Anime Expo

Anime Expo, often shortened to AX, is an American anime festival held in Los Angeles, California. It is organized by the non-profit Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation. With few exceptions, the festival takes place over the 4th of July weekend and lasts 4 days. It is currently held at the Los Angeles Convention Center, but in the past has also been held in Anaheim, San Jose, New York and Tokyo. Anime Expo is known as the largest anime festival in the United States, and is also known for having many anime industry personalities as guests. The average attendance of the festival is 30 thousand people.

Events and program of the festival

During Anime Expo, many events are organized in which visitors can participate: board games, competitions, arcade games, and concerts.

The main events of the festival include cosplay contests, Anime Music Video, Battle of the Bands, and the SPJA Charity Auction. Many guests are also invited to the festival, including famous artists who often organize their concerts at AX. Focus groups, workshops and other events are also organized during Anime Expo. Finally, during the festival, a variety of anime is shown on several screens around the clock, and there are stores with otaku merchandise.

What’s interesting: Some may say that anime has a narrow circle of connoisseurs, because works of the genre are usually in Japanese, and this does not contribute much to its popularity in the West. But it only takes one look at the Anime Expo in Los Angeles to realize that there is nothing wrong with the popularity of anime, although many critics don’t really understand what the secret is.