Crunchyroll is a multimedia company that streams anime and manga to international audiences. There are multiple premium tiers with special features in each with its own unique perks. The service also has a yearly fan-voted award show, and anime-related news, and has become a mobile game developer in recent years. On top of this, of course, is the yearly Crunchyroll Expo that runs from August 5th-7th in San Jose, California; it’s an event for anime, manga, v-tuber, and cosplay fans to come together for unique experiences within their interests. This article will focus on the highlights of the event, from the most exciting exclusive events to the highly anticipated staff panels, and everything in between.

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Exclusive Anime Premieres

One of the most exciting things about the Crunchyroll Expo each year are the exclusive anime premieres. Some anime have never been seen by anyone before, and some are the first premiere outside of Japan. Either way, attending the Crunchyroll Expo in person is the only way to see them before their scheduled release date.

The very first premiere is for Mob Psycho 100 III, the highly-anticipated third season of the beloved shounen comedy. It is a world premiere of the first two episodes that will begin on Friday, and includes a Q&A hosted by Studio BONES’s president Masahiko Minami. Mob Psycho 100 III’s Q&A with Masahiko Minami will be streamed online, however, the episode premieres will remain exclusive to those attending in person.

The other Friday premieres include the first episode of the soccer anime Blue Lock, and the English release of a Genshin Impact Cast Game Club episode. The rest of the premieres, which are all on Saturday, include the English release of Dragon Ball Super: SUPER HERO with an attached panel, the first two episodes of In/Spectre Season Two and a panel with Kotoko’s voice actress Akari Kito, a special episode of romantic comedy TONIKAWA, the first episode of Do It Yourself, the hololive production Concert Digest Video, and the first four episodes of Kaina of the Great Snow Sea World.

Other Panels

There is a large variety of panels this year. There is a slew of Nerds Know entertainment panels, which are known to feature competitions and audience participation, such as Waifu Madness and Toonami Rewind: The Era That Saved Anime. There are also a variety of cosplay panels, such as I Was Transported To An Anime Convention But Now I Don’t Know What To Wear! (Aka Intro to Cosplay 101) and Cosplay Ergonomics. And of course, there are a few game show-style panels such as Taboo! Game Show: Anime Edition and discussion panels such as Why Japan is a Pop Culture Superpower.

On top of all of this, there are a slew of Q&A panels. Along with the panels mentioned in the previous section, there is another Q&A video with Misahiko Minami for Bungo Stray Dogs along with producer Chiaki Kurakane, a panel with English cast members of Jujutsu Kaisen, and a panel with the Spy x Family English cast members, among many others.

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One of the more exciting panels is for the upcoming Chainsaw Man anime adaptation. The panel will be hosted by Makoto Kimura, the Executive Director and Rights Management Director of MAPPA, as well as the CEO of Mappa, Manabu Ohtsuka. Not only will there be more updates for the upcoming series, but some behind the scenes exclusive content.

Exclusive hololive Content

The unique experiences at Crunchyroll Expo this year will be the hololive meetup selection, called holoMeet events. These will be meetups for fans to meet their favorite hololive v-tubers ‘in-person’, and if it is similar to previous meetups will be a screen broadcasting the v-tuber’s persona, as they do in gaming live streams that v-tubers are known for.

The first meetup features Kureiji Ollie, a zombie v-tuber from hololive Indonesia, and Hakos Baelz, a mouse-themed v-tuber from hololive English. The next meetup features Waston Amelia, a Sherlock-themed v-tuber from hololive English, and Gawar Gura, a shark-themed v-tuber from hololive English. The final meetup features Ninomae Ina’nis, a prestiess v-tuber of hololive English, and Takanashi Kiara, a pheonix-themed v-tuber from hololive English. All of these v-tuber meetups will also be streamed online.

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Source: Crunchyroll