Momoi Halko: “Anime Expo was horrible…”
Singer/seiyuu Momoi Halko has expressed on her blog that Anime Expo was horrible and that she felt that the staff there did not have any respect for anime or people that were related to anime industry. Apparently the staff were very disorganized and handled everything in a very shoddy manner.
She ran into a lot of problems starting with having no hotel room when she arrived and even being told that her concert was cancelled. (Though her staff tried their best and managed to stop it from being cancelled)
According to Momoi, other guests at Anime Expo were also treated in a similar manner with their interview panels and concerts being delayed, shortened, or cancelled without any good reason at all. Some of the staff that came from Japan were even crying because of all this.
However, she was really happy when she saw her fans and feels that she was saved when she saw her fans and even started crying out of happiness during her focus panel. She then says that she canceled all her appearances for Sunday so that she can make sure that her concert on Day 4 will be a success.
July 2nd, 2007 at 1:24 pm
I wasn’t really sure what to expect on the comments to that blog post, but it looks like most of the posters were expressing solidarity with American fans. I’m not sure how well moderated the comments on there are, but I was afraid it might turn into a vile anti-American/anti-foreigner hate-fest like you occasionally see on 2ch or the like…
Does this kind of thing still happen a lot? I’ve been actively avoiding anime cons and otakuness in general for quite a while now, but I remember hearing a lot of horror stories about the experiences for Japanese guests from some friends who worked as translators at Otakon. (This information is from a decade or so ago, so I’d hope things would have changed, but who knows…)
Related to the blog comments, what exactly is the etymology of “gangare”? It seems to be a drop in substitute for “gambare”, but does it carry a distinct meaning or is it just to show that you’re an otaku?
July 2nd, 2007 at 4:48 pm
She’s right, no one on the AX staff knew about what was going on. Then again, they’re all volunteers so that’s not much.
And the SOS Brigade Tour was delayed for two hours. So there you go.
July 2nd, 2007 at 8:13 pm
This is nothing new. I used to staff for AX. Most of the newbie volunteers from year to year are relatively useless. The older group heads tend to be full of their own importance. The upper management suffers from the same problems as the group heads not to mention the bribes, misappropriated funds, and any number of other scandals that have happened over the years.
I was tempted to visit some friends there this year, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Makes me sad that this is the biggest anime convention in the US.
July 2nd, 2007 at 8:37 pm
AX had its fair share of problems again, but I Momoi’s concert today went very well. No technical problems and she started on time. She performed for around 90 minutes and the crowd was rocking. Calling the staff to the carpet in her panel appearince was the only way she had of holding their feet to the fire - and rightly so. She may sound like bubble gum at times, but she’s not a pushover. It’s a shame that AX hasn’t learned from its mistakes - making the performers mad is a good way to keep them away.
And the problems with signage and shuttles alone was a major pain. Not one exterior sign to direct people to registration, venues, shuttles etc. As a regular visitor to the SD Comic-Con, I know unexpected problems do come up, but dealing with those problems separates the wheat from the chafe. Get it right or get out!
July 2nd, 2007 at 9:30 pm
Heh.
Well this does throw a huuuuge wrench in cross-Pacific relations… … …
I’ll be praying for you all.
July 2nd, 2007 at 10:23 pm
Oh boy…where do I begin. Momoi’s treatment was just the way we attendees got treated, and she has every right to be pissed. There was so much confusion, miscommunication, and sudden changeups that it was practically impossible to schedule anything: you had no idea whether an event would really start on time or not, when tickets were really going to be handed out, etc. Plus with no signs, it made it MUCH harder to gather your friends spread out across a huge convention center. What Momoi saw is alas typical of the organization of the con. A true shame.
It’s also telling, though, that Momoi’s fans made her cry–with joy. The people I met in the interminable lines were nothing if not friendly, kind, and personable. Great folks, but horrid logistics.
July 2nd, 2007 at 10:34 pm
Anime Expo is the largest con in North America. Delay problems are simply unavoidable when you deal with that many people.
But there is a difference between delays and just being stupid.
Last year at Anaheim went VERY well. There were delays here and there, but I can understand that given a convention with 35,000+ registrants. But this year was just horrendous.
It’s the worst AX out of the six or seven I’ve attended.
I feel a large part of the problem this year was the location.
In general, the Convention Center was too small for a con of AX’s size. Fans ended up having to wait in lines outside for autographs and the dealer’s hall because of a lack of room inside (which can also be blamed on poor placement decisions for Artist Alley). All the main events were a giant debacle because they needed to use the Long Beach Arena.
Long Beach Convention Center comes with the Long Beach Arena, which Expo decided to use this year for big events. It’s huge, and good for seating large groups for main events.
That’s great.
What’s not great is that in order to use the Arena, Expo had to hire the Convention Center’s arena security staff. AX wasn’t allowed to police it themselves.
As a result the security (known as Staff Pro), went on to ruin up most of the main events.
They would not allow water into the arena at first, even though they had people going through the rows selling lemonade and cotton candy. The AX staff had to rag on them to finally get them to permit bottled water.
They would not allow cameras into the arena, even for events specifically designated camera friendly (i.e. the masquerade).
They would not allow props into the arena, meaning all cosplayers had to go change out of costume before entering a main event.
July 2nd, 2007 at 10:35 pm
“I will be back!” (Hirano at the end of the concert)
Not.
Hirano and friends, I pray for your safety. And sanity. My poor Minorin. T__T
At least Momoi’s concert was successful.
July 2nd, 2007 at 11:01 pm
I feel bad for her all around. I dont know about the hotel debacle, but she was visibly upset when she was at her focus panel. And if that were the case.. I dont know what to say. How can you NOT have a hotel room for a GOH?
But her concert was a disaster the second it was scheduled. 11am on Monday? isnt that when EVERYONE is checking out of their hotels? and the rest are in the dealer halls trying to get final deals in before everythign is packed up and shipped out. Plus - there was a HUGE line for Transformers… so the combination of those three things made it impossible for her top get anyone into her concert.
[speculation] I think AX just dropped the ball when it came to asking people to perform. And this may have to do with the performers also. AX sent out invitations and the performers took their sweet time responding. AX panics and sends out more invitations to a second tier of performers… they respond and are booked. The first tier then respond YES and AX is in a tight spot. Do they take the first tier performers and piss off the 2nd tier ones? or do they keep who they had and risk losing the big naers forever…. they chose to have their cake and eat it too which is why there were 6 concerts this year… way more than any other year and more than they could handle. [end speculation]
And I do agree that AX should invest in a staff. Almost everyone is a volunteer… including most managers. The volunteers were… subpar at best.
The SPJA (who owns AX) is a nonprofit.. so everything goes back into the con.
July 2nd, 2007 at 11:20 pm
Reading these stories almost makes me cry like Halko. You need to have professionals at the top doing the main organizing, but volunteers can do very well if they are trained, then trained again — and kept constantly informed. The most important thing in all management is communication with and from staff, paid or volunteer.
I am no expert on cons, but I can imagine that enthusiasts make bad managers. If they want to hire someone, they should hire a good professional event manager and then just be the ones to provide her with expert info on the world of anime and manga, and let her organize things, including the training of volunteers. Of course, maybe they did all these things and it still didn’t work, lol.
However, when tempted to criticise others, I remember this: everyone else’s job always seems easier to do than your own.
July 2nd, 2007 at 11:55 pm
Wow. Logistics failure.
July 3rd, 2007 at 8:18 am
AX did a really bad job this year. I got more ticked than usual at the misinformation, disorganization, long queues for nothing (i.e., SOS Brigade signing attempts), etc. Wish I knew that Momoi held a concert after AX Idol.
Momoi and the fans/support that followed her from Japan are awesome. At the panel she said she had to prep all day Sunday to get ready for her concert and apolgized, saying if she didn’t spend the time prepping, she couldn’t do the concert right. Lots of her fans bought a lot of glow sticks to give out. Her fan group put out a booklet that went over the calls you’re supposed to do during the songs (great reading, but, very impractical for newbies — better to just copy those in the front row).
As for Momoi’s performance. She’s amazing. She left everything on that stage, packing every minute with song and comment except for the five minute break she took while a guitarist sang a few songs. When she asked for the house lights to be turned up so that she could have pictures taken with her in the foreground and the audience in the background was great (she also had her camcorder running during the closing ceremonies while on-stage).
Lastly, she had a book making the rounds, encouraging everyone to sign. There was a long line after her concert to add entries.
Momoi is very dedicated to her work and shows great understanding/care for her fanbase. She is justly called the “Queen of Akihabara”.
July 3rd, 2007 at 10:18 am
In the end, our beloved Momoi-chan pushed through and performed one helluva concert. She could’ve just backed out and cancelled, and she would’ve been arguably justified for doing so. But she didn’t. Instead, she thought of her fans, set everything aside just so she can concentrate on giving out a perfect performance, and gave it everything she’s got! And that’s the Momoi Halko we love!
So you see AX…it doesn’t matter what you do to Momoi-chan, it won’t take her away from what she does best: giving it her all for her fans.
Thank you Momoi for the most memorable concert in my life!!!
July 4th, 2007 at 2:45 pm
i wasn’t able to attend the concert but i’m happy that turned out okay. shame to ax for not treating halko with the respect she deserves :(
her panel was a lot of fun though,her fans really care about here and she seems to really care about her fans =)
July 5th, 2007 at 12:41 am
I knew some of the AX Staff were a bunch of jerks, but damn…they went so far enough to disrespect Haruko-chan and company? As a fan of hers, I say thats is VERY messed up on their part! I’m glad to know that us fans cheered her up! I was the last guy to talk to her.
We love you Haruko-chan! Shame on some of the AX Staff for disrespecting her!
July 5th, 2007 at 6:10 am
Well, I think AX over-estimated their skills and experiences in organizing concerts. Having 6 concerts are too much for them to handle, they should just focused in 1 to 2 concerts instead like in the past. They should have hired professional sound and stage companies to handle it instead of volunteers…the sound is somewhat out of sync in the concerts…and old sound equipments too…yikes.
Most importantly, AX better to hire some professional con organizers too, hammer out all the scheduling and resource issues. Having all the musical guests to complain are pretty embarrassing, now SOS and Momoi-chan probably won’t come to any other US cons because AX messed it up. As far as I know, the Japanese director and animator Guest of Honors have a decent time at AX… I guess AX has great experience handling these types of guests, but for musical guests, they simply didn’t know how to handle properly yet.
July 6th, 2007 at 8:29 pm
bull, she’s full of herself and wants to blame people for her failure in being completely anonymous in the US
nobody was at her concerts because nobody cares
July 7th, 2007 at 10:28 am
Outside of some rules, I’m glad Momoi Haruko-san’s concert didn’t have any problems. Of course, to have it at the cost of autograph sessions, the reason why I went down south, really irked me. Oh well.
Oh and yes, she has the right to be upset. I would have been the same. Not only that, her concert was given the worst day of the event, which I’ll never understand.
Anime Expo really was understaffed, but they should at least attempt to make the best out of it. (Some of the staff members were fine though.) I would have waited in line as well for the S.O.S. autographs and I feel sorry for those that didn’t get an autograph. I would have done the same, but Momoi-san’s panel was going on at the same time; so either way, I lose there.
By the way, Los Angeles next year? I have been to the downtown area before, but what I am worried about are the cosplayers, especially the ones that are not 18 yet. Cosplayers, especially ones like “Furuba’s”, will so not feel safe at all walking down the area, especially at night. I should say the same for everyone else.
I know not all of Los Angeles is about gangs and what have you (and this is a statement Brandon should agree with me), but it still is a dangerous city. Not good enough? The location: there will not be many resources to work with next year in regards of food and other matters.
AX can’t afford to make more blunders. I want to be part of staff (or rather be part of guest relations), but two problems are presented in this scenario: I have a desire for having lots of power and I live in San Jose, which is six hours away from Los Angeles (or four and a half if you drive really fast and you don’t stop for a break). I say that the event should be moved to Pasadena or San Diego.
July 10th, 2007 at 4:05 am
AX this year was absolute crap. I literally felt sick after the SOS concert. Unfortunately I couldn’t go to the Halko concert cause I had class, but I’m glad to see that she’s so devoted to her fans.
AX is just a huge front for American anime companies. They control everything and they don’t give a damn about the fans.
Does anyone know how much the guests get paid, if at all?
July 12th, 2007 at 11:15 pm
Johnny Yong Bosch said the same thing. He said that the Long Beach Convention Center people were really unprofessional. He said that they cancelled his bands performance because some gay sound guy wouldn’t do it unless they paid him another 10000 dollars.
November 2nd, 2007 at 1:17 am
I have to say that Anime Expo 2007 was my first convention in several years. The one before it was Nan Desu Kan 2004. So my experience there was more or less than expected. But anyway…
Stepping right off the block, I found a lot of disorganization and confusion. And while some of the staff was friendly, especially when I wanted to report one of my bags was missing (or stolen), I felt the rest had no clue or were not helpful… which made me rely more on those who were attending.
So I can see why she and others were frustrated. Especially since something this size can have everything and anything go wrong, even if the plans were well planned. Which shows that Murphy’s Law hit AX especially hard this year.
Besides… Despite the bad stuff I faced (getting lost, having an item stolen, etc.), I still had fun and feel like I experienced her ups and downs. That, and did see where things went wrong after reading this and looking back at what I experienced.
@ Anonymous: Amazing you say that and hide your name. I guess you are only “brave” when you are hiding behind that name. Besides, the only person who did not care are you and those who were not paid enough to care.
@ L33t: I bet you it was the heat and the fact that things were just layered with problems they were trying to fix. Besides, I was told this is why they try to hold in in Anaheim… and figure this is why they will hold it in Los Angeles next year.
November 3rd, 2007 at 9:23 am
Poor Halko. But I’m glad that she was very professional about it despite the hardships. Now I’m an even bigger fan of hers, because I know she can perform well in harsh conditions, and she’s really encouraged by her fans.
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