Crunchyroll Expo
Crunchyroll Expo was an annual three-day anime convention held during August/September at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, California over Labor Day weekend. The convention was organized by anime licensor Crunchyroll and LeftField Media.
Programming
The convention typically offered an Artists Alley, Dealers Room, a Masquerade, panels, and video games.History
Crunchyroll Expo was first held in 2017 at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, California. LeftField Media was brought in to help run the convention. Crunchyroll Expo received most of its ticket sales in the days before the event. MAGWest was held the same weekend, and the conventions partnered to allow attendees to participate in limited events at the other. The convention had staffing and badge check issues, along with autograph ticket confusion. They also had no video rooms.Crunchyroll Expo for 2018 moved to the San Jose McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, California. They were the same weekend as SacAnime. Crunchyroll partnered with ReedPop to organize Crunchyroll Expo starting in 2020. Crunchyroll Expo 2020 was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. An online event named Virtual Crunchyroll Expo was instead held from September 4–6, 2020. The pandemic also resulted in the 2021 convention's cancellation, and it was again replaced with an online event.
Crunchyroll Expo 2022 was a hybrid convention, with both physical and online events. The convention featured a new music festival, the Crunchy City Music Fest. Crunchyroll Expo had an attendance cap, and admission was sold out. The convention also had mask and vaccination requirements due to the COVID-19 pandemic, along with increased security. LeftField Media also returned to run the convention. Crunchyroll Expo did not occur in 2023, in order for Crunchyroll to prioritize other events worldwide.