Who's going to Anime Expo 2010?

[AEUGNewtype]

It seems that barely anyone from here is actually going to the event this year, for one reason or another. I'm starting this official thread of who's going and a place to centralize making plans to get there, plans for lodging, etc. for those who are going. So far, Shin Ukyo and myself are definitely going after having a great time last year and just enjoying getting out to the area in general, on top of Mano Erina being there, which is another fantastic opportunity to see one of our favorite artists without leaving the country. Anyone else who wants to talk about the event or who has more info on whether they're going or not, post here and I'll keep it updated.



People going this year:

The AEUGNewtype

Shin Ukyo

eri



Maybe:

TightWetPucchi

Al Kusanagi

SacredCultivator

Saya

cromartiedropout

strawberryjam



Not going:

PQ

Madara

Em-El

Haru

Arichii

TnB (98%)

[al kusanagi]

Unless someone wanted to fly me out, of course... Otherwise I'm gonna have to stick to East Coast events until next year.

[eri]

MMEEEEE I'M GOING MEEEE *WAVES HANDS AROUND*



I'm so happy to see more H!P acts coming out to the US! It gives me hope that they'll be regularly making appearances at cons. I only wish Em-El could come too <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... #>/sad.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':D' />

[strawberryjam]

MAYBE ME. My boss will probably go though.

[EmEl]

I like how AEUG neglected to put me in "Not going" list. It makes me feel like perhaps I'll be able to teleport or at least be there in spirit. At least my Mano-enthusiasm has seemed to convert some people.

[AEUGNewtype]

[quote name='Em-El' post='78734' date='Apr 14 2010, 03:08 AM']I like how AEUG neglected to put me in "Not going" list. It makes me feel like perhaps I'll be able to teleport or at least be there in spirit. At least my Mano-enthusiasm has seemed to convert some people.[/quote]

Oh yeah, that was an oversight, same with Francis (TightWetPucchi). I'll get on that.

[Haru]

Seeing as I'm on the other side of America, gonna have to take a pass.

But I demand pics, k.

[Special Needs Tricycle]

I'd give a few fingers to be able to go, but for some reason there's no one who will buy severed fingers. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... #>/sad.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':D' /> Anyone who can go, pleeeeaaase do. with the short notice and her not being as big as MM, her turnout might really suck. Go make the girl happy.

[SacredCultivator]

I honestly am still debating on whether I'd like to go or not... ><



Basically got till end of April to decide before the Prices go up again. But I am leaning towards yes, as it's just an opportunity to support Mano (Even though not a huge fan), but who knows if people show their support it only increases odds of future H!P artists coming.



+I get to meet H!F fans =P

[aine]

Someone spare me a grand and I'm so there.

[eri]

I keep checking the AX page but it hasn't been announced that she'll be there. What is going on?

[Haru]

Have they said when the announcement would be made?

They might want to announce it a little closer to the actual date of the expo.

[AEUGNewtype]

[quote name='eri' post='78762' date='Apr 14 2010, 12:45 PM']I keep checking the AX page but it hasn't been announced that she'll be there. What is going on?[/quote]

They're slow and disorganized? Maybe. It also could be that she's not tehnically going to be a guest of honor, but more of a smaller event? Hard to say at this point. It's not like she's some huge name where they can go "look everyone, were having Mano Erina this year!" and expect most people to know what they're talking about.

[Haru]

It was that way with HANGRY & ANGRY last year, right?

I heard absolutely nothing regarding them being at the expo.

[Madara]

[quote name='Haru' post='78763' date='Apr 15 2010, 03:51 AM']Have they said when the announcement would be made?

They might want to announce it a little closer to the actual date of the expo.[/quote]

Kind of like last September when New York Anime Festival announced AKB48's appearance a mere days before the event! Well, all right, it might have been two or three weeks, but it was too short a time to drum up any kind of national support. And the crowd was considerably sparser than AKB48 should have had. The point is, you want to give fans around the country the time to make plans, get approval for time off, book flights/hotels/crash pads, save money for the trip, etc. And the longer you wait, the fewer fans will be able to make those plans once the announcement is made.



[quote name='Haru' post='78777' date='Apr 15 2010, 05:26 AM']It was that way with HANGRY & ANGRY last year, right?

I heard absolutely nothing regarding them being at the expo.[/quote]



Well, it was just Yossie, and it was kind of meant to be a surprise.

[Shoujo Q]

[quote name='Madara' post='78778' date='Apr 14 2010, 04:13 PM'][quote name='Haru' post='78763' date='Apr 15 2010, 03:51 AM']Have they said when the announcement would be made?

They might want to announce it a little closer to the actual date of the expo.[/quote]

Kind of like last September when New York Anime Festival announced AKB48's appearance a mere days before the event! Well, all right, it might have been two or three weeks, but it was too short a time to drum up any kind of national support. And the crowd was considerably sparser than AKB48 should have had. The point is, you want to give fans around the country the time to make plans, get approval for time off, book flights/hotels/crash pads, save money for the trip, etc. And the longer you wait, the fewer fans will be able to make those plans once the announcement is made.

[/quote]



It's like they forgot to consider the fact that America is this huge ass country and people on the other side of it might like to join in the festivities but when you announce a "big" guest days before it's a killjoy. :<

[al kusanagi]

Talked to my mother today and she'd been looking at tickets out west for some reason or another and she told me that at least through June you could get round trip tickets from NC to San Diego for around $350. If I could find a round trip to LA for under $500 bucks, I may reconsider since I'd have a few months to put money aside.

[eri]

[quote name='Haru' post='78777' date='Apr 14 2010, 12:26 PM']It was that way with HANGRY & ANGRY last year, right?

I heard absolutely nothing regarding them being at the expo.[/quote]



[quote name='AEUG']They're slow and disorganized? Maybe. It also could be that she's not tehnically going to be a guest of honor, but more of a smaller event? Hard to say at this point. It's not like she's some huge name where they can go "look everyone, were having Mano Erina this year!" and expect most people to know what they're talking about.[/quote]



Good points. I wonder if she'll just end up with a booth appearance shilling her stuff but no performance spot.



Also, yeah, Mano isn't a big name but neither is whoever-the-hell musical guest they are bringing this year. If they introduce Mano in the same way that they introduce ALL of their Guests of Honor (brief bio and link to works that they're associated with), then current AX guests will get interested. Mano is, after all, linked to Hello Kitty and the idol empire of H!P so she's got pretty recognizable connections for US anime fans...but you're right in that she isn't a big enough name on her own to garner special attention.

[Pucchi-Mo]

I wonder how frequently the Japanese fanclubs are informed of these things before USA fans see news about it.



When I saw Chatmonchy, the 2nd night had a lot more Japanese fans than the main concert seemed to have. Japan to NY is really fucking far to just fly on a whim at the last minute. Yeah rabid fans and blah blah blah, but I think it would have been tough for that amount of Japanese fans to schedule trips without knowing before we did, and on a Monday.



P.S. if Ruby goes, and I can magically afford to miss work/get the time off, I JUST MIGHT GO.

Also, I'm not bringing Aiko, so please spell my name right, AEUG. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... hahaha.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':weeeh:' />

[cromartiedropout]

I'd definitely like to go if I can get the money, so put me down as a maybe =D

[AEUGNewtype]

[quote name='TightWetPucchi' post='78808' date='Apr 15 2010, 09:43 PM']Also, I'm not bringing Aiko, so please spell my name right, AEUG. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... hahaha.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':P' />[/quote]

Hahaha, typing in a hurry while at work on my iPhone sometimes does that <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... iggrin.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':D' />

[quote name='Al Kusanagi' post='78783' date='Apr 14 2010, 05:16 PM']Talked to my mother today and she'd been looking at tickets out west for some reason or another and she told me that at least through June you could get round trip tickets from NC to San Diego for around $350. If I could find a round trip to LA for under $500 bucks, I may reconsider since I'd have a few months to put money aside.[/quote]

I imagine you probably could. My tickets last year from Chicago to LA were about $315 round trip, and NC's just a short few states away, I don't think airfare goes up THAT much when you're just adding an hour or two to the trip.

[Madara]

[quote name='eri' post='78762' date='Apr 15 2010, 02:45 AM']I keep checking the AX page but it hasn't been announced that she'll be there. What is going on?[/quote]



Does anyone know for a fact that Mano will actually be there? And, if so, how do we know this?

[AEUGNewtype]

[quote name='Madara' post='78829' date='Apr 16 2010, 07:38 AM'][quote name='eri' post='78762' date='Apr 15 2010, 02:45 AM']I keep checking the AX page but it hasn't been announced that she'll be there. What is going on?[/quote]



Does anyone know for a fact that Mano will actually be there? And, if so, how do we know this?

[/quote]

It was posted in a Sanspo article and it was officially announced AT a Mano concert in Japan, so all the fans and S/mileage heard it loud and clear. Like we were saying a few posts earlier, she may not be a full-blown guest of honor, given she's not even a fraction as popular as MM is, especially with overseas fans, so it may be more of a panel/dealers room event, and their staff could just be extremely slow at updating the website this late in the game.

[Madara]

[quote name='The☆AEUGNewtype' post='78830' date='Apr 16 2010, 09:43 PM'][quote name='Madara' post='78829' date='Apr 16 2010, 07:38 AM'][quote name='eri' post='78762' date='Apr 15 2010, 02:45 AM']I keep checking the AX page but it hasn't been announced that she'll be there. What is going on?[/quote]



Does anyone know for a fact that Mano will actually be there? And, if so, how do we know this?

[/quote]

It was posted in a Sanspo article and it was officially announced AT a Mano concert in Japan, so all the fans and S/mileage heard it loud and clear. Like we were saying a few posts earlier, she may not be a full-blown guest of honor, given she's not even a fraction as popular as MM is, especially with overseas fans, so it may be more of a panel/dealers room event, and their staff could just be extremely slow at updating the website this late in the game.

[/quote]



Wow, so they're gonna bring her all the way over and may not even provide her with a piano. OR a keyboard. What's the point?



I still find the lack of an announcement somewhat odd.



(Of course, if she came over with Mai Hagiwara and Saki Nakajijma as Pucchimoni V and they promised to perform "Pira Otome no Negai".... I would sooooooo be there!)

[Shoujo Q]

I went to the Anime Expo site to see what they were saying and they seem to say that "unless Anime Expo announces it, it's not fact." Of course they sound very rude about the whole thing or full of themselves I'm not sure yet, it's hard to read a person by their posts. ;D.



I think she'll be like Hitomi was, as an industry guest with no real concert but she might pull out a mini concert in the dealer room. It's not hard to ship a keyboard if you really want too. That is of course if she has a booth with Japanfiles, there doesn't seem to be any mention of one yet on the exhibit list but they keep updating that.

[EmEl]

C-ZONE and those anime idols had three or four separate mini-shows in the dealer's room. They were not announced on Anime Expo's website. If Mano's thing is like that, then on one hand it's an amazing opportunity to see her perform really really close.



But on the other hand, the logistics of such an event might be pretty bad. While her draw may not be Morning Musume sized, I think it would be a little bigger than C-ZONE's. But it's certainly possible: C-ZONE were 5 girls dancing around on a stage. Mano is one girl.

[al kusanagi]

I'm worried about paying all the money to go, basically just for Mano, and then having it be some pathetic little deal. Sophia's not bad, but there's only one song of theirs I really like and the odds of them performing it are low.



The other thing I'm worried about is that isn't there also the big anime event in Texas where Avex usually sends artists each year? Now that Aya Kamiki's on Avex, and with her anime and sentai work, odds of her going there are pretty good. Given the choice between the two, I'd take Aya over Mano any time, and Texas is a much easier trip for me.

[Cyrene]

Fineeeeee I'll be going to AX just because you guys will be there. I'll be taking the train though, so I'll always have to leave before dark. >.>;

[eri]

More obscurity from AX staff:



Someone on the forums there asked:

Hey if a singer goes to AX as an industry guest, will they also get a concert?

They get a panel and autograph session don't they?

Would they get a a full concert or just a mini concert?

And the reply was:

In the past, we got SKIN as industry guest, and they did have a concert. But that does not guarantee that it will be the same way in the future. It will be up to what the industry and AX will work out.

Quote

They get a panel and autograph session don't they?

If the industry register an "event" for it, then possible.

Quote

Would they get a a full concert or just a mini concert?

Please see above.

I guess there are all sorts of negotiations that have to be worked out for the "singer" (esp one who is NOT an official guest) to basically do anything. Since I live in Socal, I will go regardless but this seems too stupid for anyone to really make the effort to come out. Way to blow it again AX!

[sadude]

If Buono or MM (again) were going, I'd strongly consider going. As it stands, nope.