[ALA ’22] The Next Episode

Taking place in the LBC, Anime Los Angeles 2022 took place during a funky time in world history. ALA is one of the first major, major anime conventions to come back after nearly two years of no anime conventions in Southern California. We would hope that things would be better by the time ALA 2022 would come around, but I don’t think anyone was predicting the spread of the Omnicron variant during the winter months. Attendees were required to be vaccinated or have a negative test. Attendees were encouraged to get tested after the convention. 

I do not have any judgements for those who decided to continue their commitment to attending or staffing ALA. I was committed to staff the ballroom dance by request from my colleague and dear friend, Brain Age Guy. With that, said, I will disclose that I am writing our report from a staff person’s point of view. Due to staying safe and interacting with many folks during the ballroom dance, I kept my social and event interaction limited at ALA. This will be a different convention report than our usual. 

With so much drama in the LBC, how did ALA Year 17 fare during funky times? 

I attended two main events – the ballroom dance and Cosplay Wrestling Federation. The ballroom dance was your Thursday night low key formal event. The lounge room that hosted idol performances was home to the ballroom dance. There was a line of people to get in to get their groove on. I was in charge of the cosplay contest, or rather nominating the Twilight Gala Royal Court. Our copy editor was the event MC. There was a good mix of formal cosplays and inspired outfits. I saw a lot of Genshin inspired formal outfits on the dance floor. The Twilight Gala was laid back and a must-see for ALA. Shout out to my staffmates for pulling off an awesome event.

The next main event I attended was Cosplay Wrestling Federation. Our copy editor, Jared the Greek, was a part of the show. If you have not attended a CWF event, you are missing out! This is basically cosplayers trash talking each other in hopes to win Yen in the Vault. Nowhere else you can find Kirby, Tommy Wisseau, Sailor Moon (aka the original Social Justice Warrior), and Lupin III square off. I sat with a family of four who held signs for their favorites. I even taught a 5-year-old when to cheer and when to boo. 

ALA’s convention culture is unique. Ribbon trading is a huge part of ALA culture. I printed ribbons to promote our channels and website to trade with others. You would place these ribbons on your badge and you would do your best to make sure your long tail of ribbons was protected! In the evening, you would find folks in the lobby trading ribbons and their ribbon tails would get longer and longer!

I strolled through the main two halls a few times during the weekend. The entertainment hall had your cosplay chess board, table top gaming, and maid cafe. I went to the maid cafe to get a quick pick-me-up. I got boba and takoyaki and that was enough to fill me up. Our copy editor was mainly camped at the table top gaming zone where he was playing a few campaigns throughout the weekend. He even joined in World Cosplay Series of Poker – and he won! 

I always enjoy a good karaoke room. My Saturday night was comprised of hanging out in the karaoke room while my roommates were having nightcaps in the hotel. There is a long wait for karaoke, but I enjoy the vibe of anime nerds singing songs from Broadway, classic rock, country, Disney, anime soundtracks, and more. It’s always a happenin’ place in the karaoke room.

No one can deny the presence of Demon Slayer and Genshin Impact making an impact in fandoms that were represented at ALA. Demon Slayer brought in so many cosplayers of all ages to show off their favorite hashira’s. Genshin Impact cosplayers totally took over the convention. You could not walk five feet and then not see a Genshin cosplayer. Even perusing through artist alley, I found so many Genshin keychains and charms. I even picked up a Genshin tarot set. 

Cosplay meet ups are always a staple of fan conventions. I attended the Love Live and Azur Lane meets. Both meet ups were small, yet intimate. I ended up having a private photoshoot after the Azur Lane meet up with a contact I haven’t seen in a while! Long Beach has a lot of picturesque backdrops that I felt are not taken advantage of. The Rainbow Lagoon, Long Beach Boulevard bridge, purple lights, etc are beautiful places to shoot. When night falls in the LBC, you get a lot of City Pop vibes. 

We left early Sunday morning after Jared the Greek picked up his prize from winning the World Cosplay Series of Poker. It felt weird to kick off the year with a four day convention, but it is all a part of the adjustment of getting back to conventions and seeing each other (safely) again. Overall, I had a positive experience staffing ALA – I don’t mind helping out with the ballroom dance again. I got a team that values one another and that’s all I can ask for. ALA and I have had a rough relationship in the past, but I’m really starting to like this feels like an all new, all different Anime Los Angeles. it’s hard to explain, but I do love seeing more anime guests, fans of impact, voice actors, and more. Though I kept my social interactions limited, I’ve met some really cool people, made new friends, and connected with folks I haven’t seen in years. 

We’re not quite sure what the final numbers of ALA 17 are as of this post. It was definitely a busy con with anime nerds of all ages. It was much larger than a Long Beach Comic Con, and I would say it’s almost comparable to the 10,000-ish of Anime Expo 2001 when it was first in Long Beach (who remembers that?!). Until then, we will see you in the next episode.