Some 40,000 people are expected to attend Anime Expo 2009 which runs from July 2 to July 5 at Los Angeles Convention Center.
In Anime conventions still set trends, Robert Michael Poole (Japan Times, June 26) crowns it as the largest anime, manga and games convention in North America.
The event chairwoman Liyin Liang, he writes credits the success of anime on it's broad appeal.
It runs the gamut as she explains in the article:
"(Anime) covers the full breadth and depth of human
emotion, but it is also fearless in the topics that it is willing to
tackle such as nuclear fallout, biowarfare or adult topics. Our attendee
demographic ranges from 15 to over 50. It is split 45/55 between women
and men and we have staffers who are future doctors, lawyers,
real-estate agents, nurses, teachers, computer technicians, musicians,
engineers, marketers, publicists, magicians and cooks!"
An event organized it seems by the
Beyond the best sellers, Liyin Liang notes that Shojo (aimed at girls aged 10-18) and Seinen (for men aged 18-30) are driving book sales in the US.
As for my kids, they would rather go to BlizzCon 2009 Also in California (Anaheim, August 21-22)
Exploring the US-Japan cultural connections for Tokyo Thursdays # 94
Last week on Tokyo Thursdays: Tokyo Sanpo, Sketches of Tokyo Life through French Eyes