The Gundam Experience is perhaps my favorite panel at any convention. It’s like a walk through the gardens of Gundam, smelling each Gundam flower along the way. But let’s be honest here, not many of you have the opportunity to attend a convention that might feature this panel. However, this is not true anymore! This latest Gundam Experience that took place at Anime Central this year was actually recorded, and uploaded onto youtube!
The Gundam Experience happened over two glorious days, the one I have to show you is the alternative universe panel, which showcases everything that isn’t the Universal Century. It isn’t the best of quality, and the sound isn’t the most clearest you will ever hear, but it gets the job done. If you want to get just a very small taste of what the real Gundam Experience is like, then check it all out after the jump.
Dang that seemed like an awesome panel... the people at it seemed to have good taste (lots of cheers for the usual Zeta, Wing, G, and even some for X, and they boo-ed for GSD, lol).
Hey, Graham Acre/Amuro cosplayer and panel "leader" here.
First of all, thanks so much for the compliments. Trevor/Kaijumaster, and James/Neo Saturn deserve their share of credit for the work they've done to make this panel great at ACEN over the years. (Shoutouts also go out to Steve and Matt, who helped us run the 2 laptops we now use. Having extra help really makes things flow a lot better when we're using 2 projectors!) Same goes to ACEN's own staff. I've hosted this at both AX and Otakon before, but our ACEN version is by far the best, and they're actually insane enough to give us a full '4 hours' to babble on about the franchise now (Also something Trevor helped us acquire)!
Historically, the Gundam Experience has made appearances over the past 5 years at Otakon 2004, Otakon 2006 (an offshoot kept the name for 07-08, but they completely changed format and content. The guys who ran that one aren't doing it anymore. A friend of mine now is), Anime Expo 06-07, Ohayocon 2005, Anime Reactor 04, and ACEN every year since 04. Most of our shows have been a full 2 hours, but some cons (AX namely) only gave us a single hour. Where the Gundam Experience ends up depends on which con I can travel to (which always varies), and whether or not someone-else has already taken up a panel about the IP.
This year, I'll be making an appearance at the New York Anime Fest Gundam panel, and may help a bit behind the scenes at the Otakon one. Both will have videos, prizes, and giveaways like the ACEN one. The format will be different and they'll be shorter, but I can promise you they'll still be a ton of fun. Youmacon is also possible, though less likely. Also at Otakon, I'm in the stages of planning a brand new panel for another classic IP, "Legends of the Galactic Heroes". If you haven't seen the show, check it out and then stop on by, it truly is amazing!
Thanks to all who came. I applaud your ability to sit there and listen to me babble about my favorite series for 2-4 hours!
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