Crunchyroll Expo

Crunchyroll Expo (CRX) is an annual three-day anime convention held during August/September at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, California over Labor Day weekend.[4] The convention is organized by Crunchyroll as a means to showcases new attractions and highlights of the industry while bringing together their audience. They have worked with third parties to help organize the event, with Reedpop being the most resent.[3][5]

Crunchyroll Expo
The Crunchyroll Store at Crunchyroll Expo 2017
StatusActive
GenreAnime[1]
VenueSan Jose McEnery Convention Center
Location(s)San Jose, California
Coordinates37°19′43″N 121°53′20″W
CountryUnited States
InauguratedAugust 25, 2017 (2017-08-25)
Attendance16,000 (est.) total in 2017[2]
Organized byCrunchyroll
Reedpop[3]
Websiteexpo.crunchyroll.com

Programming

Crunchyroll Expo main hall has been organized to accommodate merchants along with industry booths, food vendors and the artist alley while also giving it a more lively feeling. The merchants are mostly from the West Coast, with many being regulars at other anime conventions in Northern California. Several indie publishing houses are also present to promote their latest exclusive manga and light novels. The industry booths are organized by major studios and game publishers who are promoting their upcoming releases. Demo booths are available for anyone who wants to try out any upcoming video games. It has also become common for the industry booths to give away free merchandise or host multiple raffles during the day. Food vendors have been set up at different locations of the expo hall and the convention hallways to avoid long lines and over crowding. The artist alley has been organized at the other end of the expo hall. Crunchyroll also has several booths set up selling their original merchandise. Besides merchants and vendors, props and Itasha are on display through out the convention floor.

Similar to most major anime conventions, Crunchyroll Expo has been used to unveil upcoming releases or premier new seasons or OVA's. Predominantly done by the streaming service, other studios have also used the event to announce their upcoming titles. The convention also organizes a series of industry and fan panels along with TED Talk inspired presentations from industry figures. Most of the panels follow the standard setup of the host showing a presentation followed by a Q&A session. Industry panels have featured a discussion about their upcoming work followed by a new trailers then the Q&A session if there is time. The most popular panels have always been the ones featuring a special guest.

One of the highlights of the weekend has been the Masquerade. There has been table top games tournaments and some years there have been eSport tournaments. [4][6]

New Crunchy City

A departure from past events, Crunchyroll 2019 organized the event with a city theme dubbed New Crunchy City. Check-in booth and ticket vendors were designed like that of an airport. The expo hall was designed to be like a city while also having some of the amenities of a bustling metropolis. The artist alley was made to feel like the country side, including having a night sky. The program guide was in the form of a newspaper that was distributed in news racks. [7]

History

Crunchyroll Expo was first held in 2017 at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, California.[1][8] LeftField Media was bought in to help run the convention.[8][9] Crunchyroll Expo received most of its ticket sales in the days before the event.[10] MAGWest was held the same weekend, and the conventions partnered to allow attendees to participate in limited events at the other.[6][11] The convention had staffing and badge check issues, along with autograph ticket confusion.[6] They also had no video rooms.[11]

Crunchyroll Expo for 2018 moved to the San Jose McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, California. They were the same weekend as SacAnime.[4] Crunchyroll partnered with Reedpop to organize Crunchyroll Expo starting in 2020.[3][5] Crunchyroll Expo 2020 was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[12][13][14] Replacing the traditional Crunchyroll Expo is Virtual Crunchyroll Expo, which will take place online from September 4 through September 6, 2020.[15]

Event history
DatesLocationAtten.Guests
August 25–27, 2017 Santa Clara Convention Center
Santa Clara, California		16,000 (est.) total
35,000 turnstile[2]		Yoshitaka Amano, Ray Chase, SungWon Cho, Caitlin Glass, Roland Kelts, Johnny Weir, Mega64, Max Mittelman, Octopimp, Chris Parson, Monica Rial, Adam Savage, and Hiroshi Shimizu.[2]
September 1–3, 2018 San Jose McEnery Convention Center
San Jose, California		45,000 turnstile (est.)[16]Yoshitoshi ABe, Justin Briner, Mica Burton, Clifford Chapin, Luci Christian, Colleen Clinkenbeard, Yuichi Fukushima, Kun Gao, Ryo Horikawa, Atsuko Ishizuka, MeltingMirror, Atsushi Nishigori, Sean Schemmel, Johnny Weir, Stephanie Sheh, Mike Sinterniklaas, Masayoshi Tanaka, TeddyLoid, Mike Toole, and Andrew Upton.[16]
August 30 – September 1, 2019 San Jose McEnery Convention Center
San Jose, California		Yuu Asakawa, Kira Buckland, Flow, DJ HeavyGrinder, Ryo Horikawa, Xanthe Huynh, Junji Ito, Sunao Katabuchi, Mike McFarland, Toshio Nakatani, None Like Joshua, Brina Palencia, Johnny Weir, Tara Sands, Eric Stuart, Yuzuru Tachikawa, TeddyLoid, and Kimura U.[17]
September 4 - 6, 2020 OnlineAoi Yuki, Nao Toyama, Rie Takahashi, Sora Amamiya, Satoshi Shoji, Yuki Yamada, Kenta Onishi, Okina Baba, Mario Bueno, Linda Le [18], Patrick Seitz, Soma Saito, Yongje Park, Arthell Isom, Yoshikatsu Kimura, Masahiko Komino, Jeho Son and Kwangsu Lee [19]
August 6–8, 2021 San Jose McEnery Convention Center
San Jose, California

See also

References
  1. Ressler, Karen (February 9, 2017). "Crunchyroll Announces Its Own Convention After Surpassing 1 Million Paid Subscribers". Anime News Network. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
  2. "Crunchyroll Expo 2017 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  3. McMillan, Graeme (November 20, 2019). "Reedpop Partners With WarnerMedia for Crunchyroll Expo Events". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
  4. Delahanty, Patrick; Chmakova, Svetlana. "Crunchyroll Expo 2018 Report". AnimeCons TV. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
  5. Milton Griepp, Milton (November 21, 2019). "ReedPOP Gets Crunchyroll Expo". ICv2. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
  6. Delahanty, Patrick. "Crunchyroll Expo 2017 Report". AnimeCons TV. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
  7. Rezaee, Stan. "Highlights from Crunchyroll Expo 2019". 8Bit/Digi. Retrieved September 8, 2019.
  8. "New Anime Event Planned for 2017: Crunchyroll Expo | Exhibit City News". Exhibit City News. February 15, 2017. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
  9. Kelts, Roland (July 23, 2017). "Crunchyroll takes anime to a live level". The Japan Times. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
  10. Orsini, Lauren (September 6, 2017). "The Making Of Crunchyroll Expo, A Corporate Con With An Anime Fan Heart". Forbes. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
  11. Bertschy, Zac; Chapman, Jacob. "ANNCast - Kleckstarter". Anime News Network. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
  12. Luster, Joseph (June 3, 2020). "Crunchyroll Expo 2020 Canceled, 2021 Dates Planned for August 6-8". Crunchyroll. Retrieved June 3, 2020.
  13. Mateo, Alex (June 4, 2020). "Crunchyroll Expo 2020 Canceled Due to COVID-19". Anime News Network. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  14. "Crunchyroll Expo 2020 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
  15. Pryor, Terrance. "First string of guests announced for Virtual Crunchyroll Expo". MP3s and NPCs. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  16. "Crunchyroll Expo 2018 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
  17. "Crunchyroll Expo 2019 Information". AnimeCons.com. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
  18. Rezaee, Stan. "First Batch of Virtual Crunchyroll Expo 2020 Guests Announced". 8Bit/Digi. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  19. Rezaee, Stan. "Virtual Crunchyroll Expo 2020 Announces Second Batch of Guests". 8Bit/Digi. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
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