Note: This is part 2 of my Anime Expo blog post. See here for part 1
Anime Expo (AX) is a four-day anime convention held annually in Los Angeles, California. It is the largest anime convention in North America, with AX2016 attracting over 100,000 attendees (more than four times the attendance we had at Sakura-con 2016). I hadn't attended Anime Expo since AX2011 (Mikunopolis LA), but this time it was announced that there would be a huge concert called Anisong World Matsuri featuring many popular Japanese anime music artists performing (such as JAM Project, T.M. Revolution, etc.) as well as TeddyLoid, so it was a definite must-go for me. I had also made a second batch of hand-made Fate/Grand Order cards that I was going to be handing out while cosplayed as Gudao, so I was looking forward to the Fate photoshoot and meeting fellow TYPE-MOON fans as well. I had also made a few new Dollfie Dream friends at Dolpa LA 2015 last year and would get another chance to hang out with them again. Last but not least, I going to be attending the con with a couple of friends that I hadn't met up with in a long time plus the lovely cosplayer Bridget and a few of my MMO guildies who I had never met before, so it was bound to be a fun time.
#Index
Because this was a four-day convention, there were a LOT of things to do and I took a LOT of photos, resulting in quite a long blog post which I've broken up into non-sequential sections:
Part 1 (previous post):
Part 2 (this post):
#Fate Photoshoot
The other photoshoot we attended was the Fate cause most of us are Fate fans. I was a bit sad that at the largest anime convention in North America they would organize it as the “Fate” photoshoot rather than the “TYPE-MOON” photoshoot. No love for Tsukihime/MELTY BLOOD cosplayers (one Sion did show up though!). I guess CANAAN and Zveda Plot weren’t too popular either. One of these days I’ll meet an Arcueid cosplayer, one day…
One thing I have to mention is that whoever chose the photoshoot spot did not choose well 🙁 Far more cosplayers showed up than there were space so we actually had to relocate to the stairs area beside our designated area. Unfortunately the stairs area also made for a terrible backdrop and lighting due to the building’s shadows. Getting a group photo was also impossible. Here’s some photos of the gathered crowd.
Oh well. Have some Sabers.
With Gilgamesh of course
Kirigitsus vs the lone Kirei
Fate/Zero cast
Oops, we forgot about Lancer. Oh Lancer.
The various forms of Shirou. Was a bit disappointed no one did Miyu’s version, would have added in a bit of variety.
Nine Lives Blade Works
Unlimited Rin Works?
Fate/stay night cast
Sisters
EMIYAs
Team Red
Team Blue
Shirou x Rin
Sneaking a quick one in the corner
I’m you, but stronger
Senpai?
#BestAssassinCosplayNA
Full Fate/stay night cast now that more people have arrived
Prisma Illya version of Illya
I’m actually at a loss here. Prisma Illya’s version of kid Gilgamesh dual-wielding the Kaleidosticks? Am I missing the reference?
Fate/Extra – Tamamo no Mae, Nero Claudius, Gilgamesh, Nero Claudius (dress outfit)
Fate/hollow ataraxia I guess?
Fate/Apocrypha – Achilles (Rider of Red) and Mordred (Saber of Red). Expect to see wayyy more F/A cosplayers in 2017 now that they’ve announced an anime adaptation. And by more I mean a bunch of Mordreds, Jeannes and Shirou Kotomine. If we’re lucky, there might be a Siegfried or two. A Frankenwaifu would be nice too.
Fate/Grand Order. I’m the Gudao in the middle in the standard white outfit.
Kiritigus and Irisviel
Don’t forget Illya. Just in time for some quality family bonding time.
Diarmuid x Kayneth
Lancelot x Kariya
Artoria vs Gilgamesh
Diarmuid x Artoria
Jeanne D’Arc Alters. Cosplayer LennethXVII is the one on the right (wish I could have gotten more photos of her but she left pretty early, apparently frustrated at the bad photoshoot setup and organization)
Fate/Prototype – Prototype Cu (Lancer), Hyde (Berserker), and three King Arthurs (Saber)
Enkidu x Gilgamesh
FGO’s Limited/Zero Over version of Shirou
FGO’s Heroine X
Saber-faces – Okita, Arturia Alter, Heroine X, Mordred, Arturia
More Saber-faces (+Jeanne D’Arc and Nero Claudius)
That’s a lot of Saber-faces (just like in reality!)
The Archer class really is made up of archers!
(lets just pretend Billy The Kid isn’t there)
Assassins – Heroine X, Hundred-Faced Hassan (on floor), Kirigitsu, Sasaki Kojirou, Jekyll
Berserkers – Kiyohime (1st Ascension), Hyde, Kiyohime (3rd Ascension) (I think the only time I’ve seen anyone cosplay as Heracles was at Comiket)
Riders – Young Alexander, Alexander the Great, Achilles
Enough with the Sabers, please @_@
Iskandar vs Gilgamesh was probably my favourite scene of Fate/Zero
Not exactly sure what’s going on here…
Tamamo no Bae
Quality father-and-son time
A wild Sion Eltnam Atlasia appears! Non-Fate TYPE-MOON works have not been forgotten!
Lets all do the Carnival Phantasm dance!
#Handing out FGO Cards
In the weeks before AX2016, Tsukikira and I spend a good amount of time putting together a few decks of hand-made FGO cards to hand out at Anime Expo. Most of the cards were handed out right after the Fate photoshoot, but a few of them went to cosplayers that I ran into/took photos of and a few to FGO players who saw my reddit post and managed hunted me down during the con (sonicxsam got a one-off Lancelot mailed to him for sharing his awesome Lancelot cosplay, JakLegendd got a one-off Rin dango CE for his help with collecting the ascension artwork screenshots, and Tsukikira got a custom Archer Rin for his help making the cards). Here's the photodump of all the happy gold card owners, may your rolls be just as good!
Here's the individual shots
Here's me and Tsukikira being swamped by Gudako/Gudaos
Seeing all these happy faces of fellow TYPE-MOON fans was well worth the effort!
#Dollfie Meet
There were two BJD meets listed on the schedule (one on Friday and one on Sunday) but I was only able to attend the first one due to schedule conflicts. Volks USA actually had an official booth at Anime Expo so two of their staff (Volks USA's general manager Hideyoshi Shigeta and someone from the Volks JP branch who was head of product development, forgot his name) actually sat down with us at the DD meet and talked with us. I'm 90% sure my talk with Product-Development-Head-san lead to the recent Saber Alter Santa DD as one of the topics that I discussed with him at length was the popularity of Saber in the DD community and the business opportunity for Volks to do a new TYPE-MOON collab given the recent success of Fate/Grand Order. One of the other topics we talked about was the need for a Megurine Luka DD and that she should be an M-bust, so if Volks does introduce a Luka DD in the future, you're welcome xD
Here's the group shots. I later heard the Sunday one had more people, oh well, this is still plenty big.
My favourite natural photo of Arc. Next time I'll probably also bring Rem as well. Lily, on the other hand, will probably never leave the house due to her fragile ponytail that I really need to buy an official replacement for.
This was also Tsukikira's Rin's public debut and first time with other Dollfies other than my Arc and Lily. Yes, I managed to convince Tsukikira to join the dark side, mufufufufu~
Not sure what's going on here…
Here's some close-ups of each individual Dollfie. A lot of custom creativity here.
Product-Development-Head-san taking pictures of the group, including a zoomed in shot of my Arcueid. His pictures would later get posted on the official Volks DD Twitter. Look Arc, you're famous!
Afterwards a few of us hung out at Wolfheinrich's apartment and had a mini shoot
#Cosplayers
Ever since seeing the best of the best at Comiket 86, it's become harder and harder to get impressed by cosplayers at anime conventions in North America. Nevertheless, I still do end up taking a handful of photos of cosplayers that I find impressive, unique, or just happen to conveniently be standing still while I'm walking around. Here's the photo dump
Elizabeth Bathory (Lancer) from Fate/Grand Order (3rd Ascension ver)
Xerneas (Gijinka ver) from Pokemon X
"Mad Scientist" Okabe, "Tuturu~" Mayuri and "Kristina" Kurisu from Steins;Gate
Mimi from Digimon tri
Megumin "Explosion" from KonoSuba
Genos from One Punch Man
Ahri from League of Legends
Aqua and Kazuma from KonoSuba
Saitama from One Punch man
Juvia Lockser from Fairy Tail
Mumen Rider from One Punch Man (being photo-bombed by gender-bended Izaya and Shizuo from Durarara!)
Guts (I think?) from Berserk
Two Reapers from Overwatch
Ikoma from Kabaneri
Mugen from Samurai Champloo
Another Genos from One Punch man. This one's armour had glowing LEDs in them.
Robot from Laputa: Castle in the Sky
Isaac from The Binding of Isaac
Genderbended Junkrat from Overwatch
Gwen from Odin's Sphere
D.Va from Overwatch
Mega forms of various Digimon. WarGreymon, Alphamon, Omnimon, Magnamon, and MetalGarurumon. I'm actually surprised I can still remember the names of all of these.
Jeanne D'Arc from Fate/Apocrypha
DJ Sona (Kinetic) from League of Legends
Shirahoshi from One Piece
Admirals from KanColle – yes, that Shimakaze dakimakura was actually torn up 🙁
RX-78-2 Gundam from Mobile Suit Gundam
Lancelot (Berserker) from Fate/Zero
D.Va in mech suit from Overwatch
Rikku from Final Fantasy X
Diarmuid (Lancer) from Fate/Zero
Genderbended Avengers? I'm not too familiar with comic book heroes but I'm pretty sure that's Captain America on the far left and Falcon on the far right
Spiderman doing a standing backflip
Genderbended Vash the Stampede and Nicholas D Wolfwood from Trigun.
That's a lot of Spiderman/Venoms. Don't know enough about Marvel comics to be able to identify which versions each are.
Storm from X-Men
Not sure, but I think the one on the right is a civilian 😛
Gilgamesh and Nero Claudius (Saber Bride) from Fate/Extra CCC
Kamina from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
Mumei from Kabaneri
Kyouma from Dimension W
Officer Ahri and Officer Caitlyn from League of Legends
Rin (Archer Costume ver) from Fate/stay night
Purple Heart (Neptune) and White Heart (Noire) from Hyperdimension Neptunia
Nono from Gunbuter 2/Diebuster/Aim for the Top 2! (so happy people haven't forgotten about this series)
Haruka from FLCL (the other series that I will always photograph cosplayers from if I ever meet any)
Squirtle Squad (and a mother Pikachu???)
#Loot
Loot! I wasn’t originally planning on buying anything but still ended up going home with a bunch of random stuff. Here’s the group shot of all the SFW stuff
Signed posters of SPCat members Tasha and Doremi. I don’t play nor plan to ever play Dungeon Fighters Online, but the fact that I got to meet the two and get their signatures is enough for me.
They were also handing out DFO cards with redeemable codes. By the time you’ve read this they would have all expired, oh well 😛
Touhou stuff! Danmaku!! card game box, Yukari poster, and a copy of Touhou 8 (Imperishable Night) and Touhou 9 (Phantasmagoria of Flower View). Originally wanted to get a second copy of Touhou 7 (Perfect Cherry Blossom) and have ZUN sign it for me but ended up missing both the Zun panel AND not getting tickets for his autograph sessions. So I guess it worked out fine cause now I have a copy of Touhou 7, 8 and 9.
Anime Expo 2016 souvenir booklet plus shot glass. I realized later that I didn’t actually have any shot glasses at home, so it actually gets used now when one of my friends comes over and makes mixed drinks.
Shiro (No Game No Life) mini pillow cover and Oshino Shinobu (Bakemonogatari) dakimakura
The Shiro pillow cover came with an inner pillow. Its really nice and fluffy (but too small to use as anything more than a throw pillow on the couch)
And here’s the 18+ NSFW loot:
Fakku’s dance party flier. Pretty much just kept this for the Napata artwork (still a bit sad I missed both the Napata and saitom panels) Saitom box on left, the translated doujinshis on the right, a 7-day Fakku! pass that I’ll probably never use, and a neck strap that I’ll also probably never use. Picture was taken after the Saitom box had arrived in mail (see #Merchant’s Hall section above for the story) The Saitom box set included Uniform Sisters 1, Uniform Sisters 2, Uniform Sisters 2.1, Uniform Sisters 3, Wrapping and Wrapping 2 Not sure if it’s the same for the original versions, but I noticed the covers for these doujinshis had special textures (not sure what the correct terminology is), so at least they look more fancy than most doujinshis Random sample page of the English translation from UnisiS2 Random sample artwork from Unwrapping 2 The limited edition boxSpoiler (Click to view)
#Videos
If pictures say a thousand words, then videos must be encyclopedias! Unfortunately most of these are pretty shaky videos taken from my hand-held camera. You can probably find better videos on YouTube but in either case, here's the ones that I have and uploaded. Click on the thumbnails to view the videos on Flickr.
Maids from the Akihabara branch of maid cafe chain maidreamin doing a cute dance
Lia performing "Bravely You" (Charlotte OP) for the half-time show for the Masquerade
Hilarious Rick and Morty x Super Smash Bros skit during the Masquerade
Snow Miku (2014 ver) dancing to "shake it!"
Minami Kuribayashi and Yoko Ishida performing a duet cover of "God Knows" (Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya) while I jump up and down like crazy
TM Revolution performing "HEART OF SWORD" (Rurouni Kenshin ED3). I actually tried hard to keep my hand steady for this one.
TeddyLoid playing a remixed version of "D City Rock" (Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt)
TeddyLoid playing a remixed version of "Scanty & Kneesocks Theme" (Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt)
TeddyLoid playing a remixed version of "ME!ME!ME!"
DJ I-have-no-idea-who playing "Rewrite" (Full Metal Alchemist OP4) while a NSFW gif plays on screen
Spoiler (Click to view)
And that's it for the long blog post. I was originally thinking about splitting it into multiple parts rather than just 2, but then I realized the longer I'd spend trying to think of how to write it, the higher the chance I would just procrastinate again, so I just went ahead and wrote it all. And by "write" I just mean "add contextual comments to the photo dump 😛 Since Anisong World Matsuri is coming back again to Anime Expo 2017, there's a fair chance I will attend again this year as well (but might not since I'm also planning another Japan Trip, probably in August for Comiket 92).
~Keripo
Flickr General + Concerts + Videos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/keripo/sets/72157671081704195
Flickr Kill la Kill Photoshoot: https://www.flickr.com/photos/keripo/sets/72157671081704165
Flickr Fate Photoshoot: https://www.flickr.com/photos/keripo/sets/72157671081704125
Flickr FGO Cards Handing Out: https://www.flickr.com/photos/keripo/sets/72157671081704115
Flickr Dollfie Meets: https://www.flickr.com/photos/keripo/sets/72157671081704175
Flickr Cosplayers: https://www.flickr.com/photos/keripo/sets/72157671081704185
Flickr Loot: https://www.flickr.com/photos/keripo/albums/72157670670767260
MyFigureCollection Part 1: http://myfigurecollection.net/blog/31741
MyFigureCollection Part 2: http://myfigurecollection.net/blog/31742
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/grandorder/comments/5o50o7/anime_expo_2016_fate_photoshoot_fgo_cards_more/
