オタクの祭典　in California

By Jamie Lano

　毎年どこにいようがアニメ・エキスポに駆けつけるジェイミー。今年も開催地のカリフォルニアを訪れました。今年のエキスポの目玉は、なんと日本の人気タレント、「しょこたん」こと中川翔子。今まで彼女の歌を聞いたことがなかったジェイミーもすっかり魅了されたようです。そのほかにもカラオケコンテストあり、ダンスあり、アニメグッズ販売あり、と盛りだくさんの内容。数着のコスプレに挑戦し、年に一度の一大イベントを堪能したジェイミーでした。アニメに興味がある人、あなたも来年は行ってみたら？

　A return to my roots … Starting in 2000, every July I made the journey from wherever I lived to Southern California for the big event of the year: Anime Expo. It’s the largest trade show of its kind, attended by tens of thousands of people from all over the world.

　So, I was lured to California with the promise of gorgeous, hot, sunny, dry weather, the chance to see close friends, and the chance to become a nerd again. Who could resist? We booked tickets to Los Angeles right away.

　Anime Expo features one of the largest cosplay competitions in the world (the Masquerade), free live concerts (this year Shokotan was the big draw), elaborate karaoke competitions, the AX Idol competition (similar to “American Idol”), a giant hall full of dealers with anime goods, the Artist Alley (similar to a really large doujinshi event in Japan), voice acting classes, a music video competition, a 24-7 dance, hundreds of different anime- and manga-related panels, and so much more. They bring a lot of guests over from Japan as well.

　This year, since I’d traveled so far, I took it easy. I poked my head into a few panel discussions, took in Shokotan’s concert, visited with friends, cosplayed, watched the Masquerade, and swam constantly in my hotel’s lush swimming pool. I had somehow never heard of the singer Shokotan before the concert, but my friends assured me that she was great. In the end, her voice was a little bit too high for my taste, but she sure was cute when she came on stage dressed as Yoko from the Gurren Lagan anime! Wow!!

　Maybe my favorite time was when I dressed up as a girl Hallelujah from the new Gundam 00 anime, and took pictures with a bunch of other characters. Or when, at my friend’s request, I dressed as Oshitari from the Prince of Tennis manga, and ran into a lot of other people playing the same character! I used to cosplay every year, and I miss that.

　Overall, I had a really great time at Anime Expo! If you enjoy anime too, then you should definitely take a trip there next year. One thing that I took away with me was the desire to cosplay again. I’ve been told recently that I would look good as Sheryl Nome from the new Macross Frontier. What do you think? Should I do it?