Pacific Media Expo is a small size convention that occurs after the major convention season has passed in California, which highlights all Asian media, and not just Anime. The positive side is that it allows it to expand more to fashion and music, the downside is the lack of focus. The guest roster this year ranged from impressive artist talent from Japan in the form of Mamoru Yokota, to fan "industry" guests.
Friday registration was scheduled to be open by 12PM for Press/Industry and it was an hour late again this year. After checking in to the hotel and getting our badges, we decided to check out exhibit hall, artist alley and gaming room. The gaming room was relocated this year to a bigger room but on the very lowest floor of the Hilton. It was a bit of a walk to get to it but the new location accommodates more attendees which is understandable. The exhibit hall was a bit of a disappointment this year with the lack of variety of shops and goods. Fashion vendors which were present last year appeared to be lacking. The artist alley seemed to be more popular but was tucked away in the back of the hotel, which might have impacted sales. A lot of fans enjoyed the Swap Meet much more which provided a range of variety for the fans from the fans.
Friday
Cosplay Highlight of the Day :
http://www.acparadise.com/acp/picview.p ... 13&s=53030
It was nice to see a full organized cosplay group for Resident Evil at PMX.
Saturday
Cosplay Highlight of the Day:
http://www.acparadise.com/acp/picview.p ... 82&s=60933
It's never old school for cosplayers. Very nice to see Kuwabara from
Yu Yu Hakusho!
Majority of the day was attending Mamoru Yokota's panel and his autograph session. He had a table in the artist alley which he was selling t-shirts, towels and prints. It was enjoyable hearing his
advice to young artists at his panel. We admire Yokota-san for his true love for art and anime as we look forward for his return in the USA next year.
As a recurring theme for this year's PMX, late. Even with an earlier start time, 4 PM, since PMX places more importance on concerts than their masquerade, the CosFest seating did not start until about 30 minutes after the masquerade was supposed to start. However, the contestants were not ready because the emcee was still running through sound checks (which really should have been done long before). In the end, the masquerade started about 45 minutes late. There were 12 entries this year (including walk ons) so was more subdued compared to previous years, and the masquerade was over in 25 minutes. Even the prospect of cash prizes at PMX was not enough to raise cosplayer participation. Gangnam Style (25%) and Vocaloid skits (37%) were the popular skits, with Gangnam Style having 100% win rate.
Full Masquerade Footage: http://www.acparadise.com/acp/cons.php?cyid=4926&t=3
Swap Meet was just as busy as the first night however majority of the attendees had already spent most of their money and couldn't shop to the fullest as they wanted.
After the concert, PMX cleared out unexpectedly fast. Possibly people were already moving on to their room parties but the lobby was quite barren for a Saturday night
On Sunday, crowds again were small. Yet, parking was difficult to find. The feature event today was the Madoka Magica Voice Actor panel with Aniplex USA featuring a majority of the voice talent that worked on the show.
Pacific Media Expo overall was a bit confusing/disorganized in some areas this year but the enthusiastic fans brought the convention a better overall experience. We do look forward what PMX will be like next year.