Animanga USA 2018 was the inaugural convention of its name, and was held in Pomona California at Fairplex. Being the first year the con was kind of small, taking place in only one hall, which caused some issues ill come back to.
The headline guests of this Con however were notable. These included Angi Viper, Caleb Hyles, and Ami Yoshiko.
Angi Viper
Angi Viper is an award winning cosplayer and maker out of California, who has won several high level cosplay competitions, including the 2018 WonderCon Masquerade.
Ami Yoshiko
Ami yoshiko is a cosplayer, youtuber, and actress based out of northern california. She is a commonly invited guest to anime conventions around california. As an actress she has appeared in a few major productions, including 13 reasons why.
Ami Yoshiko’s youtube and twitter are jampacked with craziness about cosplay and anime.
Caleb Hyles
Caleb Hyles is an artist who performs covers sometimes adding his own spin on song. At Animanga 2018 his singing brought everyone to a halt when her belted out “Out There” From Disney’s Hunchback of Notre Dame.
The Costume Contest
With everything in one large expo hall the con was very loud, and the lines for food and booths would block traffic. In this hall one end was the main stage, and the other was video gaming, and between was everything else like the vendor hall and inflatable attractions like joust. Also there were cars with anime decal. The one benefit of the single hall though was that when Caleb Hyles belted it out the whole con froze for a moment.
For being a bit hectic and disorganized I can still see the potential for the future of Animanga USA.
