So Anime Expo has been over for almost a month now. The reason it took me so long is I only just got back from California a few days ago, and I was busy pretty much the entire time I was there. However, now that I’ve settled back down at home and completed Catherine, I think it’s about time I talked about what went down at the expo.

Unfortunately, this post probably won’t be as good as it should be because even though I said I would take pictures, I kind of got lazy. I took maybe two or three. There were other pictures of my girlfriend and I in cosplay (hey, it’s more fun than you’d think, I promise!), but I’m going to go out on a limb here and decide no one wants to see that, so I’ll only include one.

Also, I don’t want to look too vain. Anyway, I guess I’m just not much of a shutterbug, when it comes down to it–but I’m kind of okay with that, since there’s no more space on the system for images. Hopefully, I can make up for it by stealing other peoples’ pictures! By linking to them, that is. I’ll try to strategically punctuate the text with pictures so that it doesn’t get too boring. No guarantees.

So I had also gone to Anime Expo 2010 last year, and that had actually been my first con. It was also the most fun I had ever had, ever. There’s something about wandering the gigantic exhibition hall (for those of you who went to Wasabi-Con, the dealer’s hall there could probably fit into AX’s 20 times, if not more), seeing all the dressed up people, pointing out recognizable characters to your friends, and wishfully ogling the stifling amount of merchandise. Also, if you’re cosplaying, you get stopped every few booths for a picture–because seriously, if you pick a popular character that you can decently pull off, you will be everyone’s best friend.

Of course, it’s hard for me to encourage someone to spend $250 for round trip + con registration, for a four-day vacation, but I do think every anime fan should visit a large convention someday, at least to try it on for size, because there is SO much stuff to see.

That said, when I went this year, we didn’t actually go see that much. We visited the Fakku! panel because my girlfriend was interested, and also because it’s a site I visit now and again (a fact I’ll probably regret admitting in a minute or so), and that was pretty funny. Otherwise, we didn’t want to pay money for the Kalafina/Miku concerts or the masquerade, but hey, I’m sure there’s a recording of it… somewhere. Size problems and technical difficulties also made it so we couldn’t see the AMV contest. Ah, well. That’s actually okay with me, because the dealer’s hall is, in this humble anime fan’s opinion, the best part.

Honestly, I have never been surrounded by so many wall-scrolls, figurines, and copies of cheap manga in my life. There was a booth that was selling 3 volumes of manga for $10, and their selection actually wasn’t half bad.

Part of me wishes I could have taken millions of pictures of some of the figures on show there, but to be honest, you should probably just visit a site that specializes in that sort of thing. Oh, and there was also plenty of, ahem, alternative doujinshi to inspect.

The good thing about the dealer’s hall is that it’s generally competitive with prices you would find online, often better, plus you aren’t paying for shipping. Unfortunately, you really have to scan the ENTIRE hall to make sure you’re getting the best price (which can take days, especially if you have a slowpoke in your party).

A figure that’s $50 at one booth could easily be $30 or less somewhere else. We hunted around quite a bit for a Yoko dakimakura for my girlfriend, and most were selling it for either $30 or $35, but there were definitely a few places trying to gouge more out of people.

Speaking of price gouging, it’s probably a good idea to be wary about buying things from Artist’s Alley. Obviously they have a rougher time of things, but generally you can get more professional quality items for around the same price that they charge for a hand-made product. So unless homemade charm really makes your shorts shrink, Artist’s Alley isn’t much for merch unless you enjoy prints. Personally, I like to stroll around and look, but I’ve never bought anything from there (for myself).

Anyway, I think I’m running out of things to talk about, and I think this is getting wordier than I meant it to. Oh, yeah. BanDai had a huge booth again, with tons of fully painted, beautifully made Gundam models in their huge display case. Not to mention the four-foot tall RX-78-2 (that’s the Gundam you probably see in your mind whenever ‘Gundam’ is mentioned). Also, Panty & Stocking was huge this year, in terms of both fanart and cosplay. Unfortunately it’s too early for lots of Madoka stuff, but there was still some pretty great cosplay.

I suppose that’s about all I have to say, unless someone reminds me of something or has questions about something specific. As a little disclaimer, if this post seemed kind of overenthusiastic, it’s because I admittedly get caught up in the so-called ‘nerd culture’. I can have fun surrounded by Naruto fans–sue me. I’ve read from a number of people that left the con unimpressed or even horrified, but hey, I enjoyed it. (Also, my girlfriend was with me, so that helped a lot.)

Hope this post didn’t bore you too much. If it did, let me make it up to you somehow. Just not today.

If you want to see more pictures from the con, you can go here. There’s a lot of stuff to see. Hope you guys enjoy!