cosplay at AnimeVegas 2008 pt.2!

A cute Pikachu. Pika!














Stylin'













Two characters from Sailor Moon.











Robot!











So another AnimeVegas wrapped up this past Monday (Sat-Mon) and from my perspective it was another huge success. Before it started I was thinking that this year's convention would be smaller because there's been a lot of downsizing happening to various U.S. manga and anime companies. I still think that manga and anime in the U.S. is in a transitory phase which I think is largely due to people just downloading it online and not buying them when the U.S. editions hit the stores. I can understand the financial cost of following your hobby when you have other financial obligations or if you're a student and have limited finances, but at the same time because less people are buying manga and anime (because they can download it, read it in bookstores or libraries) less of their favorite entertainment is going to be produced when there's no finacial compensation to the creators and publishers of the actual content.

While I think how things continue to fall out for U.S. manga and anime companies for the remainder of this year and into next year will determine its long term health, as I said in my earlier blog entry today, AnimeVegas was much more successful this year than I thought it would be so I'm happy to report that things may not be as bleak as I'd thought. I'd say that attendance at this year's AnimeVegas was at least as big as last years (a little harder to tell with the smaller space). Kate had one panel and she helped out on two other panels and the attendance for the panels throughout the show was good. Early plans are already afoot for next year's AnimeVegas and while nothing is set in stone yet, I've heard that it'll be in a bigger venue close to the Hard Rock and that it'll be happening on Halloween weekend. I'd like to again say thanks to the king of the show / founder Richard Stott for organizing such a well run convention and for all the voice actors and musicians that came to the show. Thanks also to his legion of volunteers (or as they're lovingly called "minions") for all they do to keep the show running smoothly for everyone.