Pacific Media Expo returned back to it's previous location the Hilton Los Angeles Airport Hotel, leaving the homely confines of Pasadena. This larger venue was welcomed by many; however, suboptimal weather conditions kept most attendees indoors. Another problem with the return to LAX Hilton was the paucity of parking, which likely presented a problem for actual hotel guests, and many attendees were forced to park at the neighboring Parking Spot structure.
Even before the convention started, it seemed that moving back to the old location proved difficult for PMX to handle as many things were late, such as posting of the schedule. PMX even announced one of their major guests, George Takei, a few days prior to the start of the convention, not leaving much time for attendees to plan for a ticketed event.
Friday registration was scheduled to be open by 12PM for Press/Industry and attendees to pick up their badges. Unfortunately, they were 1 hour late due to the printing issues on site for preregistered attendees. It wasn't too big of a hassle since the staffs handled all the mishaps quickly and diligently, they even offered the attendees to come back later so they can visit the game room or the anime video room. There were also problems with the artist alley badges, with many of the sellers not obtaining their badges until 4 PM. The major events for the the weekend included concerts, fashion shows, swap meets and Cosfest. Being back in the LAX area, Little Tokyo was not too far from the area which was good for Japanese food and tourism, for those wanting a change from the typical fast food fare. The food trucks that came were hard to find as there was little room in the LAX area to park. There was plenty of places for cosplayers to take photos, including a spacious cosplay lounge with a photo backdrop without the pressures of Jiraiya to buy prints. However, due to a mislabelling from PMX, the lounge was called the Cosfest lounge, which prompted many attendees to view it as restricted to masquerade personnel and entrants only (when it wasn't). The lounge was also the farthest room back so it wasn't well populated, but at least it made it quite comfortable for those brave enough to venture to the back.
Friday
Cosplay Highlight of the Day :
http://www.acparadise.com/acs/picview.p ... 261_613019
Many cosplayers came dressed as characters from the upcoming popular series by VizMedia, Tiger & Bunny.
Swap Meet : Swap meet was the popular event of the night if you weren't attending the concert. Not even the hot humid room stopped the attendees from enjoying the event of buying and selling.
Saturday
Cosplay Highlight of the Day:
http://www.acparadise.com/acs/picview.p ... 261_611989
The weekend also had a lot of Blue Exorcist fans.
On Saturday, our industry partner, Aniplex USA had special edition TinierMe cards to give away with designs from Madoka Magica and Durarara!!
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... 264&type=3
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... 264&type=3
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... 264&type=3
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... 264&type=3
Fashion Swap Meet : PMX doesn't disappoint with the fashion and styles every year, Fashion Swap Meet was created especially for those who are both buying and selling garment goods. The turn out was spectacular.
CosFest which is the name of Pacific Media Expo's masquerade, was well attended this year. It was quite apparent that the bench team for PMX's AV was on staff for the Cosfest, as lighting for the stage was extremely poor, and was not corrected for the duration of the presentation despite complaints. There was about a 8 foot diameter light on stage where contestants were clearly visible, while the rest were essentially in dim light. The remote spotlight that was used in years past for the Cosfest, and likely for the concerts, was left off.
There were 19 entries competing in the event of the night, of which they can all be viewed here if you missed out: http://www.acparadise.com/acp/cons.php?cyid=4261&t=3
The entertaining half time show consisted of live acts and the winners of the AMVs featured the dancing talents of Angel Hearts.
Best of Show went to Fox Gloves: http://www.acparadise.com/acp/vid.php?v=6629&s=h
Due to the lighting issue that PMX wasn't able to address, ACParadise obtained additional footage to display their creative skit in ambient light.
http://www.acparadise.com/vid/6640/h
Sunday
Cosplay Highlight of the Day:
http://www.acparadise.com/acs/picview.p ... 261_613440
The last day didn't stop the cosplayers from bringing out their amazing outfits with props.
Overall : It was a great show and we will look forward what next year will bring for this event.