I’ve been going to AX for three years now and this AX has by far been the best one. Although the location was less than convenient (no one got mugged or raped that i know of), the LA convention center is amazing. It is a perfect home for AX only to be beat by the ridiculously awesome Anaheim convention center. Seeing Kratos, every fucking character from Naruto and Bleach, and other random anime cosplays walking around the streets of downtown LA was, liberating for lack of a better word.

So since I’m not posting for japanator, I will instead speak of only the video games and overall nerdiness that I experienced. First of all the demos, holy shit in a hand basket this was a great year to be a hardcore gamer at AX. Bangaio spirits, Naruto Clash of Ninja: Revolution 2, Soul Calibur IV, Guilty Gear 2: Overture, Naruto Ninja Storm, several other Naruto games, and the eye bleedingly beautiful BlazBlue.

First I'll start with the Bangaio spirits because this game caught me off guard. I saw only one person play this game aside from myself the entirety of AX which is a shame because this game is amazing. Part arena shooter part ridiculous version of contra; this is a game in which you can launch 100 missiles from a tiny mech on screen. 100 MISSLES!!! However the demo got hard fast, which I didn’t mind because once the game is released in I believe October, I will spend a lot of time mastering it.



Secondly, Soul Calibur IV. This is my favorite fighting franchise of all time. It is a nearly perfect fighting game in my opinion and has stole many hours of my life and forced me to duct tape a controller specifically for SCIII because of the much bashing it endured. Needless to say I will continue the tradition for SCIV because this game was so much fun, and so beautiful. So much so that I forgot to take a picture of the booth and the screen, sorry. The only characters that were offered for demo were Mitsurugi, Siegfried and the new challenger for the soul edge Hildegard von Krone. The game itself plays more like Soul Calibur II which should excite plenty, and disappoint a few. Both Misurugi and Siegfried played exactly the same except a few combo alterations and however the interesting thing to learn was that Hildegard played very similar to Setsuka. However much unlike Setsuka Hildegard and dangerous reach due to her huge lance that she thrusts with malicious intent in every single combo. (hint: use kicks to stun and the lance to destroy)

Third in the line of amazing games was BlazBlue, which I also didn’t get pictures of, lest I be shot down by the ARC reps. Now I'll admit I’m not that great at 2D fighters (actually im quite horrible), however I've always been a fan of the Guilty Gear franchise; and ARC seems to have another hit on their hands with BlazBlue. I stared at the game for nearly a half an hour just watching competitors get utterly destroyed in HD fashion. Now to call the sprites and the backgrounds in BlazBlue beautiful is an understatement; it is literally like watching an anime. Now the downside of BlazBlue (and a fact that the reps loved to remind us) is that there is no planned release for the PS3 and no release date for the arcade version either. Only Nihon will be receiving it for the time being. On a small note Guilty Gear 2: Overture was to me less than impressive but that doesn’t mean its going to suck. The game played like a watered down dynasty warriors but with a prettier coat of paint. Also I accidently sent the unit into debug mode whilst playing, whoops.

Lastly there is EVERY NARUTO GAME YOU COULD EVER WANT!! There was one for the DS, one for the Wii, one for the PSP and of course Naruto: Ninja Storm for the PS3. Considering the DS, Wii, and PSP versions are just continuations of old franchises, I will focus on Ninja Storm. Remember when I said BlazBlue is like watching and Anime be played? Well ninja Storm is like watching a playable version of an episode of Naruto... if pixar was making Naruto. It is beautiful, and the combat system isn’t half bad either. It plays like both clash of ninja and Ultimate ninja, with only the best elements thrown in. If you aren’t already a Naruto fan, I doubt you’ll be interested; but it cannot be denied that the Naruto franchise still holds its own in the video game market.

Needless to say I had a lot of fun at Anime Expo 08, as I’m sure many other Detoiders did.

Now I will leave you with my photos from AX and the awesome cosplaying that I saw. Dr. Who, Afro Samurai and Captain Planet were all in attendance this year. I’ve never felt more at home in my life.