Some people may take this early arrival thing too far. At 3:30 a.m. Friday, these were a few of the people, all but sleeping in the halls of the Anaheim Hilton and Towers, waiting for the Anime Expo registration line to open. |
Six hours later, hundreds lined up outside the Anaheim Convention Center for the opening ceremonies in a line that extended two blocks. Anime Expo's remarkable success draws so many people that waiting in line is a part of the event. |
Among those at the ceremonies: aspiring animator Shawn the Touched and a foxy friend (sorry we couldn't show her tail). Shawn brought to Anime Expo the demonstration videos he had shown a month earlier at Project A-Kon. |
Familiar faces from other conventions, here's the return of animator Scott Frazier and actress Amanda Winn Lee. Amanda is still trying to explain the infamous "panda incident" from Anime Central in April. |
We caught Matt Greenfield of AD Vision rushing through the halls to set up his company's dealer table. AV Vision is expected to be part of the battle between American anime companies for fans' dollars at Anime Expo and beyond. |
Robert Miles Jr. of the Bay Area Animation led another big delegation from the San Francisco area to a major convention (we last saw this group at Project A-Kon 9). Miles promised a couple of big room parties and some knock-down, drag-out video gaming. |
People with long memories will see this shirt and smile. Back in the days when anime conventions were a strange and unusual idea, a group of West Coast fans thought up the original Anime Con, which then split into Anime America and Anime Expo and...it takes a long time to explain. The shirt was on sale at the Anime Expo merchanding booth. |
It's at places such as this - the main registration table - where a convention such as Anime Expo really takes place. Volunteers, not paid staff, make the convention work. The people who stand in long lines don't see or appreciate the intense months of work to get this organized. |
| Anime Expo Day One |  |