Anime Los Angeles 18 took place on January 5-8, 2023 at the Long Beach Convention Center. ALA 18, or the 18th Anime Los Angeles, is the fan favorite convention of many SoCal anime nerds. Thousands of fans attended this four day convention in downtown Long Beach. Despite veteran convention goers having trauma associated with the Long Beach Convention Center and anime cons (Anime Expo 01, Anime Expo 02, and Anime Expo 07 come to mind), ALA 18 was well received. Guests included voice actors from Genshin Impact (Cory Yee, Anne Yatco, Kayli Mills, and Corina Boettger), Jujutsu Kaisen (Kaiji Tang, Adam McArthur), and members of the One Piece creative team (Mamoru Yokota, Kenji Yokoyama).
This report will take a look at Anime Los Angeles 18 and what makes it exciting for SoCal anime nerds and why folks from Nevada and Arizona are willing to trek to the LBC in the winter.
Disclosure: Jared the Greek and Scarlet Aznable were staff for the ALA Twlight Gala (Formal Ball)