Anime Los Angeles makes a return this year at the Long Beach Convention Center in Long Beach, CA on January 5th-8th. This was our first time at this convention with the new location change, and I’ll say that this was a such a good location! We were only able to attend the Thursday and Saturday of the event, so we will show you guys some of our experiences based on those days!
THURSDAY // SWAP MEET
My experience of Anime Los Angeles Day 0:
I had to attend day 0 after work because ALA started on a Thursday and arrived in the area around 20:00. I was able to find parking on the north side of the convention center grounds, which is right in front of the Terrace Theater courtyard. Parking was free at the time and I easily found a spot close to the crosswalk. The security check fenced in the lower entrance of the Terrace theater entrance and was easy to spot and get through. The attendees in line were mainly dressed up to attend the Formal Dance. Lots of suits, dresses, and cosplay wigs! Almost everyone lookin sharp, me being one of the attendees with jeans and sneakers. I did have a nice sweater on and a matsuri happi coat to top off my fit. Next time I would consider dressing more formal.
My first impression of the night was the entrance to the Terrace theater. Right past security is a high ceilinged, large, outdoor walkup. It’s big enough to host a small concert if you just fenced off the street traffic. It was lit by chandeliers casting warm low white light in concert with blue accent lighting giving the area a regal ocean vibe.
Entering inside you check in with entrance staff that you have your badge. Most people attending kept their badges in bags or pockets to let their outfits shine cohesively. The entrance gives me older fancy hotel lobby vibes. Carpet lining the floor and more chandeliers flighting the space.
I decided to get a feel for the layout of the space, this being my first time here. The layout of the first floor is a square with a center square ball room fenced in by hallways. I decided to head to the right to start my way around. I encountered the tabletop game room, which had attendees playing various board and card games. Further down, heading south along the western hallway I see doors flanking me on both sides. My right side had the doors that lead into the center ballroom. At the end of the hallway, at the southern side of the floor was the swap meet. It was still buzzing with patrons and merchants. It was a modest size swap meet with maybe around 20 to 25 vendors. The swap meet had the usual wears of anime dvds, manga, figures, posters, etc. Having walked every isle of the swap meet I head northbound on the eastern hallway, noting that there are restrooms located next to the swap meet at the start of the eastern hallway.
On that side of the building I found the manga lounge room as well as an escape room. I wasn’t sure if the escape room was still open or not. It seemed closed. Walking down this hallway gave me school festival vibes. If you’re a seasoned anime watcher then you are imagining it right now: the classic Japanese high school classrooms redecorated to host a haunted house, or a maid cafe. That being the vibe I picked up, I wish there were more rooms with more themes/games/services open at that time/day. It definitely would have completed the vibe, but I understand that it takes a lot of extra staff and coordination to run these rooms.
At the end of my walk through the hallway I found myself on the left side of the lobby entrance which was also where the line began for the ball. I entered the queue to check out my last stop of the night. While waiting I chatted with another attendee who had experienced other anime conventions. Event staff also gave out stickers indicating if you are open to dancing with others or prefer to glide solo, a nice touch of consideration. I learned that TwitchCon had exciting parties. After about 15 minutes I was in. It was 21:04 and the ball had been going on for an hour. It had a decent amount of attendees and was getting a bit crowded along the edges of the room. The dance floor was the majority of the room and was in the center with the DJ booth at the back (south wall of the ballroom). The playlist had a pattern that rotated through classic waltz, salsa, modern club, tango, and swing. The music variety ended up being a pleasant surprise and highlighted by the enthusiasm of the dancers.
Anime Los Angeles Day 0 was fun, even with only experiencing the later half of the day this time. The formal dance was the best thing in my opinion. I enjoyed most of the music and watching fellow otakus get down, all the while, in cosplay.
–MIKE
Now that Mike gave his portion of the first day, here’s mine for Saturday. Before I get into more info about the main events, let’s introduce the special guests and guests of honor for the convention. This year was stacked with a bunch of people across the industry.
Here is the full list of guests:
- Kaho Shibuya
- Mamoru Yokota
- Kenji Yokohama
- TemperMental
- Ezra Weisz
- Andrew Alandy
- Emma Fyffe
- Chris Tergliafera
- Anairis Quinones
- Anne Yatco
- Adam McArthur
- Kaiji Tang
- Jayku Nukks
- Cory Yee
- Kayleigh McKee
- Molly Searcy
- Corina Boettger
- Mary Claypool
- Les Claypool
- Ariem Cosplay
- Lemar Harris
- Dorothy Fahn
- Tom Fahn
- Pros and Cons Cosplay
- Steff Von Schweetz
- Arron Bowman
- Cosplay Wrestling Federation
- TaiKomotion
- Evil Ted
- The Corps Dance Crew
- Azura Cosplay
- BLACKROS3
- Ally Vega
- Signal Fires
- Captain Kage
- Tob
- RiiKami
- Persephone
- Akuma Nihmune
- FalseEyeD
- Sinder
- Camila
- iPN
- Spongeybuns
With all these guests, we had a bunch of special events that were being held at the convention. All these guests would either have their own signings or be a part of the main events.
Here is the list of the main events:
THURSDAY
- Opening Ceremonies
- AMV Contest
- MYTH Burlesque Midnight Show
FRIDAY
- Fashion Show
- Friday Night Concert: TemperMental with Signal Fires
- Cosplay Deviants (18+)
SATURDAY
- Masquerade
SUNDAY
- Kaso Create Presents Falseeyed’s Things VTubers Say Live
- Idol Showcase
- Closing Ceremonies
In-between with all these main events, you can check out all the programming. There meet and greets, cosplay gatherings, awesome panels, and of course…the main hall where the purchases begin!!!
Before I get into that though, let’s talk about our actual experience. You’ll see the main hall photos soon, don’t worry!
SATURDAY
Since this was at a different convention center, I wasn’t too familiar with the layout, but it seemed that ALA was pretty organized. They split the lines where they have pre-registered attendees and non-registered attendees while they enter through one door. It took about 30 minutes to get in, which isn’t too big of a deal, but organized is so key for me, and this was it. They fully took advantage of all of the rooms where they had badges right available when you enter the convention center, and all the rooms afterwards (both on 1st and 2nd floor) were filled with programming, manga room, video rooms, and more! It was nice that there were plenty of seating (indoors and outdoors). On the outside of the convention, there was plenty of space for cosplayers to take photos and even a whole area for food trucks. Quite spacious I would say!
Check out these pictures of the main layout:
Once you go downstairs, you enter the next hall where they host all the vendors, artists, RIBBON STATION, autographs, and E-Gaming. There were so much booths to check out this year, but definitely were a ton of artists there. If you were looking to grab some new merch and find out about new artists (like I did), you will be able to.
Check out these pictures of the main hall:
GALLERY
There is a lot to check out this year, but for me, I have to show everyone my top 5 highlights from the main hall.
MY TOP 5 HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE CON
VENIA COLLECTION (@veniacollection)
Venia Collection, a Los Angeles native brand is started by the duo Eni and Nigma. Their designs give off this very dystopian vibe which I love, so it was a pleasure to see their brand present at Anime Los Angeles this year.
Check out the pictures below to see their booth and the types of products they create:
ANIMECLOTHING.COM (@animeclothing_com)
Animeclothing.com is a clothing brand that feature works from different anime series and artists.
Check out the pictures below to see their booth and the types of clothes they have available:
ONIONLABS (@instant_onion)
ONIONLABS is a Toronta, Canada artist that creates different types of Pixel Art.
Check out the pictures below to see their booth and the different artwork he creates:
THE KIGU STOP (@thekigustop)
The Kigu Stop is a woman owned, anime streetwear brand that creates one of a kind, custom clothing inspired by a bunch of different anime series.
Check out the pictures below to see their booth and what kind of clothes they create:
JISU (@jisuartist)
Jacqueline Choe aka JISU is an artist that creates different types of anime/Japanese inspired designs, with a distinct edge to it.
Check out the pictures below to see their booth and what kind of artwork they create:
Overall, Anime Los Angeles 2023 was a great experience. It was a pleasure seeing a bunch of old friends, seeing new artists and faces out in exhibit hall, loving all of the space, and of course, ribbons!
If you ever get a chance to check out this convention next year, I suggest you do.
Thanks again to the ALA fam for allowing us to attend this event, and I can’t wait to join in on the fun next year!
SOCIAL MEDIA
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AnimeLosAngelesCon
Twitter: @AnimeLosAngeles
Instagram: @anime_los_angeles
Website: https://animelosangeles.org/
