has not already. Until then, farewell Anime Boston 2010 and on with Anime Boston 2011!

[WARNING - not 28.8k modem friendly]

Official Website

http://www.blizzard.com/blizzcon/

Floor Plan

http://www.blizzard.com/blizzcon/events/map.xml

The now fourth annual Blizzard Convention located at the Anaheim Convention Center. I got there at 6:00am. Parking was $10. There was already a line to go in for those who picked up their badges yesterday, Day 0. I waited in the registration line.

7:15am they led us downstairs. Staff members went around with a highlighter checking your IDs and barcode confirmation form.

Barcode scanners

It’s just like waiting in Disneyland!

When you shelf out $125 for a ticket, of course you can expect to get some good stuff in your goody bags. In particular the Raynor vinyl toy which will never be reproduced again. (Mike Morhaime: ‘Never sold except on eBay for the price of a small car.’) Details below:

http://www.blizzard.com/blizzcon/events/goodybag.xml

Last April, Blizzard had an internal contest where over 250 employees designed their own figurine. Other entries:

Kinda reminds me of Build-A-Bear where you can pick up a blank doll and color your own in Hall B.

After registration, there was another line to go inside stretching all the way to the arena outside.

At 9:58am, the gates of hell opened. At the security checkpoint, the guards peered into your bags and purses for any weapons.

Drop by the Official BlizzCon Store on either side of the hall to purchase featured items.

Cute!

Opening Ceremony 11:30am

First on stage was Gary Platner, lead artist of World of Warcraft. He shared his pet peeves (people going LOL, GG). He told everyone to be courteous and mindful. When you exit the gameplay demos, there were feedback stations where you could complete computer surveys of your experience. I noticed staff members were also asking you how you liked the game upon finish. There were over 1700 PCs here.

Next we have the big man himself - Mike Morhaime, Blizzard Entertainment CEO. He didn’t shave haha. Shout out to all the Terrans, Protoss, and Zerg. Then the Horde and Alliance. A big welcome.

Mike (referring to the attendees): ‘We outnumber the undergraduate population of UCLA. We root for something cataclysmic to happen.’

Blizzard is really committed to being the ultimate gaming company as well as the ultimate gaming community. At Blizzard Headquarters in Irvine, CA he mentioned that in the waiting room are binders of fan letters which include angry ones. He stressed that he himself has a boss - the fans.

World of Warcraft China is in beta testing.

If you didn’t get in que within 30 seconds, you didn’t get a 2009 BlizzCon ticket. Over 20,000 tickets were sold out in less than a minute. It took 45 minutes to process all the orders. BlizzCon is bigger than half of the countries in the world. Over 50,000 people from over 100 countries were watching BlizzCon on Pay-Per-View.

A big thank you to all service men.

Video of the midnight release of Wrath of the Lich King all around the world (New York, Anaheim, Paris, Mexico, and England). 2.8 million people turn out. Video of BlizzCon 2008 highlights.

November will be the 5th anniversary of the launch of World of Warcraft. 2010 is set for the shipment of Starcraft 2.

Sam Raimi will be directing the World of Warcraft movie by Legendary Pictures. There could be a Leroy Jenkins cameo.

Level 80 Elite Chieftain, Ozzy Osbourne, so much in store. We’re part of something epic.

/cheer

Rounding up the pack we have the other big man, Vice President Chris Metzen. It’s Blizzard philosophy to not put out games until they are done. So we have to wait around a little longer than the average bear. He understands that this will hurt sales.

Trailer for Diablo 3 new class - the Tiger Strike Fury of the Monk. You were able to demo the male at BlizzCon.

http://www.blizzard.com/diablo3/media/movies/monk.xml

Next, he unveiled the newest expansion World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. He called it ‘earth shattering.’ The planet has diminished resources. Deathwing has returned. As a Ragnarok player, this reminds me of the Revival of Satan Morroc. All of Azeroth has been reforged. Character level now reaches 85. Two new races - Goblins for the Horde and Worgens for the Alliance.

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/cataclysm/media/

3:30pm Starcraft2 Battle.net panel

Final Destination: Fanimecon

Yep, you know it! It’s that time of the year again when thousands of eager anime fans line up in front of registration at the McEnergy Convention, waiting for the moment to proudly swing those badges around their necks. But first however, I would like to start off by thanking each and everyone of the staffers and volunteers for contributing their time to make a convention as great as Fanime happen once again. The legacy of this convention lies in the root of that famous saying ” By Fans, For Fans” and as a result, leads to the dedication and sacrifices we see every year. So without any further delay, I give you Fanimecon 2009!

Swap Meet

Ever since I started attending swap meet a few years back, it has always been one of my more favorite events due to the fact it was an opportunity to not only pick up merchandise for cheap but also a chance to meet new people and see the diversity in anime fans through what they sold. Equally, I think fans who set up a spot enjoy taking part in this activity and counting up the bills after a night of hard work. Not to go through with a lecture in economics but especially this year, money was one of those things that was hard to obtain so swap meet offered a glimmer of joy for many individuals who struggled just so they were able attend the convention and make ends meet. I was thoroughly impressed with the turn out this year in comparison with the previous years and of course I picked up a few neat things in the process myself. Also, most of the people who sold at swap meet this year had very fair prices with of course a few exceptions such as a person who tried to sell me a magazine cut out for $5. And as hectic as swap meets usually were, I really have to give the staffs in charge a big hand. On Friday’s swap meet, the area of e-gaming closest to the wall met some heavy jam in the line as people who set up against the wall had around only a meter at most in width for movement between the e-gaming equipments and sellers. About half an hour later however, staff members gained some ground to set up the movement of the line in one direction, making sure that the line was moving efficiently. All in all, swap meet continues to be a great part of Fanime and I hope next years turn out will be even better.

I see Type-Moon stuff. Win.

Do I see something rare in front of me? I think I do.

Dealer’s Room

With the dealer’s room this year, I fully enjoyed it and appreciated their presence. I had a chance to get to know about half a dozen dealers and spoke with them while thanking them for coming despite the harsh economy on top of the set up charge. Certain dealer’s were happy with the outcome in the end while many others were grieving their losses due to the lack of buyers. Either way though, they were there for us in these hard times and I hope people who I hear whining about how “crappy” this year’s dealers were can see how much it hurts them just as much with the current weak global market. It’s natural to not have everything to cater to all 14,000+ fans and they do have to select what to bring wisely. Certain dealers have even told me they were forced to close shop recently so yes folks, it was just that bad for some. In the end, we should be thankful that many even came. Keep in mind that most are fans and a part of this fandom just as much as we are if not more so we should support them as much as we can. Next year will be a better year for everyone so keep that hope strong.

On a side note going back to talking about my fun adventures in the dealer’s room for anime PVCs and the likes, I found the selection of a few dealers such as Toyslogic and Toylet pretty decent (especially Toylet). Honestly if I had a few extra hundred to blow, I would have bought about 5-6 more figures just from them. Monday when the convention was winding down, many dealer’s had fair price drops but again, Toylet made me ‘wow’ with some of the mark downs which was down 40%+ from retail on top of some of them being fairly rare and hard to find. So yes to rephrase again, I personally enjoyed the dealer’s room this year.

People enjoying a little Toyslogic action.

Toylet showing off their Touhou merchandise.

Anime art books? Check.

Artist Alley

Every year, hundreds of inspiring and hot-blooded artist take this opportunity to show off some of their passionate works in artist alley. Surprisingly in the past 6 years of attending Fanime, this was the first that I actually bought stuff here because it was just that impressive and tempting. One of best part of the artist alley for me this time around was the huge diversity in what I saw. Even anime like K-On that came out as recently as two months ago saw light in the form of prints at a few tables. Adding to that was the Type Moon / Touhou table where my money went into buying a “few” buttons ( more like 15..). Gurren Lagann, Code Geass, Lucky Star and you name it made it to the artist tables in one form or another. I hope next year will be even more diverse with many old and new talents coming back. Nothing much more to say but great job.

Do want.

Very nice. Makes me want to start drawing again.

Aksys Games and BlazBlue - Calamity Trigger

This year in the dealer’s room, Aksys Games (also well known for it’s work with Guilty Gear) brought forth a new game for people to try called BlazBlue - Calamity Trigger. The set up was perfect for the occasion: three LCD TVs hooked up to 2 Xbox 360s and a PS3, all of which had Hori fight sticks for people to use. A table was left on the side of the TV area to sell other import games and goods. It was a simple set up but it did the trick as people who walked past it were immediately drawn in. Not to go much into details of the game itself, the pleasure of just having Aksys and allowing people to play the game freely a month before the release date was a privilege. It was a chance to introduce people to things other than just Street Fighter or Soul Caliber. I was surprised to see at one point a person, who has never heard of Guilty Gear, made his first purchase with the guarantee that he will mostly likely enjoy the game. I really hope others will follow behind Aksys Games and take the time to make an appearance in a future Fanimecon to help diversify the gaming community that is also closely linked to this fandom. Thanks again for coming Aksys.

Aksys showing off BlazBlue - Calamity Trigger. It’s fun, I know. I was addicted at one point.

E-Gaming and Arcades

When I first heard that e-gaming was going to have Rock Band 2 for staffs to play on day zero, I thought to myself that it would eventually be opened to people to play in the following days of the convention. Too bad I was completely off the mark Friday when I tried to look for any group of individuals slapping drum sticks on a drum set or rocking out with a guitar. Apparently this year one of the most popular social video games that is currently out failed to make its appearance for whatever reason. Though Guitar Hero: World Tour was there, it however lacked the drum set and microphone. From last year’s experience, I guess the way that some of the equipments were abused would turn away anyone from even thinking about lending out his own stuff. Many other popular games were there such as Super Smash Bros Brawl, Halo 3, and Left 4 Dead as well as the appearance of Fate Stay/Night: Unlimited Codes, Touhou, Melty Blood and so forth. Finally, I want to acknowledge the fact that e-gaming staffs have a very stressful job as it’s one of the only activities opened 24 hours throughout the 5 day long convention (not including before and after set up and clean up). They put many hours on the line to please the crowd of people. I hope to see improvements from next year along with more social games and better equipments.

Fate Stay/Night: Unlimited Codes tournament. Looks pretty heated.

The selection of arcades this year were pretty good overall. There was BlazBlue, Marvel vs Capcom 2, Initial D and so forth including four Street Fighter IV arcades for people to challenge each other on at separate machines. One thing I noticed was that certain games such as BlazBlue and Street Fighter IV required 75 cents when it should only really require 50 cents to play. It was probably hard getting those machines and while it didn’t bother me, I could see why some would be upset with the price. But for me, an extra 25 cents was worth it to play some of the games I loved playing. Either way though, I really enjoyed the arcades and I hope it will be as good as this year.

The new Street Fighter IV machines. Too bad I’m too bad at it to play =P

This guy was on fire when I took his picture. No joke.

Masquerade

Unfortunately for me this year, I was only able to attend the last half of this event. From the remaining of what I saw, most were fairly good. With Masquerade, anyone who had the courage to stand in front of a crowd of thousands of people were winners in the end. Among those, the ones that I enjoyed the most were the Zero no Tsukaima skit along with the skit of Final Fantasy II where the party re-inacted a boss fight scene like one would see in the game. There were many other good ones but again, it was a shame I wasn’t able to make it for the first half of the event. Ric Meyers has also been a great host for Masquerade so far and I hope he continues to be a part of Fanime. I look foward to next year with more unique acts from those passionate and brave people.

Louise, take it easy on Hiraga now. =

Being petrified has never looked so funny until now.

Stage Zero

Of the many events that took place on Stage Zero this year, two major events that I stuck around for really brought life to the crowd and continued to give reasons for Stage Zero as being a major part of Fanime. First, I really enjoyed the Street Fighter IV event where random people in the audience went up to play against Reuben Langdon. People were ‘awwing…’ and ‘oohhhhing!’ the whole way through one special move after another as Reuben got handed about 90% of the time. I found it strange why Ken would be picked all the time, but it’s ok Reuben, we still loved you. Start practicing for next year! Another event was the maid performance by none other than the maid cafe squad. One song after another, one or a team of maids would go up to sing a song that ranged from the good old days of Urusei Yatsura to newer things like Maria Holic and such. Even Halko Momoi couldn’t help herself as she cheered on the side lines and even jumped on stage to sing along. Go Stage Zero, become the life of the party again for us next year!

Don’t lose now Reuben!…err… I mean, don’t lose to Reuben!!!

Seiyuu power!!! GO!

Maid Cafe

Wow.. how can I start this off other than saying that it was one of the most enjoyable and improved events this year! Since 2007 when Fanime first had its maid cafe near the Marriott, I’ve watched it slowly grow and change into a mirror image of what an authentic maid cafe should be like as it was this year. Under the new leadership of Jun, currently the head of the maid cafe, she had done a tremendous job training the maids, both physically and mentally preparing them for this event. I could only imagine the amount of confidence and hard work was needed in order for those maids to carry out the tasks given to them. I also did take part in this year’s maid cafe as a guest so after I ordered my food at the counter, I waited patiently to be seated…

After a few friends and I finished ordering our food and chatted while we waited to be seated, a lovely maid came to us with a bow while she fetched us our food and led us to the correct table. When we arrived, the maid placed a napkin down in front of each us followed by the food on top, bowed again, ask if everything was ‘ok’ and walked away to let us have at it. As I sat there eating, I really noticed first how friendly the atmosphere was around me. People were laughing and smiling and interacting with the maids with various games. They weren’t rushed but instead, allowed to take their time and feel right at home. I also noticed that there were a lot more maids to accommodate for practically every table so no one was left waiting had service been requested. After we ate, our plates were taken and we had a chat with a few maids. We then took a few pictures and left very feeling very satisfied.

I can say I am very proud of everyone who has taken part in the maid cafe this year and again, I applaud everyone for their hard work to make this happen. In just a short 3 years, it has evolved into what it is today and I can only imagine it getting better. Keep it up maids! *thumbs up*

What a nice welcome sign.

Hey wait… why do they get to have two maids at once..*is jealous*

Halko Momoi: Panels, Autograph session and MusicFest

For Fanime this year, we had an additional special guest of honor who is a seiyuu (Japanese voice actress) in anime such as Popotan as the character Mii and Seto no Hanayomi as the character Seto San as well as a singer for various anime opening and closing themes from Prism Ark and Kujibiki Unbalanced. She is also known for being a die-hard and a proud, self-proclaimed otaku who brings life and fun where ever goes. At Fanime, she proved just that.

In total, I went to both of her panels, her autograph session and her MusicFest concert. For both panels, most of the questions asked were very appropriate with the exception of a few sensitive and uncalled for ones. People needed to realize and think before asking such questions like ” who do you think is the better seiyuu” between ‘x’” and so forth since it was not only rude but offensive. Naturally of course, the reaction of the audience paralleled accordingly when those questions were asked. But Momoi-san answered them in a humble way as she kept the line going smoothly. Other than that, the panels were fun and interesting. Momoi-san was very enthusiastic in answering pretty much all of her questions and both panels had a great turn out with questions and people lined up until the very end.

Momoi looking through the Fanime guide book during her panel as a fan refers to something about her in there. I wonder what it could be.

One of Momoi’s ribbon fell off during her panel. Someone stop her from being so cute already..>_<

There were two separate times for Momoi's autograph session: one on Saturday and one on Monday. The one that I went to was on Saturday and people were lined up well before she arrived. Inside the room, Momoi's fans greeted her, thanked her for coming, and left with something that was priceless. Beyond what words were able to describe, it was easy to see just how happy Momoi was in the presence of her dedicated fans coming up one after another.

Momoi signing a fellow otaku’s board.

When my friend and I arrived to line up for MusicFest on Sunday at around 7PM, there was already a long line with the most hardcore Momoist as the very first few people to have arrived long before. Looking down the line, I saw many eager, bright faces waiting to finally enter the concert hall. For some, it was a simple curiosity but for others after days of anticipation and energy exhaustion it was an exuberant event. At around around 7:30PM, the lines began to move and we were off! When we arrived at the entrance, glow sticks were handed out to us since it wasn’t a Momoi concert without them. Armed with 3 glow sticks now ( one around my neck and one in each hand), I quickly snagged a seat as close to the front as possible. A few moments later, we welcomed Makenai who was our first band for the event. Even though it wasn’t Momoi, we snapped our glow sticks to show our appreciation. After a couple of songs, a short preparation was made with the stage. The lights dimmed and Momoi appeared with the biggest smile as hundreds of glow sticks flew wildly in the air to welcome her to Fanime. Song after song, the crowd moved their glow sticks in unison through the conduction of both Momoi and the front most Momoists. Near the end, Momoi invited her very own fans to jump on stage to sing and dance with her as the crowd continued to clap and cheer. It was truly a sight to be seen. After the concert ended, I realized that the hairs on my arms were standing up and the only thing that came to my mind was ‘ awesome’.

When I say glow sticks are important for her concerts… I…mean…business.

Momoi <3! =3

Momoi's appearance and the utmost respect guest relations staffers and fans treated her with proved that the people of Fanime was more than able to properly treating their guests of honor. Even though Japan and Fanime are half way around the world from each other, both Momoi-san and the fans at Fanime felt the connection that was inseparable regardless of distance. I truly believe that Fanime has made a big impact this year and I know Fanime won't disappoint us next year.

Karaoke, Video Rooms and beyond

Although I didn’t spend much time in certain other places such as karaoke or the video rooms, I was glad to see such a big turn out with these events as I passed by. The video selections this year were decent and really took into consideration what the fans suggested on the forums ranging from things that were both new and old. With the karaoke contest, I’m sure this year was no exception to any previous years with brave individuals who put up a good show for the audience because they simply love singing. Though certain events may not be for everyone, they are nevertheless important for the integrity of the entire convention. For example, a friend of mine loves the video room and has told me most of his past conventions were spent enjoying the excellent selection of Asian films. All in all good job, keep up the hard work.

Cosplay

Every year, thousands of people spend their precious time to create costumes and cosplay as their favorite characters. Be it one or many, some spend hours, days, weeks and even months working endlessly to make the right adjustments. Your hard work and contributions every year make Fanime even more fun, diverse, and lively. Thank you for being an integrated part of the fandom and I look forward to seeing even more diverse cosplayers next year.

I will now dedicate 5 picture slots for a few cosplayers I think deserve a spot light this year. Keep in mind it was very difficult as every cosplayer is special and deserves a round of applause in the end.

Rachel from BlazBlue - Calamity Trigger. Hey look! Ragna is over there!…*runs away*

What is the Palmtop Tiger and Minorin up to this time…

Just… beautiful.

Hey Mio :3

I bet you locked Kanako-chan up… didn’t you…>_>

Afterthoughts

Well, it has been 6 years since I’ve attended Fanimecon and there is only one thing I can say: from what I have experienced, this year has been excellent and most memorable for me so far. First off, I want add that whoever came up with the idea to include a mini pocket guide, kudos to you. It was easy to carry and very organized so people were able to keep in touch with certain events so I hope to see that around again next year. Secondly, the boards near Stage Zero with directions and times when certain events were going to take place was also a smart idea. There was also a help desk on the second floor in front of the Hilton and a help desk near Ballroom B (probably even more elsewhere). Overall, I experienced much less confusion this time around. Finally, the guide book provided to me when I picked up my badge looked greatly improved. With registration, I actually stayed in line with a friend on Thursday to realize it took only half an hour to receive his badge. Good job with the registration staff as they are one of the hardest working teams.

Fans this year also seemed to be more mellow and less “hyper” than previous. No, there weren’t people jumping up and down the elevator nor did I see many people screaming and running towards someone else so that was a very good thing. Glomping signs were still being worn but I saw many instances where someone actually ASKED before tackling the living air out of the other. Now there was one thing I do want to focus on known as the so called Wall of Hugs. Personally, I thought it was both annoying and creepy even for me as I walked across it. There were times when people screamed out to me ” HEY YOU WITH THE GLASSES LET ME GIVE YOU A HUG!!!!” with an additional aftertaste of…’blah’ in my mouth as I looked away. Don’t get me wrong like I’m shooting down something just because it was new. It was really about the fact that there was practically no control of the behaviors of some of the people. Some did just stand there with the sign and didn’t make much noise until asked to give a hug. Overall though, one needed to really empathize with more conservative con-goers and act accordingly. Just because it seemed fine for you didn’t mean others will feel comfortable just walking through it. Irrelevant of whether someone in the Wall of Hugs thought people should be less ” stuck up”, it was really more about setting up the appropriate atmosphere that should be as comfortable for as many as possible. For now and the way the Wall of Hugs was conducted this year, I feel it was completely inappropriate and needs to be change should it even happen again.

As people may or may not know Tony Figueroa, the former webmaster of Fanime forums and head of MusicFest, bravely stepped up to become Fanimecon chair for this year and the following years to come. I think it’s only fair for fans who attend Fanime new and old to acknowledge his time in shouldering the legacy of Fanime along with his team of staffers. It’s a great task and I have faith that he and everyone else will propel this fandom to a new level. Oh and by the way, Ric Meyers will most likely have Tony’s back again for next year’s closing ceremony. Can’t mess with that =)

With everything said and done, we once again go back to our every day life of working or studying…or neither. The uneventful mornings and nights when we come back home and ponder what to do next will exist as well. But keep in mind though as each day passes, we have something to look forward to as Fanime 2010 quickly approaches again like a bullet train. Though time can be one’s enemy when realizing there is almost another year, it can also be one’s closest friend when Summer passes and Fall closes in, when Winter is over and then reach Spring, and when the day those doors open for excited fans to pick up those badges with many new people to meet to tie unique interests together once again. As you wait until that time to come, stay in touch with what you enjoy and keep this fandom as close to you as you cherish it. Make Fanime new and exciting once again and stay true to the saying ” By Fans, For Fans”. Until Fanime 2010, adios amigos!