Online anime festival time next month. Anime Expo isn't truly dead, it lives on in an era with Twitch and streaming and sometimes shoddy Internet. In no way will it be the same, (thank G-d you don't have to deal with the smell), but this time it'll be on your phone, tablet and computer screen this July.
Each organization has dealt with online streaming to some capacity. Anime Expo has been on Twitch the last couple of years anyway. So other than, we assume, many technical fail-ups by paid volunteers or bandwidth issues, it'll be fairly easy to pull-off each online fest below.
It's just that, there's no bells and whistles. It's just streaming panels. There's, at this time, no announced gaming together, special website to register for perks or achievements or online stickers.It's pretty low-key stuff. Nothing that's gonna blow you out of the water. And details on panels and such are still scarce.
Oh, and it's totally weird Funimation and Aniplex aren't working with Anime Expo, but went on their own separate online festivals. It be easier if they pulled resources to pull off one big online convention together.
Wait...Sony owns both Funimation and Aniplex, does someone want to tell them that? Weird.
Way to promote togetherness in the industry guys.
So let's go over them
Aniplex Online Fest
July 4-5
on Youtube
We get "talk shows with the staff and cast from popular anime, special
appearances and past live shows from music artists, and
behind-the-scenes stories from the anime industry!"
*Aniplex had a small festival in Little Tokyo a few years back that we had some fun at. We think they can handle some simple streaming.
FunimationCon
July 3-4
This one is "A two-day stream of cosplay meetups, industry panels, Q&A sessions, and more."
Anime Expo Lite
July 3-4
It's not a diet soda.
"Anime Expo Lite will feature content from industry partners such as Bushiroad, Crunchyroll, Pony Canyon, VIZ Media, and more! More details will be announced in the coming weeks."
So, essentially anyone who didn't join the other festivals is in this one.