Review of Anime Expo 2015, Day 1

Anime Expo 2015

Los Angeles, California

Day 1, Thursday, July 2, 2015

Review By: John Fragglepuss Evans

I would be slacking in my duties if I did not start off with a comment about the convention on day 0, which consisted of picking up pre-registration passes. In years past, Anime Expo has been notorious for what is known as “LineCon” in regards to picking up pre-registration passes, due to the several hour wait endured by the con-goers simply waiting to pick up their passes, sometimes waiting as long as eight hours before receiving the pass they had pre-registered for! Anime Expo implemented a new system for 2015, which included a QR code on the pre-registration ticket. The new system worked wonders for the line, which was non-existent when I showed up to pick up my pass, only two hours after registration had opened. Speaking with fellow con-goers and staff, I found the overall consensus to be that this year’s line (or lack thereof) was a huge step forward for the convention and accommodating the high number of attendees.

Gettting back to day one, Crunchyroll started off the day with the Summer Preview panel, where they premiered “Rokka: Braves of the Six Flowers”, an anime about six warriors in what appears to be medieval-esque times, given the power to save the world. Crunchyroll showed the first two episodes of the series, which will start airing Saturday, July 4^th. From what I watched, it seems like an entertaining anime, I will be sure to continue watching it this season.

The exhibit hall was massive and stocked with everything anime-related that you could think of. Whether you were looking for industry booths like Capcom or Funimation, exhibitors like J-List, or Artist Alley, the Exhibit Hall did not disappoint.

Lounge 21 was a nice option to stop by (for those 21 and older) to grab a quick drink and take a break from the long day at the convention. There was even a drink special for the convention! Next to Lounge 21 was the karaoke area, providing all sorts of different karaoke activities throughout the day, such as: open mic karaoke, name that karaoke, UKFC, and karaoke en español.

The AMV Room was also a nice option for catching up on previously unseen AMVs, as well as some classics that have already been seen. I was glad to see this option, as I have not seen a whole room dedicated to AMVs at other conventions. If watching anime is your thing, there are also anime viewing rooms, offering a wide variety of anime throughout the day.

To finish off day one I attended the AMV Contest. There were six categories: Action/Adventure, Drama/Theatric, Fun/Upbeat, Sentiment/Romance, Rhythm/Dance, and Comedy/Humor. There was an additional category of advertisement/movie trailer/TV show intro that would play in between each category. The AMVs were quality, with only 28 being chosen out of 272 entrants. If you want to watch a funny AMV, check out “My Neighbor Figaro-kun” by Nicolio1313.

Overall, day one was quite enjoyable. The line situation started off rather hectic, being that lines were not forming outside the panel rooms, but rather outside and around the building where attendees did not know how to get to. Once the volunteers and staff figured out how to get the attendees to the correct lines, the tent-covered outside lines were not a hassle. There was quality cosplay throughout the day, and while I was not able to photograph all the cosplay I wanted, I took pictures of all that I could. Lastly, it was great to see Kiba the Cosplay Corgi in his Link cosplay!