Since 3 days have passed since this convention has reached its conclusion, it was about time a report showed up on the website. Having moved to Los Angeles not too long ago, I decided to add the various conventions in Southern California to my hit list. I had attended Anime Expo prior to moving down here, but I also wanted to check out the smaller conventions in the area. Living only an hour and 15 minute bus ride or 20 minute car ride from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), Pacific Media Expo (PMX) seemed quite feasible for the first of these modestly sized conventions. Held at the LAX Hilton once more after taking a little break at Pasadena the year before, PMX broadens its appeal with the wide range of media it exhibits.

In terms of accommodations, the LAX Hilton and its surrounding area does not disappoint. In fact, the “head” of our hotel room even managed to check in earlier than originally scheduled, lightening my burden of heavy luggage in particular since I arrived not too long after the convention had opened the first day, which happened to be 11:11 AM on November 11, 2011. For those who forget to bring certain essentials, there are some department stores to pick things up at if you are willing to take the 20-25 minute walk to get there. Otherwise, you can stick with the hotel shop or take a bus if you have the money. There are also various restaurants nearby along with the conveniently located food truck, “Truck Norris,” to keep yourself nourished throughout the duration of the convention. Frankly, I find the things sold in the hotel shop and the food truck to be too expensive for my tastes, so I personally opted for the nearby restaurants instead.

PMX features events and panels that cater to a broad audience. Whether you are into anime, manga, video games, East Asian pop or rock music, cosplay, gothic Lolita, or even ball-jointed dolls, PMX has something for you. Guests at this year’s PMX include: visual-kei band D, fashion designer Atelier-Pierrot, voice actress Cristina Vee, director Imagawa Yasuhiro, and mechanical designer Nonaka Tsuyoshi. Unfortunately, being a convention that is held at a hotel, some of the rooms used for panels and such are not sufficient enough in terms of size and seating arrangements. Panels and other events also had a tendency to begin late and end late. Regardless of these issues, they went well for the most part. As this is a smaller sized convention, the Dealer's Hall is quite diverse despite its limited space. Along with typical anime and manga merchandise, Lolita fashion clothing and a wide range of Japanese music CDs were also being sold. The Artist's Alley, on the other hand, seemed quite isolated and almost unwanted.

Unfortunately, I was unable to attend any of the 2 D concerts, but judging by the noise of the crowd as one walked by and the delay of the dances that were scheduled not too long after, I would say that the concerts were quite successful. Of course, I was also told that the delays were also caused by technical difficulties during the start of the concert (especially with instruments not working properly). However, I really do not like how PMX charges attendees extra money for some of their events the way AX does. I personally believe that a con registration should cover access to all events akin to FanimeCon. Luckily, a free-to-attend fashion show on Day 3 provided the attendees a look into Atelier-Pierrot’s product line with the help of 8 attractive models. For those who wanted some action, a martial arts tournament was held throughout most of Day 3, which featured some professional fighters (see picture below).

If there’s anything to mention in particular, it would be Vocalekt Visions’ panel on Day 2. This group of Vocaloid producers based in the West has been constantly exposing its work to the world for a while now and continues even more so at conventions and events such as PMX. Being held at the size-deficient Los Angeles B (Live Programming 2), this panel attracted a large crowd of Vocaloid fans and listeners to the point where some had to resort to standing. Oddly enough, I found that other panels in this room featuring industry guests were unable to attract even half the number of this panel's attendees. The panel host, none other than Mission Start Podcast’s community manager, James Lawrence Sakura (Holo the Wise), introduced the crowd to the song and lyrics composer of the group, Tempo-P (Unfortunately, his partner, sound engineer and songwriter, NeutrinoP, was unable to make the trip.), animators and illustrators 1FNPony and Dregorin, and some special guests including the 7th MikuMikuDance (MMD) Cup champion Sekken-P, the composer of the hit “Project DIVA Desu,” Utata-P, and performer Yukie Dong. Screenings of an animated “live” performance of two of the group’s songs: “Bring Back Your Smile/笑顔を取り戻せ!” featuring Gackpoid: Kamui Gakupo and Megpoid: Gumi and “Lemon Ice Bar/レモンアイスバー” featuring Hatsune Miku and Sekken-P’s entry to the 7th MMD Cup followed a Q&A session for the guests. Free copies of the group’s first EP, “Tuned in the West” were given to the panel attendees. If you were unable to attend the panel, below is a video (Video provided by 39diyMMDConcert).

For a moderately small convention, PMX has much to offer. Its location and layout at the LAX Hilton provides a form of convenience and accessibility that conventions held at larger venues cannot. While hotel guests who are not attendees are passing by wondering what they’re missing out on and baffled by all the cosplayers and Lolitas, there is a variety of activities and events to look at. However, don't be surprised if you see very few fellow con-goers attending certain panels even if they do feature guests of honor. If you go to cons primarily to shop, you might be in for some disappointment only because of the limited number of vendors and limited offerings. Because of its size and its offerings, I would strongly recommend this as a first convention for those who have yet to attend one and as an additional convention to check out if you’re into any aspect of East Asian entertainment, fashion, or pop culture.


Henry Huynh

My expectations were low for Kintoki, held this past weekend, since this was their first convention in Sacramento. I have heard of this convention before; with all the advertisement they pushed forward at other conventions, as well as getting help from Good Day Sacramento. To my surprise, there was a great turn out for this convention and had a very comfortable atmosphere. Kintoki-Con had all the things a convention should have: panels, anime viewing room, workshops, guests appearances, a concert, artist alley, maid cafe, dealers hall, and of course the most important part of it all, cosplayers! Let me start off the setting of this convention. Placing the convention at the Hyatt Regency was a great idea on Kintoki's part. The hotel was situated in the middle of downtown, and very close to local restaurants and shopping locations . Especially with the heat beating down on the capital and many thick costumes, the cool air condition inside the hotel was nice and kept everyone at a comfortable temperature. There were three floors dedicated to the anime convention for its use. The 1st floor, or the main floor was very spacious and easy to walk from one end to the other without getting crowded. This floor consisted of themain performance room, artist alley, dealers hall, and the maid cafe. Dealers hall was well...the dealers hall. Nothing too special about it, but it's one of the essential things an anime convention should have. Compared to other conventions the dealers hall at Kintoki is probably a good size for its 1'st convention. Sure it's not as huge as other convention dealer halls, but from the conventions I been too, Kintoki's seemed pretty right for what it was going for.

Artist alley was a bit narrower then the dealers hall, but about the same length, which hosted 44 artists. The tables were set up right next to each other, some where even back to back, so artists could comfortably talk to neighboring artists. Hopefully, future Kintoki-Cons will expand the artist alley up more, so that everyone won't have to worry about possible traffic.  I managed to check out one of the panels Sunday morning held in the events ballroom. I sat in for the Mary Elizabeth McGlynn and Richard Epcar panel Q&A. There was only a handful of people there, but they were seated on the floor close to the McGkynn and Epcar. This was a nice way to run the panel and was also more intimate. Lastly, I checked out the Maid Cafe at and while its heart was in the right place, it did fall under some of the same faults as the last anime convention that had it did too. When I think of maid cafe I am thinking of entertainment, maids serving you food and drinks, a relax atmosphere. I was met halfway. The maid cafe was under staffed which would make things a bit harder to manage, I can understand that. To be honest I would rather have that idea of a maid cafe rather then buying your own food to bring with you to eat in the maid cafe. The maids were great and they did a great job, but if the setting was similar to Fanime's maid cafe then that be great. One last gripe about the maid cafe, as cheap as it sounds, but it's something that I don't want to pay for: is to simply go to the maid cafe. Putting out 5$, on top having to paying for my own food, to be in the maid cafe sounds a bit of a rip. I would like to see that fee drop and have the money flow for the food the maid serves to us even if it is hotel food.

On the 2nd floor of the convention held the video game room, workshops, anime viewing, and panel rooms. The video game room was divided into two rooms on the 2nd floor, one was the main gaming room, while the other was down the hall past the workshop room. Both were small, but had all the games you needed to run your tournaments. Some of the tournaments seemed poorly coordinated, one was even cancelled due to lack of participants. There were many new titles were available for play  and the set up was just fine for its first convention. There was a vendor selling video games old and new. The workshops and anime viewing room were on the smaller side, so it seemed a bit cramped, particularly at more popular slots. But of course sitting down and relaxing with friends, watching anime is always a good time. The last floor dedicated to the convention was not the 3rd floor, but on the 15th floor of the hotel. I didn't know about it until I went up there, in fact a majority of the attendees did not know. A staff member was sent around the convention announcing the "Gamer's Lounge". When I got there, it was very laid back. There were some TV screens set up for classic video and new video games to be played on, but also tables were set up for people to play board games. Music was blaring, put on by a DJ jammin' it for people on that floor, some even danced. It was a chill atmosphere and I totally dug it. Not to mention they had the patio open with an amazing view of the city. I guess the only thing I question is maybe put the video room in the 2nd floor in a bit of a bigger place maybe move a few elements from that room to the bigger room on the 15th floor? Yea, there is probably some way, but still a great experience and I still had fun anyways.

I got a lot of promise for this convention. You have to start out small to become big one day. Kintoki made its first step this year with everyone and did all the right things. I found more positive than negative. The staff were nice to us, people there were excited to be present, there were a lot of activities to get involve with and much more. Of course, I am leaving out the masquerade, the formal black and white ball that did happen Sunday night. I did not go to those events due to the fact I had places to go, but hopefully I can go next year and experience everything Kintoki has to offer. From what I experienced this past weekend I am hoping to see a lot more next year. Tell the kids in Sacramento, there is a new anime convention in town and his name is Kintoki Con.

-Anthony Beanes