Where do I even begin with this convention…
Anime Expo was held at the Los Angeles Convention Center from July 4th-July 7th (started on the 3rd for some xD). This convention was the home to 350,000+ otakus, filled with good times, amazing experiences, and definitely memories you can’t forget.
It had all sorts of things to check out, aisles and aisles of amazing anime/geeky merchandise, countless hours of artwork displayed, tons of cosplayers in their outfits showing off all of their hard work (definitely paying off), delicious eats, a bunch of premieres to die for, and waaaay more.
Instead of me summarizing about this convention, maybe I should talk more about my experiences at the convention, as well as some things I wish I got to see (since you know, there were TONS that I missed out on).
Anime Expo Teaser
Pre-Show Night
Pre-show night was held in the late afternoon of July 3rd. If you were able to snag one of these tickets, you were able to check out the Exhibit Hall ahead of time, check out some cool workshops and panels, and more. Unfortunately, this year, I wasn’t able to check it out and snag some good finds, but I was able to check out one thing that night… Otaquest Live!
OTAQUEST LIVE & KICKOFF
Otaquest was too fun! There were a bunch of Japanese music artists that came out to perform the day before Anime Expo began.
If you want to read more into detail what happened during the event, click the following link: http://otakify.com/anime-blog/otaquest-live-2019
ANIME EXPO BEGINS
This is the moment where all of the attendees start lining up, meet your fellow otakus in the giant mob outside of the Exhibit Hall, count down until 10am, and cheer that it’s finally time to rush into the Exhibit Hall to see all of the glory that is Anime Expo!
Exhibit Hall
Exhibit Hall was filled with over 400 Exhibitors this year…that’s a lot.
Right when you walk into the hall, you are welcomed with all these big booths from companies such as, Crunchyroll, Funimation, Aniplex of America, and more. They would showcase all of the anime that you love, as well as bunch of merchandise that you’ve been itching to buy before you even got there.
Once you walk past them, you were welcomed to all sorts of local clothing brands, more anime-related video game companies, and even anime stores, such as Creators Guild, Wooji, Fakku, Omocat, and more.. WAY MORE! They all definitely had a booth worth checking out, with their great decor, new merchandise, and demos of their video games to check out.
When you go even further back, this is the meat of the con. This is where all of the anime merchandise from different vendors, tons of clothing brands, the figures you’ve been eyeing for a while, and more. You can see booths such as, Lowkey Geeks, iiii Clothing, Kinfold, Offset Co, and more.
I snagged all sorts of things from the Exhibit Hall, but you know..you can never forget about the Artist Alley.
ARTIST ALLEY
The Artist Alley in the Kentai Hall is filled with all sorts of amazing artwork. This is the home to most of the artists who spent countless hours working on their craft, creating their own versions of everyone’s favorite anime series or their own characters, and displaying them for all to see or buy (of course!) There were many aisles within the alley where you could choose from, and you’ll definitely be able to check out all sorts of artists, from Nemupan, Parakid, Kehasuk, Apari and more.
Just around the corner of the Artist Alley, featured different areas, one of them being The Annex.
THE ANNEX
The Annex was something new that I’ve never seen before. It featured some artwork, fashion, and more. You were able to see different things from Atsuko, Hypeland, some murals, the old Anime Expo merchandise, and more. Here are some of the goods that you could have found and admired.
If you were tired of making your rounds in the different halls, you could head over to see some panels or premieres. There were tons of panels going throughout the day. You would be able to hit up some industry panels from Wiz Media and Crunchyroll, to see your favorite celebs talk about their work and life, or even check out all of these amazing premieres that happened over the weekend; and yes, 20+ premieres happened that weekend.
Premieres
- New Game Premiere by Former CTO of Square Enix
- ACTORS Wold Premiere
- AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES Community Panel
- Arrow of the Orion – North American Theatrical Premiere
- CENCOROLL CONNECT U.S. Premiere presented by Aniplex of America
- Class of ??95: The Evangelion Alumni
- Crunchyroll Presents: World premiere of DR. STONE with special guests
- Crunchyroll Presents: World Premiere with Mamoru Miyano – In/Spectre
- Crunchyroll x MAPPA Presents: Zombie Land Saga Stage Event & To the Abondoned Sacred Beasts Premiere
- Funimation Presents: Fire Force Anime Panel & Premiere
- Funimation Presents: Human Lost Sub Premiere Screening
- Funimation Presents: Tokyo Ghoul ‘S’
- Gundam NT (Narrative) World Premiere in 4DX followed by a very special Q&A
- Hensuki – New Fanservice Anime Premiere Screening from Kadokawa and Funimation (18+)
- Lord El-Melloi’s Case Files {Rail Zeppelin} Grace note U.S. Premiere
- My Hero Academia Hero Panel & Season 4 Premiere
- NekoPara Anime TV Series Premiere
- PROMARE Premiere Event with Studio TRIGGER
- Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl U.S. Premiere Presented by Aniplex of America
- Sound! Euphonium the movie Our Promise: A Brand New Day U.S. Premiere
- Twilight studio presents “Hakubo” North America Premiere
- Uta Pri Presents: Seiyuu Takuma Terashima&Mamoru Miyano
- World Premiere of FUJI TV’s hottest series in “+Ultra” block
If panels weren’t your thing, you can always head to the opposite side of the convention center to check out the Entertainment Hall.
ENTERTAINMENT HALL
The entertainment hall is held for some gaming related booths, tons of cosplay sets for your to react your favorite scenes and show off your cosplay, they had another stage there for some performances, and just an overall area to relax and still have fun stuff to do in-between your panels.
Speaking of cosplays, did I mention that there were tons of cosplayers there?!
COSPLAYERS
Cosplayers are definitely one of the main reasons to come to Anime Expo. All sorts of people would fly in out of town, just to show off their cosplay and they’re worth checking. They’re not all anime related. You will see the video game related outfits, or even the occasional Marvel character, or even Cory fit. xD There would be different areas where people would meet up to take photos together, so you’ll expect to see areas covered with My Hero Academia characters, Fate characters and more.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
Anime Expo was too much fun. It’s always exciting seeing all these otakus together in one space. It makes you really think that Anime makes such an impact out here, and makes you happy knowing that there are so many people out there who love the same thing you love too. Of course there are tons of stuff that I’ve missed out on during AX, so just expect there to be more things that are a part of Anime Expo.
Just want to have a special shout out to Anime Expo! Thank you for making this one a great one! Thank you for having us and can’t wait to attend again next year!
Love your fellow otakus,
Otakify
SOCIAL MEDIA
Website: anime-expo.org
Instagram: @animeexpo
Facebook: facebook.com/animeexpo
Twitter: @animeexpo
YouTube: youtube.com/channel/animeexpo
If y’all were curious about some other stuff we were able to check out for the con, check out the articles below:
Crunchyroll HQ
If you guys stepped outside of the convention center and went into L.A. Live, Crunchyroll held their own headquarters where you can test out all sorts of games and had some photo ops. Their lounge was held at The Novo.
If you want to see what you missed out on, click the following link: http://otakify.com/anime-blog/crunchyroll-hq
Love Live Sunshine Interview
OMG. Well, I was too excited for this one. It was the first time that I got to interview some musical artists, and it happened to be some of the members of Aqours from Love Live Sunshine.
If you want to read about the interview that we had with them, click the following link: TBA
Attack on Titan TACTICS Demo
The Attack on Titan TACTICS game is a mobile game that was created by DeNA that did so well in Japan, that they decided to bring it over to North America as well as Europe.
If you want to read more into detail about the demo and what to expect for the mobile game, click the following link: http://otakify.com/anime-blog/attack-on-titan-tactics-demo
