It seems that nothing will keep anime fans down, and they once again made up the majority of attendees.  This is no mean feat considering the pulling power of the Merlin guests and entertainment heavyweights like Tony Curtis and Warren Ellis, but with the amount of stuff on offer for anime fans it's not that surprising.

The Expo is the biggest and best market place in the UK for anime goods, nowhere else do more specialist anime retailers and companies attend, and nowhere else can you find a wider selection of figures, DVDs, books and snacks.  Rare anime figures and import books and DVDs are commonplace at the Expo, and for anime fans this is a major draw.  Companies like Neon Martian, Kamika-Z, Tokyo 15, Gundam Nation, United Publications and Anime-On-Line are amongst the merchandise importers who attend, and they're not the only ones.  Numerous anime and manga-inspired artists and designers have stalls and stands, ranging from the fantastic t-shirt designs of Genki Gear, Terratag and Team Giblets (all of whom launched new designs) to comics from artist collective Sweatdrop Studios and Manga Shakespeare publisher Self-Made Hero.  You can also pick up American anime DVDs from Otaku UK and United Publications, the latter of which also stock imported US manga along with Sheffield Space Centre.  However, it's not all about importing, the presence of all the major UK anime and manga companies ensure that there are plenty of UK releases to pick up too.
 

 ADV Films, Beez, Manga Entertainment, MVM and Revelation Films have stands where you can get great deals on their DVDs, including Revelation's two for one deal on all their titles.  You also had the opportunity to pick up new DVDs before they are officially released, with Beez offering up Gurren Lagann volume 1 and Manga Afro Samurai on Blu-Ray and Blue Dragon on DVD.  VIZ Media and Tokyopop were selling their manga titles on dedicated stall, and if you had run out of money (which was very likely) there were plenty of free posters and prize draws going on too.  Manga also had screens showing trailers for forthcoming titles and a game pod

where you could play the Afro Samurai game on the PlayStation 3.  The companies weren't only there to sell their titles though, they also used the Expo to make some impressive license announcements.

The sheer number of attendees makes the Expo the perfect forum for major announcements.  It engages the entire anime community in a way that even the largest UK conventions can't match, bringing in fans that have not even heard of Ayacon and Amecon.  The announcements this year were pretty impressive too, with the headlines grabbed by Beez and Manga with Code Geass and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood respectively.  We were very happy to see anime given stage time with Manga Entertainment having a panel on the main stage on Saturday and an Industry Panel featuring Manga, Beez and MVM following on Sunday.  At the last few events these panels have been omitted, and last year the industry reps were forced to announce their licenses in an impromptu meetup with journalists in a café outside the Expo hall.  The return of the panels is a welcome acknowledgement of anime's importance to the event, and we hope that they continue in future. 

  The fact that Manga had a separate panel was a sign that they had plenty to announce, and they didn't disappoint.  Alongside Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood they also announced the anime series Shigurui: Death Frenzy, Devil May Cry and Guyver: The Bioboosted Armour, as well as Mamoru Oshii's highly anticipated movie The Sky Crawlers.  They also had a few live action films, including the Zatoichi spin-off Ichi and two films based on the classic anime GeGeGe no Kitaro.  Their biggest announcement wasn't the licenses though, it was the launch of their digital services.  Manga will be streaming Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood through their website and YouTube for free, and within hours of the episodes airing in Japan.  More anime will follow, and not only from Manga - both Beez and MVM will also use Manga's site to

stream their series.  Download to own services will also launch, with iTunes and XBox Live mentioned as some of the channels that would be used for this type of distribution.  MVM made their announcements prior to the event, with Gunparade March, X, Aquarion and Moribito leading their anime licenses and Dororo continuing their live-action releases.  Beez followed up their announcement of Code Geass with news that Gurren Lagann would be streamed by Manga, and that Gundam Unicorn would probably get a simultaneous worldwide release.  ADV and Revelation sadly had no new announcements to make, but the others more than made up for it. 

The announcements were the icing on the cake for an event that anime fans continue to embrace wholeheartedly.  Despite the doom and gloom in the press you'd have been hard pressed to see any signs of recession here, more people attended and there wasn't any sign of many of them holding back on their spending.  The event was well run for the most part, although the cosplay masquerade did overrun on the Saturday, causing some people to miss the final shuttle bus.  Our main concern about the event though is still the proliferation of pirated goods for sale on stalls throughout the hall.  All the retailers mentioned in this article are legitimate, but there were others who were selling bootlegged anime merchandise, either knowingly or unknowingly.  Anime is still a niche market in the UK despite the thousands of fans at the Expo, and fake anime merchandise is not easy to spot if you don't know what you are looking for.  It's a shame that some fans may have spent money on poor quality fakes, not only for their own sakes but because it takes money away from the industry and is damaging to anime as a whole.  There were far more legitimate retailers than illegitimate ones, but we still hope it's something the organisers get tougher on in future.

Despite these issues the event was great fun as always, with plenty to do and plenty to buy!  We have always maintained that the Expo is something the UK anime scene needs, not just because it is enjoyable but because it is so accessible.  Anime conventions are great fun but there's an exclusivity about them due to the pre-registration, occasional age limits and limited places available.  With the Expo you don't have to pre-register, there's no limit on attendees, it's a lot cheaper than a convention, but it still has enough of what you find at conventions to make it a decent alternative.  This is probably why anime fans have embraced it to such a large extent, and there is nowhere that brings the entire community together so successfully.  Nowhere can you see more cosplayers, nowhere can you buy more anime goods, and nowhere is supported so completely by companies, retailers and artists.  Even in a recession the MCM London Expo remains the must-attend event in the UK calendar.

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