There is some truth in the saying that the best things in life are unplanned.
I went to Crunchyroll Expo.
It wasn't something I was planning on doing until 2 months before the event.
This is a story of the events that led to this, and the experience at the con.
If you're only interested in the latter, here's the timestamp in which I start talking
about it.
It'll also be on the description.
Around June, the thought occurred that I wanted a vacation on my birthday week.
I haven't had a chance since I started this new job.
At first, I didn't know what to do.
I asked colleagues around about ideas for internal tourism.
Then, on break one day, I read a promotional tweet from the Crunchyroll Twitter account
about their Expo and the dates: August 25th to the 27th.
I first read about this announcement some months ago, but wasn't thinking of attending
- all I wanted was some time away to relax.
Like pieces of a puzzle, it all started to come together.
"Wouldn't it be nice if I could attend the event?"
After some pondering, I decided to just follow my feelings and go.
Since I just had a credit card approved, and some decent savings to boot, the choice was
made all the more easy.
The first things I bought were the plane tickets.
I haven't flown since the year 2000 and had no idea how the experience had evolved;
it was both unnerving and exciting at the same time.
I made a conscious decision to travel on my own – I rejected dad's offer to accompany
me, I wasn't going to meet with friends, I have no family in California and, if something
were to happen to me, I'm on my own.
Heavy stuff for someone who hasn't traveled alone, but hey - there's always a first
time for everything!
Next, the hotel.
I don't know much about how the hospitality business sells itself, but I wanted one thing
– free food.
A lot of hotels close to the venue didn't have a buffet or complimentary breakfast or
dinners.
Not spending money on food because it came with the package?
Hell yeah, I wanted that!
I ended up staying at the Embassy Suite.
Breakfast was covered and there were a number of choices around to eat, hotel restaurant
included - it was all right!
There was a manager's reception in the evening, but it's mostly to consume alcohol.
I sure wasn't in the mood to drink when I came back.
I had no idea how the room looked either, but more on that later.
Lastly, the event pass.
It would be a shame if I booked the plane and hotel but not the con pass.
It looked like that'd be the case, but it was due to me waiting on the final guest list.
I knew I wanted a VIP pass for the perks and goodies, but the guests were a deciding factor
between it and the highest tier, VIP Plus.
It took a month and then a tweet came.
That sealed the deal.
I wanted Adam Savage's autograph.
In retrospect, it was the best deal I could get at the time.
I had trouble selecting the other 3 guests I'd like autographs from, so I went with
recognition factor.
Bad idea?
I don't even know.
Departure day arrived.
A quick breakfast to get me ready for the 8 hour trip - a flight from Puerto Rico to
Texas, then to California.
Dallas's airport is huge - I didn't expect I would be taking a train to get to the connecting
gate.
It was chock full of stores as well.
It was bewildering, taking all of this in.
Some hours later, I arrived at the San Jose airport.
First thing I noticed once I got out was the nice weather – it was sunny, but I wasn't
sweating.
As someone used to humidity, California's dry heat was a nice change and it's certainly
more enjoyable.
Included in the package's offerings was a shuttle from the airport to the hotel and
back.
I waited for one for about 15 minutes before calling the hotel, only to find out they didn't
offer the service!
I was miffed.
I had to take an Uber to the hotel.
Earlier in the day, I received an email about a window on Thursday for those who wanted
to pick up their badges at the venue.
I arrived at about 5:30 local time – I wasn't going to let this opportunity pass!
I left my stuff at the room and walked to the event.
'It's a two mile walk back and forth – how hard can this be?'
Boy, would that come back to haunt me later.
More on this soon.
After admiring the weather, I grabbed my pass, inquired about the hotel goodies and I was
back in before dinner.
One thing I couldn't help being surprised at: the room was big.
Sure, I expected a bed, but I didn't know I'd have a living room!
While I barely used it, it was a nice addition.
Friday morning.
By this time, Hurricane Harvey threatened to make landfall in Texas on the weekend.
I couldn't help feeling stressed when I realized my layover flight was in Dallas and I had
no idea if this was going to be a problem that needed solving at the last minute.
Thankfully, the airline reassured me that my flight back had not been cancelled.
Mom, who has travelled more than I have, let me know that all airports have hotels - if
an emergency were to happen, I could rent a room there.
It should be fine as long as I have cash on me and, fortunately, that wasn't a problem.
I walked to the event, like the day before.
Arrived an hour early, hoping to get some bearings on my surroundings.
Where are the points of interest?
With that out of the way, I wanted to get into the Exhibit Hall.
One of the perks of the VIP and VIP Plus pass was that I got early access to it.
We were queuing at the Main Stage, electronic music blaring and a reassurance that we'd
get entry before 1PM.
We *did* enter first, but it felt like there wasn't any lead over the Premium members
and the general public.
As soon as the last queuing VIP entered, the main hall doors opened and it's open season.
I made a beeline to the Crunchyroll Expo booth to claim a shirt exclusive to VIP pass holders
and a lanyard I bought in advance.
The queue circled the booth - it was crazy.
Staff were doing their best to keep the line, but I don't think they anticipated the sheer
volume of people.
There was a staff member shouting out shounen lines while circling around and, I'll be
honest, it felt awkward.
I heard a hype man coming from the Aniplex booth right in front of the Expo store talking
about posters: in exchange for filling out a survey, we would be given a poster from
either one of 4 Aniplex properties.
There was a Monogatari Second Season poster and a Sword Art Online Ordinal Scale poster
- can't recall the other two.
I wanted that Monogatari poster.
Some 10 minutes later after queuing, the hype man mentioned that they ran out of Monogatari
posters.
With the survey completed, I reluctantly chose the SAO poster.
Keep this in mind, for it would become an event in the future that I derive mild amusement
from.
I ran to the Sudachi Stage to catch the first panel I wanted to attend - one about the localization
process.
I wasn't allowed to film this panel, unfortunately.
It is important to stick by the rules - the last thing I wanted was to become 'persona
non grata' on the first year.
There was some interesting discourse in the Q&A session - the people asking questions
had either programming or subtitle timing backgrounds.
While I can't recall specifics, the discussion boiled down to 'we gotta work with what
we have or someone will replace us'.
A rather poignant statement.
Thankfully, my thoughts on how Japanese businesses work is outside this video's scope.
I sent a message to Elliot Trinidad, a CR collaborator who I have regular conversations
with to see if we could meet up.
He was busy all day hosting panels.
One of those, Dream Daddy, got moved to 3:15 - I didn't want to miss my chance of observing
at a distance!
I didn't have any intent of attending the panel at first but, y'know, memes.
Trinidaddy memes.
Adam Savage time next.
I left the Dream Daddy panel 15 minutes before the session and already there was a huge line
waiting for him.
One of the good things about this session that wouldn't be repeated with the other
three was a dedicated VIP line and was I glad to be one: by the time I left, 3 hours
after the session started, Adam was still there, signing autographs!
While waiting, I talked with a Persona 5 Joker cosplayer and his friend - it seemed my accented
English peaked their interest, which...surprised me.
I don't hear about people being interested in that and I definitely noticed some odd
eyes back at the airport when I tended to a Spanish telemarketing call...
Anyway, the line started moving, I made small talk, grabbed an autograph, a picture and
got out of there.
Next on the schedule, the Digibro vs Gigguk panel.
I've seen some of the skirmishes these two Youtubers had and it'd be hilarious to attend
a panel where they roast each other face to face.
CR filmed the whole panel - after some time deciding whether it was going to be uploaded
in CR's channel or Digibro's, plus an unofficial upload that was garnering somewhere
close to 40,000 views as of recording, CR gave the footage to Digibro which he made
available on his channel.
I also managed to get some footage from the event from the front lines.
I had an hour to spare after the panel was over.
It was around this time in which I introduced myself to Nate Ming, the customer support
lead and an individual who I speak to on a regular basis.
The setup was awkward, I thought - figuring out the status of the hotel goodies I was
supposed to receive, being back and forth between the VIP and the Info Desk.
I was sent over to customer support's desk in order to find out more.
I stated my case, they did some inquiries and, at the end, introduced myself.
It was stupid to say something along the lines of 'personal privilege' - at least he
took it well.
We made small talk, gave me his card in case my issue didn't get solved and I went on
my way.
I wandered across the Exhibit Hall, looking for things to buy.
I bought a Megumin figurine and a figma of the Persona 3 main protagonist this round.
Earlier on, I bought some CRX exclusive shirts and the physical version of the Persona 5
soundtrack.
And, speaking of Persona 5, the game was a big thing at CRX; not only in the Artist Alley
visit the following day: cosplayers, merch, what have you.
Even a prankster sent a calling card to Victoria Holden.
Memes are eternal.
The last two events of the day were a Digibro panel and the second signing session with
three of the Final Fantasy XV voice actors.
The former was a 40 minute Q&A live panel with his fans & followers called 'Digibro
Before Dark'.
I didn't record footage of it and it wasn't necessary: the full video's on his After
Dark channel.
I found it hilarious that he was gifted a beer before the Q&A started - by his admission,
he drank 4 beers with Gigguk prior to the versus panel.
I have reason to believe he was, at least, somewhat tipsy.
I couldn't say if the panel was a train wreck or a masterpiece, as I left 15 minutes
into it to queue for the autograph session.
While waiting, I spoke to a man who was there because one of the actors voiced Junkrat and,
apparently, his autograph was the only one missing in a Overwatch artbook he'd been
collecting signatures of the cast.
The man was fascinating to listen to, even if I don't care much for the game: radio
preparation, podcaster, runs a Youtube channel...we have similar backgrounds.
Although he was braver than me.
If anything, the conversation made me realize I shouldn't be afraid of putting my content
out there.
Prints were being sold for the guests to sign.
I should've bought one - their signature on the mini CRX poster felt cheap.
It wasn't a money issue, either - just that a majority of the prints didn't appeal to
my aesthetic.
Yet, a Noctis one that was for sale looked awesome.
I was ready to call it a day - I was hungry, tired, both backpacks were full of stuff and
my feet hurt.
Remember the whole walking to the venue thing?
Turns out Chuck Taylors are not walking shoes.
It was a bad idea to walk to the event and would seek a hotel closer to the venue next
year.
Took an Uber back to the hotel.
Saturday.
The con started earlier and I was determined to take more pictures of cosplayers.
To a degree, I did!
The one I wanted the most was of a Dr. Eggman cosplayer I saw yesterday.
There were lots of cosplayers as expected from the busiest day.
The day started with a mini panel - Crunchyroll marketed these as 'CRX Chats'; panels
lasting anywhere between 15 and 20 minutes.
I caught a glimpse of a spirited display by Dallas Middaugh, head of Crunchyroll's manga
division on why manga matters.
He went into the nitty gritty of how manga influenced comic books throughout their history
- this could've easily been a full panel, I feel.
Given how many panels were on manga, some more important than this one, this was the
best course of action.
After that, the one I came for: 'Becoming a Fan of Fandom'.
Adam Sheehan, director of events at Crunchyroll, shared his experience from countless years
managing expo presence, notably for FUNimation, and why he comes back for more.
Right next door, the Anime Feminist panel.
Lauren Orsini and Amelia Cook spoke on surviving the toxic side of anime fandom as a feminist.
At times, it felt like a pitch for AniFem but, at the end, I was convinced there can be a feminist discussion
regarding anime and manga.
And that I feel disgusted by men feeling within their right to attack women because they dare
to have an opinion contrary to them.
Digibro's autograph session was next.
The queue was rather small compared to Gigguk's, who was at the booth next to him.
A lot of ladies, too.
Remember that SAO poster I got from the Aniplex booth the day before?
I had an idea.
When my turn came up, I explained the story and asked him to 'deface' the poster to
give it some value.
Yes, I actually said deface.
He was happy to oblige.
The first thing he did was draw devil horns and a Hitler mustache on Kirito.
I could not contain my laughter!
We took a picture and off I go.
While I visited the Yoshitaka Amano gallery yesterday, I didn't have a chance to film.
I was happy when I was told I could.
Half gaming, half Hunter x Hunter, one rarely gets the opportunity to get this close to
the original keyframes.
While I didn't cared much for the early Final Fantasy titles, the art was still breathtaking
to watch.
Some time later - I don't have much to say on the influencer panel I attended prior - it's
Jeopardy time!
This is likely the "panel", if it can be called that, that I enjoyed the most.
Geoff, Arkada and Victoria were competing for bragging rights.
At first, the projector didn't want to play nice with Miles's laptop.
A room full of people were cheering when it worked and booing when it went out - it was
hilarious.
While the staff figured out what was going on, Victoria had the contestants play the
Evangelion theme song on their kazoos.
I didn't get footage of that, but Geoff's fianceé did.
As much as I would love to upload the full show, two things - the second half I was fighting
with my stabilizer arm, so the footage isn't the best and this...this needs to be experienced.
If you're ok with a few best moments of the first half...
Oh, and when everything looked like Geoff was going to win, Victoria gave the biggest upset, taking
home the win.
My feet were killing me at this point.
I needed to sit down for an extended period of time.
But also, I wanted to buy something I could have Arkada sign.
He streamed Persona 5 earlier during the week and my mind went to that.
There were no official prints available at the Exhibit Hall earlier.
The lady I met yesterday at the Adam Savage autograph lane reminded me about Artist Alley
- the perfect excuse to go.
Elliot, in a response message, mentions he's browsing the Alley when I was going to be
there - killed two birds with one stone.
I wanted one print, I came out with 7.
And I took a picture of a Futaba cosplayer - God is good.
I didn't have the strength to go on - I went back to the Exhibit Hall to eat and wait
until Arkada's session in two hours.
I believe I did some more shopping at this time - namely Nendoroids.
I had already met two of the three people I would've loved to meet during the Expo.
I should note: Victoria and Miles were up and down the venue - there was no way I could
introduce myself properly.
I reached out to Sam Wolfe, one of the guys in the brand team I talk with, to see if he
would like to meet.
He was filming a Main Event panel when all of this happened - he exited briefly to say
hi.
What a nice fellow to talk to.
Just like Nate - he was surprised at how far I travelled to be here.
Barring some of the guests, I'm likely the attendee who has traveled the farthest.
But hey - I'm just a guy who decided to make this his birthday gift.
Arkada's session came up.
I got there early - the 15th person in line.
At lack of topics to bring up, I brought up the earlier Persona 5 stream in small conversation.
Apologized that I didn't follow the rule of backseat gaming because I couldn't bear
watching him getting lost in the room before the boss in Haru's palace.
Strangely, I got an insight on why streamers have these kind of rules.
It seems obvious, but most streamers aren't looking for help - they let you sit right
next to them but they still want to explore things themselves.
Fair enough.
I gave him one of the Persona 5 posters I bought for his signature, in which he wrote
'Go To Bed!', acting like Morgana.
Well, that was random!
I couldn't help but laugh.
We took a picture and I was out of there.
And that was CRX for me.
I dropped by Nate's booth to let him know that the hotel goodies situation was solved
and to say goodbye.
I was not looking forward to waking up at 3AM the next day.
Not only was I not going to spend CRX's last day in California, but it was cold...
64 degrees Fahrenheit.
I was shivering.
As soon as the plane departed San Jose, I started crying.
I couldn't get myself to stop.
Despite knowing I would do this next year.
Despite not shedding a single tear at the gate.
A flurry of emotions came in, all at once.
I was crying on and off for over 30 minutes.
I wanted Chick-fil-A when I got back to Texas, but I got lost at the gigantic Dallas airport.
I didn't have time to waste - McDonalds it was.
And I had to eat it on the plane, since they were boarding by the time I got back.
Lesson learned: I won't take a layover of less than 2 hours again - if I can help it.
When I got back home to Puerto Rico, mom mentioned the suitcase was wet.
I didn't pay it too much mind - it was raining in Dallas and the suitcase was insulated against
water.
However, when I opened up the suitcase, all of the promotional stuff and two posters I
was looking to put up had water damage beyond repair.
Thankfully the artists put their prints inside bags - I still have a respectable wall full
of posters thanks to that detail.
If there's something I regret, it's not staying for the full duration of the event.
With better planning, it is something I aim to correct next year.
And that's the story of how I spent an insane amount of money on a trip to California...for
an anime convention.
Anime is trash...and so am I.
Thank you for watching.
Until next time, with nothing more to say, signing out.
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