[Anime Expo ’24] Lover: Cruel Summer With You

They’d say I hustled. Put in the work. They wouldn’t shake their heads and question how much of this I deserve.

I was this close to not going to Anime Expo 2024. I had a lot going against me. After two straight years of running panels, we received no rejection notice giving us no motion to proceed. We were ghosted by programming as friends were getting panels approved. We were also rejected for press outside of the fact we have provided over 20+ years of Anime Expo history. We were also rejected for industry despite being on the board for AniMarketplace and being a co-chair of LA Idol Matsuri and despite having a book on anime fandom culture that highlights Anime Expo with an established publisher. Ghosted, rejected for my credentials despite my work for this community, it didn’t seem that Anime Expo would be a worthy feat. Of course, I get these rejection notices once the four day badge prices go up to their final retail price of $185. I was ready to throw in the towel for Anime Expo. I even joked on social media that it was easier for me to get tickets to the Eras Tour than Anime Expo 2024. 

 

And I don’t want you to go, I don’t really wanna fight, ’cause nobody’s gonna win

My colleague and site contributor, Ramses, asked me at the last minute to moderate his panels featuring Saint Seiya and Masami Kurumada. I was honored to have been asked. We arrived on Day Zero to the Los Angeles Convention Center. South Hall was being set up in anime whimsy. We made our way to Chick Hearn Court to pick up our badges. Well, the tiny url to activate our badges did not work. Ramses ensured that programming took care of activation. However, on Day One, our badges were invalid upon check in where we had to get new badges. Thankfully, programming and registration staff came through for us to clear things up. Anime Expo staff even escorted us to our panel so we can get our 10AM Day One panel started on time. 

 

Devils roll the dice, angels roll their eyes

And I came out of Anime Expo 2024 with a, “You know…that wasn’t that bad!” 

I was floored at the improvement with the crowd control Anime Expo 2024 tackled. We arrived at 9AM on Day One. Day One is notorious for viral images surfacing as the crowd outside rushes into both South Hall and West Hall. The sea of people is overwhelming, but this year, they started letting folks in as early as 9AM. 

No doubt Anime Expo has over 100,000 otaku from all over the country visiting. While the majority of attendees are locals – I saw a lot of local families who made Anime Expo their Disney World equivalent visit – dressed up in Naruto and Demon Slayer cosplays and street wear enjoying the convention together.

 

And baby, I get mystified by how this city screams your name

One of the biggest additions to Anime Expo 2024 was Anime Expo Crossing. I loved the addition of Ichiban Market last year. So much so, I had to take my friends, Ramses and Stan to it. Both Ichiban Market and Anime Expo Crossing served local Japanese street food. At Ichiban Market, I decided to go big and get my wagyu skewers and takoyaki. Food is always fresh and hot because it’s made right in front of you. 

Anime Expo Crossing was almost like 626 Night Market, but with an anime twist. Ramen, takoyaki, and other Japanese flavors filled the outdoor plaza. Attendees chilled and ate under the shade while watching local idol acts or getting in line for live karaoke. 

In contrast, Ichiban Market had the feeling of a summer matsuri. City Pop vibes, tatami tables, and local brews made for this much more chill atmosphere. And this place certainly hits different at sunset. 

 

So where we gonna go? I whisper in the dark

Anime Expo is an industry driven convention where creators and fans converge. Anime Expo delivers what’s currently hot in the anime industry. One Piece, Demon Slayer, and Blue Lock displays dominated the dealers hall. Interestingly enough, not much of a Sailor Moon presence in the dealers hall despite the final movies being released on Netflix in August. Only a column that had a poster of Sailor Moon Cosmos was present in West Hall. 

We attended the Shoji Kawamori panel. The mecha designer and creator behind Vision of Escaflowne was here courtesy of Aviot. The Q&A invited anime fans of a mature persuasion to ask about inspirations behind Macross, design, and more. Prior to the panel, whispers of Kawamori rejecting Robotech items and figures to sign were abound in the conference room. The panel focused on Kawamori’s current works with Aviot including electric kickboards and work and design for immersive experiences at the upcoming Japan World’s Fair 2025. 

 

But one of these things is not like the others like a rainbow with all of the colors

I also attended the Fate Grand Order panel and presentation. I waited about 90 minutes for this panel. It was already full by the time we were one hour out before the panel. This featured Albert Kao, the producer behind the English localization of the premiere waifu game. Ayako Kawasumi, Nobunaga Shimazaki, and Rumi Okubo were the featured voice actors. The majority of the panel were voice actor shenanigans. Ayako, voice of Altria Pendragon, talked about eating like a local in Pasadena. She recommends it to her fellow servants. Nobunaga, voice of Arjuna, talked about how much he loves the food and drinks in LA. He could not stop talking about an omelet he had prior to the panel. He was also simping for Gilgamesh. This was Rumi’s, voice of Elizabeth Bathory, first time as a guest at Anime Expo. She talked about her Disneyland Resort adventure particularly highlighting Soarin’ Over California.

The team also talked about going to the Dodger game featuring hololive. The director for the video game talked about meeting Ohtani. The rest of the panel featured 7th Anniversary highlights. Prior to the panel, I had uninstalled Fate Grand Order in favor of other gacha games. I joked that if they had Arcueid as a summonable servant, I would get back in. Well, I’ll be a monkey’s uncle! She was announced at Anime Expo! 

Fate is known for having a huge presence at Anime Expo. Every year, I have to have a Fate cosplay in my repertoire. I went as Nero this year in a new dress that I was supposed to wear at Sakura Con. Aniplex had a Fate themed experience at their booth at the tail end of South Hall. I decided to give it a try. Basically, it was a virtual experience where you go up against Gilgamesh and you play as Emiya. You’re playing Fate Grand Order in a virtual simulation in the world of Unlimited Blade Works. You get to unleash your noble phantasm on Gilgamesh before he does his, “I’ll see you next time, mongrel!” 

The staff at the booth were very kind. Even as the dealer’s hall was closing, they noticed my Nero cosplay. They let me shop for the 7th anniversary jersey and allowed me to take photos. After this positive experience with Fate Grand Order and Aniplex, I decided to restore my game and continue the London singularity. 

 

Meet me in the afterglow

I’ll confess. I’m disappointed that Netflix did not give us a premiere for Sailor Moon Cosmos at Anime Expo. One of my favorite things about Anime Expo was getting the exclusive first look at upcoming releases. My friends and I were curious about Terminator Zero. We had Mattson Tomlin, the showrunner, come up to talk about this American-Japanese joint production with Production I.G. 

Mattson Tomlin gave us high hopes for the upcoming installment to the Terminator world. He wanted to go back to the world of the original movie – tech noir vibes and a serial killer story. We were given a preview of the first six minutes. The animation has the vibe of Ghost in a Shell: Stand Alone Complex and is giving the tension and stress of the 1984 movie. My friends and I are very much looking forward to this. These six seconds were worlds better than any recent Terminator movies.

The most important takeaway from this panel was Mattson Tomlin defining strong female characters also having vulnerability. He cites Sarah Connor’s love for her son from the original movie. 

I had friends who wanted to check out other premieres such as the Kinnikuman series, but there was a discrepancy in the programming guide. 

 

Even if it’s a false god we’d still worship. We might just get away with it.

One of the biggest draws of Anime Expo is the dealers hall and artist alley. Hundreds of artists worldwide come to sell their unique prints and charms at Anime Expo. Shopping is an Anime Expo pastime. The dealers hall took up all of South Hall and parts of the Kentia Hall, a repurposed parking lot. 

I browsed around South Hall sporadically through the weekend. Aisles were much wider and at no point I felt sardined in. I had fun checking out Crunchyroll’s interactive booth. I was even given a live interview and won an Anya plush from Spy x Family! Volks USA also had a booth selling anime themed Dollfie Dream dolls. I broke down and got myself the Yor Forger Dollfie Dream. 

If you plan on attending Anime Expo, have some extra money saved to spend. You might spend more than you expect because you’ll never know what you might be able to find! There were several photo experiences at South Hall including one for Blue Lock and One Piece, My colleague, Ramses, tried out the new Dragonball game and Uma Musume demo’s. 

I took a deep breath and decided to venture into Artist Alley. Artist Alley’s aisles still felt cramped. I decided to play my Artist Alley game much more decisively. If I knew there was an artist I liked, I was going to remember where their table was located. Many artists release where they are located prior to the con. There was a Spanish artist I wanted to meet and buy things from – hanavbara. Their art aesthetic is very 80’s and 90’s shoujo anime. Remember when I joked it was easier to get into the Eras Tour than Anime Expo? I ended up getting Taylor Swift inspired merchandise from them!

Artists will also have a stamp rally game to support one another. I found out there was a League of Legends: Journey Through Runeterra game in the Artist Alley. If you spent $10 or more on a booth that sold League of Legends fan themed merchandise, you would get a stamp. If you filled the entire card, you would get a commemorative Runeterra purse. I spent my Saturday playing this game while cosplaying as Mima from Perfect Blue. I collected Star Guardian merch, K/DA charms, and gifts for my friends that I would play midnight League of Legends with. 

 

Combat. I’m ready for combat. I say I don’t want that, but what if I do?

Cosplay is a long time tradition of Anime Expo. The entertainment hall had cosplay diorama’s for selfies. I took a few as Seraphine from League of Legends in the Japanese shrine set. Anime Expo also has a cosplay repair station where you can have a quick fix or need a few extra things. I knew I needed more bobby pins to hold my wig. Cosplay repair delivered. I also liked the selection of Cosplay Senpai’s this year. I got to have a conversation with Luna Lady of Light and <NAME> about craftsmanship. I do appreciate that the Cosplay Senpai showcase is now driven towards craftsmanship and masquerade experience over the likes and followers count. Anyone can buy followers and popularity; skill is valuable.

I attended one cosplay meet up. I went to the Day One Sailor Moon cosplay gathering. The gathering was relatively small. We had veteran photographer, Ben and Jerry’s Photography, snap photos. I also snapped photos with my point and click, but I can only get photos of groups when I’m not in it. 

Anime Expo also had this “jungle” area near the Crypto Arena parking lot where photographers took photos of cosplayers in the garage or in this area with tall grass and greenery. I stopped by the area on Saturday for photos and TikTok videos of my Mima cosplay. This was a happening area for photos. I don’t normally venture here for cosplay photos, but I wanted to see what it was all about. 

 

Stick with me, I’m your queen

The community vibe of Anime Expo was relatively friendly. Staff escorted us to our panel when we arrived. Registration was helpful when it came to replacing our badges. People were generally kind to share space and tables at Ichiban Market and Lounge 21. Lounge 21 became my go to have my daily noontime salad. It wasn’t too crowded, plenty of seating and a ton of air conditioning. 

I also went to the Crunchyroll subscriber lounge at the JW Marriott. All you had to do was show that you are a Crunchyroll subscriber on your phone to enjoy some anime themed cocktails that started at $25 a drink. However, if you were an industry member, all of this was free. The industry side of the lounge had finger food; thankfully the friendly staff of the JW Marriott gave us plebs in the subscriber lounge some extra plates that had not been touched. 

 

You gotta step into the daylight and let it go

Overall, Anime Expo was not that bad at all. While I did not plan for my panels or sought out specific guests until Day Zero, I honestly can say, despite the stress leading up to it, I had a good time. This would have not been possible without the help of Ramses for Saint Seiya Cosmocast. It was an honor to moderate two panels that were very well attended and had butts in seats for the entire time.

We commuted this year since we were uncertain about the status of my registration and in the end, it saved us money. After all, San Diego Comic Con would follow in three weeks. We would leave the convention around 7PM. We were able to watch masquerade and World Cosplay Summit on Anime Expo’s official Twitch channel as we were preparing for our Saint Seiya panel. 

I liked the addition of Anime Expo Crossing. A few folks agreed at the feedback panel that spreading the con out and making use of the JW Marriott helped alleviate foot traffic at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Most of my beef with Anime Expo has more to do with the lack of communication from programming – let us know asap if our panels were rejected, or even on a waitlist. We noticed a substantial amount of panels canceled on the schedule. 

I normally would cover more panels at this event, but I felt that every other fan submitted was a Genshin meme heavy panel. Ramses and I nicknamed these meme and fandom injoke panels as “Genshin Ate My Balls.” I wanted to see a variety of panels at this even spanning different fandoms. 

I wish I could have attended industry events to network for my upcoming book, but alas, I was rejected for industry despite my co-board member from AniMarketplace getting in and not myself. Seeing folks (mostly men) who got in for industry for much less than what I have done for the community inspired me to make this version of Sailor Mars based of “The Man” from The Eras Tour. Hence, the Lover theme for this year’s Anime Expo report.

Overall, Anime Expo is one of those cons I would suggest to try out once. Fate and Type Moon fans would love the daily content Aniplex has on their stage. I still love seeing the daily kigu shows! I would suggest to make the most out of your badge – after all it’s at a $200 value. This is almost the price of a Disneyland park hopper during peak season. Go see a premiere, attend a cosplay meetup, take some time to see some interactive experiences in the dealers hall, take photos of the many cosplayers frolicking South Hall, West Hall, and the cosplay jungle, attend a dance, have a meal at Ichiban Market or AX Crossing, etc. 

I felt there was a lot to do outside of panels at Anime Expo. However, do plan to take hot baths and resting up. It’s already been a week and I still can’t feel my legs!

Anime cons are always going to be my home. I may approach Anime Expo with caution, but it’s the people, the vibes, and the fandom that remind me why I love being an otaku girlie.

I wanna be defined by the things that I love. Not the things I hate. Not the things that I’m afraid of, I’m afraid of. Not the things that haunt me in the middle of the night. I just think that you are what you love.