Shopping Guide
Anime Expo® 2014, which was held at the Los Angeles Convention Center from July 3-6, marked the annual event's 23rd consecutive year. The ever-growing popularity of manga and anime culture in the U.S. was exhibited by the convention's record-breaking 86,000 unique visitors and an astounding exhibit hall overflowing with the latest art, gaming, and anime products available to the global market.
To commemorate the launch of Sailor Moon Crystal, VIZ Media gave AX fans the chance to receive a limited edition Sailor Moon collector's coin by playing a stamp rally game (photo in gallery by nerdreactor.com). Meanwhile, Aniplex hosted a Sword Art Online II panel, where thousands of audience members who attended the world premiere screening of the first episode of SAO II received large signboard art pieces. These signboards were autographed by the show’s character designer, Abec, the Japanese VA for Kirito, Yoshitsugu Masuoka, and SAO novel author, Reki Kawahara.
One notable trend for this year's AX was the astounding number of Kill la Kill cosplay. Kill la Kill fans at AX were also treated to a special event by the anime's cast and crew, as well as pop singer Eir Aoi. All attendees at this event received Free Flow glowsticks. While these glowsticks are popular at Japanese concerts, this is the first time the popular automatic-sync lights were distributed at a U.S. event.
**Anime Expo 2014 Talking to Cosplay Girls by MochiBytesTV**
This is an original article written for Tokyo Otaku Mode by Sean Cardeno. Produced by Daiki Nakata. Camera by Jess Baker.
