I didn’t blog about AX2023 because it was not a good con, despite the best we made of it. Thankfully, the 2024 version of Anime Expo was much improved.
The new layout meant that people are more spread out. Additional entrances meant people flowed into the con during peak hour quickly–it took me about 30 minutes on Thursday around 9 in the morning. The exhibit hall pushed more vendors into the AA hall (Kantia) and spaced things out more. The R18 vendors also moved downstairs. It was easier to get around the hall than ever.
The badge-required space at the LACC expanded to include all of the front yard along Figuroa. The cross street by the Crypto.com Arena also belonged to AX for the entire time, not just on the weekend. It added more food vendor, drift space, and they put more performers there.
The autograph system moved online, and even after the snafu on day one when the printers failed, going barcode and ID check has been way superior. It seems even day-of tickets were distributed using showclix and email. The gnashing of teeth that was the 4pm-8am camp of yesteryear is done. We still got nasties like this but I am so thankful of these improvements. That said I only got a Kawamori Shoji autograph out of all this, because I didn’t really try for the others. I probably could have snatched one from Arifureta though…
In terms of content, we are closer than ever to Anime Japan on the industry track side, and there were still room for fan panels and side content to flourish. I think this year AX really struck that balance really well with the street MJ gang. There were rave/concerts from day 0 to day 5 of AX. I particularly enjoyed the One Piece Orchestra where Kouhei Tanaka belted out We Are along with Kitadani Hiroshi while the audience also sang along. Moments of Anibash reminded me of Mogra so much seeing Mizushima in the back vibing lol. It was chill and fun mixing during Constellation vol 5 on Monday, which gave me an excuse to hang out with local homies during the day on Monday/Tuesday. Hamu is amazing as usual, along with Teddy (a good set from him!) and Kotono House (the set was too mainstream for me but technically impressive).
Uma EN was a huge thing for me on my list at AX so I hit that Cygames booth the first thing on Thursday. I took videos of the whole thing but I think there’s no need to put it up anywhere, you can find it fine on Youtube. Cygames also had the party game in demo so I tried that, which is fun enough. That said Umamuusme fans are great, especially when I know half of these goofs having a blast.
I was able to drop by the usual IM@S gathering and appreciate a Matsuri cosplayer. Is this the power of anime?
On the industry side, it was wild seeing Sumipe doing her oversea stuff. Numerous others crossed path at the Entertainment Hall (like the gang promoting HypMic or moments when Mamo and KENN crossed path)? Sumipe’s anniversary panel allowed for photos at the end. She also ran into the crowd to hi-five people along the aisle. It was unhinged and fun. She also lucked out into a signed t-shirt for a fan.
I was able to see Seto Asami in person for the first time at AX, that was great. I also went to a talk from Aviot featuring Hirose Yuya and Wakayama Shion, which is this brand shilling character-voice earphones and headphones. They sponsored Kawamori also, along with two of the Gridman voice actors, so I saw them talk about Gridman and the Gridman headsets you can buy.
Otherwise, it still take some prerequisite camp time for every panel so it was hard to drift to multiple panels. In addition the schedule just had a lot of conflicts, so I literally saw Kuwahara Yuuki for about 60 seconds and Kito Akari for about 30 minutes. My greatest regret was skipping the Bocchi the Rock panel to go see the Game.
I watch MLB games casually so it was always on my list to hit up Dodger Stadium once. I go to LA often enough as is (second trip this year). When the Hololive collab dropped on AX Friday it was a sensible choice. It clashed with Anibash but the DJs I wanted to see was late in the day anyway. Then Aniplex dropped the shoe with Yoppi… Anyways, I don’t really regret it, the game was fun–Will Smith solo-dinging the Dodgers back from a Brewers Grand Slam was fun, and the home crowd responded well to the comeback win. What was less, well, well, was the massive buppan line for the Hololive collab merch. The baseball cards you get from going to the game sold for thousands of dollars on JP Mercari. It was wild. My friends stayed in the line for hours to get some shirts, and seems like the line to sell those shirts and hat went from gates opening until gates closed and people were kicked out.
The drone show was great, so was letting the fans go on the field. What does it take to have a Gindaco in Yankee Stadium! Seeing and hearing Suisei (and Inotac lol) at a MLB game was surreal. Thanks LA Dodgers, I hope you learned your lesson and have more than 8 cashiers next time you do a Hololive collab.
I made time to drop by the Akiba Maid Wars collab cafe at Asayoru Little Tokyo Sunday, because there was zero conflicts on Sunday–there was literally nothing to do but maybe gawk at the charity auction. In fact we went to karaoke with friends until pretty late after the con closed. Anyways, the collab cafe was impressive, and Asayoru did a good job. Shoutout to our maid, Nana. I enjoyed the extended cosplay skit as it were.
In conclusion, AX2024 actually became not terrible. I always ding AX being the worst anime con in the USA because it’s a safety hazard from crowding and heat. This year it did much better on the first and somewhat on the second–still EMS had to come in for the CDawgVA/Ironmouse line, and someone passed out at the Cygames booth on Thursday (probably from exhaustion entering the con). It’s a big con, stuff like this does happen. But it’s all the more important that AX gets the fundamentals right. This year it seems it has taken a major leap away from the designation of “worst con” but time will tell how much better it can get.