My first AX was back in 2012 and I visited every year until 2017. In the later years I heard all the horror stories of the long lines and whatnot. I'm happy to report no such issue when I returned in 2024 as the process was very streamlined; I even went to pick up my badge on Day 0 with no wait. Granted, this was later in the afternoon for both Day 0 and 1. I also got in pretty much every panel I wanted to visit, which I couldn't say for previous years. The entertainment hall was watered down in terms of videogames, but was still very enjoyable! It wasn't perfect by any means, but it was definitely much better than anticipated. It was also the first AX I cosplayed (and people recognized and some wanted photos, which was a nice feeling). I don't think I'll visit every year again like I used to, but I can see myself coming back in the next couple years.
Hahaha. I’m an old school anime fan. I went to Animecon 91 and AnimeExpo 92 and so on in San Jose until they left for LA. I’ve never gone to an LA Anime Expo and I “left” anime for a little over a decade at the turn of the century. I’ve recently started going to local anime cons but judging by the amount of people I see on youtube videos for Anime Expo, I don’t think I’d want to go. Looks crazy overcrowded. I remember Anime Expo 92 looking nothing like that. Lol. We could walk around and not bump into other people. But man, we Otakus were such a niche group back in the day. The anime exposure back then in the US was still in its infancy. I was the only guy in my high school that liked anime. Lol. Hey, what happened to all the Ranma, Lum, Macross, and Dirty Pair cosplayers nowadays? I feel like a relic. Lol.
Oh yeah. I also had some of those program books. I forgot about them until seeing them again in this video. Plus the ads. Nikaku( I still go there from time to time), Newtype, etc. Animeigo, US Manga Corp, US Renditions, Streamline, AD Vision. I owned some of the early issues of Animerica and Protoculture Addicts. And you bet I was one of those Otakus that watched free anime on KTEH channel 54. I think some of the phone volunteers were volunteers for Anime Expo as you could see them in the background when tuning in. Was that Macys in Eastridge Mall in the video? Lol. I have two kids and they are into anime now too. I keep telling themm how easy it is to “sail the Grand Line” and watch any anime you want nowadays as opposed the stuff their old man had to do just to watch a third generation tape of anime with no subtitles. But despite all that, those were good memories from a fun time long gone by. The fun is still here now but just different. Way different from the from the early 90s.
I do still see Lum cosplayers but shows like Dirty Pair or really anything Animeigo touched seems all but forgetten lol. I honestly don't like today's anime culture as it's very toxic. I honestly wish I could have been part of a community that didn't try to tear itself down at every turn. But so goes niches that hit the big time. How many TOS Trekkies out there curse the name of J.J. Abrams?
@@tvstellar I don’t go into social media and I just got back into anime during 2020 since we were all locked down at the time by Korona-Chan, but I had no idea the fandom is that toxic nowadays. We were all for the most part pretty friendly to each other back then as we all shared the same hobby. Didn’t matter what you were or where you came from, we were all anime “geeks and nerds.” We were the niche in between the niche you could say. And yeah, the dealers room was the place to be as that was were most of us could get the harder to find goodies. Most of the stuff I saw at the dealers room at Fanimecon 2022 could be gotten for a lot cheaper on Amazon or Alieexpress. Lol. My only source for anime back in the early 90s was Nikaku in SJ Japantown and Books Kinokuniya on Saratoga Road. San Francisco Japantown and Kimono MY House were too far and I didn’t have a car yet. Nowadays, besides the internet, you can literally walk into a mall and find anime merch. I think alot of us back then wanted anime to get bigger and more mainstream as that would open up anime to being more accessible and affordable however even some of us knew back then that was a double edged sword. Particularly when it came to big corporations getting their slimy fingers and “correcting” anime for modern audiences.
You forgot to go over when AX was held at Anaheim and then Long Beach. Essentially all of 2000's AX history. IMO it was a pivotal transition time when anime and their conventions started becoming mainstream and it was also a time when the convention culture was going through some interesting phases. Phases such as glomping, yaoi paddles, and man faye.
My first AX was in Anaheim in the 90s, Evangelion dominated the AMV contests and the coolest cosplay I remember was Yamagata from Akira lol. Amazing how in 2024 body and badge scanning tech has almost eliminated long entry lines.
2024 was certainly better than last year in the line department LOL. I do wish AX could go back to that sort of small convention feel though. I know that was the point of AX chibi but that still feels a bit too big IMO. I'm sure I should just go to less well known conventions at this point.
The video was starting good, but then the time skip was disappointing. 20 years of missed info, hopefully there is a follow up video I was enjoying your narrative
Well I didn’t have the time to go in depth on each individual year like I did with AnimeCon ‘91. I didn’t particularly want an hour plus long video on my hands. Aside from that I don’t wanna base my information in this video purely off forum posts and home video footage, which is what I’d have to do with anything beyond the first two years. Let’s also consider the fact that nothing interesting happened after that. The cons formative years were well documented because the creators of it and were talked about at length. Until we hit the era of RUclips and vlog culture you can find maybe some articles but not enough to write about. Would it have really been interesting for me to talk about attendance numbers and guests for another 20 minutes? Cause that’s the information that’s readily available for anything past AX 92 till like the mid 2000s.
We should talk sometime...lets just say that I've been in the AX game for a long time. 2003 to 2018 and then skipped 2019 (which I am ashamed of) and then started going back once it reopened back in I think 2022.
I've only been going to Anime conventions in general since 2022 (started with Anime Central in Illinois) but going got me back into anime and made me start this channel, I honestly wish I'd been going to them for longer, but from now on I plan to attend as many AX's as possible!
Only went for 3 years from 2017 to 2019 and I stopped going literally only because of the overcrowding. Good to see that it hasn't gotten any better at all. Good riddance, i guess. Excellent video tho
@@007MrYang this year actually was a lot better in terms of crowd management, lines took waaaaaay less, and exhibit hall booths were spread out further so people could have some walking room.
@@tvstellarAs an oldtaku myself,I have to ask: does the dealers room or artist rooms at Anime Expo, or any current anime cons, still sell cel art? Like original anime cels from the actual anime or even just fan made cel work? I didn’t see anyone selling that at the recent cons I went to. Damn I’m old. Lol.
RUclips algorithm sleeping on this one
My first AX was back in 2012 and I visited every year until 2017. In the later years I heard all the horror stories of the long lines and whatnot.
I'm happy to report no such issue when I returned in 2024 as the process was very streamlined; I even went to pick up my badge on Day 0 with no wait. Granted, this was later in the afternoon for both Day 0 and 1. I also got in pretty much every panel I wanted to visit, which I couldn't say for previous years.
The entertainment hall was watered down in terms of videogames, but was still very enjoyable!
It wasn't perfect by any means, but it was definitely much better than anticipated. It was also the first AX I cosplayed (and people recognized and some wanted photos, which was a nice feeling).
I don't think I'll visit every year again like I used to, but I can see myself coming back in the next couple years.
This is stupidly well made, good job
Thanks! I try my hardest lol
Great video. Wish you would had covered more of the 90s and 2000s of Anime Expo, however.
Hahaha. I’m an old school anime fan. I went to Animecon 91 and AnimeExpo 92 and so on in San Jose until they left for LA. I’ve never gone to an LA Anime Expo and I “left” anime for a little over a decade at the turn of the century. I’ve recently started going to local anime cons but judging by the amount of people I see on youtube videos for Anime Expo, I don’t think I’d want to go. Looks crazy overcrowded. I remember Anime Expo 92 looking nothing like that. Lol. We could walk around and not bump into other people. But man, we Otakus were such a niche group back in the day. The anime exposure back then in the US was still in its infancy. I was the only guy in my high school that liked anime. Lol.
Hey, what happened to all the Ranma, Lum, Macross, and Dirty Pair cosplayers nowadays? I feel like a relic. Lol.
Oh yeah. I also had some of those program books. I forgot about them until seeing them again in this video. Plus the ads. Nikaku( I still go there from time to time), Newtype, etc. Animeigo, US Manga Corp, US Renditions, Streamline, AD Vision. I owned some of the early issues of Animerica and Protoculture Addicts. And you bet I was one of those Otakus that watched free anime on KTEH channel 54. I think some of the phone volunteers were volunteers for Anime Expo as you could see them in the background when tuning in. Was that Macys in Eastridge Mall in the video? Lol. I have two kids and they are into anime now too. I keep telling themm how easy it is to “sail the Grand Line” and watch any anime you want nowadays as opposed the stuff their old man had to do just to watch a third generation tape of anime with no subtitles. But despite all that, those were good memories from a fun time long gone by. The fun is still here now but just different. Way different from the from the early 90s.
I do still see Lum cosplayers but shows like Dirty Pair or really anything Animeigo touched seems all but forgetten lol. I honestly don't like today's anime culture as it's very toxic. I honestly wish I could have been part of a community that didn't try to tear itself down at every turn. But so goes niches that hit the big time. How many TOS Trekkies out there curse the name of J.J. Abrams?
@@tvstellar I don’t go into social media and I just got back into anime during 2020 since we were all locked down at the time by Korona-Chan, but I had no idea the fandom is that toxic nowadays. We were all for the most part pretty friendly to each other back then as we all shared the same hobby. Didn’t matter what you were or where you came from, we were all anime “geeks and nerds.” We were the niche in between the niche you could say. And yeah, the dealers room was the place to be as that was were most of us could get the harder to find goodies. Most of the stuff I saw at the dealers room at Fanimecon 2022 could be gotten for a lot cheaper on Amazon or Alieexpress. Lol. My only source for anime back in the early 90s was Nikaku in SJ Japantown and Books Kinokuniya on Saratoga Road. San Francisco Japantown and Kimono MY House were too far and I didn’t have a car yet. Nowadays, besides the internet, you can literally walk into a mall and find anime merch. I think alot of us back then wanted anime to get bigger and more mainstream as that would open up anime to being more accessible and affordable however even some of us knew back then that was a double edged sword. Particularly when it came to big corporations getting their slimy fingers and “correcting” anime for modern audiences.
You forgot to go over when AX was held at Anaheim and then Long Beach. Essentially all of 2000's AX history. IMO it was a pivotal transition time when anime and their conventions started becoming mainstream and it was also a time when the convention culture was going through some interesting phases. Phases such as glomping, yaoi paddles, and man faye.
My first AX was in Anaheim in the 90s, Evangelion dominated the AMV contests and the coolest cosplay I remember was Yamagata from Akira lol. Amazing how in 2024 body and badge scanning tech has almost eliminated long entry lines.
2024 was certainly better than last year in the line department LOL. I do wish AX could go back to that sort of small convention feel though. I know that was the point of AX chibi but that still feels a bit too big IMO. I'm sure I should just go to less well known conventions at this point.
deserves more views!
I agree! lol but thanks for watching!
The video was starting good, but then the time skip was disappointing. 20 years of missed info, hopefully there is a follow up video I was enjoying your narrative
Well I didn’t have the time to go in depth on each individual year like I did with AnimeCon ‘91. I didn’t particularly want an hour plus long video on my hands. Aside from that I don’t wanna base my information in this video purely off forum posts and home video footage, which is what I’d have to do with anything beyond the first two years. Let’s also consider the fact that nothing interesting happened after that. The cons formative years were well documented because the creators of it and were talked about at length. Until we hit the era of RUclips and vlog culture you can find maybe some articles but not enough to write about. Would it have really been interesting for me to talk about attendance numbers and guests for another 20 minutes? Cause that’s the information that’s readily available for anything past AX 92 till like the mid 2000s.
We should talk sometime...lets just say that I've been in the AX game for a long time. 2003 to 2018 and then skipped 2019 (which I am ashamed of) and then started going back once it reopened back in I think 2022.
I've only been going to Anime conventions in general since 2022 (started with Anime Central in Illinois) but going got me back into anime and made me start this channel, I honestly wish I'd been going to them for longer, but from now on I plan to attend as many AX's as possible!
Only went for 3 years from 2017 to 2019 and I stopped going literally only because of the overcrowding. Good to see that it hasn't gotten any better at all. Good riddance, i guess. Excellent video tho
@@007MrYang this year actually was a lot better in terms of crowd management, lines took waaaaaay less, and exhibit hall booths were spread out further so people could have some walking room.
@@tvstellarAs an oldtaku myself,I have to ask: does the dealers room or artist rooms at Anime Expo, or any current anime cons, still sell cel art? Like original anime cels from the actual anime or even just fan made cel work? I didn’t see anyone selling that at the recent cons I went to. Damn I’m old. Lol.