Anime Expo 2010

I got back from Anime Expo last night. I feel reintegrated with the normal home feeling now. So now for some Anime Expo 2010 thoughts.

Some good things this year:

• Nokia Theatre was back.
  
• Tickets for main events had a booth that was available on Days 0-3. You could pick up all the tickets at once.
• This year had a ton of Guests of Honor.
• Yui Horie had a very entertaining video message for Closing Ceremonies. She spoofed Terminator, putting on sunglasses and fading the video with a red glow in her eye.
• Yoko Kanno made a surprise appearance at one of the concerts.
• I never had to wait in line to get into the Exhibit Hall.
• Free Magic the Gathering mini-deck inside attendee bags.
  

Having the Nokia Theatre meant seats were awesome no matter where you were seated, and no waiting in long lines to get into a Main Event. Letting people get tickets all at once meant no waiting in long lines to pick up tickets. Aside from Opening Ceremonies, they were assigned seating.

Some bad things this year:

• Opening ceremonies and the AMV contest were the only Main Events to be free of charge. All the concerts and Masquerade cost $20 to guarantee a seat!
• Yoko Kanno made a surprise appearance at a concert I did not go to!
• Yui Horie's panel was too short because they showed an episode of ToraDora!
• No Wizards of the Coast booth.
• Less exhibitors in the exhibit hall.
  

With having a free MtG deck in the attendee bag, I thought Wizards of the Coast would at least have a booth in the exhibit hall. There was a noticeable drop in attending exhibitors in the hall. It was definitely smaller, and yet attendance only got higher. I overheard exhibitors complaining about the cost of their booths, and I hope next year AX lowers their fee. I need more options to buy stuff!!!!!

This is the first year in which the Masquerade and concerts were paid only tickets. Before, if you had a badge and were willing to wait in line, you could get these tickets with out paying anything. I wasn't planning on going to any of the concerts or Masquerade when I read that they were charging for these tickets. Then they ended up passing out free tickets right when the events began. I ended up going to the Mell concert and got into Masquerade for free. I can see why they decided to do this. It will basically get AX the most money from people who need to get that guaranteed seat. I think it's wrong to have charges on these tickets, but if they continue to do pass out whatever is left over at the start of the events for free, then it might not be so bad.

My friends went to the concert where Yoko Kanno showed up. I did not. Had I known she would be there, I would have bought a ticket when they were first available. I cannot believe AX would not advertise that Yoko Kanno would be at a concert this year!!!! UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!!!

Yui Horie is my favorite voice actress/singer in all of anime. I went to the panel expecting to have a lot of fun, but before it began they wasted time showing the first episode of ToraDora! Why the fuck would they waste precious Q & A time with that?! There was a whole US premiere event for it already!! Why did you take time away from Yui Horie to interact with her fans?! AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The good was, in the little time she did have at her panel, she was cute and entertaining. Her closing ceremony video message really showed how much fun that could of been had with her having a whole hour for her panel. I really hope she comes back next year.

The Loot:

$48 Gundam Wing Zero Endless Waltz - Master Grade (pearl gloss wings)
$28 Gundam00 Arios - 1/100
$20 Gundam00 Kyrios - 1/100
$24 Gundam00 Dynames - 1/100
$54 Gundam Seed Lukas's Strike + I.W.S.P - Master Grade
$20 Yuffie - Playarts Final Fantasy VII version
$20 Tifa - Playarts Final Fantasy VII version
$35 Emiya Shirou - Figma
$27 Tonfas - red oak
$30? 2 Final Fantasy XII H-doujins featuring Ashe
$10 MtG random box
$10 Gurren Lagann Drill necklace
$40 Zelda and Link fanart
FREE Lightning fanart

I was able to walk away from the charity auction without buying anything!

Pricing reference:

PoP Mihawk - $75
PoP Shanks - $60
Figma Lelouch - $100
Revoltech Yoko - $40
Trafalgar Law - $30 (6" Box figure)
Revoltech Rin - $10
Revoltech Prof. Layton - $40

Misc:

1 Pizza
4 Cup of Noodles
4 Denny's entrees
1 Curry House plate