Heads up! PMX is THIS weekend!

Winter may have finally come to us, but that doesn’t mean that anime convention season is over yet.  This coming weekend, November 12-14, the Pacific Media Expo (or “PMX” as the cool kids call it) will be blowing into the Hilton Pasadena Hotel in Pasadena (duh).  Online registration for the event is still open (and will remain open during the convention – no need to stand in long registration lines!) and will run you $40 for a full weekend pass, or $20 for Friday or Sunday only, $25 for Saturday only, or $15 for children age 12 and under (children age 5 and under can get in for free).  There’s also a 20% group discount, so if a whole bunch of you will be going, that’ll help you out.

PMX is different from your typical anime convention in that, besides anime, they also focus on other aspects of Asian pop culture, including Asian live-action movies, fashion, music, martial arts, and (my favorite) food.  Of course you’ll find the usual anime convention fare as well, including a dealer’s hall, artist’s alley, cosplay masquerade, video and film rooms, karaoke, panels, and the like.  Guests of honor include Korean actor Jang Dong-gun, writer Sngmoo Lee, Alice and the Pirates head fashion designer Miki Nohmoto, lolita fashion brand Baby, the Stars Shine Bright; Amy Okuda, actress on The Guild; Hiromi Kato, animator on various works including Revolutionary Girl Utena, Tenshi ni Naurmon (I’m Going to Be an Angel), and Di Gi Charat Nyo; Yumi Fujiwara, designer of fashion label Innocent World; and musical guests Dig Jelly, Lemon Drop Kick, and Tanuki Suit Riot.

PMX is still a fairly new convention (only in its 7th year now) but has really made a name for itself.  I’ve been wanting to go for quite some time now but never was able to… until now.  Yes, you read correctly, we will be attending this year’s PMX.  I won’t make any promises, but I’ll try to get some coverage of the event for you folks (at the very least some pretty pictures to look at, whenever I can get around to editing them and posting to the website that is :P).

A schedule of events and hotel map are available for download.

J-List is a peaceful island of Japanese pop culture for you