Welcome to another con report by the digital demon! We have returned once again down to Anime Los Angeles. Just like in 2022, it was also held in the Long Beach convention center. Many guests and many events were had, so let’s jump into this.
As previously stated, the convention is back at the Long Beach Convention center. But this time around new spaces on the venue have opened up to offer more room for events. Such as the more rooms opened for panel events, and more space for the dealers/art alley to feature vendors. But this also had a negative side, as reaching the new rooms required entering through the dealers hall and then heading through maze like tunnels to find them. These areas being made even harder to reach once the dealers hall closed.
Now for the guests, we saw returning guests and some new gets from the anime industry in Japan itself. Those being anime directors Kenji Yokoyama and Mamoru Yokota (with fellow guest Kaho Shibuya helping get them over to America). Not only did they both have a good time, but Mamoru Yokota even got to swing a chair at Skeletor during a show with the Cosplay Wrestling Federation.
To circle back to Kaho Shibuya, she once again returned to convention, and once again had a long line for her booth. This time around she had a better space for maintaining the line, and a whole new batch of merch to share (including an electric glow-stick to use at her shows). Add to that her DJ performance on the Anistage and collaborating with the Asayoru maid cafe on their performance. Kaho has been a returning guest for a while now, and she keeps bringing new things.
Now for events I was directly involved, my show of An Uncensored Hentai Review ran very smoothly. We try something new with each performance and we were lucky to fill up the room as always. And we had staffers being more attentive than in previous years. They asked of anything we needed through out the show. Likewise things smoothly too for the Cosplay Wrestling Federation when we ran the show. Unlike Hentai Review, the CWF show counted as a Featured Guest panel, but both shows had good help from the staffers. This was greatly appreciated and I hope we see more of it at future years of Anime Los Angeles.
So that was Anime Los Angeles in a nutshell. Despite rain on the first day, the convention ran pretty well. The convention grows bigger with each year, and await to see where they go in following years. Until next time.
About the author: Glitch is
a digital demon from planet Fanboy, and is here to teach us humans a
thing or two. You can find more of his reviews(and nonsense) over at
www.youtube.com/glitchthedigitaldemon
digitaldemonglitch.com