Convention Reports and such...
Anime Expo 2003 - Anaheim Convention Center. July 3rd - 6th:
I was able to attend AX2003 as just an attendee so I figured that I would try and make up for not really seeing any of Fanime2003 this year.

First impressions, were pretty much swallowed up with the size of the revamped ACC. Very nice facility. That impression was very quickly squashed by the presence of the Religious group that had the back half of the ACC for the weekend. Not a good fit...jeesh...didn't we have to deal with this at AX 2001 in LB?! Oye.

Here is a link to the more techincal review.
The entrance line on the first day for the dealers room!
San Diego Comic-Con  -  San Diego Convention Center
July 17 - 20 2003
Ah...Comic-Con. Of note, I have been attending Comic-Con, every year, since 1987. Since that first convention, held at what is now the San Diego Concourse, I have witnessed an explosion of sorts of Anime-themed content. From the beginning with a few vendors and a single small room showing selected series... Anime has become a very noticible part of the unique culture of Comic-Con's activities and draw.

When Comic-Con first moved to the new San Diego Convention Center, we were all awe-struck at the size of the dealers room and the extravagance of the pavillions sponsored by the biggest names in comics; DC and Marvel. They were the biggest thing there. They had monitors, signings, models, toys...everything the fan wanted!


Comic-Con Dealers Room... Holy Shit... where does it end...?!
Now...fast forward a decade or more....no longer does DC and Marvel have the lock on pavillions...nope...not even close. An entire section of the now doubled dealers hall is occupied by pavillions for companines such as Bandai Entertainment, Pioneer, Tokyo-Pop, ADV, Animenation, Comic-One, Viz and others. Their pavillions are as exceptional as their forerunners. And their message is clear...Anime is here, it's popular and it's here to stay.

Anime Showings at Comic-Con have now grown to 3 rooms. (4 if you include the Anime Network .. a cable anime carrier...room)

Of special note at this convention for me was the showing of Mahormatic's second series and Last Exile. Last Exile is Gonzo's latest work to make it over here. It was simply amazing. A definite buy for me when it comes out in November... (damn have to wait till then)

The panels were equally informative. (The best part was the the trivia...same questions that most of the vendors asked at AX... so Sara won at Box set for Argentosoma and I got the full box set for Dirty Pair Flash... SCORE!

The dealers were all here too. We all managed to score some good stuff at great prices.
The Megatokyo and RealLifeComics Booth!
The biggest thrill though was the Megatokyo panel that we were able to attend. I even got my first Cosplayer picture!
The "sold-out" MegaTokyo Panel
L-R - > Liz (reallife), Greg(reallife), Piro (Fred), Sara, Dom
Miho!
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