Japan Expo USA 2013

[AR-99]

August 23-25, 2013 (weekend before Labor Day )
Santa Clara Convention Center

http://www.japan-expo.org/

This is the first event in the US and an expansion of Japan Expo from France. I was curious to know if some folks, and I know that Cutiebunny said she has tickets, are thinking of going. I was not sure myself but Yoshiyuki Sadamoto will be a guest, which makes it quite difficult to pass up.

[cutiebunny]

Every sketch collector that I spoke with at AX is heading to Japan Expo USA this year, especially as AM2 no longer is in existence. That's a good 15-20 people there, many of whom are not members of this board or RS.

I'm rather reserved about JX - I don't like that you have to try to draw a winning ticket to even get a chance at getting an autograph. I hate it when you have to rely on luck to get an autograph. I think getting there early and lining up (or getting a ticket for a spot in the line and coming back at a later time) is the best way to go about getting autographs. If it means a lot to you, you'll get in line early. If it doesn't, then, you might not get anything.

[AR-99]

That aspect of getting something signed is what irks me too. It says that not all guests will be affected by drawings, but are otherwise first come first served. Haven't bought a ticket yet as that $100 for the premium has me thinking twice about getting it.

[cutiebunny]

I think $100 is a pretty good deal for what they're offering in comparison to a regular attendee. In comparison, I just spent $175 for an AX Premier Badge for 2014, even though the latter comes with a free concert ticket.

[AR-99]

Since Japan Expo wants to get established in the US, the pressure is on them to deliver and make it worthwhile to come back next year.

This would be a good chance to see Sadamoto as there could be FanimeCon next year given the dual anniversaries of the con (20th year) and Gainax (30th year), but who knows.

[Keropi]

Sounds like fun. I wish I could go.

I wish there was another decent anime/manga convention around here where you can get into a panel room without a huge amount of effort, luck and money.

I'm going to have to content myself with just walking the AX hallways and going in the dealer's room from now on.

[AR-99]

Got my ticket, I will see some folks from here in line, I bet.

[Gabe]

Just curious. ^^
Did Sadomoto draw or just sign?

[DrScorpio]

This is what I observed from Japan Expo USA. Sadamoto was there for 2 days. The con provided thin cardstock paper that was the same dimensions as a standard shikishi that had either an eva preprinted image or a FLCL preprinted image. It seemed like the con staff wanted you to either bring a licensed product (like an artbook or poster) or have preprinted paper signed. They were very anti-shikishi.

On day 1 he did a small sketch for most people if you brought like an artbook or shikishi (though you had to fight with the translator to get sadamoto to sign on the shikishi). He generally sketched something random and if you had a request, he would definitely sketch anything other then your request. If you got a signature on the preprinted paper, you got no sketch. Getting a small sketch was likely unless you used the preprinted paper.

On day 2 they clamped down on shikishi and he would only sign licensed products or the preprinted paper. Licensed products were sketched on unless it was something that was difficult to sketch on. Preprinted paper only got an autograph. Sketches seemed better on day 2, but I only got to see some of them so I could be wrong.

[Gabe]

@ DrScorpio thanks for the reply.
Hmm... it sounds like they do the same weird thing like they did in Paris. At Japan Expo in Paris you also needed to purchase a certain amount of goods to get a signature or participate in somekind of lottery. I prefer more german cons since it is easier to get signed stuff just line up in time. Even you can take photos or even film while the artist is signing or drawing. See as example this video here Sadomoto was drawing. If they don't like to get filmed or photographed they tell you in upfront. Here another sample the blog is in german but you can look at pictures to see what i meant. The guest of honor can even walk around freely and if you see them you can talk to them. Y. Irie liked that and even created a short anime movie about the con and he displayed it to us as world premiere at the last day of the con. Gainax is coming next year again but can't say who is coming. If you have any comments or question feel free to leave them here.
Ok, i don't have US con experience to compare.

[cutiebunny]

I think the majority of those sketch collectors that did attend were largely unhappy by the way JXUSA was handled as they tried to act as if they were Japan Expo Paris with the same attendance level despite having less than 1/20th the amount that France does. There was no need for the lottery system with the amount of attendees they had, especially on Day 1 when under 200 people showed up. I know that many sellers were very unhappy with the attendance levels, and a couple of them left on Day 1. JX has said they'll improve on things for year two, however, they have yet to announce a date and I'm wondering if the jury is still out as to whether or not it's financially feasible for JX to try again in 2014. Unless they change their business model and adopt US practices, I can see JXUSA going under real soon.

Sounds like German cons are smaller, so yes, I agree with you when I say that I prefer smaller cons. I find I get better treatment and you get to be a lot more personable with the guest than you do with larger cons. The downside is that there's less guests than at a larger con, but I'm ok with that as long as what you get is a quality experience with those guests that do attend. It would be nice if larger cons would limit the amount of attendees, however, with the expenses they incur renting facilities and paying guest fees, that may be impossible.

It'll be interesting to see who from Gainax will be in Germany. Ever since Imaishi and Nishigori took most of Gainax's creative force and created their own studio, Gainax has been struggling. I would bet on seeing Hiroyuki Yamaga, though. He seems to be the only one appearing from Gainax lately. He does sketch but not well. I have a couple of his drawings.

[Gabe]

About JX i can believe that.
This kind of behavior just sucks.
Just had some bad experience in the past about this kind of behavior in Paris.

Not sure if i can count Yamaga as a guest or already con family since he always came to the con the last 10 years.

We have around 14 guest each year that i think is not bad at all.

May Imaishi comes with his crew from Trigger one day.
Since he was already a guest and practically all Trigger releases have german sub in Japan.
Maybe it is a sign. ^^

Maybe Sadomoto comes again since he likes to come at least he said that.
But he said it depends on his working schedule as i asked.