Crunchyroll Expo (CRX) was an annual three-day
anime convention
An anime and manga convention (often called just anime convention) is a fan convention with a primary focus on anime, manga and Japanese culture. Anime conventions are commonly multi-day events hosted at convention centers, hotels or college cam ...
held during August/September at the
San Jose McEnery Convention Center
The San Jose McEnery Convention Center (commonly known simply as the San Jose Convention Center) is a convention center in Downtown San Jose, Downtown San Jose, California, San Jose, California. The facility is the largest convention center in S ...
in
San Jose, California
San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...
over
Labor Day
Labor Day is a Federal holidays in the United States, federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday of September to honor and recognize the Labor history of the United States, American labor movement and the works and con ...
weekend.
The convention was organized by anime licensor
Crunchyroll
Crunchyroll is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service owned by Sony, Sony Group Corporation. The service primarily distributes fi ...
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
The Santa Clara Convention Center is located in northern Santa Clara, California. It serves as one of the large meeting and convention facilities in Silicon Valley, with of meeting space. It was built in 1986 and expanded in 2009.
The conventio ...
in
Santa Clara, California
Santa Clara ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "Clare of Assisi, Saint Clare") is a city in Santa Clara County, California. The city's population was 127,647 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities and towns i ...
.
LeftField Media was brought in to help run the convention.
Crunchyroll Expo received most of its ticket sales in the days before the event.
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
The San Jose McEnery Convention Center (commonly known simply as the San Jose Convention Center) is a convention center in Downtown San Jose, Downtown San Jose, California, San Jose, California. The facility is the largest convention center in S ...
in
San Jose, California
San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...
. They were the same weekend as
SacAnime.
Crunchyroll partnered with
ReedPop
RELX plc (pronounced "Rel-ex") is a British multinational information and analytics company headquartered in London, England. Its businesses provide scientific, technical and medical information and analytics; legal information and analytics; ...
to organize Crunchyroll Expo starting in 2020.
Crunchyroll Expo 2020 was canceled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.
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.
Event history
Virtual Crunchyroll Expo
Due to the cancellation of Crunchyroll Expo 2020 because of the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, an online event named Virtual Crunchyroll Expo was held from September 4–6, 2020.
The event featured many Japanese guests including
Junji Ito
is a Japanese horror manga artist. Some of his most notable works include ''Tomie'', a series chronicling an immortal girl who drives her stricken admirers to madness; ''Uzumaki'', a three-volume series about a town cursed by spirals; and ''Gy ...
,
Soma Saito,
Rie Takahashi
is a Japanese voice actress and singer affiliated with 81 Produce. A member of the musical unit Earphones, she had a leading role in the anime series '' Seiyu's Life!''. She voiced Megumin in '' KonoSuba'', Emilia in '' Re:Zero'', Takagi in ...
,
Mayumi Tanaka, and pro wrestler
Miro.
It also included a artists alley, cosplay event, and exhibitor hall.
Virtual Crunchyroll Expo 2021 was held from August 5–7, 2021 and also had a significant Japanese guest list.
Crunchyroll Expo Australia
Crunchyroll Expo Australia was a two-day convention held during September at the
Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre
The Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC), colloquially referred to as Jeff's Shed, is a group of three adjacent buildings next to the Yarra River in South Wharf, an inner-city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The venues ar ...
in
Melbourne, Australia
Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung/ or ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second most-populous city in Australia, after Sydney. The city's name generally refers to a metropolitan area also known ...
.
The convention in 2022 had issues with long entrance lines outside of the convention center. Attendees had waits of up to five hours in bad weather due to the convention center reaching capacity. Crunchyroll after the convention made refunds available for those who could not enter the event.
This was the replacement for the
Madman Anime Festival that took place from 2016 to 2019 due to 2020 and 2021 events not taking place due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.
Event history
See also
*
Crunchyroll
Crunchyroll is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service owned by Sony, Sony Group Corporation. The service primarily distributes fi ...
*
FanimeCon
*
SiliCon
Silicon is a chemical element; it has symbol Si and atomic number 14. It is a hard, brittle crystalline solid with a blue-grey metallic lustre, and is a tetravalent metalloid (sometimes considered a non-metal) and semiconductor. It is a membe ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crunchyroll Expo
Anime conventions in the United States
Annual events in California
Conventions in California
Culture of San Jose, California
San Francisco Bay Area conventions
Recurring events established in 2017
2017 establishments in California
Tourist attractions in Santa Clara County, California
Tourist attractions in San Jose, California
Crunchyroll