On the music front, Anime Expo announced the appearance of the group Travis Japan for Anime Expo 2022. Travis Japan is part of the wide-ranging Johnny and Associates organization. First founded in 1962 under Johnny Kitagawa, Johnny and Associates (or Johnny's for short), has pioneered the evolution of male singing and dancing groups in Japan. Some of Johnny's (and Japan's) most famous groups include Arashi, KinKi Kids, SMAP, KAT-TUN, and many others. It's safe to say they know what they're doing when it comes to male groups.
Travis Japan is one of the more recent groups and was launched in 2012. Their nominal size is seven members, and currently conists of Kaito “Chaka” Miyachika, Kaito “Umi” Nakamura, Ryuya “Shime” Shimekake, Noeru “Noel” Kawashima, Shizuya “Shizu” Yoshizawa, “Genta” Matsuda, and Kaito “Machu” Matsukura.
Earlier this year, it was announced that Travis Japan would be in America for training for an undetermined amount of time. They competed in the World of Dance Championship in Orange County on 3/27/22 and were actually able to seize third place in the team division. They also won the crowd favorite and best costume awards. Not too shabby.
Travis Japan will appear at Anime Expo from 7/2 through 7/4. As of right now, their only officially announced event is on Sunday, 7/3, at 4PM. They'll have a Q&A panel in room 411. It's basically unheard of for fans to have access to this degree, so don't hesitate if you've got a burning question to ask.
I would not be surprised if they are one of the yet-to-be-announced musical performances for Anime Expo. We still have nights 1 and 3 unoccupied (night 2 having the previously announced Steve Aoki x One Piece event at the Novo, which you can find more details on here). There's also the option of an earlier daytime performance no matter what other events are announced.
Anyway, if you're a fan of male groups, give them a shot. I think you'll be surprised.
Anime Expo takes place on July 1-4. Tickets are available at https://www.showclix.com/event/ax22-general-registration-sc22r01