CharaExpo 2019 takes place in a little more than a month and and Bushiroad has been kicking up a storm with their announcements. CharaExpo is Bushiroad's spotlight convention for a variety of their franchises like BanG Dream, Cardfight Vanguard, Revue Starlight, and New Japan Pro Wrestling. The event takes place at the Anaheim Convention Center on December 7-8.
Tickets are $30 for the whole weekend and $17 per day single. At the door prices raise to $20 each. One of the reasons Bushiroad is able to bring as many top-name talents is because they are the source company for many of these series and franchises. The value for the price is on an unheard of basis nowadays so if you're interested in any of Bushiroad's many series you should make an effort to attend.
BanG Dream takes the top billing with two concerts and many other guests and events. From BanG Dream the bands Roselia (day 1's concert) and RAISE A SUILEN will have concerts. Aimi (voice of Kasumi Toyama) and Sae Otsuka (voice of Tae Hanazono) from the band Poppin Party will be in attendance as well. Poppin Party will not perform a full concert as some of the members are unfortunately already booked. Aimi and Sae will have a special talk show and mini acoustic live though!
For the Roselia and RAISE A SUILEN concerts if you want a seat you'll have to buy some merch from the Bushiroad booth. $30 gets you a seated ticket. For that matter if you want autographs then spend more at the Bushiroad booth. In lieu of the seated ticket you can get an autograph ticket, or if you spend $60 you'll get both. Every $30 (independent to the seated concert ticket and the autograph ticket) gets you a raffle ticket for special autographed goods and I'm not sure there is a limit on those. For the whales out there that's your chance to shine!
In addition to the concerts BanG Dream and Round One arcades are having a special card promo at both CharaExpo itself and arcades across America. Pick up a special game card at the Round One booth at CharaExpo and then visit any Round One arcade in the US. You'll get a BanG Dream sticker and another Round One card! There will also be a BanG Dream-themed Weiss Schwarz tournament.
For those of you more cosplay inclined there will be both a masquerade and a BanG Dream! cosplay contest. Risa Light from Cherry-Jelly Productions (who has helped us at t-ono a few times in the past!) will be on hand to judge. The grand prize is a Yukina limited pearl version figure! Entry is available until 11/10 at 1200 hours. Those who pass the first phase of judging will be invited to compete at CharaExpo itself. Please visit http://bit.ly/CharaExpo2019Cosplay to apply!
For those of you were aren't cosplay-inclined (like myself) you can also buy the figure outright for $150 at the Bushiroad merch booth.
Cardfight Vanguard's Izumi Kitta (voice of Misaki Tokura) will be in attendance. Bushiroad will also release some CharaExpo-exclusive cards like the Memoir of Vanguard Koshien set. Revue Starlight's Hinata Sato (voice of Junna Hoshimi) will also be at CharaExpo. The Revue Starlight and BanG Dream themed celebration "Garuparty!" will be present at CharaExpo. Bushiroad hasn't announced too much about what this one entails but it should be a fun experience. Singer Nana Tanimura will be the main stage MC.
From New Japan Pro Wrestling we'll have Katsuyori Shibata, Alex Coughlin, Karl Fredericks, Clark Conners, Rocky Romero, Ryusuke Taguchi, El Desperado, Taiji Ishimori, and Yoshinobu Kanemaru on display both in and out of the ring. NJPW is moving to open their US operations later this month and the Los Angeles training dojo is just part of that equation. The CharaExpo event is designated "Lion's Break: Project 2" and builds upon last year's "Lion's Break." Likewise Japan's female pro-wrestling promotion STARDOM will have Mayu Iwatani, Tam Nakano, Sumie Sakai, and Nicole Savoy exhibiting at CharaExpo.
If you're arriving in the LA area early and are looking for other things to do dir en grey will be playing at the Regent Theater on Thursday 12/5 and The Hu on Friday 12/6 in Pomona.
For more information please visit https://www.facebook.com/CharaExpoUSA/ or https://www.charaexpo-usa.com/
Tickets are available online directly at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/charaexpo-usa-2019-tickets-61886810115 or in certain physical stores (mainly in Southern California). A list of stores is available at https://www.charaexpo-usa.com/ticketing