[ALA 21 (’26)] The Life of a Showgirl

 

“Are you going to ALA this year?” “ALA is my favorite con!” Southern California loves ALA. If you could put it on a shirt with their purple-haired mascot, Ala, Southern California otaku aren’t afraid to say “I Love ALA.” This year, ALA’s theme was isekai. The lanyards indicated the infamous white isekai truck and a cardboard cutout of the white isekai truck haunted the car show in the exhibit hall. I cosplayed as Miaka from one of the OG isekai’s, Fushigi Yuugi. No need for white trucks, a cursed book teleported me to Ancient China. 

“If you were isekai’ed to Ancient China, what would be the first thing you would do?” I asked ALA attendees who wanted to earn the Fushigi Yuugi ribbon. “I think I’d unalive myself.” “Yeah, me too.” “I’d open a restaurant and get revenge!” Anime Los Angeles is the premiere anime convention for ribbon hunting. So much so, it’s embedded in its culture and convention iconography. The mascot Ala wears her badge with eleventy ribbons attached. The stuffed giraffe in the dealer’s hall, Vladimir, also has a great amount of ribbons attached to his staff badge. 

On day zero, I stopped by the Hyatt for late night ribbon trading. Attendees had their tackle boxes of ribbons. To give you an idea of how much to budget if you want in on the ribbon trade, it cost about $50 for 100 ribbons. While this can be as pricey as cosplay, the memories and friendships made through ribbon trading can be well worth it. I was a part of a magical girl ribbon game representing Fushigi Yuugi. 

Anime Los Angeles has a lot to see and do in the course of four days. I spent most of my time focusing on my program contributions to the convention – performing in Cosplay Wrestling Federation for two nights, teaching para para dance with my idol group (Angel Hearts), moderating friends’ Uma Musume panel, and hosting my panel on magical girl anime of the 1990s. All of these had outstanding turnout and ratings. Attendees can rate panels on the ALA app. People were also eager to talk afterwards and trade ribbons. 

In my free time, I took my phone and tripod to take cosplay photos at the picturesque Long Beach Convention Center. The winter lighting was great to take advantage of during magic hour and in the morning. The Rainbow Lagoon, Rainbow Bridge, fountains by the theatre, and even the bean bag zone underneath the theatre were my favorite places for cosplay snaps.

I did attend one such cosplay meet up. The popular Uma Musume fandom had a cosplay meet up each day of the convention.  I did attend the Uma Musume meetup on the first day to check out the vibes. In addition to group photos, we also had trainers and “uma” race against each other outside the Long Beach Boy Aquarium. I cosplayed as Zenno Rob Roy to the meetup on the final day at 4PM. The fandom was still going strong into the convention’s final moments. Even past 5PM, we were still trading ribbons, making dinner plans with new friends, and exchanging contact information. Uma Musume was THE fandom of the con.

I always enjoy attending idol events. As a local “kaigai idol” with Angel Hearts, I attended Anime Los Angeles’ idol showcase. I caught performances by Flo, who treated us to Gackt inspired dance pieces. They were just a wonder to see on stage. Following flow was MoeAge of Asayoru Cafe. This vibrant idol group in gothic lolita inspired outfits delighted the audience with their high energy original J-pop songs. I also caught the first few songs by Himichuu and they were fun to watch live. I felt the show could have packed in more local idols; it did catch me off guard when I found out a guest of honor was part of the lineup. I feel this is a missed opportunity for ALA to highlight Southern California’s thriving kaigai idol community on a big stage. 

In contrast to the idol showcase, we had Guerilla Live hosted by Knife Pleat. This was an unofficial event that took place outside of the Long Beach Convention Center. Kudos to the local idols performing outside in the cold winter weather! I caught several acts. This year’s theme was “magical girls.” It was a throwback to hearing the themes of Utena and Pretear. I really enjoyed this unofficial meet up outside the con. It shows that we can build community outside the official events! 

I did attend one panel. While I wanted to check out more panels, my schedule prevented me from seeing programming that I was curious about. I attended Yaya Han’s panel about keeping up with social media and avoiding burnout. I’m always apprehensive about social media and public relations themed panels because the end goal is more about gaining cosplay popularity and clout. Yaya Han gave practical advice and guidance for anyone who is a creative. I attended with one of my idol friends and a friend from Cosplay Wrestling Federation was in the audience. We all agreed that Yaya Han driving the idea of anchoring your content and portfolio is the way to go. Yaya was honest about how social media, regardless of platform, can be unreliable and can be a drain to post everyday. Having a permanent online presence where you can own your content is the way to go these days.

The exhibit hall at Anime Los Angeles can take you a whole day to explore. I loved browsing the ribbons section because you can trade, find ribbon games, and also get custom ribbons made. Local vendors sold anime merchandise and anime themed clothes. I ended up getting some snacks and a present for a friend. For dinner, a friend and I picked up some takoyaki. Even for a few piping hot octopus balls, it was very filling.

I always love looking at the Itasha zone. I was dressed in my Angel Hearts race queen outfit and I had to snap some photos. I loved the Cowboy Bebop themed car, and of course, I had to get a photo by the Uma Musume car. We also had performances by Hamu Cotton and Asayoru Maid Cafe in the exhibit hall. 

Uma Musume took over the artist alley! One of my favorite booths was one where you can race your horse girls with a roll of the dice. If you won, you got a special ALA ribbon. If you lost, you would get a consolation prize ribbon. I did not leave artist alley empty handed; I ended up getting some merchandise for friends and their favorite horses. (Where’s all the Zenno Rob Roy merch at? And don’t you tell me that I have to wait until July!) 

Seaside Ballroom, the programming rooms under the theatre, had your arcade games, console games, and cosplay repair. However, my favorite zone here is what I call the “bean bag zone.” This is my favorite place to de-stim and relax with a salad away from the noise of the convention. It’s generally quiet and a good place to ground yourself if things get too overwhelming.

Anytime I do a convention where I am contributing to programming, I feel that I don’t have much to document and show off. Yes, I do have photos of the convention, but I feel like I haven’t taken too many vibe or signage photos. I don’t consider myself as a cosplay photographer, but rather a fandom lorekeeper much like my role model, Kevin Lillard of Fansview. I want to best capture the culture and vibes of Anime Los Angeles 21.

Overall, this convention keeps getting better and better each year. Programming is generally strong. There’s always something to do. Seeing that there were people out of state (New York even!) attending Anime Los Angeles shows that the convention has become a destination convention over the towering Anime Expo. I always recommend this one to out of state friends because of the weather and not having to deal with the Anime Expo anxieties. 

Vibes at ALA were great! I’m still bummed I had to miss out on the Day Zero Queen Mary shenanigans. I’m manifesting that maybe we get a summer ALA event on the historical luxury liner. While I don’t have much to critique about Anime Los Angeles, I would like to note that a few days before the convention, my office manager asked, “Can you guess what I’m doing this weekend?” They ended up taking their family to ALA on Saturday. My office manager said they also enjoyed spending time playing retro games in the gaming room. Anime has become so popular with the younger generations that I’m thrilled that this is no longer a taboo subject in the office place, so much so, folks in my professional life are talking about their favorite cosplays and events at the convention. 

I look forward to next year’s Anime Los Angeles. I’m always happy to support a convention that has valued their community and that we still have a “by fans for fans” event in Southern California.