The following post is going to be of pure fandom and nerdism. If you are in any way offended, please turn back now or forever hold your peace. XD[
This AX recap is going to be a bit longer than the previous years because Rachel isn't here so I'm basically speaking to her about it right now. xD]
I wasn't planning on going to AX this year. AX 2007 sucked major ass. It was terrible. Long Beach is a horrible convention center and the organization...wait, what organization? lol
I was a bit put off when I found out that this year's AX was going to be in LA. There are hobo's in LA, and it's really not safe to walk there at night like it is in Anaheim. Last year's AX also sucked so badly that I totally didn't wanna attend this year.
I made the split second decision to go to AX like 2 days before it started. I bought my ticket online and then asked Chelsea if she could pick it up for me so it'll save me time Saturday morning since I was (planning) on going for only 1 day (but ended up going 2 days cuz I swapped badges with G. :P and gwen got in for free with a replacement badge!!)
When I got to AX I was pleasantly surprised. lol. The LA convention center is a pretty nice place (minus the hobo's). the venue is really large and spacious and it wasn't crowded at all. Artist alley even had their own room. Like, one of those really huge exhibit hall rooms (ok, maybe not that large but like half the size of an exhibit hall). There were also SOOOO many artists this year. Either that, ot they were actually more organized this year that it looked like there were more. Deviantart also sponsered the entire artist alley so that could be the reason for the sudden surge in artists.
The exhibition hall was also really big and spacious. It looked just like the previous years though so I don't have much to say about that.
The one thing that was a HUGE improvement from last year was the fact that AX took over the Nokia theatre for all their main events. That place is really nice and the seating is really awesome. It's a concert theatre so there was plenty of room and I could see the stage. lol. The masqerade this year wasn't very good though. There were only like, 2 skits that I really enjoyed and they both won first place and best in show.
Talking about cosplay, there really wasn't much good cosplay this year. The previous years, a ton of people would cosplay and get into these huge groups and annoy the hell outta everyone but there wasn't that at all this year. I'm guessing it was because the LACC doesn't have a gathering place outside and the convention center lobby wasn't open and spacious enough for a gathering. I also didn't see many cosplay regulars like pikminlink, strippervash, adella (she couldn't make it this year), and sanachan. I did see jainasolo though and she was in her Fran cosplay again. I knew lionel wasn't going to bring this huge bumblebee model he was working on because he couldn't finish it in time for AX (he's gonna premier it at comiccon instead) so that kinda sucked. I did manage to snap some cosplay photos though. :D
I think these are the best cosplay photos I have. D: heh.
I think I spent a majority of time in artist alley this year because 2 of my friends, sandri and beoun, both had a table. I also bought a ton of prints this year and now I'm broke. lol. It's kinda surprising how artist alley just sucks up all your money. xD Like, 10 bucks here and 5 bucks there turns into 60 bucks.... -is poor now- Now I have to purchase frames...omfg, those are gonna be even more expensive. XD ho damn.
This is what ate my money. lol. Can you guess which print is my favorite? :P
"SO I HEAR YOU LYKE MUDKIPS"
Another one of my favorite events at AX is the charity auction. I remember a few years back one illustration of
Howl's Moving Castle ended up selling for $32,000. Yeah, that's 32 THOUSAND DOLLARS. It didn't go up nearly that expensive this year but one drawing sold for $7,000 which was the highest bid of the night.
Sorry I didn't get a clearer picture. D: This was drawn on one of those japanese drawing boards and sold for $7,000! I have to admit that it is pretty darn nice.
The one thing I didn't do much this year was roam about the exhibition hall. I think I just saw about half of it. I usually pick up a few artbooks but this year I didn't buy anything from the exhibition hall since I splurged on prints... no wait, I take that back, I purchased (more like Allen spotted me since I didnt' wanna withdraw money from the ATM since it charged you $4.25! Thanks for being my personal ATM, Allen. lol) a poster from the VG cats booth. I met the creator, Scott Ramsoomair, and he signed my poster and drew Pheonix and Edgeworth on it. I then proceeded to ask him why I changed his coloring style since his previous style was so much nicer than his currrent. He's just replied with "it just took too long with that style, it would take me like 3 more days than usual". He's a pretty talkative person, and then I realised that I was holding up the line. lol. whoops. I also blinded him 3 times with my camera flash. I don't think he minded much though. xD Remind me to pay back Allen.
The pic on the left was some random dude's poster Scott was drawing on and I kinda shoved my way through to get a picture of it. lolols.
Wow, flash totally kills everthing.
Pheonix : "LOL"
Edgey: "NOU"
I think this pretty much concludes my AX adventure for 2008. I was really impressed with the level of organization for this year and the amount of walking space. lol. LACC is a really nice venue and I really enjoyed it. I prefer Anahiem's location the best though since it seems as if that's where the best cosplay is. I think this year has also restored my faith in AX.
Overall, the best part of AX is the bonding time with friends, and of course, the cosplay. <3 Seeya next year. :D
EDIT: Oh wait! I totally forgot to add some AMV's. They announced the AMV winners after the charity auction and these videos really caught my eye. I loved the final fantasy and haruhi ones :D There was this REALLY sad one about she the ulitmate weapon but I can't seem to find that video on youtube. It was super sad though. :(
