This year I was able to attend the Crunchyroll Expo, which was held in the Santa Clara Convention Center on August 25th-27th. It was the first convention held by Crunchyroll and definitely met most of my expectations. To be honest, I was really surprised that it took them that long to create a convention, but I was glad it finally came.
The convention had all that you can think of, panels filled with anime content and personalities, tons of booths to buy a bunch of anime goods, the artist alley with all sorts of styles, an itasha scene, and of course, the cosplayers!
Here was my experience, as well as what you would be able to check out during the event.
GUESTS // Autographs!
Let’s start it off with the guests!
This year’s guests range between a large set of individuals, from Adam Savage (known for his show, Mythbusters) to a bunch of anime related YouTubers, such as Gigguk and Glass Reflection. Most of these people actually had panels and signings as well during the weekend, so if you were willing to wait, you were given a chance to meet your favorite guest and listen to what they have to say!
Here is the list of all the guests that attended the event:
- Adam Savage, Industrial/SFX Designer, TV Personality
- Butch Hartman, Creator of The Fairly Oddparents
- Fred Seibert, Founder of Frederator
- Jeremie Perin, Director/Animator
- Johnny Weir, US Olympic Figure Skater
- Amico Kubo, Director (Urahara)
- Hiromi Igarashi, Voice Actress of Juni Taisen
- Hiroshi Shimizu, Character Designer/Animator
- Hiroshi Yoshimura, Director of Code Vein
- Keiichi Sigsawa, Author of “Kino’s Journey”
- Keita Iizuka, Producer of Code Vein
- Kore Yamazaki, Writer and Artist of The Ancient Magus’ Bride
- Mugi Tanaka, Character Designer (Urahara)
- Shun Horie, Voice Actor of Juni Taisen
- Yoshitaka Amano, Artist/Character Designer/Illustrator
- Adam Croasdell, Voice Actor
- Austin Hardwicke, Fan Service
- Brad Graeber, CEO of Powerhouse Animation
- Caitlin Glass, Director, Voice Actor
- The Canipa Effect, Video Creator
- Chris Parson, Voice Actor
- Cole Gallian, Fan Service
- Digibro, YouTuber
- Domics, YouTube Animator
- Dream Daddy Team: Vernon Shaw, Leighton Gray, and Erika Ishii, Video Game
- Freddie Wong, Director, Writer, & Actor
- Gray G. Haddock,Head of Rooster Teeth Animation
- Gigguk, YouTuber
- Glass Reflection, YouTuber
- Kerry Shawcross, Writer & Director, Rooster Teeth Animation
- Max Mittelman, Voice Actor
- Rocco Botte, Mega64
- Mica Burton, Actress/Model
- Miles Luna, Head Writer of Rooster Teeth Animation
- Monica Rial, Voice Actor
- MostFlogged, Professional Cosplayer
- Mother’s Basement, YouTuber
- Octopimp, YouTuber & Voice Actor
- Prozd, YouTuber & Voice Actor
- Ray Chase, Voice Actor
- Roland Kelts, Author/Journalist
- Sam Deats, “Castlevania” Director
- Yssa Badiola, Fan Service
Stages // Panels
Yuzu Stage
All of these special guests had their panels at different stages as shown above on the slideshow. The names of the stages were based off of Crunchyroll and fruits. HAHA, I don’t know why fruits exactly, but it shows in the name. 😀
Exhibit Hall
After checking out some of the panels, you would head down the hallway for all of the awesome booths in the Exhibit Hall. Many of the booths that were there had all sorts of anime merchandise, as well as original content to satisfy your anime needs.
DRAGON BALL SUPER: PUZZLE HUNT
Within the exhibit hall, Scrap provided a puzzle hunt game where you are to defeat the Fused Zamas. In order to beat him, you have to figure out all the different puzzles to find out what you can do to beat him.
The photos below are of some of the things that I did and encountered to beat him!
Artist Alley
Before you enter into the Artist Alley room, you were welcomed with all the artwork that was related to the Crunchyroll mascot, Hime.
Once you walk into the main room, you find over 200 different artists and vendors who provide a wide range of different artwork and clothing, which you can’t find anywhere else. I was able to meet a lot of artists behind their works there and got to see some new artwork I haven’t seen yet!
COSPLAYS
When you walk around the convention, you would find cosplayers from all parts of the world! I was able to meet some of my favorite cosplayers out there, but unfortunately I didn’t take any pics with them. 🙁
Here were some of the cosplayers that I was able to get photos of.
@jaynaito
Overall Thoughts
Crunchyroll Expo was presented well as for being part of the first convention under Crunchyroll. I got to make new friends, as well as see some people I haven’t seen in a while! It was a pleasure meeting you all!
Personally, as far from all my experiences that weekend, I felt that there could be some things that can be improved. I can’t expect too much since this was the first year, but here are some things that I believe it can improve upon:
- Book a wider range of special guests.
- Create a cosplay area or set area where cosplayers can take their photos at.
- Have more food trucks / restaurants available for the event.
- More interactive games and events for attendees
Besides those listed above, I had a great time! Sorry that not a lot of people were able to attend, being so far up in NorCal, but I hope to see y’all there next year!
Make sure you follow their social media down below to be up-to-date with future events.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Facebook: facebook.com/CrunchyrollExpo // facebook.com/Crunchyroll
Instagram: @CrunchyrollExpo // @Crunchyroll
Twitter: @Crunchyroll
Website: Crunchyrollexpo.com // Crunchyroll.com
