Saturday (March 26th):
Okay, day two. Let’s do this. After a very…interesting morning (Which I am absolutely not going to talk about because reasons), I grabbed a Lyft to the convention center with literally less than one hour until our very own Fandom Post panel was slated to begin. When I arrived at said convention center, the line to actually enter the damn place was so incredibly long that if I had actually waited in it, I wouldn’t have made it inside until the panel was already over. So, after talking with a staff member about whether or not the word “Press” on my badge was enough to get me inside, I was, in fact, allowed past the line and booked it toward to room 206 so I could go talk about stuff with Chris and the other Fandom Post people as well as you beautiful readers.
The Fandom Post Panel and the Awesome People That Showed Up To Ask Us Questions and Take Our Anime:
For the first time in my career (And what I believe is the 1,956,327th time in Chris Beveridge’s), I was able to help hold a Q&A/Discussion panel and, as expected, it went really well! Apart from finally meeting some of the team that I’ve been writing alongside, I finally got to meet some of YOU guys! That’s right, YOU! Anyway, it was great answering all of the questions you had and bonding with you over the hour and half we got to hang out for. Also, it was great to finally publicly express my distaste for Ghibli and see the looks on all of your faces! (Evil laugh). No, but really, it was a great experience that was both informative and fun for everyone involved. It’s always great meeting the people that keep you going. So thanks, guys. Hope to see you whenever the next Fandom Post panel is. In the meantime, keep reading!
Your Lie In April Launch Party and Erica Lindbeck’s Fantastic Hair:
No really, her hair was fantastic. Some of the best I’ve seen. 10/10. On another note, it was great to once again witness the spectacle that is Your Lie In April alongside some of the creative staff. Filling an entire auditorium with people that can sympathize with and relate to a series as special as this one is truly something great. This was the first time that the English cast and the Japanese staff got to meet on stage and seeing the parallels between them is definitely something I will remember. Also, watching both sides of the spectrum communicate with and applaud each other really shaped out to be a lesson to everyone. There are a lot of people out there who belittle dubbed anime and refuse to watch anything that isn’t in the original Japanese language. But when the actual director from the Japanese series is up there proclaiming how phenomenal the English version is, I think it shows that some people are just being a little narrow-minded. I’ve mentioned it before, but the English version of Your Lie In April is one of the best dub performances I have ever seen — and it really allows us to relate to the series on another level. And when you have a show as expansive and important as this one, well, that’s just another reason to fall in love with it. One more thing before moving on — I just want to applaud the girl from the crowd who shared her tragic experience with the rest of the audience (As well as the staff) in an attempt to show us just how much this series can mean. As if the show itself wasn’t tear-inducing enough, that went and happened and literally everyone started digging into their exclusive Your Lie In April tissues that were hilariously passed out at the beginning of the event. Thumbs up to Aniplex for being prepared.
All About That Ecchi and Fanservice but Were Afraid To Ask and What are the Staff Even Doing?:
Okay, first off, what is up with that panel title? It doesn’t even make sense. There weren’t even any questions that were answered, let alone asked for the entire hour this thing took up. The most bewildering part of all of it, though, was how the staff awkwardly forced us all into filling in rows the way they would for main events…but there were only like 30 people and a good 200 seats. Why? I don’t understand. So after looking around anxiously for a good five minutes, everyone just got up and moved around and the staff completely ignored the fact that their mishap made everyone ever feel uncomfortable. In fact, that made us feel even more uncomfortable than the next hour of watching borderline-hentai clips did. This panel could be broken down into 50 minutes worth of three (Yes, only three) very-long ecchi clips with literally zero commentary throughout. The first five minutes, on the other hand, was the panelist rattling off different terms for different types of fanservice that made it seem like we were going to have a vocabulary quiz at the end of the damn panel. BUT THEN THOSE TERMS AREN’T EVEN MENTIONED AGAIN SO WHY WERE THEY BROUGHT UP TO BEGIN WITH? Were those the questions we were afraid to ask? Why would we even be afraid of asking them? Why is your panel title so long? Why is everyone drinking Diet Pepsi? This was a mess and I can’t even remember why I went. The panelist himself was a lot less awkward than you would imagine, though. I feel like he could definitely throw something solid together if he put effort into it. For this, though? Nope.
Greg Ayres Raw And Uncensored and Exactly What I Expected:
The line was too long so we didn’t go.
