Anime Expo 2026 Booth Tours: Crunchyroll, Hulu & TOHO

 

By Jonathan Bilski

 

What drew the most views at AX 2026?  Was it a certain cosplayer? A mangaka, all the way from Japan? Or was it the booths in the Main Hall? Probably, the main hall booths. We're going over the dominating biggest ones. That includes: Crunchyroll with Hulu & TOHO. These big three names in the anime indusrty probably saw the most people trickle through them over the four days of AX. And, it's not surprising with the level of goodies, photo ops and more each booth had.

 

The Crunchyroll Booth might be crowned king of AX with it's sheer size and commitment to different booth activities. They were also giving out free schwag all through the weekend, including the special edition of Newtype Magazine. We got to tour the booth and try all the different activities.

 

The stand out of the booth, was of course, The Dubbing Dojo. You and up to three friend's could insert your voice into some top anime. Just like last year's draw of inserting a 3D model of yourself carrying out a super attack, this year was the Dojo. Now, they set it up like a real recording booth, just to experience what it's like to dub anime. After a bit of a wait, it was very popular, someone directed and took you through the scene and an editor would edit your voices in real time. Then they would play it back for you. It was easily one of the best parts of AX. They may just want to invest this into a bigger section next year or devote more resources to it. And, fix one big issue.

 

Sigh, the saddest part is that you couldn't keep the moment. I guess dealing with the clips being re-dubbed by so many people could never get past legal. So many other booths let you send your photos or video to your messages or email, but these clips aren't to be shared? 4 shame. So, below, is just part of my scene from Rent-A- Girlfriend. You could record just yourself. I was channeling my interpretation of a sexy maid.

 

 

The booth wasn't just the Dubbing Dojo. If you're into Daemons of the Shadow Realm they had a special photo op where you could be between Left & Right and by placing your hand out to "use the special power" in the series, you'd get to get a random clip from the show. They also were giving away backpacks with cards and a pin from the series after playing a special match card game, because y'know always two daemons.

 

There was also an interactive robot from Sentenced to Be a Hero that wanted head pats and you could even draw a circle to cast a spell in The Witch Atelier Activity too. 

Cruncyroll's store at AX was quite impressive too. Loved the design of their digital vending machines. You would order on the screens and the items would be brought out to you.
 

 

Soccer Jerseys

 

 

Here's some news from Crunchyroll's panels:

 

-Kagurabachi – Following the recent announcement that the highly- anticipated anime adaptation, Kagurabachi, is coming to Crunchyroll next year, fans attending the Showcase were treated to an exclusive Q&A with Chihiro Rokuhira's Japanese voice actor, Taihi Kimura, and Kyle Cardine, Editor-in-Chief of Crunchyroll News. Unveiled exclusively for the panel audience, attendees received a special first look at Chihiro's provisional character design sheet.

 

-The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 5 – Naofumi’s journey continues into perilous new waves of danger where he and his companions face threats that may implicate the other Cardinal Heroes. The series will make its way to Crunchyroll next year. Get a sneak peek at the upcoming season here and catch up on the previous seasons, now streaming on Crunchyroll.

 

Hulu Animayhem went deep into the selfies mode providing backdrops from some of the top anime they stream. They were also giving away a pack of free posters.

 

They were showing off these animes at the booth:
    Naruto Classic
    Tokyo Revengers
    Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War
    Rooster Fighter
    Mission: Yozakura Family
    Though I Am An Inept Villainess
    Undead Unluck: Winter Arc

 

One of the silliest activities was a video you could make of yourself dancing to Rooster Fighter.

 

 

Another activity had you working with a team to solve a puzzle on where to place items for the Mission: Yozakura Family. Which one of the staff described as "a modern Spy X Family." Not sure, what that means, especially since that anime just had a recent season just last year.

 

Not to be outdone, TOHO had a big Main Hall presence near the front. As we posted before they were giving out Mini-Totes that became a major promo get at AX this year. My Hero Academia, Jujutsu Kaisen, The Apothecary Diaries, Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End and Though I Am an Inept Villainess all had photo booths, punching bags or special gimmicks to grab you at the massive booth. There wasn't one big line this year. Each anime had it's own, so more people could gravitate to whatever they wanted. It might be an easier experience on everyone if done like that

Jujutsu Kaisen had a lot of love at the booth.

This Godzilla costumed cat was selling like hot cakes

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End got a special photo-op where you could hold a glowing crystal.

Take a bite out of a crystal, it's good for you!