I’m going to vindicate myself right here. A couple of years again, I went to Anime Expo on the Los Angeles Conference Heart, stood outdoors in a brutal, shadeless two-hour line that felt like a light type of torture, and determined, Yeah, I’m good on this ceaselessly. It was packed, it was irritating, and for what? To see the identical distributors within the Artist Alley I noticed at three different occasions that very same 12 months already?
For a very long time, every time I voiced this, individuals checked out me like I used to be a cynical buzzkill who simply hated enjoyable. It appeared prefer it was some accepted factoid that actual nerds ought to be prepared to face in a barely transferring, sweaty crowd simply to see the identical sexualized mousepad with breasts that’s been at each different anime occasion the previous few years.
Nicely, seems to be like I used to be onto one thing in spite of everything.
AX 2026 simply wrapped up, and the web is totally melting down as a result of the cracks within the basis have formally was a large sinkhole. The conference has grow to be an absolute strain cooker, and attendees are lastly admitting out loud what I spotted years in the past: AX is a logistical dumpster fireplace.
Right here’s a have a look at a number of the tweets from the poor anime followers who suffered via Anime Expo 2026.
Absolutely the dying of non-public house
In the event you verify social media proper now, it seems to be much less like a enjoyable celebration of fan service and predictable plot factors and extra like a dispatch from a catastrophe zone. Persons are describing the conference ground as a lawless land with “zero line tradition,” the place crowds simply kind into large blobs of shoving and pushing.
At a number of factors over the weekend, the fireplace division introduced that no extra individuals might enter the conference heart (even with tickets) as a result of the occasion was at capability. Sure, it was actually a fireplace hazard. You’d suppose they’d simply, I don’t know, promote fewer tickets after this continued to occur the previous couple of years.
“AX was enjoyable and all, however it was insufferable to remain within the conference heart for greater than an hour, and it was simply so disgustingly sizzling in and out of doors, and it kinda stunk, and so they needed to evacuate the ground I used to be on. like if there’s some virus right here w all obtained it,” stated one attendee.
Some attendees stood up for the Anime Expo, saying that the occasion was not at capability, and the Hearth Marshall was there as a consequence of a bottleneck on the entrance. Others identified, nonetheless, that the crowds didn’t appear to know “tips on how to stroll,” making areas really feel crowded and chaotic. Is that even higher?
On Thursday evening, there may be imagined to be an occasion known as Midnight Mahjong, an after-party of kinds with mahjong. However this was additionally, in fact, means too packed to operate correctly. It was so overrun with weebs that some attendees reported that the video games didn’t even begin for an hour or extra.
It obtained so unhealthy this 12 months that some attendees reported safety guards and cops rolling into areas with their arms on their batons and tasers simply to handle the sheer quantity of human our bodies. You recognize a conference has misplaced its cozy neighborhood vibe when the police presence seems to be like a riot squad response.
One poor cosplayer even reported that their outfit was completely ruined in 5 seconds flat as a result of a dense crowd shoved them into somebody handing out random chilly spaghetti. Sure, chilly spaghetti. That’s the place we’re at.
The tragedy of Artist Alley
For most individuals, Artist Alley is the precise coronary heart and soul of any conference. It’s the place you discover distinctive prints, indie charms, and help actual creators. However this 12 months, AX administration apparently determined that what individuals actually needed was fewer artists and extra company bloat.
The conference reportedly lower the variety of artist spots down by a large margin, shoving the remaining creators into the very again of the corridor. And what did they put in that prime actual property as an alternative? Pokémon card resellers and Temu retailers. Folks had been actually packed like sardines in standstill site visitors simply making an attempt to succeed in the precise artists via a labyrinth of bizarre vendor cubicles.
Your different choice? A free, various artist alley setup close to Little Tokyo that was completely open air, which means you might select between being crushed indoors or slowly roasting below the unforgiving Los Angeles solar. My buddy attended the Artist Alley at Little Tokyo and reported again that it was very, very crowded.
However… Appears to be like higher than this:
The “normies” have formally damaged the system
Anime shouldn’t be a distinct segment interest anymore. It’s mainstream popular culture, and that shift has introduced in a large wave of informal followers. Whereas inclusivity is nice on paper, in apply, it’s inflicting some main friction.
Longtime followers are mourning the times when conventions had been a protected haven for introverted otaku to geek out and make associates. Now, it’d as nicely be an indoor Coachella. What’s the phrase individuals on TikTok use as of late? Larping?
It jogs my memory of my concern with Pokémon’s regional tournaments. What used to really feel like a secret membership for aggressive card sport nerds has was a scalping and household fest. That might possibly be wonderful, however The Pokémon Firm clearly can’t deal with the inflow of recent attendees. That’s the identical concern with Anime Expo: it appears the organizers haven’t actually performed something to help the expansion of the anime fandom, leaving it feeling depressing. It’s not really the “normies’” fault: it’s the administration.
This inflow of individuals has fully wrecked the panel expertise. This 12 months, hardcore followers who confirmed up two hours early for extremely anticipated screenings, like Kagurabachi, had been turned away by the a whole lot as a result of the venue blocked off the escalators.
To make issues worse, individuals had been tenting out in panel rooms for hours simply to save lots of seats for later occasions, fully ignoring the present presenters. Think about being a creator on a panel and looking at a crowd of people that don’t care about your work, solely to observe them actually throw away your free promotional objects as a result of they’re simply ready for the following large hype prepare.
It’s disrespectful and a direct results of over-capacity ticket gross sales.
A $115 Uber experience and $12 onigiri
Even should you one way or the other managed to outlive the conference ground with out getting lined in thriller pasta, simply attending to and from the venue was an costly nightmare. The Metro trains had been so packed that a whole lot of individuals had been left stranded on platforms as fully full trains simply sailed previous them. In the event you gave up and tried to name an Uber, you had been taking a look at surge pricing of over $100 simply to journey a number of miles.
And don’t even get me began on the meals. When individuals are complaining about paying $12 for a single onigiri with a $1.25 greenback upcharge for chili powder, and that merchandise nonetheless sells out, you understand the ecosystem is damaged.
After all, Los Angeles is dear. However not that costly. I can often get a Lyft from DTLA to LAX for $30-$50. And a well-known place in Little Tokyo, Rice & Nori, has onigiri for $2.50 to $5.50. I’ve eaten there loads of instances and it’s fairly yummy. These are clearly inflated costs to make the most of attendees that don’t need to go away the conference space.
At this level, protecting ticket gross sales open when the bodily conference house can’t safely or comfortably accommodate that many individuals is simply grasping. Persons are formally asserting their “AX retirement” after almost a decade of attending, realizing they’ve outgrown the distress.
Mentioned ClaireMax, a well-liked cosplayer: “When individuals ask me if I’m going to Anime Expo, my reply is at all times no except I’m working or in any other case getting paid to be there. It’s a nightmare con. They don’t cap ticket gross sales, you’ll spend hours standing in line, outdoors, in Los Angeles, in July. When you do get in, you’re packed in like a sweaty sardine – however that’s should you even make it inside as a result of each single 12 months the fireplace division finally ends up shutting issues down as a result of it will get too dangerously overcrowded, which means individuals who paid for tickets can’t get inside. This 12 months that occurred at 2:30 pm on Friday.
“This might simply be fastened by placing a cap on ticket gross sales or transferring to a bigger venue, however they’re too money-hungry to cap gross sales, and there actually isn’t a bigger venue obtainable in LA.”
I hate to say I informed you so, however the writing has been on the wall for years. Hopefully, administration lastly listens earlier than AX 2027 turns into an precise hazard.
