Into the world of anime
A journal of Anime Expo, the nation's largest anime convention
By Alvina Yeh, staff writer
July 31, 2007
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Photo by Alvina Yeh Characters from Hayao Miyazaki films, "Kiki’s Delivery Service," "Princess Mononoke" and "Howl’s Moving Castle."

Sunday, July 1
Today we decided to just go when the event started and take our chances of finding a seat. It turned out being the smart thing to do and we caught a lively concert by Oreskaband – a group of Japanese girls out to show the world how the Japanese do ska. It was wonderfully energetic and a blast to attend.

Afterward we spent most of the afternoon walking around to get our pictures taken … er, I mean observing all the wonderful costumes. In the evening we waited in one last line for the Masquerade – the biggest cosplay contest of the convention. This was where all best and most creative cosplayers got together to compete in three-minute skits. It was a line finally worth the wait as we saw some outrageous costumes and hilarious skits. The “Ninja vs. Pirates” halftime skit was especially entertaining.

Our last night at AX we met up with our Sacramento friends for even more game-room stink and fun. Afterward we hung out in our room until the wee hours of the morning.

Monday, July 2
The last day was only a half day and we decided we wanted to spend all of it in the exhibit hall. Dealers were notorious for cutting prices as they didn’t want to lug all their merchandise back to their stores across the nation. We roamed around looking for good deals on t-shirts and gifts for friends.

The last hour, booths began giving away their merchandise. At one booth we received Kidsbeer, which tasted like bitter sparkling apple cider – “Now kids can say ‘kanpai’ too!” Another booth was giving away Ranmune soda, Pocky and Hi-chew candy. It was like snack mosh-pit as we struggled to get some of those addictive biscuit sticks and flavorful chews. Sadly, the exhibit hall closed and it was time to say goodbye to Long Beach and AX.

Now a few weeks later, it’s still a little weird not seeing everyone in costume. Sometimes I want to say to strangers, “Are you sure you don’t want my picture?” The sweat, the pictures, the concerts, the lines, the people, the costumes – Anime Expo is one of those things that won’t let itself be forgotten. If I weren’t out of the country next year, I would definitely go again – c’mon who can turn down glowstick rave parties?

Alvina Yeh is a staff writer for AsiaXpress.com. Alvina can be contacted via e-mail at Alvina.Yeh@asiaxpress.com.