Anime Expo 2018 (July 4-8) and San Diego Comic Con (July 18-23) has come and gone.  Yet memories of the two conventions still persist.  Here are my review and comparisons of some of the biggest conventions of the year.

The convention season (at least for me) is done, and I’ve given myself some time to reflect on my favorite moments on both conventions and what are the major differences.  There are things I liked for both conventions and things I wish could have been better at both.  Here are my thoughts and tips for each of these conventions.

Tickets and Attendance

San Diego Comic Con is one of the biggest conventions in North America and Anime Expo is quickly catching up.  Getting a badge to SDCC can be quite tricky.  Here are the logistics of both conventions.  Let’s begin with Anime Expo. In 2018, it is estimated that over 110,000 people attended AX in the Los Angeles Convention Center from July 4-8.  The Los Angeles Convention Center is quite a large convention center, but even that convention center had a hard time handling the high volume of people.  I will get more into the crowd control and organization a little bit later.  Despite the ever growing popularity of Anime Expo, tickets are still reasonably priced.  For a four day pass I saw it as low as $70.  By the time I got it, it had risen to $117 (including charge for using event brite).  Overall, the price I paid was not a bad price for a 4 day pass (and I could have gotten it cheaper as well).

Picture of the crowd in a main passage in Anime Expo 2018

San Diego Comic-Con 2018 (known only as Comic-con) has grown to massive proportions over the years.  A little back history to this convention, Comic-con started in 1970 by a handful of people and the very first full 3 day Comic-con (known at the time as Golden State Comic Con) had grand total of 300 people attending it.  Though the numbers are still not in yet of how many people attended this year’s SDCC, the numbers for last year was over 130,000 people attended the convention in four days.  That is incredible just how popular something like this has grown.  The San Diego Convention Center, while large, is not as big as the Los Angeles one, but SDCC has learned over the years on how to handle large crowds.

The price for a 4 day Comic-con badge was around $230 and there was definitely no cheaper badge.  You could buy only a few of the days as I did (I got three days instead of four) which will help for those on a budget.  This is where it gets tricky.  Even if you don’t have a lot of money, you want to get at least one day to insure you have a chance to get badges next year.

Now here is the main difference in ticket buying.  With Anime Expo there is no pressure to buy your tickets because they don’t sell out.  You can buy them just weeks ahead of time and get your badge.  Luckily, I got it early enough to just get my badge mailed to me which cuts down having to wait in line to pick up my badge (this is also something that Comic-Con does).  Purchasing AX tickets was much less stressful than Comic Con.

Comic Con, on the other hand, is a beast to get tickets.  First, they do a badge sale for those who attended the year before (hence why it’s important to get a least one day badge to insure you have a chance next year).  It’s a lottery system.  You (and your friends) all wait on the day and time those tickets will go on sale.  You will be notified by email and twitter from Comic Con.  What’s important is that you have to have a member ID set up through comic con already.  See the Comic Con page  for more information.  That is step one.  You also have to have your member ID and last name as well as all the member ID’s and last names of your friends.  Then you wait on the waiting room page at the specified time and day.  You wait to be let into the purchasing room.  They will update you and refresh your page on the wait page letting you know which tickets are still available.

Once you get in, you have about 10 minutes to get your info in (billing address and credit card info) and purchase up to three four day badges.  You can get it for yourself and two other people.  Hence why it’s smart to wait with a large group of people and keep each other informed through a chat who got in, who’s getting whose badge and everything.  Important note:  Just because you got a badge last year does not immediately guarantee that you will get a badge or a chance to buy one day this year.

Now if you don’t get a badge on the pre-attendance sale day, don’t worry there is one more day and chance to get a badge and that is on the day where it opens up sales to everyone.  This means it will be harder as more and more people do want to attend comic-con, but you still have a chance.  And it is the same nerve racking process.  Below is a pretty accurate portrayal of this process from the show Big Bang Theory (albeit this scene is about four years old and the process is different now).

My cousins, friends and I definitely went through this.  It is beyond nerve wracking (hence why I laughed when I saw this scene because I could feel their pain).  Now the question is, is it worth it?  Here are my thoughts on the events and organization of the two conventions:

Events and Organization

When it comes to organization, I think that Comic Con wins over AX.  Over the years, SDCC has learned how to handle the long lines and large crowds of people especially the Hall H line (we call it Hell Hall Line) and the general admittance line.  Comic-Con has now employed giving people wristbands for Hall H (which is the main hall for all the major panels).  You get in line for a wristband the night before for the next day.  To stop people from staying in line (and sleeping in line), they give out wristbands which assures your place in line the next day and has you sorted by letter group.  So long as you are back in line by 7:30 am the next day, your good.  Even on the day of they give out wristbands for the Hall up until 7:30 am.  After that, you just have to wait in that long line and hope you get in.  I had to go through this on Sunday.  Luckily, I knew someone who was in line earlier and saved me a seat.  They watch for those without wristbands in the wristbanded part of the line and line cutters.  Be aware.  They also have large tents set up to keep the majority of the line out of the heat because it does get very hot in the summer in San Diego.

As for line movement, they smoothly control the flow of the line into the hall.  There is also a clear marking and delineation between the various lines at this convention (three major ones is Hall H, general admissions, and Funko Pop).  They have end of the line signs and they use ropes to zigzag the line under the tents in order to get more people out of direct sunlight.  This is very smart.  Along the lines (this year), there were vending machines with water and soda and snacks.  This was also very smart.  Did the line management cut down on people camping out in tents and sleeping bags?  I think it did, but that didn’t stop people from still doing it.  Some people argue that that should not be allowed regardless, but it is super hard to stop hundreds of people from doing it.

Best advice, make friends with the people in line ahead of you and behind you.  They will have your back in case you have to get food and use the bathroom especially if you don’t have friends with you.  I once got in the Hall H line for the Supernatural Panel for Sunday by myself and I made new friends.  Most people are aware that people save spots for people in line (like if someone did a food run or went to the bathroom).  They aren’t going to get too angry if you join a friend in line, but make sure you’re not overdoing it (like one person holding for 10 people), and wait like everyone else.  Don’t be pushy or mean because we are all here for the same reason.  Just be aware that at both conventions you will have to wait in long lines sometimes for hours.  Stay hydrated, bring snacks, bring some form of entertainment, extra battery packs and, most importantly, patience.  You will definitely need patience at these conventions.

So when it came to crowd control and organization, I think Comic-Con was much better than AX about that.  I think Anime Expo is growing so large so quickly that they haven’t fully learned how to deal with long lines.  I know that SDCC (back in the day when tickets were still $70 for four days) had the same growing pains and issues with the line situation.  Anime Expo’s lines were not well marked out.  Sometimes it was hard to find the right line, and sometimes you needed tickets for some events which you needed ahead of time.  They also used tape on the ground with arrows and everyone was supposed to stand in these very narrow lanes very close to each other.  At SDCC, the lanes were wider and had more space between them. AX also did not use wristbands.  I had to sit in one line in direct sunlight for hours on the hottest day in LA at that time.  It got so hot, my phone overheated and I was starting to get dizzy.  They, luckily, gave us water, but only after someone asked for it.  In fact, on our first day there my friend and I saw a stretcher being rushed into the convention center.  They did have some machines with free water inside the convention center, but not much on the outside.  And the lines were long and slow.  We were directed by the people who worked there in the wrong direction a few times.  It seemed like AX needed more people, more organization, and better methods in line and crowd control.

Now some people may say that ticket prices and sheer amount of people as well as the line situation at these conventions are not their cup of tea, but here are the events that really make these conventions shine.

Events and Panels

Let’s start with Anime Expo.  Anime expo is not really known for heavy hitter panels.  They do show a lot of anime and premiere some really neat new anime movies.  The two biggest events of this expo that are so worth seeing are the AMV competition and the Masquerade.  I have to say that I really enjoyed both of these events though, hands down, the AMV Competition was my favorite.  I enjoyed the creativity I saw in these AMVs.  Some were hilarious and some moved people to tears. I have an entire article on this competition here.  I also have a full playlist of all the AMV’s in the competition and the winners on our youtube channel.  Definitely check this list out.

The second really fun event at Anime Expo was the masquerade.  AX has always been a haven for cosplayers of all kinds.  And its masquerade has always had some of the best cosplay out there.  And there were some truly spectacular skits and cosplay, but for me the highlight of the masquerade was the Corp Dance Crew.  Every year the Corp Dance Crew picks a anime or pop culture theme and creates an entire dance routine around it.  They are talented dancers, and this year they choose to do a routine off of one of my favorite animes Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood.  This anime is heartbreaking and exciting.  They did a really phenomenal job capturing the heart of the anime, and they did the entire 30 minute dance routine in full cosplay.  Here is the video of their performance:

Be sure to check out the other performances put on by the Corp Dance Crew on their youtube channel.

As for the events from San Diego Comic Con, this convention is known more for their panels because of the exclusive trailers and footage they show of new shows and upcoming seasons.  Because the convention center is smaller, San Diego also uses many places around the convention center for events as well.  This year the panels were not as stellar as they usually are with both HBO and Marvel pulling out (no game of thrones this year).  The stand out panels were Walking Dead, Fear the Walking Dead and Supernatural.

I think the Walking Dead was the most emotional for the audience as Andrew Lincoln (Rick Grimes) announced that this season was going to be his last, and that this was his last Comic Con.

It will definitely was hard to see Andrew Lincoln at his last SDCC appearance, but the trailer for the upcoming season looks like it was going to send the fan favorite in great style!

And, of course, the Supernatural panel was super funny and had the audience rolling.  I always love watching this panel as there is definitely a strong chemistry and camaraderie between the cast members.  And we got their hilarious season 13 gag reel and a scene for the upcoming season that was chilling.

Aside from the panels, the outside experiences were really cool.  These experiences are usually open to everyone whether you have a badge or not which means the lines tend to be long (I’m looking at you Game of Thrones Experience of past years).  This year the big experiences were Ready Player One, the Walking Dead and Castle Rock.  I sadly only got to experience one of them (Ready Player One), but it was a fun experience and the line was not long.

S Hart from bgeekyblog, dressed as Lunafreya, had a photo op with the Iron Giant at the Ready Player One experience.

Another really cool activity for SDCC were RSVP events.  You have to find these events and sign up for them early.  My cousins and I signed up for the two nights for the SYFY party and for the Good Place experience. While we never were able to make it to the Good Place experience, we did get to go to both nights for the SYFY parties.  I would have to say that the first night was a better experience as the second night was Harry Potter themed and it was packed.  We missed out on all the free swag.  Still, we did have a lot of fun.

Cosplay

S Hart from bgeekyblog got to meet the sweet @philmizuno at Anime Expo 2018!

For me and those people I went to the conventions with, cosplay is a big part of our experience.  We are still novice cosplayers, but we really do have fun portraying our favorite characters and, in my cousins cases, making their own costumes.  When it comes to cosplay though, Anime Expo is way more active in this arena.  And the character of Bakugo was a huge hit at anime expo!

Admin S Hart had the pleasure of meeting the talented @lorentz_iwood at anime expo.

I would say that over half the people there were in some sort of cosplay and not all of it was Anime related.  I saw some Captain America’s and other fandoms around the convention center.  It doesn’t matter if you are gender bending or doing a crossover.  Everything is accepted at Anime Expo, and I really enjoyed seeing that.  I loved to see fans of all sorts of fandoms come together and feel comfortable enough to be themselves and dress up however they like.  And boy were some of the cosplay elaborate and impressive.

This is a costume made by a member of the American team for the World Cosplay Summit. This was showcased at Anime Expo.

I also feel like Anime Expo caters to cosplayers more as I saw more cosplayers in booths selling their pictures and meeting their fans.  It is a really cool experience.

Now I really feel that San Diego Comic Con was not as active in cosplay.  In fact, my cousins and I did not see a whole lot.  A member of our group suggested that the reason was because SDCC, with its long lines, does not really cater to people wanting to cosplay.  Add in that many people fly in for SDCC and it makes it harder to cosplay.  For one reason or another, over the years, we have been seeing less and less cosplay at SDCC.  Maybe it is just us.  We definitely dressed up for all four days.

Bgeekyblog and friends at San Diego Comic Con!

I also noticed that there were no booths for cosplayers at SDCC or not as many were well known.  The Convention showroom floor can get extremely packed and hard to navigate, and I’m sure it’s not cheap to have a booth at SDCC.  There were meet ups for specific fandoms here and there, but there was definitely not as much examples of cosplay or cosplayers as I saw at Anime Expo.

Now when it comes down to which convention I had more fun at, that is a hard choice.  I feel like I had more fun and took more pictures of cosplay at Anime Expo than I did at SDCC, but each person has their own opinions.  Would I go back to either convention?  I would definitely go back to both of them as I did enjoy my time at both!