Anime Los Angeles 19 (ALA) kicked off 2024 at the Long Beach Convention Center over the weekend. The 19th annual event officially began on Thursday, January 4th and was held through Sunday the 7th. It was an inspiring way to kick off the 2024 convention year.
Anime Los Angeles 19
Anime Los Angeles is a yearly anime convention out of Long Beach, California and features the classic events and offerings of other conventions – an Artist Alley, a Maid Cafe, special guests, panels, plenty of cosplay meetups, and a massive exhibit hall of vendors. However, there are a couple of things that set Anime Los Angeles apart, one of which is the ribbon collecting. A main tenant of this particular convention, attendees have the opportunity to collect special ALA ribbons that attach to their badges.
These can be obtained in a number of ways – some vendors give them away with purchases, some can come from the special guests who are doing signings, and some can be obtained through the convention itself. This year, a bingo style game was included in the official guidebook. The squares involved taking pictures in particular spots, finding certain cosplays, and a number of other activities, and anyone that completed a line was able to redeem one of the ribbons. Some attendees get very serious with their ribbon collecting, especially if they are there for all four days; occasionally, you can catch someone walking by with enough ribbons to be dragging on the floor behind them.
One of my personal favorite things at ALA is the manga lounge. Located in the Seaside Rooms on the opposite side of the convention center from the exhibit hall, the manga lounge is a little library stocked with a relatively impressive selection of manga (I believe they had every single volume of Demon Slayer this year). It’s a great place to take a breather and unwind for a moment, as well as a spot to try out some new manga.
There was a laundry list of interactive activities spread across the four day convention. These included a game of cosplay chess (which is essentially human chess where the pieces are cosplayers), a masquerade cosplay contest, a fashion show, an AMV contest, an idol showcase, a formal dance (with a formal dress code enforced at the door), and a talent show called ALA’s Next Top Star. This is a jam-packed convention with something for any attendee, whether they want to get super involved in the events or just take a couple of laps and soak it all in. It was truly a fun and inspiring way to kick off the 2024 convention year.
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