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Anime Los Angeles 2014 (ALA) General Experience Featured

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I attended Anime Los Angeles 10 (ALA) Jan 10-12, 2014 for the first time, so I didn't know what to expect. As someone who has attended other anime and science-fiction conventions before, I was interested in seeing how ALA would be; especially since they had a chairman who came from a sci-fi background. All I can say it was a very unique experience. The convention was well organized and had the normal things maid café, artist alley, dealer's room, masquerade, etc. In addition, one interesting thing was that the game room had panchiko machines in addition to the normal consoles for gaming tournaments.

For one, I enjoyed that the gatherings had designated areas such as the lobby and pool area. They also had time schedules in their programs and placards in the designated areas letting everyone know when and where they would be. So the cosplayers, fans and photographers didn't have to play the "hide-and-seek" game like other small conventions. I have personally been to other conventions where they leave it up to the fans to use online forums to arrange the gatherings themselves.

Another plus was that the organizers gave the attendees free snacks at the con suite. It really helped get me out of a pickle when I was in need of a snack to keep me going. I heard that this came from the Sci-fi influenced background that Chaz Boston Baden (the convention's chairman) brought with him to ALA. For that I say "thanks" on behalf of all the con goers.

As for the rest of the convention, let's just say that I will start with a close examination of the panels that they had. For starters, some of the panels were lacking in some areas while others were really well thought out by the panelists. Please note, I am not talking about the panels with the voice actors since the fans would be entertained just having them sit there and read the dictionary, as they read the definition of stupefied over and over again. The ones I that had some issues with were the ones hosted by people who thought of themselves as knowledgeable on the subjects that they chose.

For example the panel, "Best Japanese Idol Group of 2013" seemed to me as it was just a top ten list. When I first saw this on the program guide I was like, "yes finally a panel that might extend my idol knowledge." I personally wanted the panel host to give me some information on how to discover new or less known idols or how to follow them such as Japanese blogs, English websites, or any database where they had idol information. Instead, all I got was "here are some idols groups and a video top ten list". The description said "do you want to get into idols, but just don't know where to start?" This made me think the host would give us the tools we need to start our journey into wotaism. I was waiting for more information on each group as the host listed them, but instead all I got was the name of the group, how many members there were along with a fact or two and a music video.

Good example of panels that I attended were "Your Anime Sucks 2.1," "Your Favorite Anime and Why It Sucks (the unrated and uncensored version)" and "Moe and Soushokukei". All of them were entertaining and the hosts knew what they were talking about and were very informative. For example, in the panel "Moe and Soushokukei" the host Rome Yamashita talked about the history of the moe and soushokukei trend, as well as how it spread. His knowledge was great, and he had humor to go along with his presentation. He even gave examples and suggestions of each definition he gave. Also the panel "Your Anime Sucks 2.1" was full of laughs as the host Fuu and Joe from Panda Cubed took shots at telling fans in attendance why each anime that was named sucked. They had well-rounded knowledge of all the anime they shot down. They would take turns in breaking apart the anime that you thought was awesome and unique.

Also some concerts were not really what I expected. I know that this was a small convention, but it seemed that people just signed up to perform in the concerts. Some of the concerts did not even have more than ten people in the audience and if they did it was the manager, crew as well as a friends that attended. One performer even joked that some attendees were afraid to walk out in fear that they might hurt her feelings. That same singer forgot her own lyrics multiple times. I didn't go to every performance so there might have been a few good ones, so I will have to stress that I am just talking about the ones that I did attend along with my personal experience.

One big thing that made the convention unique in my eyes was how laid-back it was. There were bean bags everywhere so the con goers could take a break and rest. Also the ribbons that people collected during the convention once again came from Sci-fi conventions where people collect the ribbons and show them off. They had benches all around the convention which con goers can volunteer to paint or decorate as an art installation. This was every unique and could even give some new artists exposure. They were so nice that I didn't want to sit on them. On Day One, they had cosplay chess, yes you heard me right I said cosplay chess. Cosplayers stood in a big chess board while two con goers played chess and moved the cosplayers around the board. If you wanted to see a good view you had to be on the upper floor looking down. They had a room for costume repairs in case you needed tape, sewing, or a bit of touch up on your costume. For parents, they had a room where parents could just hang out with other parents. They also offered panels to help them understand what their kids are into.

Overall the convention seemed like a place where friends went to go hang out while cosplaying. The panels were mostly for people who were beginning to get into Japanese culture rather than companies pushing new releases like other larger industry conventions. Since most of the Guests of Honor were English voice actors this gave new anime fans a chance to get to meet their favorite actors and take pictures with them. This convention seemed to be more focused on making the con goer as comfortable as possible and making them have as much fun as possible by interacting with each other and making friends. I know that photographers had a blast hanging by the pool and that they also liked the snacks that the con suite provided for the con goers. I just wished that some panels had a bit more information than they did and that the performers were at least somewhat known so that more than half of the concert rooms were filled. That being said, I can definitely see a big future ahead for this convention this convention seems as it gets bigger and better.

If you plan to attending the next ALA (Jan 9-11 2015) you need to pre-register because Chaz said that they won't be selling tickets at the door so check out their website Anime Los Angeles to get your tickets now before they sell out since they are capping the tickets at 4000.

Last modified on Friday, 07 March 2014 14:27