A question often asked of me by my friends is "Why on earth do you still go to Anime Expo?" Anime Expo, for those who don't know, is an extremely huge anime/manga convention on the west coast. It might even be THE biggest anime/manga con on the west coast, I don't know. Attendance has been growing steadily every year; from a measly 1,750 in 1992, to a whopping 40,674 in 2006; this represents a 29% annual average growth. (see this (Google cached) page at the anime-expo web site).

Of course, this is just a drop in the bucket compared to the attendance of San Diego Comic-Con, one of the world's largest comic conventions; in 2006, SDCC boasted an attendance figure of a whopping 114,000 (ref: SDCC website). That's larger than many midsize cities! But of course, Comic-Con is less specifically focused than AX; it deals with comics in general, and not specifically Japanese (and derivative) anime/manga like AX is; it is for that reason that I have never really been interested in attending SDCC, although I have always wanted to go once, just to say that I've been.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. My friends always wonder why I brave the crowds and insist on attending AX, when there are a lot more smaller, friendlier cons to go to. One friend in particular tried to drag me to the first Anime Los Angeles convention back in 2005; but I wasn't really interested and I also couldn't leave, as I had recently started a new job at that time. She finally succeeded in getting me there for A-LA 2 in 2006, and yes, I did enjoy it. I don't hate small cons; quite the opposite in fact. I love all cons, both big and small, but for different reasons. Reasons which you will get a hint of in the post below. So without further ado...

( Cry Havoc! And let slip the dogs of war! )

Tags: a-la, anime, anime conventions, anime expo, anime los angeles, ax, fanime, fanimecon, jtaf
Current Mood: contemplative