Convention News (150)
Fanime is known for a few things and one of those is cosplay. Here's a glimpse at some of the great ones we saw!
Ramen Summit @ JPOP Summit 2017 Impressions
Jason Young & J.M. Alcala
From high-energy musical acts and guests such as Bandmaid to tasty booths such as the Sake Fest and assorted Japanese food trucks, there's a little bit of something for everyone under the sun; and believe me when I say that the sun really was out in full force during the event. Despite that however, many a fans were thrilled to satiate their palette with a selection of some of the Bay Area's finest ramen shops at the Ramen Fest, with each of the five restaurants bringing their best specialty bowls to the shores of Fort Mason.
Maidreamin Returns with their Moe Moe Kyun Powers to Anime Expo
Written by Salvador Mateos
Maidreamin returned to Anime Expo to entertain their masters and princesses. This year, Ayame returned to Anime Expo and brought along Peace and Yuno, two new Maidreamin maids. Maidreamin had two sessions everyday, and they filled up the room with masters and princesses. Along with the Maidreamin maids were other local maids that were ready to play games like Jenga, Connect Four, and Pop-up Pirate with the attendees. Attendees were able to buy coffee, and Yuno would use her moe moe kyun powers to make it taste better. Once everyone got settled in their seats with their drinks and had played some games with the other maids, it was time for the show to start. Yuno, Peace, and Ayame took the stage by lighting candles to welcome the masters and princesses home. They performed a new song made especially for Anime Expo and their Maidreamin theme song as well. The guests had a blast interacting with the maids as well as buying their merchandise; posters, music cards, CD’s, mini polaroid pictures and a special tote bag designed by Peace herself.
The amazing pole dancer, Momomc (pronounced momo-mac), returned to perform at the Anime Expo night café. She had multiple shows every night and one during the preview night. This time, the outfits she brought to Anime Expo included a mermaid, maid, neo oiran, Lum, and Rei from Evangelion. She announced the outfits on her Facebook page, so people could choose what show to attend before hand. The night café was 21 and over, and each ticket to the show included a free drink. If that was not enough, attendees to the show had the chance to win more drinks for their table. To begin the show, MC Steven took the stage and welcomed everyone who attended the show. In between dancers, the MC played games with the attendees, where attendees had the chance to win more drinks for their table by winning in trivia games. Some of the trivia games were ‘name that anime song’ and ‘sailor scout attack or sex toy’. In the session we attended, Steven came up with the hashtag #comeonpedro due to one of the contestants named Pedro who...um...let's say, needed some help with the answers. Steven made the comment that playing the game of ‘name that anime song’ was a bad idea at an anime convention because the participants were not getting any of their guesses correct.
J-POP SUMMIT 2017 Announces On Sale Tickets and Initial Roster of Live Music Artists And Performers
Written by Ken Dubois
The San Francisco Bay Area’s Premiere Japanese Pop Culture Event Announces Advance Tickets and First Musical Guests of Honor; BAND-MAID, Babyraids Japan, Misaki Iwasa And YANAKIKU To Perform
J-POP SUMMIT 2017 has announced advance tickets for this year’s 2-day festival will go on sale on Friday, May 26th exclusively at: www.J-POP.com.
When I first went to see the popular Japanese pop group Berryz Kobo at Sakura-Con in 2011, I have been extremely enamored with Seattle’s premiere convention. There’s a fantastic array of Japanese culture, video games, cosplay, and much more. This year marks the 20th anniversary of Sakura-Con and my overall experience with the convention has not declined. Sakura-Con manages to keep the excitement level high while having an overall relaxing experience. This is not to say that there was a lack of activities and events. The guest list included some well known voice actors and artists throughout the industry, both overseas and local, and of course the Japanese pop sensation Miliyah, as a musical act.
As one of the up-and-coming anime conventions in the Bay Area, AOD has treated incumbent attendees with a wealth of increase in terms of potential over the past few years since their humble beginnings in San Francisco. After last year’s convention at Santa Clara, which was considered a success to me, I was originally disappointed to see that they had moved from the convention center proper to the nearby Santa Clara Marriott when I first heard about it.
Cowboy Bebop Jazz Cat Experience @ Anime Expo 2016
Written by Salvador Mateos
Anime Expo may be more than a month ago but the Cowboy Bebop Jazz Cat Experience was something I will remember for years to come. This year, fans of Cowboy Bebop had a chance to attend the Cowboy Bebop Jazz Cat Experience featuring Alice Underground, brought in by Bang Zoom, Funimation and Anime Expo. This was a treat to all those Cowboy Bebop Jazz loving fans.
Anime Revolution 2016 – A Celebration of Anime & Japanese Pop Culture!
Written by Dawn Lam
Anime Revolution or AniRevo for short, is a three day celebration of anime and Japanese Pop Culture, hosted yearly in the heart of Vancouver, BC, Canada. This year, AniRevo was held from August 5th to 7th at the Vancouver Convention Center. From the official website, advertisement, and their own mascot – a blue haired kawaii, race queen style girl nicknamed “Senmei”, line-up of merchandise, the vibe this convention gives can easily be summed into one word: organized. This would not be my first time attending AniRevo, however the first time that I took time to reflect on my experiences as an attendee.
A recent trend that has been popular with most conventions are after dark events; shows and exhibits catering to the older, and more mature con-attendees. These events are for the 18 or 21+ and are strictly enforced by the staff, so parents and guardians should not have to worry about their little ones stumbling into any of these events after curfew. This year Anime Expo invited world-famous Japanese artistic pole dancer, momoMc (pronounced Mo-Mo-Mac) to perform at the AX Night Cafe.
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Domobics with TPDomo FAN EXPERIENCE @ J-POP SUMMIT 2016
Written by Ken Dubois
Domo-kun has had a long history, as the mascot of the Japanese broadcast company NHK, and behind his large, saw-toothed mouth, there’s something endearing about this brown, open-mouth monster. During this year’s J-POP SUMMIT, the NHK mascot collaborated with the idol group Tokyo Performance Doll, forming a new unit called “TPDomo”. Making their American debut, Tokyo Performance Doll (TPD), kicked off J-POP SUMMIT at Fort Mason Center on the main stage with a fun and energetic five-minute workout called “Domobics” at 11:00am on both days.
When someone says Akihabara what comes to mind? Among those answers somewhere would have to be Maid Café. When once upon a time to have a real experience of a maid café you once would have to fly to Akihabara but not anymore during Anime Expo 2016 Akihabara maids came to us. This year Anime Expo invited Special Unit: 003 from Maidreamin the No.1 Maid Café restaurant in Akihabara.
I’ll be honest whenever I think of going to Anime conventions, I like to compare it like a weekend at Disneyland. Sure I will try go to all the events and rides that I possibly can and still not seeing everything there is to see while still having a great time. Anime Expo once again shattered attendance records, and raised the bar for Los Angeles’ premier anime convention for the anime industry presented by the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA).
Fanimecon is the premier convention in the San Francisco Bay Area, our expectations have been raised even higher since last years con after what seemed like a perfect year for Fanime in 2015. To our surprise the positives outweighed the negatives. Fanime is still my favorite con to hang out during memorial weekend.