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Anime Expo 2025 Sets New Record of Over 410,000 Attendees

The Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA), the organizer of Anime Expo, announced on Monday that this year's four-day event had a record turnstile attendance of over 410,000 attendees from more than 65 countries, an increase from last year's 407,000 recorded turnstile attendance. The event also had over US$110 million of economic impact to local hotels, restaurants, and businesses in Los Angeles.

SPJA also announced that it is actively evaluating the Los Angeles Convention Center as Anime Expo's longtime venue, following uncertainties around the venue's long-planned expansion project. The L.A. city council voted in April to push forward with the venue's expansion, and a final vote on whether to proceed with the construction is slated to occur this summer. If the project moves forward, it is estimated that work will start this September, and then pause at the end of May 2028 to give way for the 2028 Olympic games, and resume after the games with the aim of completing the expansion by March 2029.

Anime Expo 2025 was held at the Los Angeles Convention Center from July 3-6. A week before the event, several attendees took to social media to complain after experiencing issues with the event's Guest of Honor ticketing system, claiming that attendees who reserved a ticket for multiple autograph sessions had all but one of their tickets canceled due to a "violation of Autograph Policy."

Some of this year's Guests of Honor included Final Fantasy XIV director and producer and Final Fantasy XVI producer Naoki Yoshida, The Summer Hikaru Died manga creator Mokumokuren, and voice actor Kazuki Ura, among others.

Source: Anime Expo