This past weekend was my very first Comikaze in Los Angeles, California. Comikaze started in 2010 and has been getting ever bigger since. I got the opportunity to attend through the company Emet Comics, for whom I run social media. The convention ran Friday, October 30th to Sunday November 1st.
Friday, we arrived early to set up. Because it is finally getting chillier in LA, I decided to wear a shirt that I hadn’t yet worn at a convention! Once the con floor opened, I walked around a little bit. The main hall (“West Hall”) was a bit smaller than one of the show floors at Chicago Comic Con. There was a museum of Stan Lee in the back of the hall, lots of vendors and a really unique artists alley. Since it was Halloween weekend, a lot of people had fantastic spooky stuff they were selling. Loot Crate was also there, with QMX’s gorgeous Serenity model. I couldn’t help but take a few pictures later on Sunday.
Saturday, I headed over to the South Hall (which I didn’t know about at all) to see Summer Glau’s panel. This panel (and all the special guest panels at Comikaze) was held at the Hot Topic Main Stage. Unlike any other convention I have ever been to, this stage was actually in an exhibitor’s hall, which also housed cosplayers who had tables (#goals), fan tables, and the wonderful Gudetama booth.
Since the stage is not in it’s own room, there is actually no seating (except those reserved for folks with disabilities on either side of the stage). Since many of the panels were shorter than those at other conventions (ranging usually 15-30 minutes), it wasn’t difficult for me to stand the whole time. Plus you never had to worry about getting a seat. However, I wasn’t a fan of all the press photographers at the front, who blocked the actual conventioners trying to watch the panels.
Summer’s panel was wonderful, and she talked a lot about how dancing has influenced how she performs as her characters. She also spoke about how everything in Serenity was choreographed for her, so she could do as much of it as possible… and experience very different from LARPing in Knights of Badassdom.
Sunday I spent more time walking around, got a poster signed by Tommy Wiseau, and spent a bit more time in the South Hall.
Overall, it was a really great convention! Besides the weird structure of panels, and the way the main stage was set up, it felt very much like a smaller Wizard World Con.
I’m glad you had a good time! The con this year felt a LOT smaller than last year’s. Last year, the entire exhibit hall, artist alley, and main stage was housed in the south hall, which I think I preferred. I only went to the south hall once this year (to see Gudetama!) and then I spent the rest of the time in the west hall looking at vendors and artists.