Continuing the momentum from its most successful convention ever this July, Anime Expo (AX) is on the fast track to another record-setting year in 2012. North America’s largest Japanese culture event, which returns to the Los Angeles Convention Center from June 28 - July 1, 2012, has already booked more than 80 percent of its exhibition space, while fans have snapped up more than 10,000 passes.
“We’ve never been this far ahead of schedule in terms of signing exhibitors and anticipate that we will sell out the hall in record time,” said Marc Perez, CEO of the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA), the non-profit which produces the event. “We set a new attendance record in 2011 with more than 125,000 fans over the four days of Anime Expo. With the excitement that already surrounds the next Anime Expo, we are preparing to welcome even higher numbers of fans to our non-stop celebration of Japanese pop culture.”
Japanese culture fans from across the country and around the world flock to Anime Expo to connect with other fans, express themselves with creative costumes (Cosplay) and for the rare opportunity to meet and hear from some of the most famous anime, manga, musical and fashion artists from Japan. The AX production team takes off for Japan this month to begin assembling the star-studded line-up of Guests of Honor who will appear and perform at AX 2012.
AX 2012 will feature an exciting schedule of exclusive screenings; artists’ panels; live concerts; cosplay, karaoke and video competitions; non-stop video gaming and unsurpassed shopping from more than 300 vendors.
Immediately prior to the opening of AX 2012, SPJA will host an industry-only conference for the organizers of local anime conventions from across the country. The focus of this event will be on sharing successful strategies for enhancing the fan experience at their conventions and promoting further growth of anime and manga in the U.S.
To stay updated on all of the latest Anime Expo news, follow AX on Twitter and. YouTube and become a fan on Facebook.