Anime Expo has come and gone and although we only went for one day, I had a lot of fun! It’s smaller than Comic-Con so walking around wasn’t that bad, and it was also my first time perusing through Artist Alley. Good times with good company, and finally meeting up with some online comrades! The amount of cosplay at this convention was amazing. I wish I could’ve taken pictures of everything, but to experience everything, you’d have to actually be there.
We left San Diego around 8 AM and got to Los Angeles around 10 AM. The drive wasn’t as bad as we thought it’d be. Listening to anime and video game music while munching on brownies and onigiri made time go by much faster. Lester‘s on the left, I’m on the right. My clear glasses fell apart within 2 hours of being there, though : Will have to return them; I just got them last Wednesday, too! Argh. The first thing we wanted to check out was the ParaPara panel, but we got cut off right when we got there. Sad face.
The funniest thing about Lester being in armor was the insane amount of times we all got stopped to take pictures. Seriously, though. Within 5 minutes of waiting for our friends, a mob of people flocked to him, asking for pictures. Venus has video coverage of it. Maybe it’ll be up on Youtube? *nudge nudge* Right before we left, a Shogun Vader and Darth Maul stopped Lester in his tracks. Once they all banded together, another huge horde of people came in.
Capcom was there with a small booth for people to try out Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom. I really wanted to try it out, but the booth was way too crowded! The representatives there told us that they’re definitely going to have it at SDCCI, so I’m definitely going to wait until then. And yes, that is TX-3017 doing a Hadouken. How he knows how to do that, I don’t know.
I know there’s a lot of impressive cosplay out there, but when people dress their kids up, they’re just so adorable! Take baby Haruhi for instance. The parents were sweet to let us take pictures of her. Unfortunately, Lester couldn’t get a picture with her. She got so bashful after a horde of people crowded around her for a picture. Luckily I caught her in time ^^;
One of the most random encounters there was running into Kel Mitchell of Kenan and Kel fame. He was promoting a brand of marker there. Not too sure what it was called. Touch? Magic Touch? Something to do with Touch. But hey! Kel still loves orange soda, and so do we.
After making our way through the convention, we decided to hang around Artist Alley, where a bunch of amateur and semi-professional artists come together selling prints and commissions of their work. I went around a couple of tables searching for some friends that I’ve met in the past via Gaia Online and Deviantart. In the end, I got a Team Fortress 2 Scout button from Emi and 2 prints of Gwendolyn of Odin Sphere and Yoko of Gurren Lagann from oh_8.
I’m contemplating on whether to do it or not next year: it looks tiring, but fun in the process! Plus, it looks like a great way of getting your name out there. For anybody with Artist Alley experience at any convention, care to give any tips and advice to a newbie? 
Oh, and cute Toph is cute. And yes, Stormtroopers can earthbend, too.
I’m aware that nearly all of my pictures have Lester in them, but hey! He surely garners a lot of attention in his suit. I was quite surprised that a lot of people actually recognized him this time around. Last year at Comic Con, he was called Darth Vader and a TIE pilot a lot, but this time, people really called him a Shadow Stormtrooper. Glad to know his character’s finally getting more recognition :3
And even at the end of the day, he still manages to get all the ladies. Lots and lots and lots of ladies. For more photos from the convention, you can check out my Flickr set.
As for loot, I actually didn’t get much. This is actually my AX loot combined with a package I got from Hobby Link Japan’s anniversary sale. The Elite Banana Banao plush, Mayura Pinky St., and Wave’s Yoko Space-Look version were from HLJ. At AX, I saw that particular Yoko going for $55-80! I bought her for $30 at HLJ 
The Miku Nendoroid and Chun Li controller were purchased at AX. Lester has the Ken controller.
I snagged Miku for $40 at a cash-only booth. It sucked because the ATM at the convention center had a $4.95 fee. 4-freakin’ 95! Who does that?! Argh. My bank account cried as I took out cash from the ATM, but at least I got my Miku nendo. The Chun Li controller was a steal for only $10! I bought a PS2-PS3 converter for $10, so it was $20 altogether. Not bad, considering the controller usually goes for a lot more. I’ve always wanted to get it when the Street Fighter Anniversary Collection came out a while back, but couldn’t bring myself to get it. Now I’m glad I waited 
The controller came with a special comic made by UDON. There’s an animation of Chun Li in the middle doing her 百裂脚, or Lightning Kicks. She’s actually not my most favorite female character in Street Fighter, though ;x #1 on my list is Sakura Kasugano. Chun Li’s my #2.
All in all, I’d be more than happy to make it out to another AX. Maybe I’ll do Artist Alley! Who knows. I had a lot of fun, and I’d be down to stay longer and hang around to check out panels and shows. Thank you to Hau & Justin, Nori, Lydia & Shosho, and Don for coming to hang out! And of course, Monty Crew, B. Fig and Shabanguh, too.
Tags: anime expo, Convention, cosplay
@999hp
I was debating on just driving up myself. Looks like fun!Can’t wait for Con.
That’s going to be nuts.
OH! THAT Chun-Li controller… It still looks nice, but I thought you got the PS3 one XD I thought about getting that one too back in Boston, but I wanted the PS3 version ^^;;Oooh there’s that Tieria ^_^ Dark Trooper is popular! Gundammed ATM charge! I hate those fees >_<.-= lightningsabre´s last blog ..A Unique Day =-.
Haha.. I heard a few Darth Vader remarks from some and a lot of, ‘Aren’t you a little short to be a Stormtrooper?!’ But it was all good, though…And that whole Kel encounter has to be one of the most random things I have ever seen… O___OVideos will be up soon!! =D.-= Venus´s last blog ..Anime Expo ā09 Eve =-.
It’s better than being called a Power Ranger ahahaha
Goddamn mini-Haruhi was cute.Have you read the Sakura comics by Udon? Some of them are pretty good..-= Snark´s last blog ..Anime is Unrealistic =-.
yeh! AX ’09! =]great seeing you guys there,saw some cool stuff from the artist alley…like this water color booth..that baby haruhi is really cute, that was awesome.and Kel mitchell hahah.-= @sHaBaNgUh´s last blog ..sHaBaNgUh: @jenitals i dont know…im scared to try it out lol =-.
everyone loves a stormtrooper, be it white or black.the babe in white top and black tie is cute! ^^;.-= gordon´s last blog ..Mascot Parade Orchard Road =-.
With everyday being sold out, it’s definitely going to be nuts
The Chun Li PS3 Fight Pad is so pretty!!
There was a booth that specialized in Japanese games and had a load of the PS2 controllers there! I remember those going for crazy when they were at Comic-Con a couple of years ago. The converter works well, so it’s not too bad. Actually kind of contemplating on whether to build a fight stick or not, since buying parts and assembling seems cheaper than buying a manufactured one.$4.95 was the most I had to pay fees for at an ATM. I could’ve bought food with that money! T____T That’s what happens when I wait till the last minute to get cash, bleh.
She’s freakin’ adorable! There were many other baby cosplayers running around, but that one takes the cake, for serious.I’ve seen the Sakura comics, but never got around to reading them. I’ll have to check them out when they come back for Comic-Con
Oh! How did your photo challenge go? :3
They do! Loads of people flock to him every 5 seconds, ahahaha.And yes, she’s realllly cute. Lester approves, lol
We just caught her right before we went to the parking lot.
@Lene-chan: Mmmm… ladies… more… ladies… more purple wigs too, lol. ^_^.-= xJAYMANx´s last blog ..Blog 208 > Gangsters, Grads & Gravure =-.
Oh dear, it looks like you’ll have to refer to me as ‘Yuuichi-kun’ when we meet up at SDCC, since we share a first name it seems XDGlad you had a great time at AX, but sad I wasn’t able to run into you guys =/ Will definitely see ya’ll at SDCC tho!! ^o^.-= Yuuichi-kun´s last blog ..100 Comments! =-.
I’d totally want to do another cosplay with my purple wig. The only other short purple-haired character that comes to mind is Major Motoko Kusanagi…
She has some revealing outfits, ahahah.
!!!Your name is Lester, too?! That makes 3 Lester’s that I know! :3 Let’s totally make that SDCC meetup happen, though. Did any of you guys meet up at DancingQueen’s panel on Saturday?
We tried to, but only 2 people were willing to approach me to see if I was ‘the guy’ and I was too shy to call out in a loud voice >< It was a learning experience though, and at SDCC I'm gonna bring a little sign ^^;.-= Yuuichi-kun´s last blog ..100 Comments! =-.
@Lene-chan: Major Motoko approved!!! Black leather or white leather? LOL, but do you think Lester would mind cosplaying as the hunky blonde artificial-eyed Batou?.-= xJAYMANx´s last blog ..Blog 209 > Keion, Krypton & Destruction =-.
I’m planning on the more conservative khaki major outfit ;x ahaha. Not too sure if I’ll fall through with it though since money’s kind of…non-existent at the moment. It’ll be an idea for the future though :3
Have a giant Mirai banner!
That Darth Maul looks awesome !.-= blauereiter´s last blog ..Life sized Gundam in Odaiba, Tokyo. =-.
He was very in-character, too
Oh! Can I propose a link exchange? :3
Oh man. I’m surprised that I haven’t seen these yet. Ha ha ha!I should place images up, but not now.
[...] got to run into Shogun Vader again! We saw him at Anime Expo a couple of weeks ago and were glad to see him again [...]
Hey wait a minute, are you related to the black jedi knight thing? I actually got a photo of him while walking through the exhibit hall. :O.-= Noob Saibot´s last blog ..Iām gonna try it one last time =-.