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The Movies Comics and Media (MCM) London Expo
is being taken over by anime and manga. Many may try to deny
it, but the evidence was there at the ExCel Centre in
London's Docklands on the 27th & 28th of May for all to see.
Last May's Expo saw the launch of the 'Anime Village',
a response to the rising popularity of the medium with sci-fi and
film fans in general, which allowed the likes of
Manga
Entertainment,
ADV Films,
Beez and
MVM to set up shop
along with retailers like Forbidden Planet and Sheffield
Space Centre. The Anime Village was by far the
busiest area of the Expo hall last May, and after a slight
enlargement last October it has now conquered a third of the hall,
with a huge manga alley and far more space given to the companies
and retailers. |
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In 2005 there was a host of guests from Star Trek and various sci-fi films, but this year the guest quota seemed to be lower. No sports stars (our hopes to meet former WWE wrestler Irwin R Shyster were once again dashed...) and just a few Star Trek stars saw the number of hardcore sci-fi and cult viewing fans attending lessen. In their place came a horde of people of differing ages all with one thing in common, a love of all things animated and drawn in Japan! The Expo - in terms of numbers of visitors - eclipses all of the UK anime conventions and has the added bonus that you don't have to |
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register months before the event or go to the whole thing. Conventions attract the hardcore and are perfect for fans who want to spend time with other fans or just want to delve deeper into anime and manga. The Expo may not have the depth that dedicated conventions have but being able to simply turn up, pay your cash and get many of the benefits of attending convention without the hassle and without the exclusivity is exactly what anime and manga fandom in the UK needs.
The Expo attracts a wide range of people from the hardcore to
the casual fan, and to those who aren't even into anime and manga.
All of the major anime companies are on hand to provide free
screenings of the latest titles, dedicated merchandise retailers
like TokyoToys and
Sheffield Space Centre are there to
offer you great prices on the latest items from Japan, there are
freebies galore and you can finally meet other people who like anime
and manga - they do actually exist! Whatever your particular
interest there is something there to cover it, from just viewing
anime, reading and drawing manga, playing trading card and computer
games or just buying stuff. Each year every attendee
is presented with a goodie bag on entry, which this year was not
only a rather spiffing Naruto & Oban Star Racers one
with good handles, but also contained a host of great anime goodies
too! A free copy of Jetix magazine accompanied a DVD
containing the first episode of Naruto (yes, you read that
right) and a preview of Oban Star Racers, whilst a Gundam
gashapon figure, a poster and exclusive Tetsujin 28 goodies
co-produced by Manga Entertainment and the excellent designer
Terratag were amongst the freebies at this Expo.
Not bad considering you get it as part of the ticket price! |
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If you tired of the anime and manga (yeah, right) there was a host of other stuff to keep you occupied. Whether the random celebrity signings - which included Walter Koenig (Star Trek's Pavel Chekov) and actors from 24 and Babylon 5, or the sci-fi merchandise retailers, there was plenty more of interest. Most random included the Dance Dance Revolution area, which gave visitors the chance to play on some of the latest Japanese, US and European rhythm-action games, and of course the daily cosplay competition, which I will come back to later on. There was even a stall selling vintage Playboy magazines and another selling film props, and then there's the aftershow party. |
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But you're reading this because of the anime and manga right? Well, lets have a look at what the big companies had to offer this time round...
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