Due to the craziness that is going on in the world, Anime Expo team decided to go virtual this year. They provided the live stream event, Anime Expo Lite 2020.
This event was held on July 3rd and 4th covering most of the day. You were able to view the events through both YouTube and Twitch (Twitch was my preferable choice).
*Sorry in advance that there’s no photos. It was all online, so I wasn’t sure how to go about with photos and whatnot of the event. xD
Check out the schedule below of what was playing.
SCHEDULE
Here was the schedule that was available during the online live stream. The panels covered for 2 Days and they were on 2 different Rooms (channels) at the same time. Here was the schedule:
Day 1
CHANNEL 1
- VIZ Media Panel 12:15pm – 1:10pm
- Cultural Content 1:15pm – 1:25pm
- Cosplaying Together, Apart 1:25pm – 2:15pm
- The History of Japanese Visual Pop Culture: Exclusive Preview of Repro Japan 2:20pm – 2:50pm
- Cultural Content 2:50pm – 3:00pm
- GSC Cribs: Tokyo — A Look into Good Smile Company Akihabara HQ 3:00pm – 3:20pm
- Cultural Content 3:20pm – 3:25pm
- Aniplex of America Industry Panel 3:30pm – 4:25pm
- Cultural Content 4:25pm – 4:40pm
- Mask-querade Judges’ Choice 4:40pm – 4:50pm
- Cultural Content 4:50pm – 4:55pm
- Bushiroad Mobile Panel 5:00pm – 5:45pm
- Cultural Content 5:45pm – 6:00pm
- The World Ends with You -The Animation- Special Panel 6:00pm – 6:40pm
- DEEMO THE MOVIE – UTAHIME AUDITION FINAL 6:45pm – 7:30pm
- Cultural Content 7:30pm – 8:00pm
- Warner Bros. Japan Presents “Stay Connected with Anime” 8:00pm – 9:50pm
- Cultural Content 9:50pm – 9:55pm
- East Meets West—Getting Into the Anime Industry as a Foreigner 10:00pm – 11:00pm
- Cultural Content 11:00pm – 11:10pm
- Meet the Pixiv Team 11:10pm – 11:50pm
CHANNEL 2
- “PONY CANYON’s “”CANIME-PRIME”” SPECIAL ONLINE PROGRAM !! ~Featuring Subaru Kimura and Ibuki Kido, and more VOICE ACTORS!~” 12:15pm – 1:00pm
- Cultural Content 1:05pm – 1:20pm
- Yen Press Industry Panel 1:20pm – 2:05pm
- Cultural Content 2:05pm – 2:10pm
- Manga for Everyone from TOKYOPOP 2:10pm – 2:55pm
- Cultural Content 2:55pm – 3:05pm
- DENPA Books Licensing Panel 3:05pm – 3:50pm
- Cultural Content 3:55pm – 4:10pm
- Vanguard ZERO: Special Exhibition Match 4:10pm – 4:55pm
- Cultural Content 4:55pm – 5:10pm
- J-Novel Club Announcements Industry Panel 5:15pm – 5:40pm
- Cultural Content 5:40pm – 5:50pm
- Mangamo: We’ve Got Manga! 5:50pm – 6:35pm
- Cultural Content 6:35pm – 6:45pm
- How to Draw Anime with MinoMiyabe 6:45pm – 7:10pm
- Let’s Talk LUPIN THE 3rd with Producers Kiyozono & Nozaki 7:15pm – 7:40pm
- Cultural Content 7:40pm – 7:55pm
- Developing Anime & Manga in the West: Expanding Webcomic IP Into TV, Film, Podcasts, & More! 7:55pm – 8:30pm
- Cultural Content 8:35pm – 8:40pm
- Adventures in Voice Acting Mini Workshop – Home Edition 8:50pm – 9:45pm
- Cultural Content 9:45pm – 10:00pm
- Studio TRIGGER Live Drawing 10:00pm – 12:00am
MEETING ROOM
- Yaya Han and Phil Mizuno Q&A 2:30pm – 3:10pm
- LOVE x LOVE: All-Inclusive Romance From TOKYOPOP 3:20pm – 4:20pm
- For Fans By Fans: Anime Tropes Live-Draw Roulette 4:30pm – 5:30pm
- J-Novel Club Industry Panel Q&A Session 5:50pm – 6:20pm
- AX Cosplay Senpai Roundtable 6:20pm – 7:20pm
- Eleven Arts Industry Panel: What You Can Do as a Fan to Help Bring Your Favorite Titles to North America 7:35pm – 8:30pm
Day 2
CHANNEL 1
- Funimation Industry Panel 915am – 1015am
- Cultural Content 1015am – 1030am
- Yoshitaka Amano Live Drawing and Q&A 1030am – 1050am
- Cultural Content 1050am – 1100am
- Akira Himekawa Q&A 1100am – 1140am
- Pony Canyon Industry Panel 1140am – 1230pm
- Make Mine Manga with Kodansha USA Publishing 1240pm – 140pm
- Mask-querade Winners Announcement 145pm – 200pm
- Cultural Content 200pm – 205pm
- Crunchyroll Industry Panel 205pm – 235pm
- Cultural Content 240pm – 300pm
- Orange Presents: Creative Minds Behind BEASTARS & IDOLiSH7 / Mr.AFFECTiON 300pm – 355pm
- Cultural Content 400pm – 410pm
- GUNDAM Merchandising Panel by Bandai Namco Collectibles 410pm – 500pm
- World Cosplay Summit Team USA 2019 Review 500pm – 525pm
- How to Enjoy MyAnimeList 525pm – 615pm
- Cultural Content 615pm – 620pm
- GIBIATE Special Preview 620pm – 645pm
- Cultural Content 645pm – 655pm
- Anime Expo Lite × LisAni！LIVE L.A. 655pm – 900pm
CHANNEL 2
- Right Stuf Anime & Nozomi Entertainment Industry Panel 9:15am – 9:50am
- Cultural Content 9:55am – 10:05am
- HISTORY OF OF SKIN THEMATICS IN LEAGUE OF LEGENDS: Adapting Anime Tropes, References, and Styles in a Non-Anime Video Game 10:05am – 11:05am
- Production I.G. USA Industry Panel 11:10am – 12:10pm
- Cultural Content 12:10pm – 12:20pm
- Yen Press Presents: So I’m a Spider, So What? 12:20pm – 1:05pm
- Cultural Content 1:05pm – 1:20pm
- Learning Japanese Through Anime & Anime Songs 1:20pm – 2:10pm
- Cultural Content 2:10pm – 2:25pm
- Painting The Skies: A Conversation with The Artists of thatgamecompany 2:25pm – 2:55pm
- Cultural Content 3:00pm – 3:10pm
- Adventures in Voice Acting Presents: Inside the Voice Actors Studio: Anime Directors Roundtable 3:10pm – 4:05pm
- Cultural Content 4:10pm – 4:25pm
- Manga Planet and futekiya Panel 4:25pm – 5:15pm
- Cultural Content 5:15pm – 5:30pm
- Creating Music With and for the Japanese Anime Industry 5:30pm – 6:10pm
- World Cosplay Summit Team USA 2019 Review 6:10pm – 6:35pm
- Cultural Content 6:35pm – 6:55pm
MEETING ROOM
- BIPOC Actors in Anime 1:00pm – 2:00pm
- Plus Ultra Dance Workshop with The Corps Dance Crew 4:00pm – 5:00pm
MY EXPERIENCE
So, I was trying to figure out how to go about my con experience during the event. I wore my weeb clothes, made sure to have drinks and food already ready, and just planted my butt on the chair as I watched these panels. As mentioned in the previous blog, I enjoyed how Anime Expo actually had all of the vendors and artists listed on their website that were suppose to be at AX 2020. While I watched the panels, I got to hop from vendors and artists that I do enjoy, as well as discovered a lot of new ones.
The panels were great! Typically, there are different types of people that attend cons: Vendors and artists, cosplayers, gamers, fans of anime gaming, fans of Japanese music, people who just want to hang out with their friends (me), and people who enjoy panels. For the past couple of years, I would only attend panels if it’s related to premieres or if any of the friends have panels they’re hosting. For Anime Expo Lite 2020, I did just panels. It was an experience that has changed my mind on how I should attend cons.
Here are the panels / events that I attended:
- “PONY CANYON’s “”CANIME-PRIME”” SPECIAL ONLINE PROGRAM !! ~Featuring Subaru Kimura and Ibuki Kido, and more VOICE ACTORS!~”
- VIZ Media Panel
- Cultural Content
- Cosplaying Together, Apart
- Yen Press Industry Panel
- The History of Japanese Visual Pop Culture: Exclusive Preview of Repro Japan
- GSC Cribs: Tokyo — A Look into Good Smile Company Akihabara HQ
- Bushiroad Mobile Panel
- The World Ends with You -The Animation- Special Panel
- DEEMO THE MOVIE – UTAHIME AUDITION FINAL
- Warner Bros. Japan Presents “Stay Connected with Anime”
- GIBIATE Special Preview
- Anime Expo Lite × LisAni！LIVE L.A.
- Production I.G. USA Industry Panel
- Creating Music With and for the Japanese Anime Industry
- How to Enjoy MyAnimeList
- Yoshitaka Amano Live Drawing and Q&A
I really enjoyed Anime Expo Lite 2020. It definitely is a game changer with how you are able to enjoy panels through your screen. The AX Team included all types of panels and events that you would normally be able to see at AX: Industry, Cosplay, Music, and more. It was great hearing about the new content and merchandise that companies are coming out with, cosplayers within the community talking about themselves as well as their experiences, seeing and listing to live music from our favorite music artists, etc. I was even stoked about the MyAnimeList panel. I didn’t expect to see that one, and was really glad I checked it out. I learned more about MAL that I didn’t realize you can do, such as the community portion of the website. Because I checked out the panel, I am now a part of the community. I loved it!
Overall, I’m really glad that I attended AXL 2020. Even though I didn’t get to see my friends in person, all the amazing displays people had in the Vendor Hall and Artist Alley, posed next to cosplay sets and displays, eat amazing food, play games and whatnot, and see everyone’s amazing cosplays, this was definitely the experience I needed to fill satisfy my urge to go to cons. Thank you Anime Expo team for holding this event for all of us otakus out there who weren’t able to attend this year. I can’t wait for all of us to be together at Anime Expo 2021.
If you guys are interested in more information related to Anime Expo and any details involving the upcoming Anime Expo 2021, make sure to follow them on their social media down below.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Instagram: @animeexpo
Twitter: @animeexpo
Facebook: facebook.com/animeexpo
Website: anime-expo.org
