Anime Expo 1997 - Overview

An Overview
— by Charles McCarter

The lines began forming Thursday night, and by some accounts they didn't let up until Saturday. The first glimpse of several hundred people standing in the Los Angeles Airport Hilton was proof that Anime Expo '97 was about to begin.
With over 3,800 members, Anime Expo '97 was the largest ever. And there was good reason for it to be so: a star-studded list of Guests of Honor, a wide variety of programming events, and of course, the ever popular Exhibit Hall.


Left: The Guests of Honor at the Opening Ceremonies. Right: Registration processed a record number of memberships on Friday.

There were multiple tracks of entertainment from which to choose. Highlights of the weekend's events included:

Opening Ceremonies

Fans flocked to the Opening Ceremonies to witness the beginning of Anime Expo '97, which began somewhere in the vicinity of ten o'clock (hey, who expects a con to start on time?). The Guests of Honor were present, and a series of clips from each of their works was shown. Another highlight was the opening animation, created by John "Pomru" Yung. After speeches from several people welcoming the fans to the event, the convention was off and rolling. Fans flooded into the Exhibit Hall. Others made their way to the start of the live programming to see the panels, and still others planted themselves in the video room for what seemed like days.


The Exhibit Hall was packed with dealers, merchandise — and plenty of eager customers.

The Meet the Guests Reception

Friday night, all of the Guests of Honor turned out to meet their fans in an informal setting and chat over cheese and crackers. In the past this had been something of a lackluster event, with the guests leaving early (if they showed at all), so that it quickly became "Meet the Potato Chips." However, this year, each of the guests sat at a table and conversed with fans (via interpreters, of course) and seemed to have an enjoyable time. The two most crowded tables were for the voice actors-both Yokoyama Chisa and Kamiya Akira had clusters of people hovering around their table as they entertained people with stories about the anime industry. Of course, the other GoH's were not without their fans, either, as both Imagawa Yasuhiro and Yamashita Akihiko were asked question upon question about the upcoming GIANT ROBO 7, and Shimogasa Miho was asked a myriad of questions about working on the various SAILOR MOON projects.


Left: Imagawa (left) talks with a fan. Right: Yokoyama Chisa at her autograph session.

Panels and Autographs

This year, Anime Expo had three tracks of programming. Of course, one of the mainstays was the "focus" panels, each highlighting a Guest of Honor and their works. Also present were many of the U.S. anime companies for their industry panels, as well as panels by some of the Japanese companies (such as Pioneer and Madhouse). And, of course, there was the EX panel, and a wide variety of fan panels covering such favorites as MACROSS, GUNDAM, and ESCAFLOWNE, among others.
The Guests of Honor also agreed to do autograph sessions, all of which were filled to capacity. To be eligible for the autograph lines, attendees had to attend the particular Guest's focus panel to receive a raffle ticket, which equated to the chance to get an autograph. The lucky winners lined up dutifully and waited paitently. Many of the Guests of Honor did sketches, or opened their sessions to everyone after they completed their allotted signings.