I look forward to AnimeFest all year because while smaller compared to AKon, for some reason the crowd at AnimeFest just seems vastly different. Held at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Dallas, the convention was stuffed with people of all shapes and sizes, including some very lost looking LSU fans! I definitely tried to go to as many panels as possible AND speak to as many cosplayers, con goers, randoms…Hell, I even talked to a couple who were at the hotel for dinner and got caught up in the craziness! Four days of non stop action was tough on us all but I had an absolute BLAST!
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That being said, let us commence with the recap!
Book3: Fighter’s Destiny
Once again Udon has done a great job on the artwork. Every page explodes with vibrant colors and extreme amounts of detail. The third book focuses more on the characters, T.Hawk, and Ryu. Over all I found this issue to be dull, but it does have its moments where things get intense.
Ryu has finally made it to the temple where Sagat is training. Dhalsim, the yoga master that trained Sagat, decides to test Ryu to see if he is there for the right reasons or is just focused on (more…)
What! A fighting game has a story line ????? Yep! There will be SPOILERS!
The graphic novels really do justice to the franchise. In the first and second volume we meet the protagonist of the story, Ryu. He is now ready to begin his journey to find and become the greatest warrior. Along the way he is faced with his ultimate adversary…himself. There is a dark side to the Shotokan arts and that is the “Dark Hadou”. He has had a taste of its power but is constantly struggling from being consumed by it. Ryu swore that he would never lose to this killing intent. His master, Gouken was murdered by Akuma. Akuma is Gouken’s brother and he fully embraced the Dark Hadou. Now Ryu is on his way to find Ken, his best friend, to inform him of the death that fell upon their beloved master. (more…)
Bursting forth from Club 2 the Max, AM2 launched its first convention on July 1, of 2011!. It was a bold move on part of AM2, but the decision to launch with AX was to act as a statement against their former partners. Apparently there was some intense heat between several of the vendors/attendees as to how things were being run. Luckily for us, AM2 was their response. Even competing with arguably one of the top anime conventions in America, AM2 managed to break records! In their opening year, AM2 had the largest attendees for a first year convention, housing over 8,000+ attendees! Quite an accomplishment, especially considering the size of the convention! Still, for its size the convention packed quite a punch, housing some of the most talented musicians japan has to offer, the famous AniMaid cafe, and an eclectic collection of vendors. Of course there was also the hundreds of cos-players that littered the halls of the Anaheim Convention Center, in hopes of winning this years World Cosplay Summit Regionals! Some of the best cosplay outfits were present at AM2, from Tidus and Yuna, to a unique bright green Gameboy. Needless to say the convention was a blast, and can only get bigger and better, from this point on! (more…)
If you live in the Southern California area, or are just an Anime/Manga fan in general, you no doubt know that Anime Expo will be starting up this week. It’s not the only though! AM2, Orange County’s answer the loss of AX. Although still young, in comparison, AM2 provides just as much entertainment and opportunities as its elder brother AX. However, one thing AM2 will have that Anime Expo does not, is AniMaid Cafe. Providing an experience usually only offered in akihabra, Japan, AniMaid Cafe is very much the same, but with an Anime Twist. Their President, Kchan, described it perfectly as, “A place where anime fans are served by anime fans.” I was lucky enough to talk with both AniMaid Cafe’s President Kchan, and Vice President Venus-Chan, where we talked about some of the new and exciting experiences they will be providing at AM2. (more…)
It’s Friday, June 10th. The air smells like baked melon bread. The hallways are filled with colorful fabrics and rustling props. People of all shapes and sizes are beginning to form what will become a long line that snakes as far as a block away to register for A-Kon22.
A-Kon22 is currently North America’s longest running anime convention and is also the biggest one in Dallas. Boasting an attendance of 18,000+ this year, the convention ran Friday, Saturday, and Sunday and was held at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Dallas. The panel rooms, dealer room, video rooms, gaming area, artist space, and registration area took up both buildings of the Sheraton, as well as the 2nd floor of the neighboring Marriott hotel. (more…)