The last time I attended Anime LA was in 2017, and skipped last year's convention. This year when I attended the convention, I felt that this convention mostly satisfied everything I wanted to do. From panels, gatherings, artists alley, dealers hall, designated areas to relax, and the list goes on. All of which I did not have any issue with, nor ran into any problems at the convention itself. Anime LA was a convention that forgo the smaller intimate experience at the former location for a more general bigger convention atmosphere you see at other conventions. This year I feel they nailed the best of both worlds.

Is CRX a smaller AX? Does it stack up to its full potential for its first year? Did it paired well with Magwest? Does it retained the same charm and spirit of other anime industry conventions? Let’s find out!

​Hotel/Shuttle
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With the Hyatt connected to the con center, CRX attendees staying there were greeted with Magwest’s displays as it was held at the Hyatt Regency that weekend. Guest rooms are spacious, modernly designed and contemporary styled, and a lobby area filled with 3 restaurants, a bustling hotel bar, a 2nd floor overlooking the hotel lobby, and an outside pool area that played music and a laser light show for guests.
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I was unaware of CRX mentioning any sort of shuttle services on their website. Luckily my hotel, The Aloft, had shuttle service to the Hyatt. Majority of the con block hotels were more than a mile away from the con center and con parking filled up quickly, but I’d assume these hotels offered shuttle service to the con or con hotel.

Registration
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After a quick bag check at the front entrance, once inside there was a table with rows of CRX program/panel guides for pick-up, but I made my way down the hallway. I was surprised that there were little to no lines for badges as pick-up was fast and efficient in just shy of a few minutes, which was probably due to the fact that CRX mailed badges to those who registered early before July 25th. 

Convention Space

Despite being a small industry con, it was spacious! Thousands of attendees, yet smaller areas still didn’t feel crowded enough to slow you down. One major issue about the convention space was the shared event space with Magwest as the hall connecting the Hyatt and con center was filled with Magwest staff and blocked off due to CRX’s bag check. Signs directed attendees where to find the con entrance from the Hyatt, but despite that issue, majority of the rooms and areas were able to accommodate every crowd size. With the exceptions of some overflowing panels and one narrow area of the Artist Alley.

Exhibitor Hall

Exhibitor Hall felt compact, which is good, as attendees could go through the entire hall in a few minutes and immediately plan and make their purchases with ease. Even with high con traffic, lines felt short for merchant booths, including official merchant booths, thanks to high staff numbers. CRX’s Exhibitor Hall had everything: interactive staff/merchants, booths handing out free swag/services, cardboard cutout displays and giant inflatables, music playing throughout the hall, photo ops with CRX’s mascot, constant showcasing at industry booths, and plenty of room to easily maneuver around the hall.
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Organization/Staff 

Attendee satisfaction was priority #1 and CRX staff were perfect in being friendly, courteous, and interactive with the public. A CRX staff member spoke with me that Crunchyroll made sure their staff were well-trained and equipped to handle any situation at the con. It was noticeable as one of my experiences was waiting in line for a major anime screening and staff were quick to direct attendees where to line up and when to admit us into the event room.
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Con security were present all around, and were calm and collect in their duties. I always had fun running into the same security in one day for bag checks, but it seemed as though they enjoyed seeing the variety of anime fans, and no bad vibes were given off from any security from my experience. 

Panels
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Despite its size, CRX had a plethora of industry panels! Major rooms for industry-focused panels such as Inside Looks from companies/studios, guest of honor, previews of upcoming projects, and all other rooms were dedicated to official guests, how to/101’s, CRX’s version of TED talks, and etc. Every panel I’ve attended have been informative and entertaining, and giveaways were abundant in industry panels. Thanks to the compacted con space, it never felt like an adventure traversing from panel to panel.

Autograph sessions were another major draw to CRX, as sessions were implemented through a limited ticket system for single or group guest autographs that helped to create set lines, but some attendees felt they had a problem with this system due to the long wait times getting a ticket which resulted in being unable to obtain all their tickets due to the two ticket limit per pick-up. 
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Cosplay

I was generally surprised on the turnout of cosplayers from varying skill levels attending the convention. Ranging from highly detailed “Fate Grand Order” cosplayers with giant props to an attendee carrying around a whiteboard with the question “Was anime a mistake?” Granted, you’re not going to expect multiple giant grandiose cosplay showcased in the con lobby due to the con space, but the cosplayers still managed to bring their A-game for such a small industry con.
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Location

With Crunchyroll stationed in SF, it made sense for the con to be established in the bay area for easy planning and coordination. The Santa Clara Convention Center not only resides in a tech area, but is located near two major attractions, Levi Stadium and Great America, which means the con is easily accessible for commuters using VTA’s light rail and bus systems. Also, traffic was minimal all weekend. A complaint about the location is food accessibility within walking distance as food places were within one mile from the con, but CRX was aware of this and hired food trucks that were located outside the con center for convenience.
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Night Life
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With all CRX events over by 10pm each night, CRX attendees could go and enjoy concerts performed in Magwest’s concert room at the Hyatt, but for off-site enjoyment within walking distance, there isn’t much to do in terms of late night entertainment in a non-busy tech area. To be honest, I’ve gotten a full night’s enjoyment socializing around the Hyatt’s hotel bar and having a Magwest badge to check out their freeplay gaming room and late night panels.

Overall
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“Surprised,” is the single word used to describe how I felt about the event. The compacted space, ease of accessibility, and the quick and organized manner of events. CRX brought their best effort to the table and out came success. Word of mouth spread fast by the enjoyment of the attendees throughout social media. Both CRX and Magwest did a fine job with the perks each badge gave to their attendees to check out both events to an extent, but I believe each con, especially CRX, can prosper on their own in the future after the success of their first years.
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To be interested in comics means you have probably heard that San Diego Comic-Con is a must-attend event by a lot of people.  But is it?  You’ve probably also heard about the lotteries for badges and hotels and the crowding, lines, and other issues that plague larger conventions. 
 
So, you need to read the below recounting of San Diego Comic-Con 2017 and decide for yourself… is it worth it all?  Can I have a good time despite the issues that make other conventions miserable?
 
Let’s find out.

HOTEL/SHUTTLE SYSTEM
 
We went far off our usual path and stayed at the Kona Kai Resort on Shelter Island.  It was one of the furthest hotels on the shuttle route.  We knew we were taking a bit of a gamble with the distance, but the early research we did on hotels led us to believe this would be a good place to be. 
 
Our early impression of the hotel was pretty nice.  It has a unique lobby that has an interesting mix of modern contemporary, Spanish, and tropical design elements.  A few interesting sculpture pieces were in the main waiting area, as well as a large-scale Jenga game for people to entertain themselves with. 
 
The rooms are nice and roomy; not the biggest rooms I have seen, but they do feel a bit larger than a standard hotel room.  The bathrooms have good ventilation, but they don’t have the newest fixtures I have ever seen.  The rooms have tropical leaf patterned wallpaper in shades of blue to give the rooms a more airy feel, and each of the rooms has a balcony large enough for three adults to sit on without being crowded.  The first floor rooms have hedges separating them from the parking lot on the outer wall, but there is a walking path through these hedges, so do not just leave things out on the first floor.  The second floor has separated balconies, so it’s not as much of an issue.

The pool here is amazing.  It isn’t at the same scale as the Marriott Marquis and Marina, for sure, but it does have a lot of seats and a couple of fire pits for cool evenings.  The poolside bar and the restaurant in the hotel are gorgeous and worthwhile if you have the money in your budget.  There’s even a man-made beach with more fire pits behind the pool area accessible by a ramp.  The water off the beach is studded with a lot of boats, but it’s the only beach I know of in the Shelter Island area, so that makes it very unique.

​That being said, we did have a couple issues with the Kona Kai.  The railing for our sliding glass door had some salt corrosion on it, creating gaping holes in the metal frame, so we had a “shoes on only” rule for our balcony.  The curtains had a few small holes from wear and tear.  Some of the staff happened to be in training that weekend, so we had a couple of hiccoughs to smooth out, but by Day 1 of the convention, it was fairly well fixed.
 
The hotel was a positive experience in the end, though the in-room snack bar tray was ridiculously expensive (to the tune of $2.50 for a Snickers bar.)
 
The shuttle, though, created a bit of a problem this year.  There was the shuttle drive time at the end of the Teal Route of 40 minutes.  That wasn’t fun by any stretch.  The problem we had, especially on Days 1 and 2 of Comic-Con, was that a number of busses arrived to our hotel unable to pick anyone up because they were full.  Our shuttle had five other stops to get to before ours and picked up people at most of those stops.  This created a 45-minute wait on Day 1 as people waited for up to 9 busses to arrive before there was room to take anyone on board at the Kona Kai shuttle stop.
 
I haven’t had a confirmed reason for this, but Jesse heard that there was a shuttle driver on our route who was given an early 4-hour break without any replacements, so our route was down one bus out of four for Day 1.  It seems like a plausible reason since that was largely solved by mid-morning on Day 2, and the busses were packed, but seats could still be found.
 
If you’re looking for a recommendation, the summary would be:  The Shelter Island hotels are nice and outside the norm for chain hotels, but the shuttle almost makes it not worth it.

REGISTRATION
 
I wish other conventions ran their registration process as well as Comic-Con International does.
 
Oh, it has issues, don’t get me wrong.  The lottery system keeps your anxiety on high at every phase, given that is a random lottery both times.  For pre-sale, for those who went the year before, you have better-than-decent odds of getting a badge, but for people in open registration, those odds are close to 1-in-20 of getting even a one-day badge.  This scares some people off, but obviously not that many if you have nearly 20,000,000 people trying to get 100,000 badges every year.
 
After WonderCon 2016, Comic-Con International moved to an RFID badge system for both WonderCon and Comic-Con.  With this system, you need to tap your badge on a scanner to get in or out of the building.  It ads one extra step in your processing to get through the door, but it also smoothes the lines that wait to get in.  It allows everyone to move much more quickly.
 
However, you cannot just put your badge in your pocket after that.  As some people found out the hard way, the staff in the Convention Center wants your badge on display at all times as you walk, so you need to have a lanyard available if you decked to forego Comic-Con’s registration bags and lanyards.  Gathering your registration packet was pretty simple in 2017.  They moved the pickup for these items back to the Salis Pavilion in the center of the second floor of the Convention Center.  There wasn’t any wait to get them.  It was a walk-up process and very smooth.

CONVENTION SPACE
 
With a new contract extension signed, this is the home of San Diego Comic-Con through 2021, now, so if you have reservations about where it’s held, it’s best to keep them constructive until the new contract negotiations likely in 2019.
 
This long building is a fun place to hold conventions.  It’s halls can be interconnected to create about a half-mile of continuous exhibits.  Most of the front façade is glass, allowing a lot of light.  The lobby isn’t as deep as the one at Anaheim or Los Angeles, but since the entire building is a badge-only zone, that’s not as much of a detriment as you would expect.

The second floor has two main outer-hallways, both covered by a long half-tube of windows, letting in even more light than below and creating a very open feel.  The central hallways are on the interior of the meeting rooms and have only halogen light, but they keep those bulbs changed on a frequent basis, so there isn’t much of a dark area up there.
 
In the center of the second floor is the Salis Pavilion; a large glass box where all of the official SDCC signings occur.  The upper area of Salis has artsy canvas covers protecting you from most direct sunlight, and they bring in extra air conditioning units to keep this area cool, and it is SO appreciated.
 
This building is crowded with 130,000 people, but they make the best of a rough situation because this building is one of the largest available in Southern California, in decent proximity to a lot of hotels, and is accessible to a number of entertainment and comic companies, so this is probably where it will stay if the convention continues to occur in California.

EXHIBIT HALL
 
This room is central to a lot of people’s experience, and I can see why.
 
Major companies like Lego, Hasbro, Blizzard, Mattel, NECA, Fox, the Walking Dead, Warner Brothers, Nickelodeon, DC Comics, Marvel Comics, Image Comics, and a number of others have very large booths that have their own exclusives to sell to people as they work their way through.  A number of those booths also have a ticketing system that you must use to buy unless you are tremendously lucky. 
 
The Exhibit Hall is also split into sections that can make your experience easier if you have a clear idea of what you’re looking for including Artist’s Alley, Small Press which has cosplayers, smaller companies, and crafters, the Gold & Silver Pavilion which specializes in Gold and Silver Age comics, and so on.  There’s a sprinkling of more general areas, but not much of it.
 
That’s not to say it’s easy to move around.  The complaints by people of the Exhibit Hall being crowded are justified.  There are times it’s very hard to move around, especially Sunday after people check out of hotel rooms and have nowhere else to be.  Jesse and I had to move past the WB booth during a Sunday Supernatural signing and it was near impossible for a few minutes.  But, this is also something you can adapt to by reading the schedules of the signings on the Exhibit Hall floor.  When you get the rhythm of the room, it’s really not so bad.

PANELS
 
To do panels at San Diego Comic Con, you have to remember this phrase:  “You will never see everything you want to.”
 
That isn’t a defeatist statement about lines or bemoaning all of the walking, reading, snack buying, and preparation I found necessary to get ready.  That is a simple truth that the schedule for Comic Con for the five years I have attended has been so jam-packed with interesting panels by industry, creators, and entertainment companies, that you often have to say, “To see this panel, I’m going to have to skip that panel.”  This is one reason I’m pretty well satisfied by my Comic-Con experience even though I miss a lot, because I still saw more than enough to make the weekend beyond worthwhile.
 
I saw panels by TV shows, writers, artists, movie-makers, and production companies, and still had time to get several signatures, visit with people, and pick up exclusives. 
 
Though, I must say that this level of involvement meant I needed to read the full panel list a couple of weeks in advance and make sure what I was going to see and what I was going to give up to do so.  It’s a hard choice, but it’s better than standing in the Salis Pavilion unsure of which way to move.

ORGANIZATION/STAFF
 
You’ll never find convention staff that will tell you 100% of the time that you’re in the right, but I have yet to find a staff as courteous on all ends as those at Comic-Con.  The convention staff themselves are pretty kind and straight forward, but even the convention center staff will use “please” and “thank you, sir” even when they are telling you when you’re going the wrong way.  After being yelled at by Anime Expo staffers, this felt like a night and day difference, and this is a larger convention with better trained staff.
 
They even have volunteers who go through a training process before being put on the floor.  I witnessed groups of volunteers being gathered and led to their posts by staff, and none of them were surly or blurry-eyed.  All of them looked sharp and ready to work.  Of course, a shift of volunteering getting you a day’s badge probably had something to do with it… but, these are motivated workers and the convention ran well because of it.
 
I wasn’t held up by convention policies or staff.  Every part of the convention I came to was well run and defined with staff able to promptly point you to the right line and waiting places for panels or exclusive lists. 
 
It can get lost under the scale of the convention, but these people do care about what you’re looking for and treat you with respect.
 
COSPLAY
 
Cosplay is often described as light at Comic-Con, but this year, it felt near non-existent.
 
If you’re looking for the number of cosplayers you would find at an anime convention, this trade show isn’t for you.  If you’re looking for the number of cosplayers at Wondercon, this still isn’t for you.
 
While cosplay happens at San Diego Comic-Con, it isn’t the needed distraction a lot of other conventions need.  There’s already so much to see in panels, the Exhibit Hall, and numerous off site experiences, that you’ll find that cosplay isn’t the priority cosplayers often look for.  The only places for larger gatherings is on the second floor outer deck of the convention center, and that is a badge-only zone, so ghosting photographers won’t find any easy access.
 
Add into that a crowded Exhibit Hall floor with few convenient places to stop, off sites that take up almost all of the adjacent park space, half of hotels needing shuttle access, so quick changes are not accessible, and weather that leans towards humid when it’s gentle and muggy when it’s bad, cosplay just isn’t a feature.
 
However, the cosplayers that do show up do tend to show their A-game, and they can be picked by some local companies following social media about the weekend for special videos or advertisements made during the four days of Comic-Con.
 
In the end, it’s your choice. 

​LOCATION
 
So, you went through Registration and only picked up Thursday and/or Sunday badges?  You’re bummed that you won’t be able to see the big television and movie panels of the weekend?  Don’t sit on your hands.  You still have a lot you can do.
 
A number of entertainment companies have made off site experiences; things for you to see that doesn’t require a Comic-Con badge to enter.  There was a Wasted Island experience, a Legion offsite, a Gifted Mutant Gene Testing, a Westworld experience, a Game of Thrones interactive experience, and more things than I can list without making an entire article about it.  You have things to keep you entertained with a little bit of research and foresight.
 
This section of San Diego, referred to as the Gaslamp Quarter, comes alive with nerdy shops and exhibits during the days of and around Comic-Con.  The local restaurants will sometimes host companies showing things to people away from the Convention Center, or even have a temporary façade put up or menu catering to the fans in the area.  The whole section of the city can feel like an adult version of Disneyland’s Main Street… sometimes complete with mid-day parades and insane crowding.
 
It’s worth walking around, though.  There’s a number of restaurants in the area catering to all kinds of taste, and while there will be some panhandling in the area, San Diego also ups the amount of police in the area and makes them very visible.  I won’t say it’s absolutely safe; bags have been stolen and people accosted, but it’s heartening to see the interest San Diego has taken in Comic-Con.

​NIGHT LIFE
 
San Diego Comic-Con shuts down most of its panels and functions at 8:00 p.m.  That’s where the city takes over and gives you something to see.
 
The Gaslamp lit up at night is pretty soothing from a distance.  Up close, it’s full of fans and locals mixing up in the bars and grills to refill their bellies before moving on to another bar or a game of Cards Against Humanity.  While walking around at night, even at 1:00 a.m., you’ll find groups of people moving between clubs, comedy clubs, bars, and hotels to the next party or drink.  I’m not a drinker myself, but I love the feeling of camaraderie in the area during the weekend.
 
You can just feel like you were dropped in a nerd festival when the sun goes down.

OVERALL
 
Don’t think that this is a perfect experience.  It takes preparation to really get your money-worth out of this very large trade show.  But there’s a good chance you’ll do at least one of the major items you set for yourself just because Comic-Con International has done as much as they can to make it accessible.  Myself, I managed to get four signatures during the weekend and only planned on getting one, if that tells you anything. 
 
If you get flustered, breathe out, step away from your planning for a minute, grab a bottle of your favorite comfort drink, and think of the celebrities and creators that are going to put their best foot forward to impress you at the biggest comic book event of the year.
 
San Diego Comic-Con isn’t the easiest convention to navigate, but if you put the work in, you’re likely to have an experience that follows you for a lifetime.

JEREMY

Hi, guys!  To give you a bit of history, in 2015, for the first time in a while, I had a positive review of the Anime Expo!
 
I know!  It surprised me, too!  The staff was more professional, the building was well utilized, and the panels and Dealer’s Hall was a good variety!  I went into 2017 thinking that there may be more positive trends on the way and this is where the convention could actually challenge San Diego Comic-Con for the title of the biggest pop-culture convention in North America!
 
Yeah… about that…
 
REGISTRATION
 
Registration was a lot like last year, but more extreme.  Last year, there was a breakdown after Day 0 where people waited for hours on Day 1 and a bit less on Day 2 before things were fixed. 
 
The same pattern held true this year.  I went to Day 0 and it was practically a walk-up process.  Things looked to be pretty good.  There were a number of people ready to process bar codes and the badge pick-up was fast. 
 
Fast forward to Day 1, Saturday, and there were reports of people waiting for SEVEN HOURS from the time they went to pick up the badge to the time they finally entered the convention.  If you can believe it, the line for registration stretched south half-a-block, west for three blocks, north for three blocks, and then East for two blocks.  It nearly stretched back to the Staples center, disturbingly near the West Hall Entrance, stretching past a homeless encampment and sometimes doubling back into the street. 
 
Then, people waited in a near equal line for security checks to get into the building!  There will be more on that later, but if you think we’re exaggerating, Kotaku.com ran an article that goes into further detail as people live tweeted their agony.
 
HOTEL/SHUTTLE SYSTEM
 
Yes.  I stayed at the Residence Inn.  It allowed me to make my own schedule with a half-a-mile walk separating me from the Convention Center.  My roommates liked the hotel more than I did, I think.  They were impressed with the kitchen with a full refrigerator, microwave, electric stove, and a very courteous and professional staff that was following our needs and were very accommodating when problems popped up, offering very definitive solutions instead of a set of maybes.
 
Something new happened this year, though; even though my hotel room was off block, the people in my room were assigned wristbands.  Without these wristbands, a guard at the elevator would not let us up.  It was a bit of a conversation, but once we were used to the system, we adapted and it wasn’t a terribly bad interruption to our flow.

​The Dealer’s Hall was regularly crowded to the point that I just didn’t have an interest in finding my way around for random shopping.  If I had a purpose, I fulfilled it and left as soon as possible.  I have seen most of the Anime Expos since 1993, and this is the very first year I haven’t bothered to walk every aisle of the Dealer’s Hall.
 
Artist’s Alley was similarly crowded and I saw about half of it and the wares inside.  People I usually pal around with at anime conventions mostly didn’t bother trying to finish it due to the crowds and the muggy feeling in-between the tables.
 
PANELS
 
There were finally some informative industry panels! 
 
For a convention that touts its industry connections, this was the first year since 2006 it felt like brand new news was making its way out of the convention instead of just an announcement of the latest English dubbings being released.  We saw the new FLCL trailer, and the announcement of three new series from Studio Trigger! 
 
There were more panels than usual, causing Anime Expo to use the ballrooms in the J.W. Marriott Hotel a block and a half away on Olympic Avenue.  I do question why screenings and some large industry panels were in the hotel.  I thought the fan panels should have been held here instead and the convention should focus more on an industry connection.
 
I didn’t visit any fan panels personally, but the fan panels at anime conventions in California tend to be repetitive for my liking, so I didn’t think I was missing a lot by being selective.
 
COSPLAY
 
Usually, people bring their best and brightest cosplay to Anime Expo every year… except…

A few months ago, we learned of a new convention happening in Ontario, California calling itself Comic-Con Revolution.  Since its first announcement, Revolution added more and more intriguing names and seemed to be gaining traction with a strong social media campaign.  We sent Jeremy from the Rolling 20’s to get a feeling for the convention and find out if a new legend began in this Los Angeles fringe-town.
 
REGISTRATION
 
Registration ran very well for a fledgling convention.  I had the inference that the convention paid attention to the number of people pre-registering and adjusted their plan accordingly.  They did open the door a bit late, but when they did, they had the equipment ready to scan bar codes on phones and printed forms to confirm their status and get them a wristband.  This system may need to be adjusted when the convention moves to a multi-day schedule, but Comic-Con Revolution was well in command of their situation and stayed ahead of their needs.
 
HOTEL/SHUTTLE SYSTEM
 
Being a new one-day convention, the hotel didn’t have a need for hotels and/or shuttles.  I stayed overnight just to give myself extra time at the convention center and not stress about my drive home.  Hopefully, I make it next year and can review one of the local hotels for you.
 
CONVENTION CENTER
 
It does appear that Ontario is seeking more events for their convention center.  I’ve seen more advertisements for events happening within their walls, and it appears to be paying off for them.

Their convention center is a lot like post 80’s Southern California civic architecture; white stucco and concrete, lots of large windows to let in light, and a vague theme of water running throughout the venue with blues in the carpeting.
 
I do think that the convention tried to give people more places to sit than they have for other events I attended here because, again, it was a one-day convention, so there needed to be an incentive for people to stay and spend and interact more.  The side-effect of that, though, could be seen at the Marvel cosplay gathering when the tables were suddenly pressured by photographers and there was a glut of people both in the seating area and surrounding it. 
 
This is something else that will probably evolve a bit with at least one more day added to the convention.

Wondercon has returned to the Anaheim Convention Center for 2017, and one of our comic-book enthusiasts, Jeremy from the Rolling 20's Show, went down to see what was new with the convention center and to get a measure of Wondercon's growth.  Is the convention about to turn a corner into a new era?  Is it still accessible to casual fans?  Is the cosplay still on point?  He was too eager to find out.  Let's read!

HOTEL/SHUTTLE SYSTEM
 
The Anaheim Hilton is a very solid hotel on multiple levels. 
 
Although they weren’t ready for my arrival at 6:00 a.m., they did have a room ready not long after the convention opened.  The room was in very neutral colors of white, black, and grays with wood accents and the usual furniture in a two-bed room; a desk, a small dresser, a lounging chair, and an end-table.

I couldn’t figure out how to get the TV to take an alternative input.  It looks like this hotel is geared a bit like some resort hotels in that they try to limit your entertainment alternatives so that you need to go out and engage in the local area.  It’s a minor gripe in that I attempted to share a Youtube video and couldn’t get it on to the TV.
 
The hotel is also large and well-administrated enough that there was a dance competition that ran at the same time as Wondercon on Friday and Saturday, and you wouldn’t be very aware of it if you weren’t paying attention.  There’s also a pool deck with waterslides for kids, a hot tub, a gym, and a couple of restaurant options in the hotel.  They expanded the bar into some of the lobby seating area for additional service.

Between their helpful staff, professional demeanor, spacious rooms, proximity to the Anaheim Convention Center, and accessibility to the local theme parks, this hotel is a good place for your convention stay.
 
REGISTRATION
 
What “registration”?
 
Comic-Con International (CCI), as of San Diego Comic-Con 2016, has begun mailing badges to their domestic customers.  This practice expanded to Wondercon this year.  It makes the process much easier when you show up with a badge and just need to pick up a lanyard and convention booklet. 
 
There were decent lines of people who bought badges after the mailing deadline, but they set up a smaller-than-usual bank of people to process badges, and the process is still quick and efficient.  If you are sure you’re going and bought your badge well in advance, barring some sort of missing mail, you won’t have a problem here.
 
If anyone from CCI is paying attention, though, I pray that they use a different return address on their envelopes.  If my badges all come to my mailbox with “SDCC” on them, I’m worried someone will start watching my mail to steal the badge.  With the RFID technology, it would be easy to inform CCI and invalidate the badge, but that would add extra inconvenience to replace it… and possibly require the attendee to pay to replace it, as well.

No longer Comikaze, Stan Lee's Los Angeles Comic Con appears poised to take its place among the larger conventions in San Diego, Salt Lake City, and New York.  Was the name change a sign of better times to come?  Did Los Angeles get the big comic book convention it has been fishing for?  Is the convention still one of the better ones in Southern California?  Time to take the plunge!

HOTEL/SHUTTLE SYSTEM
 
Yes, we were in Los Angeles, so that means we were back at the Residence Inn at L.A. Live.  We as a group have come to love the amount of space in the rooms, as well as the kitchens with the full-size refrigerators, meaning you can properly keep food without having to be completely dependent on local restaurants, which can definitely lower the stress of your weekend.
 
The décor of the hotel has not changed as of yet.  The rooms on this side of the building (the other half of the building is a Courtyard Inn decorated in sunrise colors), are reminiscent of a Southern California sunset; the décor is full of crimson, maroon, and black and white murals above the beds. 
 
The staff is still the friendliest and with the best memories I have seen.  A few hours after my arrival, a few of the staff members gave me a big, “Glad to see you’re back!”  They were highly attentive and quick to take care of any questions I had, as well as understanding when I asked them to hold my things while I had to finish some business.
 
This is a must-stay location for Los Angeles conventions.

​REGISTRATION
 
Registration seems to be on the downswing at comic book conventions.  I thought the issues at Long Beach Comic Con were bad, but the lines outside of Los Angeles Comic-Con actually made that look more bearable.  Don’t believe me?  The line outside of South Hall wound in near stifling ways from the side of the south hall to in front of the South Hall entrances.  There were so many people waiting that it was actually interfering with people trying to get in the building.
 
I tried to stay out of the way, but my guess would be that there wasn’t enough people processing registration.  I saw about a dozen people to process them on Day 1, but when you have a convention of 50,000+ people you have to plan ahead for bumps in attendance.

 CONVENTION SPACE
 
I am not a fan of the Los Angeles Convention center.  The building is wildly decentralized for large events like E3 or the Los Angeles Auto Show with two large halls that roughly equate to the square footage at Anaheim, but they are separated by a city street.  The two halls are connected by a bridge, but this building’s layout is terrible for very large conventions.

When it comes to mid-size conventions, it’s still not convenient.  Since a lot of conventions like to put media and operational offices above South Hall, you often need to leave the hall to make it to the panel rooms like you do at Los Angeles Comic-Con.  If you are shopping and want to attend a panel, you will need to exit the Dealer’s Hall and traverse the South Hall Lobby to get to the Skyway Bridge and it’s second floor to find the meeting rooms.  Given how crowded this place is for mid-to-large size conventions, getting to the meeting rooms can be a trial.  

The staff at this building is still pretty standoffish to nerd activities.  As per the last few years, they frown on gatherings happening indoors and do your best to shoo you either outside or to stop what you are doing altogether.  If you are looking for a good group photo and to stay out of the rain (which did happen during the weekend), you’ll have to find an out of the way place. 
 
If it wasn’t for the prestige of saying, “We have a convention in Los Angeles,” I find it hard to understand why people still book this building for conventions.
 
DEALER’S HALL
 
The Dealer’s Hall was actually more than a bit of a letdown in 2016. 
 
When Los Angeles Comic-Con changed its name from Comikaze, I had pictured that they were finding a new gear in the convention; that they were going from mid-size to large-size after it’s quick five-year explosion.  In the transition to Los Angeles Comic-Con, this convention felt like it was leaving comic books behind.  On Saturday, I wandered to the center of the hall and realized that there were only three comic book vendors in my walk.
 
If you’re interested in toys, corsets, steampunk accessories or clothes, independent artists, trip raffles, mystery boxes, T-shirts, or muscle tension release devices, you should have a pretty good time.  Although there were booths manned by Tow Cow and Dark Horse Comics, for the most part, comic book representation in the hall was strangely light. 
 
The Artist’s Alley was expanded to cover 1/5 to ¼ of the overall hall, but I could find very few industry artists in the alley.  It was filled with a lot of independent artists who had a lot of interesting items, but given my three decades of convention history, I am well fleshed out on prints and want to see more industry talent I haven’t had a chance to meet.
 
I was astonished how few comic books I could buy at a convention that used “Comic-Con” in its title.  People complain about San Diego Comic-Con being too pop culture, but if you wander their Exhibit Hall, you still have multiple opportunities to flesh out your collection.  At Los Angeles Comic-Con, those opportunities are weirdly slim.

PANELS
 
This was probably your best opportunity for entertainment over the weekend, but not comic book news.
 
Like the Dealer’s Hall, there’s a lot of entertainment items in their panel list, as well as some multimedia stars, but there is little actual comic industry information or interaction in it.  You can see a lot of improvisational groups, musical groups, and fan organizations like the 501st Imperial Brigade.  If you are looking for any announcements about upcoming toy releases or comic book storylines, this isn’t the place. 
 
Don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed Mike Colter’s appearance on the Main Stage of Comikaze in the Exhibit Hall and his energetic answers to fans, but there wasn’t much here to keep me interested in what was happening.  I did miss the Kevin Smith/Ralph Garman Fatman on Batman taping with Adam West and Burt Ward due to business.  That probably would have lifted my spirits.

COSPLAY
 
Cosplay at Los Angeles Comic-Con is at the middle of the pack in my opinion. 
 
I did see some interesting items, but most of the more interesting ones, I noted, were ones I saw earlier in my year in California conventions.  It appears that people are bringing things they have finished earlier in the year or items that require minimal work to put together (think zentai suits) for the most part.  There are some standout cosplayers.  I took photos of a Mei and a Tracer from Overwatch that looked like they leapt off the screen (and the Mei was overheated in a suede parka, Baldur bless her).
 
As a people watcher, there are both cheaper conventions where you can see more interesting cosplay (Long Beach Comic Con/Expo) and larger conventions where people are more likely to try out highly detailed costumes (WonderCon).  The only convention where cosplay is less prevalent, in my mind, is San Diego Comic-Con, but you also have many many more things to do at that convention.

​STAFF/ORGANIZATION
 
While I wasn’t enamored with the convention, the staff were quick to help and seemed eager to take care of issues instead of kicking them up and down the ladder like Anime Expo tends to do.
 
I didn’t see the random people walking around with “Ask Me” signs as in previous years.  Most everything that was occurring ran on time and opened on schedule.  The only item I personally observed that made me worried was the opening of the convention at 5:00 p.m. on Day 1 (more on that in a minute).  While the convention hall opened on time, about 10 minutes into letting people in the Dealer’s Hall, the line was stalled for a good 10 minutes for some unknown problem.  Just when people started to audibly groan, the problem was solved and people were let in at a pretty good clip.
 
Organization is not a problem at Los Angeles Comic-Con.
 
There was one decision that Los Angeles Comic Con made that is just confusing me, though.  They haven’t lowered their price as a three-day convention, but Day 1 was suddenly slashed to only being open from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., and that is only the Dealer’s Hall.  There are no panels that day.  My feeling is that the prices either need to be lowered, or people should have more bang for their buck when you change Day 1 into an unofficial preview night.
 
LOCATION
 
Downtown Los Angeles is a mixture of feelings for me. 
 
I do like that there is shopping, both grocery and department store, within a 10 minute walk of my hotel, but those blocks, despite being in the Figueroa area, can have a lot of interaction with local people, and that varies pretty wildly.  There’s a lot of homeless people panhandling in the area, as well as well-to-do individuals that can act pretty haughty and stuck-up when you pass by them in costume, they can be very condescending in attitude, if they don’t say anything outright. 
 
There’s a few places to eat nearby, but if you’re working on a budget, you’re going to have to walk at least a couple blocks in a lot of scenarios.  One tip I can give you for sure is that there is a Denny’s on Figueroa between 8th and 9th Streets; Do not go there.  That Denny’s is barely passable on a normal night, not one when there’s 40,000 extra people in the area. 
 
A few years ago, Downtown Los Angeles wasn’t as harrowing of a place.  In 2016, you should probably consider walking with someone else if you’re unfamiliar with the area.
 
NIGHT LIFE
 
There is a few places to go in Downtown Los Angeles, although I am not a member of the club scene.  Fortunately, there was one third party event, Club Comic Con, that happened on Friday night, but that was a bit of a walk away.
 
Los Angele Comic-Con brought back its own dance/quasi-Halloween ball featuring a DJ and a couple of cover bands for people to enjoy.  I did not have the time to visit this year, which was a shame.  Their dances are more laid back than the rave-style environment at anime conventions. 
 
Don’t overlook the Comic-Con dance.  It’s a great way to unwind.

OVERALL
 
My first overall thought is that… I miss Comikaze.
 
Comikaze felt like a comic book convention that had a lot going for it.  Los Angeles Comic Con in 2016 felt like a convention that already hit its upper ceiling and is clawing for some form of growth.  That shouldn’t be given the last few years with notable stars and some interesting announcements, not a lot, but at least some.  This year, there was a deficit of industry talent and almost no announcements of any sort.
 
If you want to rub elbows with the occasional celebrity, that might happen.  If you want to meet the co-stars and “Also Starring” members of shows or find a random knick-knack, this is your place.  For me, though, I think that Anime Expo 2016 is a better convention than this… and if you follow my reviews… you know that is really saying how uninteresting of a time I had…
 
JEREMY

Long Beach has had a couple of comic conventions grow into the void left by Wizard World Long Beach ending its run.  There has been growth and positive buzz surrounding the convention, and Jeremy from the Rolling 20's Podcast has been to a couple of these shows.  Has Long Beach Comic Con continued the upward trajectory of these events?  

​There's nothing left to do but read his review and find out...

HOTEL/SHUTTLE SYSTEM
 
This year, I decided to go with the Long Beach Renaissance Inn.  Their décor was a mixture of light tans and creams mixed with a loosely aquatic theme you could find in certain wallpapers and in a blue scaled carpet in the hallways.  The staff was attentive and quick to answer concerns.  I also liked the unusual move of a seating ledge in the windows.  It does give you a place to look over the city or the harbor and just think a bit.  It’s nice that the rooms are inviting.
 
The bathrooms are large, and the lobby is full of floor-to-ceiling windows letting in a lot of light, or the soft light of the city at night.  Actually, even though the Renaissance Inn was a distance away from the convention center, this turned out to be a decent move on my part, and next year, I hope they consider using the Westin as part of their hotel block.  You’ll find more about that in the Staff/Organization section of my report.

Otakon will always have a special place in my heart. It is therefore with great sadness that I write this review about the last Otakon in Baltimore. Charm City: you will be missed.
Otakon started at Penn State all the way up at State College, Pennsylvania but it’s clear after 17 years in Baltimore Otakon has made this city home.

Baltimore has been in the news recently in a not so good light however as most locals can attest charm city has a way of putting its’ best foot forward. Especially with the inner harbor area where the convention is held. For cosplayers it is about as good a venue as you can get. Within walking distance you have a picturesque harbor, national monuments, and a modern city skyline. A perfect back drop for a typical cosplay photography routine.

Being next to two stadiums city organizers have their work cut out for them. When I drove into the city on Thursday night I found myself awash in a sea of humanity as both NFL and MLB games were on right next door to the convention center. As usual the Baltimore city police did an excellent job at keeping traffic flowing .

                                                                         Hotels

Baltimore has a ton of hotels either right next to or near the convention center. The city also has an excellent bus system for shuttling con goers to and fro. I stayed at the Hyatt Regency. The internet was great this year. High speed and never any lag which was surprising. Compared to how internet was in previous years I’m glad to see the national chains are finally getting it right. At one point the elevator got stuck but they got us out within 15 minutes.

                                                                     Registration

Like last year Otakon did online registration and shipped badges ahead of time to all con goers for the first time ever. You can still register in person but now the line is quite literally about 15 minutes long at its’ peak.

                                                                Convention Space

The convention center got rid of the stairs on the east side of the convention center three years ago and has since also removed the skywalks on the east side. This was for increased security but it did increase pedestrian traffic on the ground. In general though attendance seemed to be down this year as they had increased the price of registration. There seemed to be a lot less people in general in and around the main places where cosplayers congregate. Gophers were excellent this year at keeping lines out of the way and in general things seemed way more organized this year than I had seen previously. As usual the convention center itself is huge and more than easily accommodates whatever the organizers throw at it. The dealer room, game room, artist alley, AMV contest hall, and dance hall were all more than big enough for each of those events. If anything the smaller convention center rooms were overflowing with too many panel attendees however that is part of the reason for the move to DC next year.

                                                                    Dealer room

This year press got to go into the dealer room before it was open to the general public. We were taken in through a staff side entrance an hour before the room was to be opened for everyone. Many of the vendors still hadn’t fully setup at 11 AM but were mostly ready by noon when the doors opened. I took plenty of pictures of the room being empty. In general the typical dealer room wares were sold. I noticed a distinct lack of airsoft which I had seen in previous years. I’m not sure if this was specific to this year but it’s clear that they wanted to err on the side of caution and keep it banned.

                                                                      Cosplay

This year was extremely hot. Each day was a high of 98 F and the “feels like” temperature was hovering around 111 F at times. I went to the Naruto midday Saturday shoot on the balcony of the third floor of the convention center and I found myself soaked in sweat after only a few minutes outside. I could not imagine what it was like for people in full body heavy costumes. Still…. There were many incredible cosplays and the convention center did an admirable job keeping the inside a reasonable 75 F for the most part. Many meet ups moved indoors for this reason.

As usual there were many cosplay meet ups in hotel lobbies and the like. The talent that comes out to Otakon is word class. Being the biggest east coast anime convention brings people from all over the world. My room mates flew in from California and easily did at least 15 cosplays between the two of them.

No matter what your fandom is there was some representation of it in the halls of the Baltimore Convention Center. From obscure jrpgs to mainstream American scifi. Overwatch seemed to be this year’s cosplay fad.

                                                                        Food

Baltimore has a ton of amazing restaurants in the Inner Harbor area. At least 15 sushi places and two well very well-known Ramen restaurants make attending Otakon a blast for any foodie. Unfortunately having this many Otaku in one place causes all these places to be packed all weekend long. For those who want to eat on the cheap you can easily just walk to a nearby Subway and get foot long sandwiches all weekend long. There are actually 10 subways within 5 blocks of the convention center and a few are 24/7 so if you get hungry late at night being in the middle of a major city helps. Otherwise the typical convention center food rules apply. Overpriced convention center food is available in the dealer room as well as the second and third floors of the convention center. Personally though, I prefer to skip the overpriced convention center sushi drenched in spicy mayo.

                                                                      Night Life

Baltimore is home to one of the most robust rave scenes on the east coast. The same community also organizes a bunch of local festivals including Big Dub, Moonrise, Nightmare Fest, and Dreamscape. Otakon taps into this by pulling DJs from this scene to do the Friday and Saturday night raves. It’s typical for street vendors to be selling led glow toys right outside during all of this.

If raving isn’t your thing the bars and restaurants around the inner harbor stay open till 2 AM. The convention center itself was extremely lively with cosplayers and in-general otaku just having fun chilling and hanging out in the lobbies even a little bit past two.

Just be careful walking away from the inner harbor. Tons of pan handlers and shady characters not too far from the convention center area. There are some shady strip clubs only three blocks away going uphill away from the harbor.

                                                                       Overall

Organizers will have their work cut out for them in DC next year to live up to how great a venue the Baltimore Convention Center has been for the past 17 years. Despite its’ smaller size the Baltimore convention center was at the literal center of Baltimore public life. Surrounded by major sports stadiums, the cities’ financial district, and tourist focal point allowed Otakon to benefit from the many food and social communities already in place. For cosplayers the location was a veritable smorgasbord of shooting locations. 2016 was no different. A success convention anyway you cut it.

                                                               Looking Forward

Otakon 2017 is being held in Washington D.C. In contrast from Baltimore the DC convention center is located exactly 0.9 miles from The White House, 0.8 miles from the National Mall, 1.4 miles from the United States Capitol, and 2.1 miles from the Potomac River, the closest body of water to the convention center. While this certainly adds an air of authenticity to the cosplay possibilities it doesn’t really create much variety for cosplayers, who might not want to schlep for miles on foot in the August heat for some pictures. Looking into the food selection around the area I found myself thinking “this is a place I would take a congressman I wanted to schmooze, not a bunch of my nerd friends”. Over time I have no doubt we’ll call DC our own but I think at first we will find ourselves dealing with a city made for politicians and lobbyists, not nerds.

​Another year, another San Diego Comic-Con!  Jeremy and the rest of the Rolling 20’s made the trek back to San Diego’s Gaslamp to see how the convention progressed, and maybe even get into Hall H this year!
 
This convention has made so many Top 10 lists across reviewers… does it still deserve to reign as the king of conventions, or has it begun a slide that has been seen too often in conventions over the decades?
 
There’s no time like the present to find out…
 
HOTEL/SHUTTLE SYSTEM
 
The San Diego Comic-Con hotel system took a major shift this year.
 
While prior years’ rooms were allotted on a first-come, first-served basis, SDCC and their Housing Bureau, OnPeak, shook things up by moving to a lottery system similar to the registration queue.  Since we were not prepared for this kind of change, we ended up nearly out of the hotel block all-together.  After some trades and a last-minute waitlist request coming through, we landed at the San Diego Airport Hilton, also known as the Hilton Harbor Island. 
 
The hotel has great views in most directions, either over a local marina or over the Coronado Bay and military base.  Every room has a small balcony big enough for two adults to sit comfortably and every room is very spacious.  The décor is in whites and blues to go with the maritime atmosphere and location. 

The bathroom is where I personally had some trouble.  My first two mornings at the hotel, I showered with no hot water whatsoever.  I was freezing.  Apparently, I was just unlucky as my other roommates didn’t have this problem, and on the third day, there was finally enough hot water for my section of the building during my shower.
 
All in all, this is a fine hotel.  The staff were attentive and very aware that they wouldn’t see many people during the day due to the 30-minute shuttle ride needed to get to the convention center.
 
Speaking of which, the shuttles ran well and NBC did a great job of sponsoring the shuttles again.  All busses were full charter busses with the air conditioning working overtime and the drivers being attentive.  On our last day, we even had an apology from the person watching the line for our shuttle at the convention center because we might need to wait about 15 minutes, which was the average time expected between shuttles, anyway.  They even got on to apologize for the crowding at the end of the block slowing our drive out.  They were almost over-concerned with our needs. 
 
Honestly, as long as you find a hotel with a shuttle ride you don’t mind, there doesn’t seem to be a bad hotel in the convention block for your needs.