I’ve sorta hated Anime Expo for years, and it seems the anime community finally had enough this time

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 gentle type of torture, and determined, Yeah, I’m good on this eternally. 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?

Meh.

For a very long time, every time I voiced this, folks 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 needs to be keen 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 completely melting down as a result of the cracks within the basis have formally became a large sinkhole. The conference has develop into an absolute strain cooker, and attendees are lastly admitting out loud what I noticed years in the past: AX is a logistical dumpster hearth.

Right here’s a take a look at among the tweets from the poor anime followers who suffered by means of Anime Expo 2026.

When you test 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 type into huge blobs of shoving and pushing.

At a number of factors over the weekend, the hearth division introduced that no extra folks might enter the conference heart (even with tickets) as a result of the occasion was at capability. Sure, it was actually a hearth 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 scorching 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 received it,” stated one attendee.

Some attendees stood up for the Anime Expo, saying that the occasion was not at capability, and the Fireplace Marshall was there as a result of a bottleneck on the entrance. Others identified, nonetheless, that the crowds didn’t appear to know “the best way to stroll,” making areas really feel crowded and chaotic. Is that even higher?

On Thursday night time, there may be purported to be an occasion referred to as Midnight Mahjong, an after-party of kinds with mahjong. However this was additionally, in fact, method 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 received 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 understand a conference has misplaced its cozy group 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.

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 folks actually wished was fewer artists and extra company bloat.

The conference reportedly reduce 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 have been actually packed like sardines in standstill site visitors simply attempting to achieve the precise artists by means of a labyrinth of bizarre vendor cubicles.

Your different possibility? A free, various artist alley setup close to Little Tokyo that was fully outdoor, that means you may select between being crushed indoors or slowly roasting beneath the unforgiving Los Angeles solar. My pal attended the Artist Alley at Little Tokyo and reported again that it was very, very crowded.

However… Appears higher than this:

Anime shouldn’t be a distinct segment passion 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 have been a secure haven for introverted otaku to geek out and make mates. Now, it’d as nicely be an indoor Coachella. What’s the phrase folks on TikTok use today? 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 recreation nerds has became a scalping and household fest. That might perhaps be tremendous, however The Pokémon Firm clearly can’t deal with the inflow of latest attendees. That’s the identical concern with Anime Expo: it appears the organizers haven’t actually completed 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 utterly wrecked the panel expertise. This 12 months, hardcore followers who confirmed up two hours early for extremely anticipated screenings, like Kagurabachi, have been turned away by the tons of as a result of the venue blocked off the escalators.

To make issues worse, folks have been tenting out in panel rooms for hours simply to avoid wasting seats for later occasions, utterly 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 subsequent massive hype prepare.

It’s disrespectful and a direct results of over-capacity ticket gross sales.

Even when 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 have been so packed that tons of of individuals have been left stranded on platforms as utterly full trains simply sailed previous them. When you gave up and tried to name an Uber, you have been surge pricing of over $100 simply to journey a number of miles.

And don’t even get me began on the meals. When persons 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.

In fact, Los Angeles is pricey. However not that costly. I can normally 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 reap the benefits of attendees that don’t wish to go away the conference space.

At this level, conserving ticket gross sales open when the bodily conference house can’t safely or comfortably accommodate that many individuals is simply grasping. Persons are formally saying their “AX retirement” after practically a decade of attending, realizing they’ve outgrown the distress.

Mentioned ClaireMax, a preferred cosplayer: “When folks ask me if I’m going to Anime Expo, my reply is all the time 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 when you even make it inside as a result of each single 12 months the hearth division finally ends up shutting issues down as a result of it will get too dangerously overcrowded, that 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 out there in LA.”

I hate to say I instructed 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.