5 Days In The Life of A-to-J: An Anime Expo 2024 Recap

By J.D.

Day 0 (7/3):

Also, my birthday and my cat’s.  

I had a birthday breakfast with my family before catching the train to Los Angeles. It took about two hours to make it to Union Station and from there, I caught the Purple Line to 7th and Metro and walked another 15 minutes or so to the hotel where I met up with Manuel. 

Over the next few hours, the rest of our roommates and friends came in and the party slowly started which was mostly drinking and singing along to whatever music was playing on the speaker at the time. We also tried to get a game of Jukebox, the karaoke musical that was recommended by Lemar the Con Guy during our interview with him at Anime Los Angeles earlier this year. We got through about four songs before it ended because our other players were too drunk to continue. 

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Day 1 (7/4):

I woke up early and headed out about 8:45. I arrived at the con center around 9:00 AM which I believe is the time the gates were supposed to open. Anime Expo is (in)famous for being a con that’s all lines. Last year, I waited more than an hour just to get in on day 1. This year, I was able to get in to the con in before 9:15. Is linecon dead? I guess it will take more time to see.

Blue Miburo Premiere

Based on the manga, Blue Wolves of Mibu by Tsuyoshi Yasuda, this was the anime I knew the least about before attending the AX premiere this year.  

It tells the tale of a young boy named Nio. One day he meets Hijikata Toshizo and Okita Souji, two ronin from Mibu who would later become founding members of the Shinsengumi. What plays out in the first episode is a fairly standard “Two tough looking guys come into town. Mysterious events are happening and people suspect that they’re part of it” plot that serves more to set up the premise of Nio joining them in hopes of making the world safer for the most vulnerable including children like him.

If I had to pick one word to describe this premiere, it would be “Average”. I can’t think of much that makes it stand out from other historical fiction series but I also can’t think of anything that would turn most people off. At worst, it’s a little too on the nose when characters like Nio are speaking their mind about Japan towards the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate and the start of the Meiji restoration. I’ll probably watch it just because I think this period in Japanese history is pretty cool.  

Conclusion: Give it three episodes

Spin the Wheel

This was a trivia game where two teams of three had to answer anime questions and if they got it correct, they spun the wheel to determine the number of points they got. If neither team got it, the audience got to answer it. I got to answer a question about Uma Musume: Pretty Derby.  I’ve never seen the show. I just figured it was the answer to a question about characters named after racehorses. Overall, it was a fun panel but the variable nature of gaining points made for a very swingy game where one team basically had double the points of the other one. I also would have liked for more than two teams getting the chance to play on the stage.

Batman Ninja vs Yakuza League / Suicide Squad Isekai Event

This was another interesting one. It was in the Nova theater in LA Live. There was a short trailer and interview with one of the directors, the character designer and the screenwriter for Batman Ninja vs Yakuza League. It looks like it’s going to be an interesting sequel to the original Batman Ninja that shows Batman and Robin against alternate versions of the Justice League known as the Yakuza League. The poster shows off a version of Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Flash and Aquaman all with yakuza tattoos and Green Lantern using a Japanese chōchin instead of a more traditional lantern.

The main part of this event was dedicated to Suicide Squad Isekai.  Episode 1 of the anime was shown dubbed. The first four episodes are currently available on Max and Hulu though at time of writing, only Hulu has the episodes dubbed. This isn’t a review or preview of the episode but I think it was a solid start. I think I’ll have to get used to the new voice of Harley Quinn but the action was good and I really liked this version of Clayface/Basil Karlo.  The only thing I could do with less of what felt like obvious name dropping of other WB franchises. Harley mentions being woken up by Tweety Bird, watching every episode of Game of Thrones and thinks the world they’re in is a Lord of the Rings set. One on its own would have been okay but together felt a bit too much.

After the episode, there was talk with the director and producer about the show and the upcoming episodes. Now, I’m looking forward to seeing what is coming next.

Finally, there was a performance of the ending theme “Go-Getters” by the artist Calliope Mori. The song is catchy and getting to hear it live or at least as live as it can be for a VTuber was nice. I just wish the audio had been mixed better for a concert and showing. That was a running theme of the day.

J-Pop Y2K: A Guide to Japanese Pop in the 2000s

Manuel’s panel on the 2000s Japanese pop scene was interesting. He’ll have put the slides up on the site by now so check it out there. Sadly, the dominance of AKB48 and Arashi means we’ll never see a 2010s J-Pop Panel.

Momentary Lily Ep 1 World Premiere

If you thought this was going to change your opinion on studio GoHands, I am sad to report that it will more than likely not do that. I liked K and was willing to give their Tokyo Babylon adaptation a chance before it got canceled. Other than those two, I only really knew GoHands for their reputation as a studio that seems to over-animate and under-direct which leads to the hot mess that is this episode.

In the course of 24 minutes, we’re introduced to six girls each fitting into some broad (no pun intended) archetype like The Leader, the Gyaru, the Gamer, the Big Sister and the Amnesiac. They use cool weapons to fight monsters in the ruins of post-apocalyptic Japan. I’m not entirely sure if the monsters are supposed to be robots or aliens or maybe alien robots but that was lost in the frantic pace this episode moved it.

The main characters also have to scavenge for food in the ruins and have been surviving off the few freeze, dried or packaged foods that haven’t already gone bad. There’s a quick scene where the new girl teaches them to make the food taste better and be more nutritious but it’s over just as quickly as it began thanks to the pacing issues. 

After the premiere, I got to talk with friend of the channel MrAJCosplay and we shared many of the same thoughts that you can find in their write up for ANN. The only thing I might add is that the big sister character Erika, due to the excessive amounts of animation, she breasts boobily in a way I don’t think I’ve seen since Highschool of the Dead.  

There’s about six months between now and the actual premiere in January so maybe there’s time to turn this around or the later episodes will be a massive improvement over the first. At the moment, I can only suggest you stay away unless you’re the kind of person who likes watching a train wreck in real time.

Conclusion: Skip it. 

2.5 Dimensional Seduction Premiere

The third and final premiere of Day 1 also brings the day to a close in the room where it began. 

Based on the manga of the same name by Yu Hashimoto, 2.5 Dimensional Seduction is a romcom and a love letter to cosplay and fandom. Main character Masamune Okumura is the president and at the start of the series, only member of his school’s manga club.  He is the kind of otaku who proudly and unironically says “2D > 3D.” He is dedicated to his waifu Lilliel and would never consider “cheating” on her.  

All of that could change as soon as he meets Ririsa Amano, an aspiring cosplayer who is just as big a fan of Lilliel and asks him to help her with her cosplays and her dream of creating her own cosplay photo CD.  

Will Ririsa’s cosplays and general nerdiness finally make Masamune see the appeal of real women? Probably. I don’t think this is going to go off in any unpredictable direction but after two episodes, it’s definitely shaping up to be a fun ride.  

If you saw the episode of UPZ where Fangy and I talked about our anime 3x3s, you might remember that I put Girlfriend, Girlfriend on there because I love this kind of slightly ecchi absurd romcom. I was laughing so hard at some of the situations in these episodes and if you have any interest in the kind of series, I suggest you watch it too.

Conclusion: Watch it

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Day 2 (7/5):

MangaGamer Q&A with Sayaka Ohara

Sayaka Ohara is one of my favorite Japanese voice actors. I love her performances as Erza in Fairy Tail, Titania in Ancient Magus’ Bride and Yuuko in Tsubasa Chronicles and xxxHolic. This panel focused entirely on Umineko When They Cry so I had very little idea what they were talking about but it was interesting to learn how she was picked for the role of Beatrice and her process of having to act out all the different sides to her personality. She was also joined by the visual novel’s scenario writer and illustrator Ryukishi07 which allowed for an additional prospective on Sayaka’s work in the series. Overall, it was a good panel that probably would have been a great panel if I had known anything about the Umineko. I’ll probably fix that in the near future.

Re:Zero Season 3 World Premiere

If you remember from our recent anime tier list episodes, I love Re:Zero so getting the chance to see the debut of season 3 before anyone else was a chance I leapt at. I had intended to guarantee my spot by going to the Honkai Star Rail panel in the same room beforehand but I underestimated the combined powers of Mihoyo and Trash Taste. That line was cut off probably a long time before I even got to it. I wandered around a bit to kill time until that panel started and immediately returned to the line where I waited for about 90 minutes watching Kiki’s Delivery Service on my iPad.  

The first episode of season three, set to premiere worldwide this Fall, is a 90-minute episode that occasionally feels like it might be better as four separate episodes. A while after the end of season 2, Subaru and Emilia are summoned the city of Priestella with the possibility of getting a crystal that can help Emilia achieve her goals. Over the course of the episode, more plotlines are woven in and different things start and stop which is why it might have been better as separate episodes. There’s not enough connecting all these things together but then, at the end of the episode, the stakes for this season are set. If I had been zoning out, the show had my full attention again. I can only hope that it keeps it up for the rest of the season.

Conclusion: Watch it.

This was followed by a Q&A with a few of the voice actors and production staff talking about their thoughts on the show and the upcoming season.  It was a lot of fun.

WayForward Developer Panel

My final event of the day was the WayForward panel. I love the Shantae and River City Girls series so I’m always excited to see what they’re cooking up next. This panel went over their most recent games as well as some announcements about and first looks at parts of their upcoming titles and the Double Dragon DLC for River City Girls 2 that adds Billy and Jimmy Lee as playable characters. You can find my rough video recordings on our YouTube channel to see for yourself.

The panel also offered their advice and stories on getting into game devs and working on the projects as they showed them off. They also took time to answer as many fan questions as possible and had a small trivia contest. Sadly, I wasn’t picked for the RCG question I knew because they said I jumped the gun. I really wanted that Mighty Switch Force collection.  

They closed off the panel with a special announcement that I won’t spoil here but you can check it out on our YouTube.

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Day 3 (7/6):

Kayli Mills Autograph Session

My morning and early afternoon were all taken up by getting autographs from friend of the channel Kayli Mills.  I woke up around 6 AM, showered and got to the con around 6:30. There was already a line a decent distance out from the Kisegi Gate. I sat there for a bit before the lines officially opened letting people inside to get into the line for autographs.  

Yes, I was in line to get in line for a thing where I would have to wait in another line. I guess LineCon isn’t truly dead. I spent another hour and a half or so in line for the autograph ticket and got ticket #40 for Kayli’s signing. That was about 9:30 or so for a signing that started at 11:30. I decided to walk around a little bit before heading back to the hotel room for a short rest and to check in with my roommates most of whom hadn’t been awake when I left.  

About 10:45, I left the hotel room for the JW Marriot where the signings were being held this year. Like I mentioned before, there was another line to get Kayli’s autograph but this was at least in an air-conditioned room that wasn’t packed with people so that hour or so was okay. I watched just watched so videos on my phone. When I finally made it to the front, I got my copy of River City Girls 2 signed along with my poster from the same game and my acrylic standee of Kayli’s character Misako.  

Finally, I purchased a print of Kayli’s character Alice from Sword Art Online for Manuel because she’s his favorite SAO girl and he just “loves” having Kayli voice his favorite character as seen in our recent YouTube short. I immediately headed back to the hotel to give him his present and rest up before returning to the Marriot for the next event.

Oshi no Ko Season 2 Special Showing

​This event was a presentation of episodes 1 and 2 of the second season of Oshi no Ko. I hadn’t watched the series until about a week before the convention and while I’m not the series biggest fan, I still wanted to see this.  

We were let in really early and the place packed up almost immediately. It was so hot and I was so far back that I had trouble seeing the screen until some of the people in front of me either moved seats or left.

This season starts off right where season 1 left off with the beginning of rehearsals for the Tokyo Blade stage play that Aqua, Kana and Akane all have roles in. These first two episodes also dived into the logistics and behind the scenes happenings of the player which all came to a head when the original mangaka for Tokyo Blade showed up and got into disagreements with the production team.  

It’s great drama and comedy but it occasionally feels a bit too heavy with exposition and like with season 1, it feels a bit too much when it’s Aqua being exposited at when another, less experienced character in the same scene would work better. I don’t think this ruins the episode but for me, it keeps it from reaching the same heights that it seems to hit for other people.  

There was also a Q&A with the second season producer Shimpei Yamashita and the voice of Ruby, Yurie Igoma. I found it awkward that she was there promoting these episodes because Ruby only has a handful of lines in these two episodes but she was still oozing enthusiasm for the role and the upcoming episodes.  

Finally, there was a giveaway based on the cards people were given when they came in the room. When it was announced, a decent chunk of the room, myself included, expressed confusion.  I think in the process of letting us in early, they hadn’t had time to hand them out. It sucks for those who didn’t get the chance but I wasn’t terribly bothered.  The prizes were a copy of season 1 on Blu-ray, the first volume of the manga and signed shikishi boards from just about every major Japanese cast member. In a happy coincidence, the winner was a cosplayer dressed as Ai so at least there’s a happy ending to this story.

Early Idols & City Pop: Music of the Showa Era

Despite the title sounding like it, this was not another of Manuel’s panels. It was another one that attempted to condense around 70 years of history into 80 minutes. Because of that, I think it was a bit too surface level look at the topic but as an introduction, it was pretty good even if I think Manuel would dispute some of the facts presented.

J-Pop Idols of the 1980s: The Golden Age of Show Era Pop

​Manuel’s panel right after the previous one. Because it was restricted to one decade, it was able to focus more on some of the trends that popped up and some of the people involved. Manuel’s style is a bit more chaotic but still a bit easier to follow. He’s probably also posted the slides on our website so you can check that out now if you want to see the actual content.

After that, we all headed back to the hotel room and they partied while I was kinda just there. I don’t really drink or party and too many conversations going on at the same time wear me out pretty quickly so I just put my AirPods in and laid down.

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Day 4 (7/7):

The next morning was mostly preparing for the trip back home. I packed up just about everything I could and cleaned up the room with the others.  

Charity Auction

Just like with Anime Boston, this was my final event of Anime Expo. Sadly, there’s no audience participation catchphrase for me to yell here so nobody knows me. There were a lot of cool items like signed copies of games, game mat, skateboards and drawings by guest artists. There was even a signed shikishi that went for $4000. I was lucky to get four One Piece wanted posters for Robin, Chopper, Mihawk and Crocodile for $150. That was a steal in comparison.  

And with that, my Anime Expo ended. I headed back to the hotel to pick up my luggage and headed for the train station to head home.

You can check out a different take of these events over on Ultra Podcast Z, linked below for your convenience.