1The Anime Expo convention proved once again in 2005 that it is one of the leading expos in the west coast. With over 30,000 people crowding into three main hotels and one convention hall with the intent of sharing their love for Japanese animation and culture, the event can only be described in one manner: chaotic.

Wether you’re a standard attendee or a dealer, a collector or a viewer, a casual fan or an otaku, a cosplayer or a crossplayer, Anime Expo has something to offer you. To some, the con is a wonderful non stop party, while to others the con is strictly a place of business. Yet others see it as a place to mingle, and some regret ever making the trip there.

This story follows eight youths as they experience all that AX has to offer. They and the experiences they share are completely original and in no way are based on anyone real intentionally.

Caution: Prepare to see some spoilers for various series.

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Four Nights at Anime Expo 2005

By ChaiThai

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Thursday Evening

“Dude, wake up...we’re there.”

Adam was shaken awake by his friend Lawrence, who was looking left and right at the seemingly empty driveway leading to the Anaheim Convention Center. Their car slowly rolled up Convention Way. In the setting sun it was a bit difficult to tell, but he could make out the Coast hotel to his far right. Much closer to the convention hall itself was the Anaheim Hilton on his right, and the Anaheim Marriot to his left. The Marriot was where most of the major events of the con that weren’t being held in the convention center would be.

Behind him sat Sarah and Linda, both also sleep. The drive from Los Angeles wasn’t a particularly hard or long one, but all 4 had spent the night packing and preparing. Nobody wanted to forget anything on such an important trip, especially since this was everybody’s first time at AX. The only person who had actually attended a convention before was Lawrence, who had attended the rather lackluster Pacific Media Expo a year ago in the same location. As they considered themselves to be rabid anime fans, everybody was looking forward to the weekend.

“Oh man,” Adam said, “I can’t wait for this.”

“Neither can I...hey, wake up the girls.” The car pulled up to the parking lot for the Marriot, and Lawrence hit the button to get his parking ticket. As the car lurched forward Adam unbuckled his seat belt and leaned back, shaking Linda’s knee. “Linda...wake up...Hey...we’re there!”

Linda slowly blinked awake, yawning and stretching. “Are we there?”

“Oh yea, we’re there,” Lawrence said. The parking structure was already crowded with cars, some for a convention that was just wrapping up, and many more just arriving for AX. Linda started to push at Sarah’s shoulders but she was already preoccupied at looking around to see just what kind of people had shown up. She could already see small groups of people carrying in bags upon bags of luggage. Some looked packed enough to last for weeks. Others were already cosplaying, unusual considering that the opening ceremonies were more than 12 hours away. Sarah was also waking up, although having not slept the night before from being too excited was keeping her energy down.

Lawrence pulled into the first parking space he could find, about halfway between the hotel entrance and the opposite end of the structure. The four recently graduated teenagers piled out of the car and stretched their legs after having been stuck in Fourth of July traffic. They pulled out their bags one by one, each neatly packed and no more than 2 bags per person,

“Is everyone ready for this?” Linda said.

“Yup!” was the group response.

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Jason and Lara were dropped off just in front of the Hilton, where small groups of anime fans were already registering at the front desk. They were just dropped off by Lara’s uncle who had lived nearby. The two made quite a trip from the San Francisco area to get here, first by train and now by car to arrive for the weekend.

While Lara was quite an anime fan Jason was just getting into it himself. The difference could be seen in their laptops they carried; Lara had an assortment of anime wallpapers, soundtracks, themes, and downloaded episodes of unlicenced series on hers, Jason only had a DVD of Full Metal Panic in his.

“Look Lara, I understand you like this and all, but is this really a big deal? I mean, there are conventions up north...”

“I know,” Lara answered, “but this is Anime Expo! This is the big show everyone wants to see! I mean, it’s just as big as Otakon back east. And I’ve wanted to come for years...”

“Sure, but why bring me?” Jason asked.

“Jason, you’ve known me since you moved next to my house 10 years ago. And you know how strict my dad is...he said I couldn’t go unless someone I knew was there. He had no problem with you.”

“Fine...but is this gonna be any fun?” Jason managed to say as he flagged down a bellhop. He loaded their bags into a cart. As he turned back to look at her Lara had already started to walk inside. “Lara? Hey Lara, wait up!”

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While a smaller portion of the masses prepared for the con Jack was already prepared for the show. Having an older brother who had attended the show back when it was in Long Beach last, he felt confident in his handiwork. He had 4 cosplay outfits laid out on his bed, ready to be hung in his closet. As the costumes of Kurosaki Ichigo, Solid Snake, Cloud Strife, and Alucard laid out on his bed Jack did a quick inspection over each. He wanted to be sure each was ready to go and easy to set up for the show.

His brother Thomas was a seasoned cosplayer and last year was his final appearance. He had flown out to Boston earlier last year to continue his school work, and their parents had finally allowed Jack to go this year. They had been afraid of the party atmosphere that Thomas had described before, but before he left Thomas insisted that his little bro be able to go too. They finally caved. With that Jack had 8 weeks to sew, construct, and purchase the things he needed to complete his cosplays. With his brother’s advice he finished right on time. While checking in Jack noticed some people still carrying incomplete cosplays with the intent of finishing sometime during the nights. One group even had a sewing machine with them. Jack did not envy them at all.

He went to the bathroom to take out all his necessities. His two roommates would be coming in shortly. Friends from his college anime club, they had both attended AX the year before. Jack wanted to be completely ready before they came back up as he knew they would want to go walk around and talk to some of the early arrivers before anything really got started.

It was going to be an interesting weekend, Jack decided.