So, this little report is going to do a bunch of things, as I gear up for another fun time at Anime Expo for 2022. 

I am also practicing a new way to submit my reports, so I can work out any kinks before I go, rather than relying on the kindness of strangers (and, boy howdy, they don’t get no stranger than at AX!) and lying in a pool of my own flop sweat, right? 

With AX cancelled for both 2020 and 2021, there was a genuine concern that we would not be able to get in, as people who had purchased tickets in 2020 received first opportunity to reapply, then anyone else who had gotten stiffed on attending got the next crack. 

The last time I went, there were 100,000 folks there, so the fear was real of having vacation time and no vacation to go on. Now, they did do a drop-line approach: everyone who was not in the aforementioned categories got a shot on January 24th at 12 noon Pacific time. Everyone in the entire world. Everyone at the same time (I hope the servers were up to snuff). I had to rely on the wife and daughter to pull this off (as I was at work, making the money that we were going to profligately spend on this shindig). 

There was a moment of panic when they hit the wrong button to continue with the process and it felt like they got dumped out entirely and would have to start over. Fortunately, it was just a glitch, so they were able to secure the tickets, but making a mistake like this shouldn’t feel like falling into the deepest pit of the darkest dungeon. And is it wrong to try and pick up girls in a dungeon? 

The hotel room would have to wait another week or so and that’s when it got grumpy. The hotel the wife wanted (The Bonaventure) was not on the list, even though I saw pictures of it. I mean, it was all the usual suspects. Now, she did go with the Biltmore Millenium (we had been there before; enormous bedrooms, tiny bathrooms) but between the credit card getting declined numerous times and a time limit to place the request (and if you miss on the chance to get all four days at the same place, that is a major workout of packing and tracking), it was more anxiety than one wanted or cared for. They may have gotten their allotment of excess stomach acid for the year at that time. 

Then came my favorite part of the event, getting the Press Pass. In times past, I got bounced because my moon was in the seventh house and Jupiter aligned with Mars. I mean, I never got a concrete reason, like, your blog is too tiny for traffic to promote this or you write as if it’s a painful obligation. Perhaps they felt I wasn’t ‘’rah-rah” enough. 

They initially lost my request, then ‘forgot’ to send it out. When I had to make a second request for the results, I kinda knew I had fallen short again. I guess writing anime reviews just isn’t enough. Oh, officially, I was denied. I felt like Jack Lemmon at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am. 

So, it appears for now that all is skittles and beer. I want to hope that all the construction work in the area of AX is done, but that’s a real false hope, and one is NEVER done with construction. 

I hope that the schedule of events gets posted soon. I like to have a good idea as to what it is I’m going to be missing out on (Pssst! Hentai shows.)