Anime Expo has a special place in my heart. Back in 2004, it was the very first convention I ever attended and it completely opened my eyes to just how incredibly vast the anime fandom is. I attended AX again in 2005, 2006, 2007 and then didn’t attend again until 2010 when it jumped from its venues in Anaheim and Long Beach to its current home in Los Angeles.

Let me tell you: there is a wonderfully significant difference three years makes. Check out my Day One Recap after the jump.

UPDATED 7/6/2013 1:35am – Added photos for your viewing pleasure.

I arrived to pick up my badge late Wednesday night, Day Zero, in order to avoid crowds. According to HJU member, AoiBlue, coming late into the night was smart idea. He had the unfortunate experience of waiting 2.5 hours in the pre-registration line when it opened at 3:00pm; whereas there were hardly any people in the convention’s South Hall when I came in to pick up my badge.

Tip: If you plan on attending AX 2014, I really recommending picking up your badge and con material on Day Zero and maybe later in the evening, as to avoid the initial rush and long lines. The Convention Center stays open until about 8:00pm to 9:00pm, so you can take this time to peruse the programming and actually walk around to find where events will be held. I did hear the staff cut off the lines around 7:00pm, but I feel its better to acquire necessities early so you wouldn’t have to miss out on Day One activities. Even if you weren’t planning on attending anything early on Day One, at least walking around and orienting yourself on Day Zero may give you the chance to get a little more rest when AX actually goes into full swing.

Day One started bright and early for me around 8:30am. I parked in the South Hall parking lot, as it was the lot closest to the Exhibit Hall. It also cost me $20, which if you’re going to pay $20 or more for parking, I do recommend just parking at the Convention Center itself. I don’t think it’s worth it to pay that much for outdoor parking a block away. Obviously, if you have no choice, by all means, do park at the private lots, but why pay that much if you’re able to park at the Convention.

I wandered into the Press Room because I made the n00b mistake of not charging my camera battery the night before. While I was charging, I managed to meet up with tokusatsu fandom family, Stan and Debbie, from Plastic Ronins. We first met at Morphicon and trust me when I say we were more than excited to see each other. w00t! You guys are so amazing!

The next few hours were filled with a lot of wandering around and bumping into fandom friends (Shout out to the guys from Gigaventure and Monster Attack Team! <3). I also was able to check out the ridiculous bum rush at the opening of the Exhibit Hall. Honestly, guys, unless I knew I was going to get something crazy exclusive, I really would rather not be in this crowd. Yikes.

 

This is the end of the Exhibit Hall entrance line. Oh man. 

Around noon, I briefly sat in the FUNimation.com panel, where AoiBlue and I met up. I was really pleasantly surprised just how far anime has come in terms of accessibility. I probably shouldn’t have been surprised, but growing up sneakily exchanging CD-Rs of fansubbed anime in high school and reading Westernized manga translations (I’m looking at you, TokyoPop Pocket Mixx), the idea of streaming subtitled anime in all its HD quality readily available through FUNimation.com, Crunchyroll, Hulu, etc and available to stream to mobile devices and systems like Roku… It honestly just blows my mind.

Not to sound like an old person, but I really hope new members to the anime fandom understand how incredibly blessed they are.

We already see this kind of streaming convenience with Korean live action dramas. Can you guys imagine if tokusatsu and J-dramas had this much accessibility?

The FUNimation.com panel also announced a new official FUNimation shop, where you can buy all exclusive FUNimation swag as well as offering discount bundles for DVD sets and other media. Furthermore, and what I really thought was cool, FUNimation.com offers an “Elite Video Subscription” that not only lets you watch dubs before they’re released to DVD or Blu-Ray, watch exclusive anime commercial free as well as TV-MA series uncut; but, in the future, you may also watch anime bonus footage, like production footage, behind-the-scenes, etc. not unlike those you would find on DVDs. For more information, check out FUNimation.com.

I did plan to check out some of the cosplay meet-ups during Day One, but I, unfortunately, only made it to one. I skipped out on the Magi meet up just because I realized I hadn’t eaten since 8:30am and it was already 1 in the afternoon. Healthy, right? I did manage to catch the small, but passionate RWBY cosplay meet up.

RWBY is the new digital animated series created by Monty Oum for Rooster Teeth. If you guys haven’t seen the trailers… open up new tab and watch them. Now. Seriously. They’re completely badass.

I dropped by a couple more rooms. The first being the AwesomeCore AMV show. Having an all day AMV viewing room is something totally new for me. I didn’t stay long since it was packed to the brim and, in the dark truth of all conventions, it was little too warm and some people were a little too, erm, sweaty. I had to move because the people adjacent to me were a bit ripe and then the seat I relocated to ended up being suspiciously warm and, erm, damp. Did I mention I was wearing a short skirt? Yeah. I did brave it out for a couple of AwesomeCore AMVs. The AwesomeCore show was started with the idea that if you add the word “core” to any musical genre, it will immediately make it worse. So, the AwesomeCore AMV show is basically a collection of the most ridiculous, comedic, and confusing AMVs you really won’t find anywhere else. Just search “Awesomecore” into Google, Tumblr, or AnimeMusicVideo.org and you’ll see what I’m talking about.

I also dropped by the Anime News Network panel, who were celebrating their 15 years as an anime news site. I got to see the ridiculously hard working people behind the site and check out their new site redesign. The people behind ANN talked through the history of starting the site and how it’s grown to an official business, with all the growing pains of obtaining rights, getting official approval of Japanese to English translations for anime descriptions, and working at all hours getting anime news from Japan. I’m writing this con report at 6:00am and I’m already tired. I really have to tip my hats off to the ANN editors and writers who practically work all hours getting you your anime news. Furthermore, in celebration of the 15 years, they’re hosting con coverage scavenger hunt that gives you the chance to win a trip to Japan. w00! Check out ANN for more details. Man, can you imagine HJU celebrating 15 years?

I had a couple more hours to kill before I planned to attend the Johnny Yong Bosch panel, so I took a quick trip to Lounge 21, where I met up with HJU family, John. If you’re 21 and over, check this place out. Lounge 21 is exclusively to 21+ AX attendees. It’s in its second year and it is just a nice reprieve from the con. I’ll take more pictures and talk about my experiences in here as the con continues.

After getting my drink on (w00 alcohol!), I took a quick phone charge trip to the Press Room, where I chatted up with some veteran geek news hounds and got roped into checking out the Aya Ikeda and CARAT concert.

I honestly wasn’t planning on staying for this event at all because I wasn’t familiar with their music (other than Aya Ikeda singing the theme songs to three Pre-Cure series). I got to say that it was the BEST unexpected experience in Day One. I can imagine how difficult it might be for a Japanese singer to perform for an American audience, who may or may not be as familiar or enthusiastic about their music; and even if they were, I would imagine the difficulty setting up and explaining songs when you’re native language isn’t English.

I really have to give it up to Aya Ikeda for her immense enthusiasm and energy up on stage. Her performance energy is just amazing, especially, unlike CARAT, she’s rolling solo. It wasn’t hard to get into her songs and bump your head along to the music. Ikeda recently released a new album, “episode 2” and I really recommend checking it out, if purely for getting your pumped up and bubbly in the morning music.

Just look at that smile! 

The biggest surprise of the night, for me, came up after Aya Ikeda in the form of a five member DJ, dance and vocal unit called CARAT. Holy. Smokes. THESE GIRLS ARE AMAZING. Say what you will about the “fakeness” of idol groups, they totally blew my expectations out of the water. I attended their press conference earlier and were really impressed by their poise and honest answers. One reporter asked what their feelings were about those who viewed them as “fake.” I really gotta hand it to these ladies for their tact as they expressed their belief that, whether people viewed them as fake or not, they considered themselves artists and they’re just happy to be able to cheer up the people in the audience. During the press conference, CARAT stated they set themselves apart from other dance and vocal units because of their resident DJ. When they mentioned this, I thought they had just a random dude in the back spinning for them.

So, fast forward to the concert, and BAM I am hit in the face with DJ MONA, their incredibly bubbly and rhinestoned out DJ opening with an electronic mix of “A Cruel Angel’s Thesis,” the theme song to Neon Genesis Evangelion. I honestly thought she was just one of the vocalists! While she does sing and dance with the group, she usually stays behind her DJ stands and sets up the music for her group. Honestly, DJ MONA has really amazing solo DJ sets, which included a ridiculously fun repertoire of anime theme songs, including “Rolling Star” from Bleach, “Freckles” from Kenshin, and “Fighting Dreamers” from Naruto. Seriously, she can just mix for me any day. My EDM fangirl heart is happy.

In addition to that, the vocalists and dancers in CARAT totally built on Aya Ikeda’s energetic stage performance and knocked out some serious dance moves. Talk about highly energetic teenage girls. These ladies were breaking it down in super cute matching short yukatas and yellow suits and garnering some incredible crowd support with their cheers and waves. My favorite part of the evening was, hands down, the “Moonlight Densetsu” theme song cover from Sailor Moon. I mean, really. How could it not be? Just check out the ladies below.

So, if you noticed, I did end up skipping the Johnny Yong Bosch panel partying it up at the CARAT concert. You can hound at me for this, but I will say: one of the best things about conventions is Serendipity. CARAT was an incredibly happy accident. If I hadn’t taken a break in the Press Room and got roped into attending, I totally would’ve missed out on incredibly fun music that just resonates with my eclectic tastes. I will see Johnny Yong Bosch during his press conference and will definitely attend the Eyeshine concert, so really, I’m not totally missing out.

I did end the night at the AMV Contest and because I really have a lot to say about it, I’ll save it for my final wrap up report (Short Version: GAH, IT WAS AWESOME).

It’s 8:30am right now and I am still in my pajamas, in my apartment, and need to get ready for Day Two. I will post a gallery of picture I took of Day One, so do check back at HJU often.

If you want a play by play of where I am at AX, do follow me over on the Twitters @angelicnoir and if we do meet up, be prepared to take photos! ^_^ See you all there!