When I first found out I was going to be traveling to California, I posted it online and someone asked me if I was going for Anime Expo. I never even considered it, and honestly I didn’t know it existed but after seeing it would only be 30 minutes from where I was staying I immediately applied for a press pass. A week later, I was approved and ready to go!
So, after many warnings about this convention possibly “being very bad for your vertigo”, I had decided that I was not going to waste my energy going. Once Saturday rolled around I realized that I didn’t have much to lose except a paid ride if I did go; I had priority entrance being press so the scare of “viciously long lines” wasn’t there for me; it was a beautiful day outside, 80 degrees so the “people faint from heat exhaustion” scare was also not there for me and since the convention is hosted in perfect weather California, I figured worst case scenario I could explore stuff outside where it would be less crowded.
Now keep in mind, this event was a but overwhelming for me so as much as I tried getting photos and video footage it was a little hard to do because my brain was all over the place. I arrived around 1PM and I was able to get into the convention in about 15 minutes with my pass pick up and priority entrance; the other lines for normal pass pick up were not actually that long and they looked to be moving pretty quickly. Personally, I would have ended up sick and having to go home if I had to stay in those lines so thank you Anime Expo for the Press Pass. Regardless of lines, the convention was definitely packed, however it had large enough ceilings and was spread out among enough rooms where it didn’t feel like it was as packed as it was. If you maneuvered quickly you could get to where you wanted to go pretty easily. But beware, sensible shoes are a must since this convention is almost 5X C2E2 in size! There was so much to see, so many vendors, a great cosplay dedicated area, gaming areas, table top gaming, exciting things even outside, THERE WAS SO MUCH STUFF HERE. This is a con where you can not see it all in one day. If you want to see it, it is a for sure 2-3 day thing. It was insane.
My favorite part was the free “draw here” thing they had in the artist alley, I was a little shaky by the time I for to it so nothing about me could relax and draw, but I did manage to draw a little skull dude for 5 minutes for fun!
My second favorite part to see was the cosplay sets, they had an entire area dedicated to a mass of huge free cosplay photoshoot session sets. They had a Cherry Blossom Garden, they had a full classroom, Sailor Moon Set, Post Apocalyptic set, so many cool sets! I wish I could have gotten closer to get better images of them, however I am short and this place was packed. I would definitely suggest going to this convention on one of the off days to have easier access to everything, but you could also get to everything with patience.
Overall, this was a cool con, I was definitely surprised that I didn’t get sick at it, by the end of the 2-3 hours I was there I was faint, and luckily I found some friends to help me get a ride back home before it got too out of hand.
I think the funniest thing about this event was that I was so excited to meet the Cosplayers from LA and friends I have made from LA over the years but the only people I managed to find were my friends FROM CHICAGO, and it was all by coincidence that I ran into most of them. I also found two friends from New York, so that was pretty cool to get to finally meet them- but in California haha!
