Summary
- 37 industry professionals attended Anime Los Angeles, including voice talents Cassandra Lee Morris and Lizzie Freeman.
- Two maid cafés, Asayoru and Dreamland, offered reservation-based events with performances and menu options.
- Challenges with miscommunication arose during the convention, affecting photographers and prop policies.
Celebrating its 20th anniversary, Anime Los Angeles once again held its annual convention in Long Beach, California. This year, 37 industry professionals made their rounds, sharing their craft, expertise, and networking with fans alike. The voice talents of Cassandra Lee Morris, Lizzie Freeman, and Suzie Yeung appeared as featured guests this time around.
Sarah Spaceman, Aicosu, and Athel Artistry also returned to the con as judges for the official Anime LA masquerade. Keiichiro Maeno, a toy and figure designer, mostly known for his Gundam designs, made his appearance for all 4 days of the convention as well. Though weather conditions were harsh due to the Los Angeles fires, the convention was able to go on. Moreover, ALA‘s social media kindly kept everyone up to date on the situation and how to best proceed when attending.
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A Look Inside Anime Los Angeles 2025
This year, two maid cafés held their own events, complete with performances and reservations. Asayoru and Dreamland Maid Café made their appearances on Friday and Saturday of the convention, respectively. Patrons were required to make a reservation in advance for Asayoru, in which they chose from different combos, all of which offered a complimentary polaroid photo with one of the maids. Every hour, maids put on performances for the guests. Dreamland Maid Café had a similar feat, but all items on the menu were ordered upon seating and drinks, food, and polaroid photos came and were to be ordered separately. Limited time souvenir star cups were available for purchase along with a drink of your choice.
As both are heavily inspired by and incorporate real aspects of Japanese maid cafés, visitors received a greeting, personal introduction, and interactive experiences in which the maids chanted a magical spell, “moe moe kyun!”, to make the meals even more delicious. Currently, Asayoru has a physical location in Monterey Park, California and Dreamland is planning to open their first storefront location in Orange County, California in 2025.
Exhibiting Creativity
In the exhibit hall, various vendors and artists came by to showcase their goods, such as Legumi and Melt & Fuze. Legumi is an artist for a living, starting off as a hobbyist. He was inspired by his friend who also showcased his work at a small gaming convention. Though he felt his skills were lacking in the beginning, his passion swayed his way to proficiency. For him, every new thing is always better than the last. He had his first big show in 2017. Ever since then, his motto has been, “I’m here, I’m doing it, it’s fun!”
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Melt & Fuze sells massage candles with vegan ingredients, shea butter soap by hand, and decorates everything independently. During the COVID-19 pandemic, as everything was shut down, the owner of Melt & Fuze wanted to get her grandmother something for Christmas but had no leads. She used that time to practice making her own soaps, and once conventions started up again, she was inspired by anime and manga. To make her products unique, she opted to blend her craft and anime to make something unique. As a result, this became a passion and all her goods are her own interpretations of art.
Always Room for Improvement
Unfortunately, during the days of the convention, there was some miscommunication between the staff and the convention center itself. Photographers were prohibited from bringing equipment into the con. While this would make sense for large lights and tripods, it also included camera lenses larger than 2 inches.
The weapon prop policy was vague as well, as some staff members refused entry to attendees even if the “weapon” was clearly fake. Thankfully, Anime Los Angeles‘s social media did clear some of these issues up; but even so, many photographers and outlets felt out of luck, as this made it more difficult to get proper content for and of the convention.
Anime Los Angeles is a unique and beloved con, held close to the hearts of many. There is always room for improvement, but because of how personable the staff are, there’s no doubt next ALA will be even better.
Follow Anime Los Angeles‘s official Twitter page to keep up to date on registration and announcements.
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