AX 2010 Problems

Wednesday, 10th February 2010 16:48

So ever since LA I've been keeping an eye out for any Hello! Project performances outside of Asia with the intent of trying to get there and show my support, so far I think I'm not doing to bad attempting to get 3 out of the 4 apperances (and after seeing Hangry and Angry in France I'm really regretting not trying to get to Seattle) so any H!P'ness that comes our with this year I'm certainly going to try my hardest to get there. Even if it means staying in a slightly odd hostel with blood running up the stairs into the room opposite *shrugs* for £15 a night (or what ever it was, I forget) it was totally worth it!

As a fan I think it's great that so many of us have been going to these appearances with the sole intention of supporting our idols, I enjoyed seeing all the H!P fans at the front of the queues standing in line for hours just so that we can show our support. I've always just presumed that the fan support is the one thing that counts at these events, you put in a good showing they'll come back. To a certain extent I still belive that, I don't think anyone can deny that the support for both Morning Musume and Hangry & Angry at these appearances didn't 'wow' UFA into thinking that they should come back. But having been checking out a link CatchFiveBats sent me awhile ago it made me think about something that had never crossed my mind before, what if the people organising the venue are crap?

To be fair it would seem that H!P haven't had the best of luck when it comes to these Western performances, well I'd say at the moment it's a 50/50 swing. Personally I have no complaints with the Chibi Japan Expo, overall everything was organised extremely well, the staff were friendly and helpful especially considering the troubles we were probably all causing when it came to grabbing tickets for the autograph sessions and turning up and hogging queue space/seats a good few hours before any appearance was due and the expo itself was great I literally have no complaints. Not having attended Sakura-Con I can't really comment on what it was like, but let's put it this way I haven't heard anythind bad said about it. So in my book that's two pluses.
But, on the other hand there was the Stokholm Japan Expo where poor ticket sales meant that the event was cancelled and now mixed with that we see the (possibly...as far as I know none of this is confirmed) troubles they had at AX, Anime Expo Situation As Seen By Silenced Staff Members.

Overall I had a great time at AX, I think all of us had our own little gripes and moans about how everything was organsied and handled, but overall it was a good fun. Personal complaints for me were the randomness of the staff not understanding me at times, the awful queuing systems, the lack of not actually telling people where the FAQ autograph session was being held (a squillion Morning Musume fans running all over the Expo in a mad rush was quite amusing though), the Nazi like running of the concert, I still don't quite understand why they needed to try and contain the 4 Japanese guys behind me who went a couple step out of their seats whilst getting into their dancing, or why we were threatened that we'd get our cameras taken away if they saw us taking photo whilst in the queue :S
But, these are all minor annoyances that just bug a little as to what was a great trip. But then that's the side we got to experience as fans, if it was bad for us what was it like for those invited to attend? Surely they'd treat the guests with respect? Well, you'd imagine so. From the link above and the following link (Multiple Anime Expo Staffers Resign in Board Dispute) it's clear that the Expo is having some problems. With rumours of 80% of the staff threatening to resign, and as yet no industry or musical guests it's a bit of a concern as to how the next Expo will turn out.
This in itself is a worry considering how big it is, but for me the thing that annoys me most is the apparent rudeness that someone would treat their guests, especially because it may give a negitive impression of these types of events. I've copied and pasted the two relevant H!P comments from the linked site below;

"5a)- In addition to lying about supposed contacts in Japanese industry, Lattanzio had initially refused to sign a contract previously agreed upon that allowed Morning Musume (last year's AX pop idol group) to releaes a DVD of their concert at AX in which 50% of the profits would go towards AX. After Morning Musume directly sent one of their people over, the contract was finally signed, but in the process, according to third party testimony by Chase, Lattanzio's attitudes toward the Morning Musume representative was extremely impolite (claming that he showed up in jeans and t-shirt) and called her a bitch. As a result, that person has refused to work with Lattanzio and subsquently the Anime Expo convention in the near future."

"2-Yes Michael Lattanzio was very rude to Morning Musume. Along with being rude he showed up to the meeting in flip flops, a t-shirt, and jeans. Though the rumors are wrong when they say he started cussing at them. They also got very pissed when he said he wanted money from the royalties from the show that they played at last AX."

Now rumours are rumours, and with regards to the Expo itself there are more things to be concerned about rather than the behaviour towards Morning Musume (haha, 2 plane tickets for the 5 memebers of Orange Range, WTF?), but as a fan reading this bugs me. Mainly because I'd hate for something so stupid to be factored into future appearances. To be fair, if this is true than I don't no how much of a concern it is, everyone has bad experiences and within business you shouldn't let one bad experience reflect on everything else, I guess what we can take away from this is that chances are they won't be working alongside AX again. I'm just pleased that as fans we were able to show our support to the girls, and at the end of the day that's all that really counts I'm sure!

TAGS [ Morning Musume Stuff ]
Posted Wednesday, 10th February 2010 16:48 | 2760 Reads

Comments

Comment by momo on Wednesday, 10th February 2010 17:11
Well if AX is out of the question, the second largest US convention is Otakon in Baltimore MD. Too bad they won't be going back to AX after such a stupid dispute, I would have been more than happy to go to LA but at least Maryland is closer to me lol.


Comment by Morningtime on Wednesday, 10th February 2010 19:19
"3e) - Claimed he met Akira Kurosawa and his brother/family. Akira Kurosawa's brother has been dead for over 4 decades, Akira Kurosawa has been dead for over 10 years. "

Bloody hell. The convention was organised by Derek Acorah?


Comment by Phil on Thursday, 11th February 2010 02:01
I told you! I told you guys I got screwed by these people..are there any places to go now for the summer now that's out of the question?


Comment by momo on Thursday, 11th February 2010 04:15
Phil, nothing has been said if any H!P act is coming to the US this year. Keep checking the news, thats all I can say.


Comment by jyoru on Thursday, 11th February 2010 05:03
If there are any *half-interesting* GOH's this year I'm heading out again. And believe me, I could write volumes about the organization/lack thereof at last year's AX.

Something about being in LA for another week that I just don't want to say "no" to...

Of course, if it turns out to be Aiko, then would her other two American fans please email me so we can get together? Lol, same for a lot of the groups I'm into at the moment.

Regarding the current accusations: at the most, the guy atop the AX ladder is a douchey douche, and that's quite inexcusable. At the least, the AX staff apparently has some dissension and when the fans/talent have no choice but to put up with it, things could be a lot better.

Last, I went to the 2009 convention because I wanted to see the concert, and I did. And it was as good/better than I imagined. But even so, it hasn't stopped me from wanting to jump off a tall building several times since then. But I've found other things (and I don't have much, really) that keep me from going over the edge. MM didn't change that.

Sorry, kinda personal, but true. Please do not refer me to a therapist!


Comment by Rick on Thursday, 11th February 2010 05:33
Bring them to Sakuro-con in Seattle. They'll be treated well, its a big con, and its in my backyard!!
From the description of the way Douche bagery trated the H!P staffer, it seems unlikely that any hip acts will be @AX anytime soon.


Comment by Liz on Friday, 12th February 2010 02:02
This CEO sounds like a fucking nightmare. I love the part where he demands to be treated like CEOs at other company, like AX is some srsbiznus firm and not an anime convention.


Comment by Rad on Tuesday, 6th April 2010 06:53
The Morning Musume appearance did, indeed, turn out to be too good to be true after all. Leave to Americans to screw up something so monumental as a rare visit to this country from one of Japan's best music acts ever. The DVD, by the way, rocks despite having to dig up an underground copy out of Japan (only H!P Fan Club members ever got access to it) the horrible lighting and other substandard performance specs dished out by AX. Hmm. Probably a convention I will never again attend, and that's a shame.


Comment by ItsudemoAibon on Sunday, 18th April 2010 09:20
Yeah, if true about the way the Japanese were treated at LA AX, one would think this would put us back in exposing Jpop talent to the US. However, it's been since announced that Erina Mano has been announced as a GOH for this year's AX.

So how true are these rumors that the UFA management was ticked off if they've allowed another one of the artists this opportunity?


Comment by Matt_D on Monday, 19th April 2010 00:52
lol actually reminds me of the 2007 AX when they "forgot" to book rooms for Momo-i and the SOS Dan girls.

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