So I finally got around to attending the Crunchyroll Expo. This new-fangled convention that just started a couple of years ago, entirely sponsored by Crunchyroll. That weird website that I have somehow been a member of since it was founded back in the early 2000s. I was expecting the convention to be different, but to be honest, and I was not prepared for what happened. The conference was an experience, but it had a lot more shortcomings than I was willing to admit since I spent a crap ton of money on it. So let us talk about those failures upfront now so that I can talk about why it was awesome as well.

So first things first, apparently no one who runs the convention has ever been to other big name conventions. This was annoying because there was no line control. The staff had boxes, and once they were filled, they told everyone to come back at the actual time of the panel. So this just led to people ignoring the staff and standing in line, which annoys me because Sakura-Con has a much stricter policy on when you can line up for stuff.

Next, the panels could be summed up into three categories, Q & A, World Premier and Industry announcements. True there were a few other panels, but they were hardly worth mentioning. As far as stuff to do at the convention that fell to the extra things they had going on, which will be discussed later. I guess that is what happens when you have a corporate convention as oppsed to a fan run convention. Do not get me wrong if I was into the Q & A stuff I would have been really into it. However, just because Crunchyroll can press its connections to get people to come out does not mean the convention is good. I am much more a fan of the weird stuff fans like to talk about in panels.

Another really annoying thing was the whole badge process. In order to get into the convention, you had to tap your badge to an RFID reader. This reader would tell the validity of your badge while this did come with advantages, like being able to add tickets to your badge. It was very annoying to have to clock in and clock out of the convention. I get they were going for the whole mock country or city or whatever, but it was annoying — next time spring for the lanyards that have extendable clips.

Now we will transition to the neutral, which is the thing that I find good and bad. This was the convention hours. Again, this is kind of a new concept to me. Most conventions have panels, rooms, and anime showings 24 hours. However, when it came to the expo, you were generally out and back home by no later than 00:00. Which was nice, if you do not care about line stuff, which meant you were not going to sleep. So I got out and got a good nights sleep. In fact, for a city as big as San Jose, it was surprisingly quiet. However, you also lose all the fun parts of the convention that happen after the more official hours. I cannot remember the last time I was at a convention so dead at 00:00. A good thing and a bad thing, so this was something that I am not going to take a side on.

Now let us finish off with the good. All the world premiers, that was nice. Generally speaking, I could hop between premiers and take up the majority of the day. While I understand that I am not going to likely see most of those shows/movies until next year. It is kind of fun to go out and get a sneak peek at everything. In fact, it helped me cross a couple off of my list. I guess I like bragging about this kind of thing. So yes that is fun, get to see your anime sooner rather than later. That is definitely something that everyone should try to do.

Speaking of premiers, another great choice that was made was the vast panel rooms. While I was told, they could seat 1000 people I had my doubts. This was pretty cool, and it meant that I could not have to waste my day standing in a line being bord while I try to get that one coveted spot. There was plenty of room for everyone. Lines that were much longer than anything I had seen in a while still managed to get in and fill up the house. So yes good job on that one Crunchyroll, keep up the good work.

So overall, I have to say that the experience was very average. I appreciate what the company was trying to do, and they spent the money doing. It. However, there were lots of problems, and the lack of interesting panels meant I just spent most of my time in the free arcade or walking around the dealer room. These are things that I do already. However, this is the first time I have felt things were so... lacking. So it was an interesting convention, and there were definitely perks to it, but it is hard to say if I can get excited enough to try and go again. Then again, maybe I am not very good at being a fan.