While anime conventions have traditionally been in-person events where thousands of anime, manga and video game fans cram themselves into convention halls, viewing rooms and theatres; COVID-19 has put a dampener on that this year. Fortunately, the convention scene is progressively building itself up again through the use of digital platforms. From 4 September 2020 until 6 September 2020, the anime licensor and streaming service CrunchyRoll will be hosting a three-day Virtual Crunchyroll Expo, accessible to everyone for free. Free registrations are now available via the event’s official website.
In addition to confirming the convention’s registrations have opened, the first wave of guests, panels and more were confirmed. More information about all announcements can be found below:
Rent-a-Girlfriend anime Japanese voice cast panel
Hear from the voice cast of this season’s new TV anime Rent-a-Girlfriend (彼女、お借りします), with attendees including Sora Amamiya (Chizuru Mizuhara), Aoi Yuki (Mami Nanami), Nao Toyama (Ruka Sarashina) and Rie Takahashi (Sumi Sakurasawa).
More information on The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter TV anime
Kenta Onishi (Director), Yuki Yamada (Producer) and Satoshi Shoji (Editor of original work) will be in attendance to discuss more about the upcoming TV anime adaptation of The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter (俺だけ入れる隠しダンジョン 〜こっそり鍛えて世界最強〜).
Additional Confirmed Guest
Author of the light novel So I’m a Spider, So What; Okina Baba. Panel details to be confirmed.
In addition to the guest and programming announcements, details were shared around this year’s New Crunchy City Anime Arts District and the Cosplay Cup. The V-CRX anime arts district will include highlights and direct links to the digital stores of each artist chosen for this year’s event. The artists are available on the V-CRX website now, and their artwork can be purchased now throughout the run of the show. Additional artists will be added to the site every two weeks.
Crunchyroll announced Mario Bueno and Vampy Bit Me as the hosts, and Creature of Habit and God Save the Queen as two of the four judges of Crunchyroll-Hime’s Cosplay Cup, which will be a celebration of fan-created costumes from anime and anime-inspired series. The Cosplay Cup will take place on 5 September 2020.
