Well humanoids, Anime Los Angeles has returned after missing a year in the pandemic. They have dusted themselves off and have not only picked up where they left off, but also moved forward. I was there for the duration oft he convention, and here is the low down on Anime LA’s comeback year.
The big major difference physically is the move to the Long Beach convention center. Considering how space started to limit the number of panels being run in their previous outing, this was overdue. The venue was one long stretch of space in a line formation. An additional benefit also being it’s close proximity to a shopping center. Making food and clothing needs much easier for attendees, compared to the Ontario convention center in the past.
Now as for the programming, most of the panels were the usual of what you saw in previous years. But of course this time around I was able to bring back An Uncensored Hentai Review. We were able to not only bring back previous attendees from previous panel hosting at Anime LA, but also new audience members to our packed room.
The Cosplay Wrestling Federation also returned to Anime LA. Without dropping a step, they managed to fill up the room and put on a good show. This time around, the show line up was packed with a briefcase at stake, the black out title up for grabs, and the tag team titles as well. So everything was all out in full force, in break neck speed.
A noticeable and stand out event among the programming was the Arcane Maid Cafe. Their food quality was top notch. A very well made omurice and boba drinks that were full of flavor really made the menu a must taste. A long with an energetic butler to add to the fun with the maids.
On the topic of food, there seemed to be a slightly smaller selection of food trucks this time around. Most likely due to the walking distances of a lot of the restaurants near the convention center. The one plus side though was the fact that there were shorter lines to get food at these trucks.
Then there was one of my favorite people I got to see, Kaho Shibuya. Without a doubt, she had the longest lines for autographs. So long that the line was cut off way before her breaks were to happen. All this because her popularity has exploded since last time she was in America/pre-pandemic. All due to both her twitch channel and the building up of her resume in the anime industry and fan community. This didn’t change the fact that she manage to take time to talk to everyone in line. She used as much time to give to fans.
Although when it comes to Anime LA guest in general, the convention could have done a lot better. Updates on cancellations were not made very apparent. Canceled guests were still listed on the site as appearing on the site, and the schedule still had their panels listed as happening. Despite the fact that the app containing the convention schedule kept updating (which had problems of it’s own).
As a whole, this was a fun convention. Even though it had some hiccups, it was still a fun experience to be at. I wait for next year.
Here is a video recap of the event.
Support the Arcane Maid Kickstarter here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/arcanecafe/maid-cafe-experience-in-little-tokyo/
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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
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