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Forum - View topicNEWS: Anime Expo's SPJA to Rebrand With Continued Focus on Japanese Culture
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AnimeLordLuis
 Posts: 1626 Location: The Borderlands of Pandora |
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Well it's great that SPJA is expanding to include more Japanese culture then just Anime and it's also good that Anime Expo will remain "Unchanged" but I think that they could have done this years ago so why all of a sudden now.
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mgosdin
 Posts: 1302 Location: Kissimmee, Florida, USA |
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Funding my friend, funding. I would be willing to bet that the organizers of SPJA wanted to expand their organizations scope years ago like you said, but there was not enough money to do so. Now, there is.
Mark Gosdin |
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Hiroki not Takuya
 Posts: 2658 |
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While I think it's great that SPJA is moving to get closer ties to Japan, I hope they don't forget the US fans, since Anime Conji in San Diego was canceled this year...
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Cutiebunny
 Posts: 1767 |
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They already have. Actually, they haven't cared about the fans in well over a decade. They cater exclusively towards the industry or anyone who can pay industry level funds. The bulk of their guests are all brought over by various companies like Aniplex and are controlled by these companies in return for booth space and premium panel slots. I figured it would only be a matter of time before Anime Expo not only tried to mimic Japan Expo, but also tried to become the anime version of Comic Con. I'm sad to see that Anime Expo has become so industry focused as to forget its roots. The entire convention is solely focused on fleecing attendees for as much money as possible, either because any event you want to attend costs extra or can only be accessed if you bought a premium badge. As for their name change, I hope they change it to Aniplex Expo as that seems to be in tune with the direction the convention is going. Just like Aniplex, AX is charging you as much as they possibly can for content other conventions give you for much less. |
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Shay Guy
 Posts: 2295 |
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All I want is a sequel to the 1996 megaposter.
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DaisakuKusama
 Posts: 85 |
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Thank You. Couldn't have said it better myself. However, they are so focused on fleecing attendees, they've begun charging Industry members for their badges. Even SDCC doesn't do that. I think that's known as "biting the hand that feeds you." When even Aniplex staffers are being forced to pay for admission, you have to wonder what motivates the current regime at AX, and how long it will be before the Industry turns its backs on them. |
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Kadmos1
 Posts: 13615 Location: In Phoenix but has an 85308 ZIP |
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I was just looking up that poster. Without a doubt, that is the anime poster I have seen with the most characters. I don't know how long it took the artists to make it but it was awesome. If they do a follow-up, they could just do characters from the past decade and possibly put even more characters. A way to really fill that gap up is if they used the many Yu-Gi-Oh! monsters. |
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leafy sea dragon
 Posts: 7163 Location: Another Kingdom |
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Anime Expo is the only anime convention I've ever been to, and I've been going there for less than a decade. What makes other conventions different from it? |
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vision33r
Posts: 90 |
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Too many attention-whore cosplayers that aren't really japan anime fans. Most of these folks watch dubs, have no clue Japanese culture or care about it.
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Cutiebunny
Posts: 1767 |
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They're fun. There are some conventions, like Animazement, that I absolutely love to attend. They get solid, Japanese guests. With the exception of the craft classes which are run for charity, everything is included including the concert, masquerade and pretty much everything else that Anime Expo charges to attend. You don't have to wake up at 4 am to line up with thousands of others, vying for one autograph ticket. You don't have to spend five hours in line for a popular panel because you couldn't afford the premium badge. The convention also has free cold water stands, so you can fill up your water bottle or grab a nearby cup. Hotels are decent and won't cost you $200+ a night, but that might also be because you don't have to fight 90K other attendees for what limited space is available. If you, like myself, feel that Anime Expo is a convention of diminishing returns, I'd encourage you to look elsewhere. While traveling across country might seem expensive, I spent less on airfare/hotel this year than I did just on an AX block hotel last year. |
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leafy sea dragon
Posts: 7163 Location: Another Kingdom |
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I see. Many of the problems you list are due to the huge attendance numbers Anime Expo gets, however.
Me, I don't really see diminishing returns between years; the only year I really felt dissatisfied was when they had to share half of the convention center with the X-Games. I also live nearby, so the most I pay for is parking. I know where to look, so I pay $5 per day, or, if I'm willing to wait for longer, I pay $3 for a round trip on the Metro Red Line. I'm not really interested in most of the paid events; I go to conventions for their panels. I've never been to any small anime-related conventions, though I have been to small non-anime conventions. The most recent one I went to, Arcade Expo in January 2016, is $100 for the full 3-day pass. I also spent $40 there competing in INDISC 2016. I don't know the attendance numbers, but its artists alley was literally three booths, and its only panel room looked like a storage closet and fit about 25 people. But thank you for the detailed response. I can definitely understand why those things make you upset, though with me, even small conventions around here are crowded and pricey. |
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Hiroki not Takuya
Posts: 2658 |
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Cutiebunny
Posts: 1767 |
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PMX is a good small con. I used to attend when they were right by LAX. PMX was nice because it was small and it did get good Japanese guests. They had Back-On perform back in 2014. Great show. If you go to AX to cosplay, take pics of cosplayers and shop in the dealer hall or because it's close by, it's a fine convention. If you go because you want to meet the guests, watch the musical act perform or attend panels, it's not. The premium badge used to be a good tool because the autographs were held in the dealer hall. This meant that premium badge holders wouldn't have to line up at 4 am just to get an autograph. Now that the autographs have moved elsewhere and require you to line up at 4 am daily just for 1 autograph ticket, the premium badge is worthless. Maybe it's just me getting old, but when a con requires that you get up at 4 am every day just to get an autograph ticket for the only thing you care about at a convention, it's time to look elsewhere. |
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leafy sea dragon
Posts: 7163 Location: Another Kingdom |
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I actually have not been to any anime-related conventions besides Anime Expo. When I talk about other conventions in the area, I mean ones with themes not related to anime. My point is that, regardless of the theme, conventions in the southern California area are very crowded. I had thoughts about going to Sweets Expo and Pizza Expo, but I couldn't fit them into my schedule. But from what I hear, they are always salmon-packed too. The most popular cosplayers in any given year, and just how much of them are not anime or video game related, seems to be related to if there were any big hits that year. I remember one year...2013, I think, the cosplayers representing western franchises (most of them My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Adventure Time, Minecraft, Homestuck, Regular Show, Doctor Who, Halo, Call of Duty, Wreck-It Ralph, or Avatar: The Last Airbender) far outnumbered cosplayers representing Japanese franchises.
Hmm. Different strokes for different folks. I've never been interested in any Japanese guests (except for Shinichiro Watanabe and Keiji Inafune), and there's so much choice in panels at Anime Expo that I can get my fill without visiting any premium panels. (The top priority to me is always The Unofficial One Piece Podcast panel, which is not premium.) I've never obtained a premium pass, just a standard 4-day pass. The only autograph I've ever received was from Vic Mignogna in 2014; I got my ticket at about 11:30 AM and got his autograph at around 5:30 PM. As far as buying things go, Anime Expo is my chance to find plushes I'd have a difficult time finding even online, and I like to get grab bags with random merchandise inside. I'm probably really weird that way. Though the main thing that bugged me in 2015 was the security. The guards had no clue what they were really supposed to be doing and, in some cases, took over for volunteers in managing lines or stood in front of doorways not letting anybody in at all. I got there on Day 0 and saw one of the guards block Justin Rojas, from FUNimation, from getting in no matter what, until someone with a cart full of boxes went in and said "He's with me." I had an issue with my badge, and the person I was supposed to ask was inside, and this guard wouldn't let me in and redirected me to the wrong line. Usually, the guards are either careless or playful (sometimes a bit TOO playful; there was a case in 2012 I saw of a guard harassing a girl in a Kyubey hooded jacket); 2015's guards were overzealous. All of them. They almost looked scared, as if they'll be fired the moment they let the wrong person pass through, and were definitely not given proper instructions. |
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