Hello fellow Geeks! With summer blazing that heat right in our faces, it can only mean one thing – the summer convention season is truly here! With Phoenix Comicon over and done, we’re marking our calendars with another big event coming up on fourth of July weekend – Anime Expo! Nestled in the busy streets of Los Angeles, Anime Expo is known by all its fans as “a celebration of Japanese pop culture!” With that in mind, we can only expect to see some of the best anime-themed cosplays at this convention! Will you be attending? We sure hope so!
As of now, tickets for Anime Expo are priced at $90 for the full event, $55 for a single-day badge, or $20 for pre-show night. If you plan on attending, we suggest to grab your tickets as soon as possible before the prices go up on June 29th! For anyone planning on bringing younger siblings or children, fear not! There are tickets available for the younglings as well: $90 four-day youth badges (ages 14-17) and $25 four-day child badges (ages 6-13) are both available for purchase on Anime Expo’s registration page. Please note – youth and children badges are not offered in single-day bundles as adult badges are, so please plan accordingly! Badge pickup will occur every day at specified times (see the registration page) at the Los Angeles Convention Center, where we hope to see you all in whatever cosplay you plan on bringing!
For those of you cosplayers who really want to show off your favorite characters, we suggest checking out Anime Expo’s masquerade! Having been a major event within the convention for over 20 years now, the masquerade is a fun and exciting way for cosplayers to get up and compete in a cosplay performance of their choosing. Not only that, but there is a bit of incentive as well (wink wink). You didn’t hear this from us, but the masquerade at AX actually holds a record for the largest cash prize in the entire country for the winner of this contest! So dress to impress, practice that game face, and we’ll see you all at Anime Expo’s masquerade!
But that’s not the only place we’ll be checking out to find some of the best cosplays around. Anime Expo actually has an entire section dedicated to our lovely cosplay friends. This area is known as the “Entertainment Hall,” and houses over 10 original photo sets for cosplayers to hang out at and get some fun backgrounds for their photos! As beautiful as these photo sets are though, please remember to be respectful of all sets, as well as the cosplayers taking photos within them. Time is limited to three-minute sessions per person or group, in order to make sure everyone has their turn, so make sure to be ready to go when you’re next! We really can’t wait to see all the photos that come out of the Entertainment Hall at Anime Expo!
Something else to be excited about is the handful of amazing cosplayers Anime Expo is hosting as this year’s Cosplay Senpais! These cosplayers have been selected to attend AX and show off their skills based on their continual involvement in the cosplay community, as well as the positive impact they have had on fellow cosplayers all around. This year, we’re excited to announce Amber Arden, Corgi Cosplay, Dustbunny, Kiss a Frog Cosplay, Stella Chuu, Queersplay, and Steff Von Schweetz as our 2017 Cosplay Senpais! These cosplayers have been perfecting their craft for years and are nothing short of an inspiration to many other cosplayers around the world! At Anime Expo, the Cosplay Senpais are available for any questions you have regarding cosplay, and many will even be offering tutorials as well. So many sure to check out the Cosplay Senpai page for more information about your senpais!
Don’t forget! One of the most important things to remember when attending any convention is to respect your fellow cosplayer. Just like our fabulous Cosplay Senpais teach us – anyone can cosplay, and each cosplayer puts a lot of hard work and love into bringing their characters to life. So, please, be kind and be respectful towards everyone attending. And, most of all, have fun! We look forward to seeing all of you talented cosplayers this summer at Anime Expo!
