hololive production’s Growing Presence at Anime Expo
We at hololive TODAY had the awesome opportunity to attend AX 2024 as a member of the press for the very first time!
Anime Expo is the largest anime and manga convention in North America, hosted by the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA).
It’s a great place for anime/manga fans of all kinds to gather:
Cosplayers, artists, influencers, and other creatives get the chance to show off and display their talent in real time, in front of real live audiences.
Fans have the opportunity to absorb all the different products of entertainment that various entities in the industry—from artists in the Artist Alley to corporate entertainment in the Exhibit Hall—have to offer.
Big industry names like Aniplex, SEGA, Crunchyroll, miHoYo, and COVER Corporation can share their latest developments in entertainment, providing fans real-time experiences of the brands they love, and potentially gaining new fans interested in what’s trending.
Prior to 2024, hololive production had its first appearance at Anime Expo in 2021 through Anime Expo Lite, a virtual showcase of AX that runs at the same time as the in-person show.
In 2022, hololive production had an Exhibit Hall booth where official merchandise was sold and hololive Meet, their front-facing brand for conventions, was shown at AX for the first time.
In 2023, hololive English hosted its first-ever concert, -Connect the World-, at the YouTube theater in LA.
Although they didn’t host a booth at AX 2023, hololive production appeared in other companies’ booths via licensed goods and merch. CEO Motoaki Tanigo also made his first appearance to AX-goers at the fan-hosted hololive cosplay meeting!
hololive production had a tremendous presence this year, 2024, extending its range of events outside of the Anime Expo venue with collaborations occurring simultaneously with Anime Expo weekend.
Here’s a list of hololive production’s activities inside and outside Anime Expo 2024.
[Table of Contents - Click to Navigate]:
- hololive production Booth in the Entertainment Hall
- hololive production Official and Licensed Merch at several booths
- Special Report: An Invitation from iBUYPOWER at Anime Expo 2024
- Good Smile Company, Inc. x hololive production Panel featuring COVER’s CEO and hololive EN’s FUWAMOCO
- Warner Bros. Japan’s Suicide Squad ISEKAI Panel featuring hololive EN talent Mori Calliope
- Fan-organized Cosplay Meeting sponsored by HYTE
- Los Angeles Dodgers x hololive production Collaboration: hololive night at the Dodger Stadium
- Tsujita Artisan Noodle x hololive English featuring art produced by OMOCAT
hololive production Booth in the Entertainment Hall
The hololive production Booth, which actually encompassed two booths (E-145 & E-150), was a nice large area where fans could watch scheduled live events hosted by several of the hololive talents.
Though it was the size of two booths, crowds would sometimes be larger than the official booth area, seeping into designated walkway territory!
Of course however, staff and security would do their best to allow for a larger audience to gather while maintaining the safety of the venue and its attendees.
Here’s one example during FUWAMOCO’s appearance, their “FUWAMOCO Rock N’ Rawr Party Mini” on July 4th.
Going back to scheduled live events at the booth, hololive talents from all branches made appearances on the large-screen display.
Participating talents at the hololive booth include:
hololive JP: Akai Haato, Momosuzu Nene
hololive ID: Vestia Zeta, Ayunda Risu, Kureiji Ollie
hololive EN: Fuwawa Abyssgard, Mococo Abyssgard, Mori Calliope
hololive DEV_IS: Ichijou Ririka, Otonose Kanade
HOLOSTARS: Minase Rio, Yatogami Fuma, Astel Leda
HOLOSTARS EN: Banzoin Hakka, Octavio
They provided Anime Expo Exclusive contents streamed live to attendees. You can see bits of the booth in the video below during HOLOSTARS EN Banzoin Hakka’s karaoke performance, posted on X/Twitter by us!
hololive production revealed its schedule before the AX event started, giving fans the chance to plan ahead in visiting the booth.
image source: https://x.com/hololive_En/status/1808297102046552437
This year’s hololive production booth was a blast, and personally a far more fun experience from their merchandise booth in 2022 (long lines in that one!).
We’re excited to see what COVER has in store for Anime Expo next year!
hololive production Official and Licensed Merch at several booths
hololive production had an even bigger presence outside of its own booth, making appearances in other companies’ booths via licensed merchandise on sale or on display in the Entertainment Hall and Exhibit Hall.
Here’s a quick list of hololive production appearances in other companies’ booths:
Good Smile Company Booth: Exhibit Hall and Entertainment Hall
Nendoroids, POP UP Figures, and more
Bushiroad Inc. Booth: Exhibit Hall and Entertainment Hall
hololive production Weiss Schwarz TCG and hololive production’s Official Card Game
OMOCAT Booth: Exhibit Hall
OMOCAT x hololive production Apparel and Merch
ohmonah Booth: Exhibit Hall
omonah x HOLOSTARS English Apparel and Merch
FuRyu Corporation Booth: Exhibit Hall
FuRyu x hololive production Plush Toys
Aniplex Inc. Booth: Exhibit Hall
hololive JP’s Usada Pekora x Mashu Kyrielight from Fate/Grand Order
Tokyo Japanese Lifestyle Booth: Exhibit Hall
hololive production Official Merchandise
Hulu Booth: Exhibit Hall
hololive EN’s Mori Calliope featured in Suicide Squad ISEKAI Trailer (Ad loop)
Gashapon (BANDAI CO., LTD.) Booth: Entertainment Hall
hololive production Gashapon Machines
iBUYPOWER x HYTE Booth: Entertainment Hall
hololive production x HYTE PC Cases and Keycaps and Idol Showdown Free Play
Speaking of iBUYPOWER and HYTE, we had the chance to meet up with iBUYPOWER for a booth tour!
Special Report: An Invitation from iBUYPOWER at Anime Expo 2024
We at hololive TODAY had the awesome opportunity to visit and tour the iBUYPOWER booth during the Anime Expo 2024 weekend!
iBUYPOWER, together with sister brand HYTE, hosted their booth in the Entertainment Hall. Similar to hololive production’s booth, their booth was actually the size of two booths! A lot of room to showcase their product.
We met with an awesome PR & Marketing Specialist at iBUYPOWER who invited us to learn more about the brand and some of their latest products/developments.
These include:
HYTE’s Y70 PC case and keycaps collab with indie VTuber Dokibird, who also celebrated her birthday at the booth!
A collaboration with HoYoverse’s Honkai: Star Rail, featuring a PC case and pre-built of the character Silver Wolf.
iBUYPOWER is the Official PC Partner for Riot Games’ VALORANT Champion Tour Americas.
As a news website covering hololive production, we were especially interested in the Idol Showdown activities they were hosting, as well as the collaboration merchandise they have with some of the hololive talents.
Idol Showdown, if you’re not familiar, is a fan game featuring VTubers from hololive production as playable fighters. The game is under holo Indie, COVER’s official game brand for derivative work games.
The booth offered an open free play of the game, so any attendee could hop on and play on PC builds of Mori Calliope or Amelia Watson. A “King of the Hill” style tournament was also being held with the chance to win special prizes!
Speaking of the hololive talents, a mini galleria of hololive production x HYTE merchandise was on display. Here’s a quick list of hololive production products we saw at the booth:
Curious about iBUYPOWER’s PC cases and pre-built PC collaborations, we asked iBUYPOWER about the brand’s thought process in choosing hololive production talents to collaborate with, and the brand’s potential to collaborate with other hololive branches like JP, ID, DEV_IS, HOLOSTARS, or HOLOSTARS EN.
They provided me an answer from iBUYPOWER’s Shugi Jin, Global Partnerships:
"It is primarily in the interest of the talents and their desire for a PC case. We have talents already lined up for the next few collaborations, but are flexible and also have to accommodate the talents' schedules.”
For collaborations with JP talents, Shugi mentions the hololive GAMERS Capture the Moment Keycaps, which was described as “a massive success,” also adding that they are open to working with other branches in hololive production.
It will be exciting to see their next line of hololive production PC cases and pre-builts!
Shugi continues:
“It is a decision weighted on both parties and again ultimately down to the talents' interests first. We want to make sure the talents are excited to work on the project, as well as have the time and commitment to partake in the design process to better appeal to the fans.”
As it should be with all collaborations, an effort has to be made by all parties involved.
HYTE, iBUYPOWER, and hololive production have proven their success in working together, as we can see in their previous projects with Amelia Watson, Mori Calliope, Hakos Baelz, and Ouro Kronii.
Finally, Shugi attributes iBUYPOWER’s success in the final iteration of these collaborations to the talents’ own contribution to the project and iBUYPOWER’s understanding of these talents’ fandoms even within their own staff.
For all stakeholders and related individuals to be so invested in these collaborations, it is no wonder that these projects have been successful.
Hearing other fans and even several close friends build their PCs with the hololive HYTE cases, we can understand how tempting it is to try and build our own!
Good Smile Company, Inc. x hololive production Panel featuring COVER’s CEO and hololive EN’s FUWAMOCO
In a joint panel between Good Smile Company and hololive production, the CEOs from both companies took to the stage to share new and upcoming product developments.
GSC’s CEO Takanori Aki and COVER’s CEO Motoaki “YAGOO” Tanigo, along with hololive English -Advent-’s Fuwawa Abyssgard and Mococo Abyssgard (together known as FUWAMOCO), participated in a joint panel discussion
Some of the new products announced in the panel include:
hololive English -Promise- Nendoroids
hololive English -Advent-’s FUWAMOCO Nendoroids
hololive English -Advent-’s FUWAMOCO POP UP PARADE
Featuring Fuwawa Abyssgard and Mococo Abyssgard POP UP PARADE figures
X/Twitter Post here
hololive English -Myth-’s Gawr Gura and Mori Calliope Scale Figure
Aside from these announcements, both companies held a prize giveaway featuring GSC and hololive production merch, with some signed by YAGOO himself!
Petree Hall, the room for this panel, was at full capacity, filled to the brim with fans. The energy of the room lit up as soon as YAGOO walked in, and fans roared and chanted in welcome of the CEO.
The crowd cheered on for GSC’s CEO “Aki-san” as well, and of course for FUWAMOCO once they showed up live on display. Despite some technical issues, the crowd was thundering and supportive of all presenters.
One takeaway from this panel: hololive fans won’t hesitate to cheer, and cheer loudly at that, for the talents, COVER staff, and related parties that work to collaborate with hololive production to bring great excitement to the fandom.
Warner Bros. Japan’s Suicide Squad ISEKAI Panel featuring hololive EN talent Mori Calliope
hololive English -Myth-’s Mori Calliope was a featured guest at another panel on July 4th of Anime Expo weekend.
Warner Bros. Japan hosted a panel presenting its newest anime, “Suicide Squad ISEKAI,” and a sneak peak at an upcoming DC movie, “Batman Ninja vs. Yakuza League.”
Calli is the ED theme song artist for the “Suicide Squad ISEKAI” anime, which was announced last March and is currently premiering on streaming sites like Hulu and HBOMax.
She appeared towards the end of the panel, where a special video performance of her ED song “Go-Getters” was revealed.
Fan-organized Cosplay Meeting sponsored by HYTE
This year’s Anime Expo cosplay meeting, hosted by HoloTakeover (@HoloTakeover on X/Twitter), was extra special as it was sponsored by HYTE!
Aside from seeing all the awesome hololive cosplay, fans had the chance to win awesome prizes like HYTE goodies, hololive HYTE PC cases, hololive Nendoroids, figures, and other merchandise.
Additionally, COVER’s CEO Motoaki “YAGOO” Tanigo made another appearance this year at the cosplay gathering! Similar to his appearance at AX 2023, he was given a warm welcome and joined several cosplay picture-taking sets.
Here’s a video of YAGOO’s visit, uploaded on YouTube by @hwikkyOG:
Los Angeles Dodgers x hololive production Collaboration: hololive night at the Dodger Stadium
Our personal favorite event during this year’s Anime Expo weekend, the Los Angeles Dodgers x hololive production collaboration was certainly something to remember.
Taking place on July 5th and featuring the hololive production talents Hoshimachi Suisei, Usada Pekora, and Gawr Gura, the three girls took to Dodger Stadium to make appearances on the “DodgerVision” jumbotron, energize the crowd, and even perform a song during the 7th-Inning stretch.
In this 7th-inning stretch, Gura alone led the crowd in singing “Take Me Out to The Ball Game,” a beloved song in American baseball, which ended up trending on social media by the millions!
Here’s a quick video we took of her performance:
It may have been a surprise to those unfamiliar with hololive production, let alone VTubers or even Japanese anime culture!
Yet many joined in the fun, staying after the game to watch the special “hololive night Drone Show.” The show featured songs by Hoshimachi Suisei as well as hololive group songs like “Shiny Smily Story,” all playing in harmony with dancing drone lights in the sky.
Here’s a great view of the drone show, uploaded on YouTube by @buddermariofan:
Additionally, photo areas were placed around the stadium featuring cutouts of Suisei, Pekora, and Gura, giving fans in their normal attire, Dodger clothing, or even hololive cosplays the opportunity to take pictures.
The Dodgers ended up winning that night 8-5. Coincidentally, the Dodgers were down 4-5 before Gura’s performance in the 7th inning break. Some say it was Gura that led the Dodgers to 4 unanswered runs and the eventual win.
Maybe it’s just baseball superstition, but as a baseball fan ourselves, just the idea of that is funny to think about!
Nevertheless, one downside during this collaboration was the extremely long merch lines.
Collaboration merchandise was announced and included Dodger hats with the hololive logo and Dodger shirts with Suisei, Pekora, and Gura printed on them.
The collectible Dodger baseball cards featuring the girls were given to fans who purchased the special “hololive night” tickets online, but if fans wanted to purchase collaboration merchandise, they needed to line up for a designated purchase tent.
But these lines were incredibly long, wrapping around the stadium and even extending into the upper levels. Even after the end of the game!
We asked some fans who managed to purchase Dodgers x hololive production merchandise:
Some mentioned waiting since 5 PM, staying in line until the middle or even end of the game.
Others ballparked about 3 to 5 hours of waiting.
We also asked fans waiting in line after the “hololive night Drone Show” ended. As mentioned, lines were still wrapped around the stadium at that point.
We learned that some fans who waited the whole event were unable to purchase merchandise due to sold-out stock or forced leave by security.
If a collaboration like this happens again, this is definitely something that involved parties need to keep in mind. Shorter lines, please!
Overall, the collaboration was an outstanding success. Definitely was one hell of an in-person experience that we’re sure many fans will remember for a long time.
Tsujita Artisan Noodle x hololive English featuring art produced by OMOCAT
Another hololive event outside of the Anime Expo venue was the Tsujita Artisan Noodle collaboration with hololive English, held at the Tsujita restaurant in Arts District, Los Angeles, about a 10-minute drive from AX.
From July 1st to the 21st, a special collaboration menu is available with differing items depending on the week you dine in. Here’s their menu schedule:
1st Week (July 1st to July 7th)
Takanashi Kiara Orange Soda
Gawr Gura Chashu Tsukemen
2nd Week (July 8th to July 14th)
Ninomae Ina’nis Kukurage Mushroom Ramen
Watson Amelia Boba Milk
3rd Week (July 15th to July 21st)
Mori Calliope Chocolate Fondant
Gawr Gura Chashu Tsukemen
Customers who purchase from this menu can receive a specially designed coaster featuring the hololive EN -Myth- talents as a giveaway!
In addition to the limited-time menu and giveaway, collab merch (produced by OMOCAT) is on sale!
Unfortunately merch is all sold out at the Arts District location, but it can still be purchased on the OMOCAT website. The list of merch includes:
Tsujita x holoMyth T-shirt (link here)
Tsujita x holoMyth Bandana (link here)
Tsujita x holoMyth Tote Bag (link here)
Tsujita x holoMyth Blind Bag (link here)
Featuring random-pick wooden keychain along with corresponding sticker
Important note: This collab won’t be limited to the Arts District, LA location!
From August 5th, 2024 to September 15th, 2024, hololive production will continue this collaboration with Tsujita Artisan Noodle at the New Jersey restaurant location!
This will be occurring at the same time as AnimeNYC and hololive English 2nd Concert -Breaking Dimensions-!
Another awesome opportunity for hololive fans to drop by at the same time as hololive-related events.
Personal Afterthoughts
This was one Anime Expo I’ll remember for a long time. From the Dodgers Game to the karaoke relays at the hololive production booth, attending full-capacity panels and eating Ina’s Mushroom Ramen, and everything else in between, I had a ton of fun.
I’ve attended Anime Expo for three years now, with this year being my first time attending as a member of the press. Although I was a bit more busy this time, I enjoyed every moment of it. And I definitely felt more familiar with the venue!
Looking forward to next year!
-hololive TODAY
You can also read our ‘News’ blog on hololive production at Anime Expo 2024 here:
Several hololive production Appearances at Anime Expo
