Thanks for being on the panel (Anime and Manga in Academia) with us yesterday. It was really great to have you, and I hope we can do more of these panels together in the future. I didn't get your contact info, unfortunately. Could you send me an email?

thanks for your insight on the workings of showing anime at a con! And, ouch, on the whole Howl's Moving Castle thing....I'm really curious if there are a LOT of very young people / families at a large con like Expo. To me it seems the smaller the con, the more kid-friendly it can be (I only can compare ACEN to AnimeIowa but there were huge differences in the "feel" of each). But this one is so large it may just be able to accommodate many, many different tastes.

And great suggestions about Emma and Trigun .....Emma is showing against an ADV panel and I'm kinda curius if they explode into nothingness that day against fan-rage (of if they are going to rage back, which seems to be their status-quo these days). Too many decisions!!!!!

I'm curious whether Eva 1.0 is the official translation (an English translation was commissioned for the film circuit; I happen to know the translator). There are cons that show fansubs, but I would think that AX would be too high-profile for that to be a good idea (especially for a new and popular series). The fact that it's showing on 35mm greatly increases the chance that it's official, since not too many fansubbers distribute in that format. (At least it appears to be in a large function space; I once had to run crowd control on a showing of Howl's Moving Castle in a room that was far too small for it. Having to turn away parents and children because the room was full to capacity was pretty unpleasant.)

One showing that did catch my eye is that they appear to be premiering Emma on Friday at 4. There's also a showing of Trigun on Friday at 9; depending on how you feel about the series, that strikes me as one that would benefit from the group experience, being both action and comedic in the early episodes.

I'm not shocked Anime Expo is going to be running Evangelion 1.0, but anything Evangelion is high on the list of things that, in my experience, makes for a really lousy watch with a crowd. It seems anyone who doesn't have a good time or like what s/he sees decides everyone else needs to be miserable, too.

There is so much anime programming it is almost hard to know where to begin...although the showing of Evangelion 1.0: You Are Not Alone caught my eye (Sat night). However, I imagine this would be heavily attended considering Eva's popularity amongst fans (I suppose I'll just have to show up and hope for the best). I think it might be a good idea to try to see a few different genres as well -- the difference between "shonen" and "shojo" or between "otaku oriented" and more mainstream fare.

Meanwhile, does "closed to the public" panels mean only industry and /or press people get to attend those? 'cause those look so gosh darn juicy from the outside.....

Generalizing from my ACen experiences, you'll generally see the largest audiences in later afternoon and early evening; if there's a popular action or comedy show then (especially a premiere or a fairly recent released) that should be the best time to experience a large group. (The last day of the con after hotel closing also brings in people, but they're often just looking for a place to kill time.) If you're watching for your own pleasure, it's probably worth checking out something you haven't seen before; if you want to put your researcher hat on, I agree that something you're familiar with is probably the way to go. (That also gives you the ability to compare the viewing experience between the viewing room and your living room, or wherever you first saw it. For example, I was amazed by how much more I enjoyed the first episode of "Afro Samurai" in the viewing room than I had on my DVR, although the fact that it was the uncut version was probably a factor as well.)

Having done some anime fandom research of my own, I'll be sitting on the Anime and Manga in Academia panel, which will be held on Thursday evening at 6PM. It'd be great to have you there.

If I were picking out when to enter a viewing room, it would probably be dictated by the rarity of what they were showing, and then the genre. Anything with comedy or humorous elements seems to play really well to a crowd, and anything very tragic or heavy usually doesn't go over well. Finally, given the choice, I prefer watching films to TV episodes, and anything live-action to anything anime (as the former is much rarer than the latter).

And oh yes, the books! Dear god I love books *sigh* Even with amazon.com making almost everything ever published available I still really enjoy the "shopping experience" and picking out books in person.

I think as a researcher it makes sense to go to something I've seen before and experience the crowd itself in stead of the what is showing on screen, but I was curious what you two thought about this.....

I'm also a graduate student (very different field--not connected to manga or anime), but I can certainly relate to your con experiences. For me, the best reason to attend is the networking. I've met dozens of cool bloggers, editors, and artists at NY Comic-Con and NY Anime Fest, many of whom have introduced me to new series and manga-ka. Though I hate the crowds, the chaos, and the expense, I always come away from a convention feeling energized. (Well, and poor... I always buy too many books. And the Javits Center charges what might be charitably called "airport prices" for coffee, soda, etc.)

Looking forward to your write-up!

As assistant department head of Video Programming at Anime Central this year, I can say the experience of watching anime in a group is like the difference between seeing a movie in the theater and watching it on your TV at home--in other words, it's not in silence. The experience is enhanced if everyone else's reaction is feeding yours; the humor is funnier, the action is more exciting, etc. I agree I wouldn't expect anyone to spend the *entire* con in the video rooms, but after a long day it's nice to relax and be passively entertained rather than force your way through the crowds.