Anime Expo 2025: Overall Pt.2

 

Thank goodness they're using the Peacock Theater for panels. I was able to cover a rather robust panel on the new season of DanDaDan. If you have seen the wonderfully anime series from Science Saru, then get off your butt and go find it.

Before going over the panel, I just wanted to give credit to Anime Expo for some improvements such as using the theater so more people can enjoy the bigger panels. AX has grown so much that even huge auditoriums in the hotels nearby can't hold enough people, so it was nice to have enough seats for everyone. 

Oh, and nearby and covering AX on three sides was AX Crossing this year. What might have been a sliver out front, now covers a huge chunk of the LA Convention Center outside and takes a nice chunk of LA Live too. This really made it easier for people to find food without having to leave AX itself. Price wise, yeah, it still stinks, but at least you have way more options than the sad chicken nuggets and fries the cafeterias have at the convention center.

*Of note, AX needs to have staff watching over these outdoor booths with basic health and hygiene in mind, because I saw threads online of food booths leaving uncooked chicken out in the sun. They can't mind themselves, so just have a volunteer or hire someone to go around making sure they're doing it right, AX.

Back to the DanDaDan panel, other than having a very very large audience, it had quite a few panelists. The director Fuga Yamashiro from Science SARU and voice actors Abby Trott (Momo), A.J. Beckles (Okarun), & Aleks Le (Jiji) from the English dub. Aleks Le is the perfect Jiji and you could hear the girls in the audience swoon over him. I think the funniest part was one of the voice actors giving cred to the voice of Turbo Granny, Barbara Goodson. Many might remember her as Rita Repula from Power Rangers.

 

Director Fuga Yamashiro thoroughly explained techniques behind animation to a crowd somewhat awake for it. I think most people were hoping for more information on currently airing Season 2.We saw the anime from storyboard to final animation  and all the hard work that goes into it.

About Season 3, we were told it's up to us, the fans, by reminding Netflix and asking for more. 

Another panel, I caught, was for Mr. Ginpachi’s Zany Class. After going over all the merch and collaborations for way too long. Afro-covered maidens of anime told us about their new show. The audience was also luckily enough to see the first dubbed episode. And, it's pure Gintama stupidity. It's dumb, breaks the fourth wall and yet, I couldn't stop laughing at the utterly strange concept of Gintama as a teacher and his cast now in school. Even Gintama didn't understand why he was a teacher. Apparently, it's taken from a novel series, not even an off-shoot manga. The creative team behind it seems to be primarily women, which for most anime I've not heard of.

Sadly, the wait on this one seems to be until October. Looking forward to the zany hi-jinks, which some would be rated R.

 

 

 

Let's look at all the goodies...

Ahhhhh, the creepy doll section near the Kentia Hall entrance. Every year you give me nightmares. What was I writing about?...oh yeah, the merch, let's take a look at some of the goodies showcased and get away from those dolls.
 

I had no idea iam8-bit had a booth at AX this year. Sadly hidden in the back of Entertainment Hall, I would have gotten the Oh Deer Diner Thermos by Airam (Alan Wake II), but it was sold out! Bummer. It's really nice to be able to grab this stuff and avoid paying for the shipping, 8-bit you gotta send out more reminders if you'll be at cons!

Was OhMonah always so big? We only noticed them earliest this year at WonderCon, but their booth was so much bigger at AX. We don't remember all these collabs with animes.

This frumpy Gundam plush head seems to be what Bandai Namco is banking on being popular.

Of course, there's cute DanDaDan plushies.

Oh, hello Power Pole! Brought back for Dragon Ball Daima.

 

Gashapon was back in heavy force. They've still gotta come up with a better system for the American market when it comes to paying for them. It's tedious and annoying to convert to random amounts for different gashapon. Maybe just take as many dollar coins as you can get from a bank. Still, there's so many fun and random toys to collect it's hard to pass up.

Oh yeah, keychains based on different Jason maks from The Friday The 13th films.

 

Kaiju No. 8 is still getting a ton of merch and fanfare as the second season comes out soon. It's coming out this month! You glimpsed it everywhere with it's mobile game, cosplay backgrounds and more all around the convention. Hey, I even had a  Kaiju No.8  cosplayer chase me come to think of it.