All the News from Anime Expo 2024

Post-Mortem: Anime Expo 2024 Felt Roomier, Programming Access More Complicated

ANN's coverage of Anime Expo 2024 sponsored by Yen Press and Ize Press!

Another year, another period where Anime News Network's team spends the July 4 weekend running around the Los Angeles Convention Center for Anime Expo. Speaking from personal experience, the organizational nightmare of preparing and attending the biggest anime convention in the U.S. often leaves me praying for the light at the end of the tunnel before the event even begins. Although Anime Expo 2024 made some operational enhancements in response to the problems that plagued 2023, many aspects of the convention remain an ongoing challenge. Thankfully, for those of us reporting on the ground, we have great leaders at ANN who help us manage our schedules and keep us within the vicinity of our panels and on time for our appointments.

In contrast to 2023, this year felt much more spacious as several changes had been made to alleviate crowding and movement. According to an official post on the Anime Expo website, the convention saw a turnstile attendance of more than 392,000 guests last year. Who could forget the shutdown by the Fire Marshall, reports of overcrowding in halls, and overall safety hazards in 2023? Luckily, the feedback was heard loud and clear to the extent that the event was noticeably emptier in most locations. With the addition of new entrances and exits, an earlier opening time, and proper enforcement of clearing any blocked entryways, Anime Expo became navigable.

“Crowd control was much improved this year compared to previous years. Opening the main doors early really seemed to help. The main show floor and entertainment hall felt much less congested than in years past,” said Anime News Network freelancer Lucas DeRuyter. “I appreciated that the Priority West Hall entrance looped around the side of the building this year instead of just inching back into the covered parking lot.”

Before the convention, I noticed this year's 4-day and 1-day badges didn't sell out as fast as the year before. This year, 1-day badges sold out on July 2, 2024 while 4-day badges were still on sale until they also sold out on July 3. In comparison, all badge types were sold out by June 21 in 2023, nearly two weeks before the start of the event. After discussing with artists, attendees, exhibitors, and other presses a week before the event about the possibility that tickets weren't selling as hotly as before, we observed a large number of outdoor and digital advertisements to promote Anime Expo, even more so than years prior. The perceived lower ticket purchases could be due to general disinterest or fear of crowding from the year before. Consumer price sensitivity could also be a factor since last-minute pricing for 4-day passes reached $185. Regardless of the reasons, there was a visible decline in lines and crowds for the Exhibit Hall and Entertainment Hall every subsequent day of Anime Expo.

Jeremy Tauber, an Anime News Network freelancer, reflected on his experience. “This was honestly the most improved part about the con…there's been previous 'Line Cons,' which this year seemed almost virtually nonexistent for me. While the Artist Alley was the only place where everything felt crushed like sardines in a can, everything else this year felt more spaced out despite the crowds.” Tauber and DeRuyter agreed that Kentia Hall is comparably more densely packed than any other space.

Indeed, Kentia Hall had less space to move around as a smorgasbord of vendors were placed within tight proximity with little rhyme or reason. Fashion and music-related vendors would be the primary booths on the side of Kentia underneath the cafeteria area, opposite the Artist Alley. What was previously an open area to traverse and cut through the crowd became a jam-packed area with narrow spacing between booths. Anime Expo also relocated the autograph queue area to the JW Marriott and moved the 18+ section to that corner instead, which was previously in a far corner within the Exhibit Hall.

Heat and air circulation continued to be an issue as areas of Kentia Hall hit over 3,500 ppm on my CO2 monitor, even in uncrowded areas. As a reminder, a CO2 level of over 2,000 ppm in an enclosed room leads to headaches, fatigue, and stuffiness, amongst many other side effects. This continued unhealthy level of CO2 endangers artists, vendors, and staff who are there to work for their booths. One artist suggested opening up the docking area, located towards the back of aisles A-B and C-D, to allow fresh air to flow in.

Maintaining the same “no room-clearing” policy as last year, the AX Press Relations management created a ticketing system to remove the need for a PR escort and run a more controlled reserved seating system. Panels also had a set number of rows dedicated to members of the press, guests of the panelists, and other production staff. Press members could pick up their tickets from the Press Lounge as long as they had an email confirmation from a host or representative of the panel. However, this system was imperfect from the start. The press relations representatives didn't have a list of approved tickets, and it was up to the press members/editors themselves to coordinate and ask for tickets in the first place. In addition, tickets were only available for panels held at Main Events, Petree Hall, JW Marriott Platinum Ballroom, and the JW Marriott Diamond Ballroom. Smaller rooms, such as 403AB, didn't have them. Not all staff/security knew about this system either.

Even so, press members were reminded to show up at least fifteen minutes early to the panel to arrive on time. Thankfully our Editorial and News editors, Lynzee Loveridge and Crystal Hodgkins, reviewed the entire schedule and gave us ample time to reach our destination. Furthermore, your mileage may vary depending on the actual enforcement of the ticketing policy. There was a knowledge difference between the Anime Expo Volunteer Staff and the security staff; you would receive a different answer depending on who and when you asked. For the My Hero Academia Special Event, I was told by a security guard at the front entrance, “That [ticket] means nothing to me.” Fortunately, I caught the attention of an AX Volunteer Staff and showed her my press badge and she let me in but ignored the printed ticket I had in my hand.

Once inside, there were different kinds of people sitting in the Reserved seats. Exhibitors, Industry, Press, and even people with 4-Day badges sat in those seats without a ticket or proof that they needed to be there. I spoke with seated individuals who had Exhibitor and Industry passes, and they said they were production staff of the anime. They were provided Exhibitor passes from their company's staff or the booth they worked for. During the Jujutsu Kaisen panel, a trio with 4-Day badges mentioned they were invited by one of the company's staff members. Of course, some snuck into the seating, but no one from security came to confirm their identities. With the four kinds of badges allowed to sit in Reserved seating, it's unsurprising to see those seats filled up so quickly during more popular panels. From my experience, I had no problem finding a seat if I arrived early before the panel or sat through the panel before the one I needed to be at.

Yet, sometime between Day 2 and 3, there were suddenly roadblocks. Although there are no clear reasons why security and AX staff responses seemingly changed overnight, there was a huge safety issue at the Delicious in Dungeon Studio Trigger panel. Two people caused a big disruption by jumping on stage while the other waved a flag. According to those in attendance, the slow response by security to remove the two attendees led members of the crowd to feel unsafe. It's possible this hazard pushed for immediate changes internally, but there were no indications these two disrupters bypassed or snuck around security to get into the panel.

Anime News Network freelancers Bamboo Dong and Earl Gertwagen witnessed the shift in tone firsthand as they arrived early to the Oshi no Ko Season 2 Premiere Screening at the JW Platinum Ballroom. They were told the room was capped and the reserved seating was full, and the staff ignored whether they had a ticket or not. She said they filled the reserved seats with regular attendees 20 minutes before the panel,” said Dong. Even when people exited the room, the staff refused them entry for the Q&A portion because “it's disruptive.” HIDIVE employees and Japanese staff for Oshi no Ko were also turned away. Even having a representative inside the room didn't solve the issue. The goalpost kept shifting. Others reported that industry guests and panelists were not allowed entry to their panels, such as the Blue Box panel. Although I didn't stay for the Dandadan World Premiere, I couldn't find the end of the snaked line outside of the JW Marriott.

Other than panels, the summertime heat caused cosplay meetup locations to shift. MrAJCosplay, a veteran cosplayer, and an ANN freelancer, shared the difficulty of pinning down where they were at. “The biggest issue was finding the locations of half the cosplay meetup sites,” AJ said. “Some were not listed on the map, some were not organized properly, and some were in areas that technically didn't allow photography which made getting footage annoying.” The One Piece meetup was particularly difficult.

Inspired by the famous Shibuya Crossing, Anime Expo sought to capitalize on West Pico Blvd, the street between the South and West Hall. Moving the food vendors and food trucks from the tight bridge area, which often choked the back alley walkway, to the wide street below was a long, overdue decision. “I LOVED the additional spaces being utilized for food carts,” shared AJ. “It would have been nice if there were more places to eat in the shade, but I'm happy there were more food options for fans.” Providing chairs and tables allowed attendees to finally sit down and relax somewhere other than the stairs or the hot ground.

For next year, I'd like to see more themed booths and food trucks. Fans were eager to wait in long lines and pay a premium for drinks at Tokyo Ghoul Anteiku Cafe. Presented as a partnership between Crunchyroll and Thirty Waters, fans could take a sip of a Kaneki-inspired drink, a strawberry brown sugar boba milk tea, for $10. Outside the convention center, a food truck for the popular 3D dating sim, Love and Deepspace, offered drinks and ice cream sets inspired by three romantic interests.

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As an avid VTuber watcher, I was excited to see the expansion of entertainment options for VTuber fans outside the projection screens in the panel rooms. However, I never expected all of the ticketed events this year to be solely VTuber. Anime Expo promoted its XR (Extended Reality) Stage at the Novo, boasting concerts and panels throughout the four days of events. XR, or extended reality, encapsulates technology from Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, and Mixed Reality. The XR Stage promised an optimized viewing for digital performances and provided a more realistic visual of 3D models. During the day, the XR Stage panels helped to diverge crowds away from the JW Marriott and the convention center. This alleviated the crowding from last year, where an endless train of VShoujo and NIJISANJI fans crowded the JW Marriot lobby.

Originally announced as three concerts at the Peacock Theater, ANYCOLOR suddenly announced the cancellation of its “Summer Jam” and “Welcome to Wonder Wander” events about a week and a half before they were set to happen. It's unclear why NIJISANJI's concerts weren't held at the Novo along with all of the other Vtuber events, but they had more seats to fill than the other three concerts. Fans—who had traveled from far away and had to pay for a non-refundable Anime Expo badge—relocated the party elsewhere, organizing it in a nearby hotel. Although concert tickets were refunded and the event was eventually streamed for free online, fans were saddled with the cost of airfare, lodging, and the aforementioned AX badge.

Ticket sales for the other concerts at the Novo didn't fare much better. Although there may have been some walkup business and last-minute ticket purchases, the second floor was almost empty outside the Balcony at the Novo. Floor seats dead center in front of the stage were mostly filled, but the standing area behind the seated area was spacious. Most notably, the Utano☆Princesama ALL STAR STAGE -MUSIC UNIVERSE- concert boasted impressively realistic visuals. Shining Production and Raging Entertainment took the experience from Japan and brought it perfectly to LA. There's a clear interest in digital, 3D performances from the full spectrum of fans, but the venue may have been too big. Overall, the attendance of all performances at the XR stage paled in comparison to the Shin Megami Tensei 30th LIVE and the AX SUMMER FEST last year.

Arguably, one of the biggest draws away from Anime Expo was the Hololive Dodgers event on July 5. Large swaths of Pekora, Gura, and Suisei devotees made their way to Dodger Stadium in the middle of the day to beat the crowds. The tried and true advice of “arrive early” made all the difference between obtaining limited edition merch and leaving empty-handed.

One of the most undersold and unpromoted free entertainment at Anime Expo was the outdoor stage performances at AX Crossing—the area in front of the connecting hallway between the South and West hall—and the Beer Garden stage. I happened to be standing around taking a break when I heard an impressive English cover of SPY X FAMILY's ending song, "Comedy." The live performances had varying degrees of quality, as some singers were more experienced than others, but they were all interesting to watch. Whether you were in line for Main Events or grabbing a bite to eat, the dulcet tones of live music kept me entertained.

I had no idea there was a live stream for Anime Expo this year. I heard of Anime Expo Lite in passing, but I forgot there was a stream on the YouTube page. A fellow freelancer reminded me of it on Day 3, and by then, I already missed the first two days of the livestream. Based on the schedule, which I had to search for far down in the list of results, the stream offered a limited number of panels. These streams focused primarily on events in Petree Hall and none from the JW Marriott.

Crystalyn Hodgkins had a similarly difficult experience trying to find the streaming schedule. “I only knew some of what was streaming because Aniplex USA's landing page for AX listed which ones would be streamed.” She further explained how the description on the Twitch channel, the YouTube channel, and even the YouTube stream never mentioned what was being streamed. “I think this was a big oversight, and a clear link to the live streaming schedule should have been listed on AX's homepage prominently, or, at least, on the AX schedule page prominently.”

Comparing pre-2020 lines and body density to the present, it's clear that crowding and traffic flow movement could have been addressed and relieved this whole time. There was never a good reason to allow the conditions that led up to Anime Expo 2023 to persist as long as they did. Still, don't expect the future to be devoid of lines; AX hasn't become an oasis yet. There's always something to enjoy while traversing the halls, inside and out. Credit where credit is due, Anime Expo 2024 was a vast improvement in operations management. But the attendance gap this year could point to signs of a bigger bubble bursting.

In the meantime, panel logistics continue to be a plague on the press whose job depends on access. Giving away reserved seating for regular attendees defeats the purpose of creating a ticket system meant to save seats. Changing these rules on a whim strains the trust and relationship between the press, company representatives, and Anime Expo. Anime Expo continues to be the largest premiere event in North America, but will it be able to continue holding onto that title?

A huge thank you to ANN's editorial team this year: Bamboo Dong, Earl Gertwagen, MrAJCosplay, Jacki Jing, Dustin Forshee, Kalai Chik, Jeremy Tauber, Lucas DeRuyter, Stephen Shin, Tyler Ton, Rebecca Silverman, Richard Eisenbeis, Gunawan, and Wei Yi Pua.