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furtechI made the trek down to the L.A. Convention Center yesterday to check out this year's Anime Expo.
I was very unhappy when I heard that they were moving to the LACC-- one of the worst-designed convention centers I've ever been to (and I've been to a LOT of them). The LACC is a hodgepodge that is a good example of poor planning and budget-over-function. The newest section was added on many years after the first (which they didn't want to tear down because of money concerns), so the result is a massive structure with no logical flow.
Add to this inadequate parking and -no- adjacent hotels and you have the mess that is the LACC. A number of large trade shows have been held there (notably the last E3's) and I dreaded each time I had to go there. The parking is the worst aspect: there is not nearly enough under the center, meaning long walks if you don't get there before open. Long walks in a crappy neighborhood. Granted, the addition of the Staples center and the Nokia Theater has meant that the police do a better job herding the homeless and criminal element back to skid row, but the area is hardly family-friendly.
The lack of nearby hotels means that there are long walks or shuttle rides to and from the con center. While this works for SDCC, it's a royal pain for cosplayers. Add to that the oppressive heat of downtown L.A. and you have a recipe for a mediocre AX.
I didn't see a lot of costumers walking on the streets, but there were plenty of them in the center itself. One thing I'll give the LACC credit for: plenty of indoor spaces to take pictures. Many costumers were also out on the various patios around the center. Even so, I miss the central gathering areas that both the Long Beach CC and (particularly) the Anaheim CC have. I also noticed that there were fewer elaborate/large costumes-- perhaps because of the difficulty of getting to and from the CC.
The dealers room was huge, but possibly had fewer dealers than last year's room at the LBCC. Notably absent were some of the larger manga and anime distributors (who also did not attend last year's con). Given the expense of a large booth, I'm guessing that they have decided that SDCC is the place to spend money and make appearances. Didn't see anything that rocked my socks; managed (fairly easily) to escape with only a small toy purchase.
I hate crowd control at AX. I'm sure there is a need for control, but they need to think it out more fully. Particularly, why no only use it when it's needed? Sure, for the initial press to enter the dealer's room...but when there is no line to get in, what is the purpose of forcing attendees to navigate convoluted trails into or out of the dealers room? I was particularly annoyed at the entrance to the artist alley: if you went in through the dealer's room, you could not return-- you had to go out of AA, around and down to the lobby and back up the stairs into the dealers room. AND THERE WERE NO LINES! Just staff-nazis who seemed to get off on ordering people to jump through pointless hoops. Grrr.
Masquerade: I guess they finally found a way to make $$$ off the masquerade...they sell tickets for $20/each. You get a reserved seat and don't have to stand in a line (which was around the center even at 4pm-- four hours before the masq start and with temps in the high 90's).
I will say that the Nokia Theater is a decent venue. Lousy snack bar (really bad popcorn, one small size of drink, prices typically $$$), but plenty of toilets and it's a huge venue. Maybe too huge: everyone got in (that I could see), but the large stage and distance meant that contestents looked like they were from the kids costume contest from where we were sitting (row GG). Fortunately, there were HUGE screens on both sides, so costume detail was visible. They need a better camera director, though: many times only one or two costumes were focused on when there was a large group (like the director and cameramen didn't notice the other costumes to the side on the stage). They get a big *nrgh* from me for the wide shots that inevitably caught the close-up cameraman taking up the front of the shot (he needed to be lower or the wide camera should have been placed higher).
General costume quality: "eh." A number of the big name groups were absent and the costumes in the master class were easily outshined by the novice and intermediate class (plus they added a new class, "advanced intermediate"?!?). There were a couple of routines that I really liked-- the Sac State Martial Arts Club did a spectacular weapons-skit and there was a funny Wii-based skit. I particularly liked a Final Fantasy monster (lots of scales and a long tail)-- and she turned out to be a novice! Nice job!
Favorite line from the masquerade: (skit about the new L.A. venue and a cosplayer noticing a homeless person): "Ohmygod-- look! A hobo!"
Overall I could have skipped the con and not missed much. I still hate the venue; most of my friends either skipped the con entirely or were working the whole time. I so totally appreciate the Lyd-fix! I think I have the most fun at anime cons when I'm with AGSMA entering the masquerade: even if the con is a bust, there is plenty of rehearsing and getting together. Plus I -need- to be there the whole time, so there are other opportunities to hang out. Stopping in for the day just doesn't cut it. But I would have been bored silly if I spent more than a day there.
One nice thing about the L.A. location: Little Tokyo (Anime Jungle! Kinokuniya!) and the Fashion District (walking distance!). Since I live here, however, that doesn't factor in as much for me (YMMV).
I was very unhappy when I heard that they were moving to the LACC-- one of the worst-designed convention centers I've ever been to (and I've been to a LOT of them). The LACC is a hodgepodge that is a good example of poor planning and budget-over-function. The newest section was added on many years after the first (which they didn't want to tear down because of money concerns), so the result is a massive structure with no logical flow.
Add to this inadequate parking and -no- adjacent hotels and you have the mess that is the LACC. A number of large trade shows have been held there (notably the last E3's) and I dreaded each time I had to go there. The parking is the worst aspect: there is not nearly enough under the center, meaning long walks if you don't get there before open. Long walks in a crappy neighborhood. Granted, the addition of the Staples center and the Nokia Theater has meant that the police do a better job herding the homeless and criminal element back to skid row, but the area is hardly family-friendly.
The lack of nearby hotels means that there are long walks or shuttle rides to and from the con center. While this works for SDCC, it's a royal pain for cosplayers. Add to that the oppressive heat of downtown L.A. and you have a recipe for a mediocre AX.
I didn't see a lot of costumers walking on the streets, but there were plenty of them in the center itself. One thing I'll give the LACC credit for: plenty of indoor spaces to take pictures. Many costumers were also out on the various patios around the center. Even so, I miss the central gathering areas that both the Long Beach CC and (particularly) the Anaheim CC have. I also noticed that there were fewer elaborate/large costumes-- perhaps because of the difficulty of getting to and from the CC.
The dealers room was huge, but possibly had fewer dealers than last year's room at the LBCC. Notably absent were some of the larger manga and anime distributors (who also did not attend last year's con). Given the expense of a large booth, I'm guessing that they have decided that SDCC is the place to spend money and make appearances. Didn't see anything that rocked my socks; managed (fairly easily) to escape with only a small toy purchase.
I hate crowd control at AX. I'm sure there is a need for control, but they need to think it out more fully. Particularly, why no only use it when it's needed? Sure, for the initial press to enter the dealer's room...but when there is no line to get in, what is the purpose of forcing attendees to navigate convoluted trails into or out of the dealers room? I was particularly annoyed at the entrance to the artist alley: if you went in through the dealer's room, you could not return-- you had to go out of AA, around and down to the lobby and back up the stairs into the dealers room. AND THERE WERE NO LINES! Just staff-nazis who seemed to get off on ordering people to jump through pointless hoops. Grrr.
Masquerade: I guess they finally found a way to make $$$ off the masquerade...they sell tickets for $20/each. You get a reserved seat and don't have to stand in a line (which was around the center even at 4pm-- four hours before the masq start and with temps in the high 90's).
I will say that the Nokia Theater is a decent venue. Lousy snack bar (really bad popcorn, one small size of drink, prices typically $$$), but plenty of toilets and it's a huge venue. Maybe too huge: everyone got in (that I could see), but the large stage and distance meant that contestents looked like they were from the kids costume contest from where we were sitting (row GG). Fortunately, there were HUGE screens on both sides, so costume detail was visible. They need a better camera director, though: many times only one or two costumes were focused on when there was a large group (like the director and cameramen didn't notice the other costumes to the side on the stage). They get a big *nrgh* from me for the wide shots that inevitably caught the close-up cameraman taking up the front of the shot (he needed to be lower or the wide camera should have been placed higher).
General costume quality: "eh." A number of the big name groups were absent and the costumes in the master class were easily outshined by the novice and intermediate class (plus they added a new class, "advanced intermediate"?!?). There were a couple of routines that I really liked-- the Sac State Martial Arts Club did a spectacular weapons-skit and there was a funny Wii-based skit. I particularly liked a Final Fantasy monster (lots of scales and a long tail)-- and she turned out to be a novice! Nice job!
Favorite line from the masquerade: (skit about the new L.A. venue and a cosplayer noticing a homeless person): "Ohmygod-- look! A hobo!"
Overall I could have skipped the con and not missed much. I still hate the venue; most of my friends either skipped the con entirely or were working the whole time. I so totally appreciate the Lyd-fix! I think I have the most fun at anime cons when I'm with AGSMA entering the masquerade: even if the con is a bust, there is plenty of rehearsing and getting together. Plus I -need- to be there the whole time, so there are other opportunities to hang out. Stopping in for the day just doesn't cut it. But I would have been bored silly if I spent more than a day there.
One nice thing about the L.A. location: Little Tokyo (Anime Jungle! Kinokuniya!) and the Fashion District (walking distance!). Since I live here, however, that doesn't factor in as much for me (YMMV).
