 |
|
City of Hope - This year, the City of Hope had a booth
at Anime Expo, located in the Hyatt lobby, to hand out information about their
medical treatment programs and to take donations. A group of Star Wars
cosplayers—very nice costumes, by the way—were on hand to draw
attendees' attention to the booth. |
|
From left to right: City of Hope Chairman
John Taylor in front of the very first SPJA check to the City of Hope; two menacing
Sith lords; the 501st Garrison. Donate to the City of Hope... or we'll throw you
into the brig! |
|
Bandai/Pioneer BPM
Dance - The dance events at Anime Expo were well attended, proving that
anime fans (well, some of them) do indeed get out occasionally. Shown here is the
Bandai & Pioneer BPM dance, which was one of
three dance events this year along with the DJ
dance and 5XL performance. |
|
From left to right: As the dance was sponsored
by Bandai and Pioneer, the big screen displayed titles from both companies for ambience,
and several people were seen wearing Ryoohki backpacks. Bandai handed out Gundam dog
tags out at the event. |
|
5XL Band/Dance -
The band performed numerous anime songs popular with the fans, ranging
from Ruroni Kenshin to Love Hina, as well as some J-pop songs from groups
such as X-Japan. It was announced that this would be their last performance,
as the band members would be pursuing separate interests, and with that they
performed their last song, "Yu Wa Ku" by Glay. |
|
From left to right: Hank, Hong, Leslie, and
Stan take front stage; Andy and Chico at the keyboard and drums; Leslie belts out
her lyrics as the crowd is sent into a frenzy. We'll be sorry to see you go -
thanks for the great performances the past three years, and good luck! |
|
EX Online Panel - also known as the "Charles and Scott"
show due to the witty banter passed between the Editor-in-Chief and the affable
industry veteran. The latter had bleached his hair, donned a pink t-shirt, and
was often seen flanked by women, which came as a surprise to many. The panel
was spent talking about random subjects brought up by the attendees. |
|
From left to right: See no evil, hear no
evil, say no evil. The hapless HTML Swiss Army Knife didn't know what was going
on (his eyes were covered, duh) and struggled to swat away Scanner's hands.
Sitting on the panel: Scanner (sysadmin), Keith (the HTML Knife), Charles (EIC),
and Scott (columnist). |
|
Random Photos - Anime Expo seems to have drawn the
attention of many in the Japanese animation industry, with a large number of
well-known personas such as Kamiya Akira and several others attending Anime
Expo on their own. The GoH line-up was comprised of old veterans and young
people alike, with the latter openly stating what an honor it was to be
sitting next to their mentors and idols. |
|
From left to right: Kamiya Akira
has become a regular at Anime Expo; here, he is seen giving a live voice
dub demo on stage. The easy-going and friendly Kotobuki Tsukasa and Uno
Makoto are seen in the audience of another GoH's panel. Several Japanese
industry persons engage in the ritual of exchanging business cards. |
|
Random Photos, Part Two - As the convention drew to a
close, several of the Guests of Honor could be seen taking last-minute photos
and generally having fun. Many of the Guests of Honor were friendly and
approachable, with EX's own Kenneth Lee
posing for shots alongside several of them. |
|
From left to right: Kotobuki and his
entourage pass around cameras and take pictures of each other; EX staff
writer Kenneth Lee poses with Uno Makoto and Kotobuki Tsukasa for a
group photo. |
|
Random Photos, Part Three - The line for the masquerade
tickets started at 5AM. By the time the
HTML Swiss Army Knife got up for breakfast and
looked out his hotel window, the crowd of people could be seen from orbit. Anime
Expo keeps moving to bigger venues with each passing year, but the crowd for the
masquerade will likely never go away. |
|
From left to right: The long line for
masquerade tickets. The life behind "Max, the AX Girl" is revealed as Stephanie
Hernandez walks out on stage in her motion capture suit. And last but not least,
the HTML Swiss Army Knife is seen taking a break with the latest EX recruit, Jo
Ann Faustino. |
|
