An overview of Anime Vegas 2007
September 6, 2007 at 2:39 am 2 comments
By Chris Hori
Voice actors, cosplay and Para para dancing… in Las Vegas? Thus the fourth year of the Anime Vegas Convention at the Cashman Center has come and gone.
Looking to top their 2006 year which featured big names such as Hirano and Kurata, the 2007 convention brought from Japan, Yoko Ishida for a live concert. However, before the concert there was a special performance by the Kaminari Taiko Drum Corps. Giving the audience a traditional Taiko Drum Performance, it was an excellent lead in to get the audience in the mood for music.
The Japanese singer was introduced to the anime world for the ending theme for the Sailor Moon R anime. Since then, she has gone on to other projects such as the theme song for Ah! My Goddess (TV anime), the end theme for This Ugly Yet Beautiful World (tv anime) and the opening theme for Ai yori Aoshi. She also has performed on the Para Para Max CD series. The live concert featured her best known songs, as well as a Para Para dancing, and an anime remix featuring fan favorites which included the openings to Gundam Wing and Evangelion. They even took the time half way through to teach the audience a bit of Para Para dancing, as well as the routine to a song so the audience could participate with the dancers on stage.
The second draw to the convention was the large cast of American voice actors. Anime Vegas has always drawn the voice actors of popular anime shows and this year was no exception as the list of actors included Maile Flanagan (Naruto), Yuri Lowenthal (Sauske), Laura Bailey (Tohru Honda), Rachel Hirschfeld (Anita King – R.O.D. TV)and Aaron Dismuke (Alphonse Elric). A combination of Q and A panels, game shows, and open mic sessions with the voice actors gave the attendants ample time to meet their favorites and have them say (in appropriate character voice) all the lines they wish were in their favorite anime.
A nice change from last year was an attempt at more 18+ focused panels for attendants during the late night hours. While by no means the focus of the convention, this year featured an uncensored Q and A session with the voice actors, a panel with The Gamer Girls, and a screening of the Hellsing Ultimate series, including the premiere of Hellsing Ultimate 3.
Finally throw in the AMV contest, Masquerade Cosplay Contest, Maid Cafe (with real girls in maid outfits), Funamation, and Saturday/Sunday night dancing and you have a successful convention in Las Vegas.
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Miguel Herrera | October 2, 2007 at 4:00 am
Anime Vagas is a con that still lingers in my head not beacuse it was so good but because it left a bitter taste in my mouth. After attending the first year and attending this year little has changed very few vendors and few people who attend the con to begin with. my biggest concern with this con is with this being the fourth year for the con there it seems that there is very little to promote the convention. Now understand that its still a work in progress but i expected more people attending this time around than when i came the firts year.
Another thing that was hard to miss was how most of the people who attended were under the age of 18. now i understand that the kids are more into this there are adults who enjoy watching anime and other things but i saw very little of this whcih goes to show you how well this thing is promoted. Being that its in Vegas i expexted more adults other than the vendors. There is nothing better than going to a con for a few hours during the day and then going gambling at night there is nothing better. i just hope that more is done to promote this thing beacuse this could do really well beacuse its located in vegas.
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