Remember that video? Well, according to the Anime News Network, Anime Expo is implementing significant changes to the way they handle lines. Here’s the details:

The Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation, the parent company of Anime Expo (AX), has announced that it has hired a third-party company to oversee registration starting in 2008. Experient’s services will include a dedicated pre-registration site with group and hotel reservation options, a scannable confirmation form for quicker on-site processing of pre-registered attendees, 60 manned and 40 self-registration stations, and on-site and on-call support from Experient’s personnel.

Mike’s Take: I have just one thing to say:

WHAT. TOOK. YOU. SO. LONG????

Seriously. They say first impressions are everything and when one’s first impression of AX is that impossibly long line as documented above–especially for people like me who were pre-registered–and it turns out to be all too typical, too, you do not come away with the greatest con experiences. I was heartily amused by the rejoinder comment in the article here, too:

Attendees have complained about waiting in registration lines for up to three hours or longer in recent years.

[Raises hand.] Yup. Oh yes.

Now just do the same thing for the main events and concerts and you’ll be golden. I wonder how long the lines will be now. If they’re less than an hour that’s already a massive improvement. This site has some Secret Plans (c) for AX 2008 so we’ll be on the scene like we were this year to see whether this is worth anything.

Halko Momoi, who we talked about in our con wrapup podcast regarding the notorious treatment she received at AX 2007, has posted a thank-you which seems to double as a retraction. She now thanks the staff for their hard work, and talks about how great the concert was. (See the ANN news item about this.)

I’m an onlooker on these events, since I didn’t go to her concert on Monday, and it’s my understanding that her infamous negative blog post about AX 2007 was posted a day before that concert. As her apology notes, it was after a number of events, including her autograph session, were canceled. I suppose it shows how a good show can go a long way in repairing the feelings at least of an aggrieved performer.

I don’t think this letter, heartfelt as it is, totally negates the poor impression that her initial blog post caused for AX though. That a major guest would complain so openly and publicly is already something of a tipping point, a sign that all is not well at the root. It appears that the staff scrambled to make things better after the post, which is to their credit, and helped turn her overall experience into a generally positive one. She even notes at the end that she hopes to play more US shows in the future…will it be at AX again, though? Who knows.

This story ended well, but the lesson is still clear: don’t screw your guests of honor!

At AX, the industry claimed that fansubbed shows have been killing DVD sales. One of the points (thanks to Chibi Tokyo and other podcasts for reporting) was the fansubbed copies of certain shows can still be seen on Youtube even after these shows were licensed.

Next, some of the points we have discussed here at Anime Diet Radio (you can heard the latest eps here) and other points I’ve heard from other people, including people from the industry:

- fansubs are killing DVD sales.

- some DVDs are not well made at all and they’re a waste of money.

- companies should make episodes downloadable online, as soon as each eps is show on Japanese TV.

- some anime eps are already downloadable, but these files are dubbed and they’re so encrypted/protected/whatever that you can’t do anything else with them except just watch them – you can’t even back them up on discs (some clarifications here will be greatly appreciated).

- People do buy DVDs they like.

Here are my thoughts:

1. Fan subs are ultimately what helped to bring anime over to the States. It’s almost like an institution (albeit it’s really not, and it’s not going to be) for letting the fans previewing the newest titles available.

2. As for the DVDs, some of them have such bad production values on subtitling and/or dubbing, so much so that many complaints are heard. However, who’s to say for sure that not enough people buy well produced DVDs?

3. I don’t appreciate pirate copies and I appreciate DVD rips evenless. Yes, I’ve downloaded these before from a certain site. But I have stopped and I’m tossing away all the DVD ripped discs and replacing them with licensed DVDs – the artwork and the included goodies are such treats for me as a fan. But some people may feel entirely different about these things.

4. DVDs are cool, but they can be such a hassle to keep because they take up physical space. If I can download good subtitled copies and store them on my HD, I can access them so much quicker.

What do you think?

And here are some extra footage that I didn’t have room to put in the main videos. More interviews, of course, as well as the UNCUT version of Masaki’s Hare Hare Yukai dance. Watch…if you dare. :)

Here we are, with the final entry of my AX Video Journal. This one details my second failed attempt to get Hirano Aya’s autograph, despite having gotten up at 4:30 AM and getting in line by 5:30. (She didn’t show up at all to the open autograph session.) I also have some cool footage of the dealer room, which I only visited for the first time on this final day of the con.

These videos were so much fun to put together and share with you all. Thanks for watching! I will be doing a complete writeup/wrap up of this year’s con experience soon.

And the third day (Sunday) of my Anime Expo 2007 video journal is now up! This one is again in 2 parts, and they divide neatly.

Part 1 is about my futile effort to get an SOS Brigade autograph, and the interesting people I met in line. The autograph line was already not supposed to be there on that day–it was because the original autograph session had been cancelled. People with tickets distributed at the Friday Focus Panel had priority. Those with no tickets, like me, really had no chance, but I didn’t know that yet. :)

The second part is all about the Masquerade. This is more than a montage of clips from the various skits, though. It’s a record of the glitches and mistakes that plagued the con all throughout, with breakdowns in light and sound, and the announcement of a wrong winner in the awards ceremony. Herewith is the ultimate expose!

Day 4, the last day, should be ready by tomorrow!

I’ve been listening to some people complaining about the Japanese guests, thinking that it’s all their fault.

Some have been saying that the rules such as no photos, no video recordings, and no sound recordings, sucked.

Others have been saying that the AX staff screwed it all up.

SO the 1 million dollar question, or the $60 (at door price) question is, whose fault is it?

Finally! Day 2 (Saturday)–aka SOS Brigade Invasion Day–is up. I’ve got some really colorful interviews in this one, including a rather…interesting Haruhi. You’ll see. :) Plus, I caught some of the technical glitches during the Geneon and ADV panels, which was a harbinger of things to come at this con.

To keep the video under 10 minutes for Youtube and to make the video a coherent narrative, I had to cut some interviews that I originally planned to include. If you were looking for yourself and you didn’t see your interview, don’t worry: I plan to include a reel after all the days are up at the end of the week with everyone I had to cut from the main video.

Anyways, Day 2. Enjoy! Day 3 will be posted hopefully tomorrow.

Coming soon: after all the videos are posted, a thorough, well-thought writeup of my impressions of AX. Part of a continuing tradition of reporting on cons every year (see my report of AX last year).

Addendum: amazing. Someone actually smuggled a camera into the concert and caught some footage of Aya singing “God Knows.” So if you were curious as to what you were missing…here it is. I think it confirms, alas, some of my impressions that I give at the end of my video and it wasn’t just a technical problem.

Ah, AX. Later this week, when we have our podcast we’ll be firing verbal gigaslaves (no, dragonslaves won’t do it), Lances of Longenesses, Buster Rifles, and anything you can think of at the most recent AX convention, which my fellow colleagues went. Actually, we’ll have an intelligent discussion about it while sipping the afternoon tea and expressing our dismay. But as the title asks, what do you want, if you were to organize an anime convention? I know this is a rather wide open question, so feel free to say anything you wanted. Also, if you feel like you haven’t fired enough verbal “dragonslaves” at the AX’s Otaku bouncers (snicker)…I mean, AX’s excellent and uber professional staff, please rant away.

(rumor: some of us are so pissed off at AX that we want to start our own anime convention, for real.)

(Image from Wikipedia, for licensing info please read this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Waynes_world_two_ver2.jpg

Here’s Aya-chan at a mini-concert/event singing Haruhi’s OP in Japan.

Her beautiful and vulnerable self on display (or her closest mental breakdown)?

Here’s the downloadable version:

Aya at a mini-event singing the OP Haruhi Suzumiya

How our hearts would break if she were to wilt.