2015 marks my second year of attending Anime Expo. However, unlike my first visit last year I didn’t really have much of a game plan set in motion. I just kind of showed up and did what I could in the time available. Due to my lack of planning for the con I didn’t do everything that caught my eye but the events I did attend were absolutely phenomenal. This year also marks my first time attending an event for racket with a camera! The Emperor was kind enough to let me borrow a camera despite my lack of photography skills. So while we have a photo gallery for all of you who couldn’t make it I cannot vouch for it’s quality due to my aforementioned lack of skills coupled with the fact that I was drunk for a good portion of the con. So below is my recap of the two days I ventured out into the sea of Otaku in search for excitement and adventure, hope you enjoy it!
I arrived at the convention center Friday night around 7 and within minutes of showing up I found Mike, who had arrived via train earlier in the day, before heading over to Kyle Hebert‘s AMV panel. Although we showed up late it was still a lot of fun. Essentially Kyle read a story that he had written himself and at certain points he would give the audience a choice between two options. Then depending on what the audience chose we would see an Anime Music Video. The videos were definitely a blast but the highlight is just hearing Kyle play so many different characters in one sitting. Once that panel ended we took a quick dinner and drink break before the Cosplay Deviants party. After a few quick drinks I stumbled with Mike back to the convention center and were able to finagle our way in despite the extremely long line to get in.
Once there we spent some time hanging out. I of course drank some more and attempted to take pictures. Neither one of us danced too much but we still enjoyed the vibes being put out. The attendees were definitely enjoying the DJ who did an excellent job catering his set to the audience as well as the Cosplay Deviants who were pulling double duty as go go dancers for the evening. I even got to meet the internet homegirl Madi in the person at the party which was pretty sweet. My only complaint about the event was the long line for drinks but you can’t win em all. After partying for awhile we bailed around 1 so that I could make it home in time to see the WWE’s Beast in the East live event that was happening the same night, which was awesome by the way, and to charge our batteries for Saturday’s shenanigans.
Come Saturday Sober Mondo got a late start becaue Drunk Mondo was an idiot and misplaced all his stuff. However, in spite of that slight mishap Mike and I were able to make it to the con with time to walk the floor and catch a few panels. Unfortunately due to tardiness and a schedule mix up we missed the Dragonball Z panel but were able to catch a panel on robots instead. A panelists of judges voted as to which robot from a list of C stringers was most superior. In the end a character not even on the list somehow won because who needs to follow the rules? The host seemed a bit annoyed by this but he went with it. In the end everyone had fun so I guess he didn’t mind too much.
After that we made a quick trip to the food trucks for some ice cream before heading back in line for the Cosplay Wrestling Federation panel. This panel was hands down my favorite of the whole weekend and I really hope the CWF tries to do more them at cons across Southern California. A huge cast of characters all competed for a chance to face the CWF champion, Little Mac. Each cut their best promo in hopes of being chosen by the audience to go on to the finals but in the end it was Yami Yugi would go on to face the champ. However, Little Mac would go on to retain but everyone in the show put on a stellar performance as their respective characters. Although, I think the individual cosplaying as A Pimp Named SlickBack was easily my favorite of the evening.
After the CWF panel wrapped up we got the hell out of dodge and celebrated another successful Anime Expo, driving home through two different counties watching fireworks light up the California sky.
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