Summary
Over the weekend of the 4th of July,Anime Expotook the stage once again in Los Angeles, California. Garnering a unique attendance of over 160k attendees, the con center shined its brightest with some of the best cosplay we’ve ever seen! Whether it’s among the attendees, vendors, or even guests, there was no shortage of creative concepts to be had and shared both inside and outside the convention center.
Small businesses such asAsayorumaid café, which models its concept around cosplay cafés in Japan;Trash Taste, a team of content creators from Japan, having photo areas for cosplayers; and the popular “Horse Shoe” area outside the convention, used exclusively for cosplay gatherings and photographers.
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The Show Floor
In the back of the Entertainment Hall, the Los Angeles-based maid café,Asayoruhad its very own booth, with a small group of maids and selling exclusive merchandise. To further promote their café, they also had a menu out on displayto showcase their menu, should any patrons decide to visit their café!
At the booth, there were three different maids representing the brand. Celeste, the extraterrestrial from outer space; Sae, the food connoisseur; and Saiki, the Halloween enthusiast.In traditional maid café fashion,Asayoruprovided visitors an opportunity to take an instax photo (known aschekkiin Japan) with their favorite maid.
Everyone’s favorite internationalYouTubetrio,Trash Tastealso had their own photo and interactive booth specifically for all the “trash waifus” out there. What’s more, you could also sit down and take pictures at anexact replicaofTrash Taste’s real set.
TheAitai Kujibooth had a special cosplayer of their own! The famous,Peachymilky, hailing from Tokyo, Japan, wearing her famous Ashley cosplay fromResident Evil.
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Hidden Gems
In the West Hall lobby,ROMWEcollaborated withCard Captor Sakurato bring aspiringmagical girlsa chance to make their very own transformation sequence video, complete with sound effects, music, and better yet, for free! But never mind the collaborations, there were a few cosplays that stood out to us in particular!
This Zelda and Link cosplay brought our two main characters to life at the “Horse Shoe”, though despite the name, and due to the crowded space, it seems Epona wasn’t allowed in. These two utilized depth and plenty of hairspray, to create the perfect look for our hero and princess. Brought to us byclerithcosplay, the two even had an entireTwilight Princessgroup just for the convention. A shame we missed it.
Blurring the lines between"kowai" and “kawaii”, this cosplayer nailed it! Imagine walking down the road in the middle of the night and seeing a girl who looks like she needs help; and being your heroic self, you walk up to her and ask if she’s okay, only for her to turn around and–well let’s just say, she’s fine in the self-defense department.
Mikasa isn’t messing around in her getup from the newestAttack on Titanseason! Here she stands patrolling the Artist Alley for Titans. A realistic scar and equipment down to every detail, it would be hard to pick a winning fight with her.
Con Guy always has your back, reminding us how to live our best con lives, through memes. On Day 1, he stood outside the West Hall of the con center, keeping his watchful eye on all attendees. Initially appearing atFanime 2023, our favorite background character comes to the foreground whenever we’re in need.
Anime Expoalways brings out the best of the best in the cosplay community, due to its high attendance rate - and while these were only a few of many stunning cosplays, we look forward to seeing even more in the near future!
