[ax chibi ’22] I Want the Good Times Back

ax chibi was a two day event at the Ontario Convention Center. We have attended the smaller Comic Con Revolution show previously at this venue. Comic Con Revolution held much less than the 10,000 estimated attendees for the inaugural run of ax chibi. ax chibi aimed to recreate Anime Expo’s roots being small and chill. This felt like Anime Expo: Night Market. It had a lot of good things and things that could be worked on. ax chibi feels like a one day family event where you could shop and enjoy some comfort Japanese food.

The overall vibe of the con was filled with Genshin cosplayers, Gen X parents and their Gen Z kids, and anime sticker enjoyers. The impression I had about ax chibi prior to attending that this would be like 626 Night Market, but with an anime flair. We did have a good helping of food trucks specializing in Japanese comfort food and local street food. Of course, Okamoto Kitchen drew in the biggest crowd. We dined at Tokyo Style, a food truck that specialized in yakisoba and lychee lemonade. It’s just what we needed for a mid-day meal. There was plenty of tables and seating outside and people were generally friendly to share space.

As elder millennial otaku, the crowd felt young. We were happy to see families enjoy the con with their kiddos (albeit dressed in Genshin or Spy x Family). I would say this is definitely a family friendly event and good “baby’s first one day event.” While the event ran for two days, I felt I could do everything I wanted to do in one day. With no guests (local or international), the event still drew in a sizeable crowd that had the Ontario Convention Center bursting at the seams.

Even Artist Alley had to have an ancillary tent next to the convention center. I do appreciate that the tent was well ventilated and I did have a chance to explore artist alley without nearly passing out (AX ’22 still haunts my nightmares). I liked the variety of media presented at Artist Alley – stickers, berets, necklaces, plants, crocheted items, etc. I was so happy to see Twisted Wonderland fan made creations here too! (shoutout to the artist who complimented my Azul cosplay!)

The dealers hall was crowded during peak times. I did like the variety of vendors and media presented. My partner picked up some hard to find gunpla. I ended up getting stickers and candles. We had clothing vendors, stickers, decals, terrariums, bags, and more. Yet, the aisles got super cramped. I did most of my exploring later in the evening. It was then I found the booth that had official Genshin merch from plushes of the elemental mages to actual Genshin gacha. I tried my hand at gacha and I got Jean!

While I was cosplaying from Twisted Wonderland, I did hear that there was a fan run tea party at the Double Tree. By the time we could have started walking, I was too full from food to walk over to the hotel. Wearing fancy heels with a fancy layered suit was troublesome to wear on the walk back to the Double Tree. However, I do look forward to wearing Azul again for these fan run Twisted Wonderland events. (queer friendly spaces for Disnerds? I’m in!)

I also stopped by Lounge 21. Lounge 21 is AX’s zone to have drinks and relax to the beats of a dj or a live band. Lounge 21 was held outside and I stopped by when they were playing The Cure, Kate Bush, and Depeche Mode. My partner caught up with me when they started playing remixes of the Ievan Polkka (aka the leek song), Demon Slayer theme, and others. He enjoyed a huge helping of Kirin as we were winding down the day.

ax chibi does have potential, but I feel that Fall in SoCal is already bloated with so many conventions going on – PMX, Anime Pasadena, Comic Con LA, etc. I was impressed that ax chibi was able to fill up the Ontario Convention Center to the brim just by name alone. I think this con would fare either as an anime night market much like 626 at a proper venue like the Pomona fairgrounds or Santa Anita Park since outdoor, affordable events are picking up steam since the end of lockdown.

I get that ax chibi aims to return to the old days of Anime Expo. But which “the old days?” Like AX ’91 where we’re at the Doubletree Hotel having a sick rager with Big Fire and Tomino is spilling the tea about Ideon? I’d be down with that. Joking aside, when I think of the “old AX days,” I think of the 24 hour hotel cons that had the best of the best in the anime industry, fan programming, etc. Programming at ax chibi was limited; I would have loved to have seen more panels (and host them!)

I think ax chibi means well. I see room for growth and room for potential here, but in a world where we have several conventions going on in late fall, where does ax chibi fit in? How can it be not just another pop culture event? I do feel a potential and that there’s a space for an anime themed night market in SoCal. But hey, that’s just my two cents.

Oh yeah, and parking was an absolute nightmare if you got to the area after 11AM. AX and the Ontario Convention Center really need to find more overflow parking (even if they have to shuttle attendees) should they want to continue using the Ontario Convention Center.