Anime LA 2010

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<H2><FONT COLOR="GREEN">Anime LA Review 2010</FONT></H2>
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I attended <B>Anime LA</B>, January 8-10 at the LAX Marriott Hotel. I went with a friend on Friday. The plan was that my husband would bring the whole family on Saturday. That did not happen due to money issues. Which is too bad, because it was the perfect show for them to attend. There were over 3,000 attendees during the 3-day show. 2/3 of the attendees were under 25 years old and 4/5 of them wore a costume. I highly suggest anyone with multiple costumes attend this show and get your Cosplay jones on. 
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I took Photography in school and I really enjoyed taking photos all weekend. I was not working the convention, but I took so many pics that it almost felt like I'd made it my job. My camera ate through 4 sets of batteries by noon Saturday. The much visited gift shop was sold out of batteries and other items (poor planning). I was fortunate to get a set of Duracell's from a friend and they lasted the rest of the time. I'm upgrading my camera batteries to Duracell next time. I took 163 viable pictures and narrowed them down to 124 (loaded on Photobucket).
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This is an extremely costume friendly show! There were official group meet up signs posted and the entire pool area was swarming with groups. It is always fun to see 40 Narutos show up in one photo. Besides the Steampunk folk some of the most beautiful were from Black Butler (Manga finally available in English in January).
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Funny Moment: A guy threw chocolate coins into a group of girls and they dove on it like piranha, despite their costumes getting in the way. I thought someone had thrown a bridal bouquet. It was crazy!
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Cosplay Chess: Cosplayers are used as pieces in a large-scale chess match controlled by two chess masters. The game could be watched in the courtyard or directly above. It was a great game placed in the exact right spot for perfect viewing. There were other fun things to do like Cosplay Battle, which seemed to involve a fighting stance and saying something funny your character would say. I am sure someone out there knows the real rules, but it was fun to watch.
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Un-Funny Moment: Several of the costumed attendees headed outside to the local fast food establishment. Their military type costumes included Airsoft rifles. This made the locals nervous since it is next to an airport, so the Police rolled up in a huff. It did all work out in the end. In this climate of crazy security everyone should have known better.
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The Show had a Dealers room, Live Music room, Anime viewings, Film Festival, Gaming room, Panels and a Masquerade Saturday evening. The placement of the Autograph Area next to the Live Music room seemed a bit off to me, but everyone was constantly serenaded. Voice actors were the special guests and occasionally I would hear something I just did not expect come from a person I did not expect :)
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Naturally the bulk of the exhibitors were selling Anime of some type. Fortunately their product differed or it would have been boring. There were small figures, cards, large figures, Manga, pin & charm vendors. A vendor sold Steampunk & Leather items, two had Lolita clothes and another sold Cosplay outfits. My purchases were a handsome silver pocket watch for my Man, 6 anime playing cards, 4 small anime figures, 2 Manga, a Victorian underwear pattern and 2-inch wide purple & silver ribbon.
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I went to only 1 panel called Steampunk 101. For some reason this was the exact moment my husband decided to call me. I stepped out of the room to take the phone call and missed 10 minutes of a 30-minute panel. Yes, I am still annoyed. One good thing that happened is I saw, Ms. Neidengard wearing her very cool Victorian Wonder Woman costume and I got to take a picture.
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For the Masquerade on Saturday night the convention organizers had the audience come in small groups to be seated. This worked pretty well for a 600+ seat room. (I would hate to see that tried in a larger venue.) They had 76 people in 29 entries work their magic. The MC was funny. He came out on stage to the song "Secret Asian Man".
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Badge Ribbons: One of the fun and silly things to do at a convention is collect ribbons. I managed to pick up only 3 new ones: Shiny, Glitterati and Powered By Steam (in a cool font). Some attendees had dozens of ribbons and I am wondering where they got them from?!
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I really did enjoy the show and will definitely bring my kids next time!
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I posted all pictures on Photobucket under Anime LA 2010. Go take a peek
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The website is <A HREF="http://www.animelosangeles.org/wp/"> http://www.animelosangeles.org/wp/</A>
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