Anime Expo 2010 Day Zero

Tis June 30th 2010 in the US - otherwise known as "Anime Expo Day Zero." The main event for today is the Press Junket where all the guests do an interview marathon for a few hours. Going to take a look at some of the stuff we done today. We did go to The Grove but will post those photos in a separate post.

After a ballroom brekkie with all the other guests, we was taken to another hotel nearby and shown to a room where interviews would take place.

Pin mic time.

Made a load of new like-minded comrades this morning. Hope to introduce them to each other during the dannychoo.com meetup this Saturday - details here about the meetup.

Unfortunately didn't get much time with each interviewer this morning as the schedule was packed.

And this is what it looked like ^^;

Thought I was going to be OK in shorts but I was surprised that it got rather chilly at this time of year - even during the day. End up going to The Grove today to pick up some trousers.

Some lunch was prepared but didn't get much time to eat it - Saber ate the cake instead.

And here are some of the press folks (forgive me if I missed somebody - lemme know!):-
http://t-ono.net
http://animediet.net
http://myspace.com/animetv_tj
http://anime-gen.com
http://japanexp.org
http://yokosonews.com
http://orangeleaf.jp
http://www.nikkansports.com
http://news.mu-mo.net
http://niceday.inc
http://radio1337.com

Some of the AX folks hard at work.

And then in the late afternoon its time to go and take a peek at the main venue - Los Angeles Convention Center (LACC).

Cosplayer density starts to increase as you get closer to the venue.

Ita-bus parked outside the venue. Nice idea - I'll steal it! Shall we have a Mirai Figma Ita-sha parked outside the venue for the AFA 2010 to celebrate the release?

Many folks here at AX are picking up their passes. If you are interested in attending then you can still pick one up - details at the AX site.

More cosplay shenanigans going on.

Ita-bus was very popular with the folks.

Pass get.

A peek at the exhibit halls where you can get goodies from ToyLet, J-List and Fakku. If you are attending, how much moolah are you roughly bringing?
I'll be bringing some figures and goodies from Toylet and J-List for the meetup but depending on the schedule, I may give them out at my panels instead.

Peek at the other side of the exhibit hall.

And a peek further down where you can see Bandai and Aniplex. Hmmm. Its about time Bandai come to show goodies at Tokyo CGM Night.

The LACC is huge!

The arcade corner being set up.

And this is Petree Hall where I will be giving my talk. Erm, don't think I would be able to fill even 30% of this hall ^^; A smaller comfy place would have been much better ^^;

The tech guys to bail me out when things go wrong - just like back in the UK when I was giving a talk at London University ^^;

And this is the view from the podium ^^;

Saber getting nervous too as shes going to be joining me on stage.

Saber checks out the view.

To recap, I will be giving a talk in this hall on Friday about how I became to work in the creative industries field in Japan and share my leanings with you. Then on Sunday I will do a showing of Culture:Japan and the freshly baked Black Rock Shooter Trailer exclusive to AX.
My first talk should also have some BRS footage too depending on the time I have left.

My schedule as follows:-
7/02 Fri 15:15 - 16:15 Danny Choo Focus Panel ("Creative Industries in Japan" at Petree Hall [LP1])
7/03 Sat 13:00 - 14:00 Indecent Otaku Show (Nokia Place) Seating is at 12:30
7/03 Sat 15:30 - 19:00 Fakku X Danny Choo (Los Angeles CGM Night) ESPN ZONE > 1011 South Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, CA. Map > http://ow.ly/229P2
7/04 Sun 09:00 - 10:00 Danny Choo Focus Panel (Culture Japan + Black Rock Shooter AX Exclusive trailer showing) at Petree Hall [LP1]

Also, I hope you don't mind but I would like to move my autograph sessions to the meetup at the ESPN Zone on Saturday instead.

Anyway, certainly do hope to meet you at AX and hope that you can meet like minded comrades who share the same passion as that's the main goal of my visit to AX. I want to head back to Japan knowing that you made many new comrades who will enrich your life leading to great friendships and opportunities.

Right, I'm still utterly jet lagged so me better go beddy byes or I wont be able to make the opening ceremonies in a few hours ^^;

Ah! No rest for the wicked, I still need to write this post in Japanese too ^^;