Shannon Cottrell

​See more photos in "Southern California Crossplay."

Crossplay is exactly what you think it might be, cosplay that involves crossdressing. It's not the same as gender-bending an existing character, as Gender Bent Justice League did this year at San Diego Comic-Con. With crossplay, a female fan will present herself as a male character and vice versa.

Ultimately, crossplay is no different from cosplay, it's a fan-oriented art form that can take many different paths. Some people don't make a major effort to conceal their actual gender. Others take painstaking measures to resemble the opposite-gender character as closely as possible. The choice is up to the fan.

While you may stumble upon crossplayers at any event that encourages costume, the phenomenon is most common within the anime fandom. Sure, we may see a few girls portraying male characters from The Venture Bros. at San Diego Comic-Con, but nothing draws the sheer amount and diversity of crossplayers like anime conventions. In Southern California, we tend to see the most crossplayers at Anime Expo and Anime Los Angeles.

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Shannon Cottrell

Filming Tank9's new Anime Expo video

​For the past three years, Tank9 has been filming himself dancing with cosplayers at Anime Expo. The popular videos are filmed in some of the busiest portions of the Los Angeles Convention Center-- including the food court and the South Hall lobby-- so viewers get a good idea of what the convention really looks like.

Tank9 and dance partner Mary Nine, who also appears in the video, specialize in industrial dancing, but that style isn't a requirement for joining them at Anime Expo. You're as likely to see cosplayers stomping as you are to see them breaking.

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Shannon Cottrell

Durarara!! cosplayers at Anime Expo 2011

​When we covered Anime Expo back in 2010, we noted that characters from a new series called Durarara!!, then only available in the U.S. through Crunchyroll, were amongst the most memorable cosplays of the convention. We saw numerous female figures clad in black catsuits and yellow and blue motorcycle helmets, oftentimes accompanied by a blonde, male character wearing the sort of tuxedo that you would associate with a high-end bar or restaurant employee. There were people walking with street signs, one young man even wheeled around a vending machine. The cosplayers made enough of an impact on us that we immediately began watching the show.

One year later, Durarara!! has become a bona fide hit with the anime crowd. The show, which currently airs on Adult Swim Saturday nights as an English-language dub, is a testament as to how convention-going anime fans can help push their favorite shows to the next level.

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Shannon Cottrell

Chocolate Covered Cosplay

​Roughly two weeks before the start of Anime Expo, Chocolate Covered Cosplay was born. The group of six women-- Ashphord Jacoway, Neko Nivi, Ginger Burton, Angel Drake, Danielle McRae and Deanna McRae-- came together for cosplay with a purpose.

"No matter your race or your height or your weight or how you look, do what you want," says Burton. "Have fun."

"You don't have to be the black version of whoever, you can just be that character," she continues. "Be who you want to be and have fun because cosplay is all about having fun."

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Shannon Cottrell

Alex Ahad

​See more photos from Anime Expo 2011 in Shannon Cottrell's photo galleries "Anime Expo 2011: Day One, Friday," "Anime Expo 2011: Day Two, Saturday," "Anime Expo at Night: Hatsune Miku in Concert, Tune in Tokyo at Club Nokia" and "Anime Expo 2011: Day Three, Sunday."

Last month at E3, we stumbled upon a new fighting game called Skullgirls and fell for it. Initially, we gravitated towards the game because of its artwork, which is the work of Skullgirls co-creator Alex Ahad. We met Ahad at Anime Expo last weekend.

"My art style is influenced by a lot of Western and Eastern stuff," says Ahad. "There was a lot of cartoons and anime that I liked as a kid, including Fooly Cooly and a lot of Gainax stuff, like Gurren Lagann recently, stuff like Roger Rabbit and Batman: The Animated Series."

Ahad cites animators like Bruce Timm (Batman: The Animated Series) and Hiroyuki Imaishi (Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt) as influences.

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Shannon Cottrell

Tank9 and a breakdancer at Anime Expo

​See more photos from Anime Expo 2011 in Shannon Cottrell's photo galleries "Anime Expo 2011: Day One, Friday," "Anime Expo 2011: Day Two, Saturday," "Anime Expo at Night: Hatsune Miku in Concert, Tune in Tokyo at Club Nokia" and "Anime Expo 2011: Day Three, Sunday."

Search "industrial dance" on YouTube and you'll find a lot of videos of people busting out the dance floor stomp that's become associated with clubs that play industrial, EBM and other associated styles of music. Near the top of your search will be a clip titled "Angry Industrial Dancer in Little Saigon," which features a guy named Tank9 busting out his best moves to Combichrist's track "Electrohead" in public places.

Tank9's videos, which he has been uploading to YouTube for about three years, have become increasingly popular. Every year, the Southern California-based dancer heads to Anime Expo where he dances with cosplayers. We met up with the dancer on Sunday, where fellow industrial dancer Mary was filming him and passersby near the food court of the Los Angeles Convention Center.

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Shannon Cottrell

​ Hatsune Miku mania continued at Anime Expo Saturday night when the virtual singer appeared in concert with a live band at Nokia Theatre. Read about the show in "Live Review: Hatsune Miku @ Nokia Theatre for Anime Expo 2011" from our music blog, West Coast Sound. See more photos in Shannon Cottrell's slideshow, "Anime Expo at Night: Hatsune Miku in Concert, Tune in Tokyo at Club Nokia."

Shannon Cottrell

​See more photos in Shannon Cottrell's gallery, "Anime Expo 2011: Day One, Friday."

Updated with photos of Miku-Kitty on Page 2. First published 7/02/11 at 7:36 a.m.

Hatsune Miku fans were not left disappointed after spending Friday afternoon in line for the Miku Keynote presentation that marked the opening day of Anime Expo 2011. Crypton Future Media CEO Hiroyuki Itoh-- "Hatsune Miku's father," according to Danny Choo's introduction-- and Toshihiro Fukuoka, the Japanese magazine editor who has played a role in introducing Miku to the world, arrived ready to announce a few new adventures for the virtual pop star and breakout hit of Crypton's Vocaloid software, who will be playing the anime convention Saturday night.

If you thought there were few things cuter than an animated pop star with really long blue pigtails, try merging her with a cat beloved by the world. That's just what Crypton and Sanrio are doing with Miku-Kitty. Sanrio is certainly no stranger to Hello Kitty-pop star hybrids, as owners of Yoshikitty know well. The collaboration also seems to be in line with Crypton's remix-friendly approach to their Vocaloid characters. Plus, Miku-Kitty is adorable.

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Shannon Cottrell

​See more photos in Shannon Cottrell's gallery, "Anime Expo 2011: Day One, Friday."

Have you ever seen someone run and jump on top of an unsuspecting friend in an attempt to give a hug? It's called glomping (Check Urban Dictionary for a variety of definitions), and if you go to a lot of conventions, you probably have an opinion on it.

Basically, there are two schools of thought on glomping. You either embrace it, or you hate it. There's not too much middle ground here. But, no matter what side of the debate is yours, Cactus Mafia has a sign for you. We spotted these in the artist alley at Anime Expo on Friday, July 1.

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Shannon Cottrell

​We've just received word that the South Hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center has been evacuated in the middle of Anime Expo 2011. Rumors are swirling of a suspicious package or a bomb threat, as they generally do in these situations. We'll update with more concrete details whenever they're available.

UPDATE: A member of the AX staff told LA Weekly's Liz Ohanesian he can't go into detail, but it's a "safety issue." They just had to get everybody out. West Hall at the Convention Center is still open.

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