Prelude to Anime Expo

Today I attended "Press Day" for Anime Expo. For the event, all of the Guests of Honor were rounded up into the backstage of the Nokia Theater and asked to give 15-minute interviews to members of the media. Guests ranged from producers to voice actors to character designers to pop stars, and it was an offer I couldn't resist. (Above, actor Toshihiko Seki, who not only provided the voice of Mousse in Ranma 1/2 but won an award for his live acting in Kamen Rider Denoh.)


The participating media were put in a room where they were to sign up for their desired interviews. It was kind of chaotic. Because I scribbled "Giant Robot" on every clipboard, I'd get called and not even know who I was going to meet until I reached the door.


Above, journalists from UCLA's Asian Pacific Arts website. Below, the face and CEO/producer of Henshin TV.


I wound up conducting 6 interviews in 4 hours. Instead of coming up with laundry lists of questions (impossible), I thought of a strong first question for each person and freestyled it from there. After 54 issues of GR, I've become pretty good at coming up with questions on the fly and I think the folks I talked to appreciated personal conversations rather than fanboy interrogations.


Above, Jyukai, who perform the theme songs for Ah! My Goddess, Buso Renkin, and Shin (the live action movie by Mamoru Oshii). Below, Shoko Nakagawa, rock star, voice actor, illustrator, and blogger! On her left is longtime GR friend Nadeshiko Nakahara from Sony, who happened to be working with the otaku idol.


Today's interviews provided the basis for a pretty solid survey of the state of anime and fandom in the U.S. They were also a lot of fun. I give credit to the interviewees--many of whom were jet-lagged, but were willing to be grilled by fanboys, otaku, student journalists, writers from small papers, anime bloggers, cosplay addicts, and me.


And perhaps just as importantly, the staffers and volunteers (above). A lot of them were familiar with GR and totally helped our cause--although one guy told me that his brother reads the mag, but that it was too sophisticated for him. Huh? I just hope they can maintain their energy and enthusiasm for the next four days!