Anime Expo visitors were left waiting outside Friday after a surge of fans created bottlenecks and packed corridors, leading organizers to pause entry into the high-profile convention for a short period.
Friday was the second day of the sprawling four-day Japanese pop culture gathering at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
The event drew more than 410,000 attendees last year, and Friday’s heavy crowds reportedly brought the venue to capacity, prompting security teams to temporarily stop allowing more people inside.
“Fire Marshall said Anime Expo is at capacity and they’re not letting us in,” one X user commented.
“Update: after 20 minutes, they let us through,” the user later said.
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Images posted to X and Reddit captured sprawling lines wrapping around the outside of the convention center, while inside, hallways appeared crowded wall to wall.
“That is what my fear for AX always is a stampede or crush event. Because they really need more people telling people to move and stuff. Shocked, the firemarshel hasn’t stepped in yet,” one person said.
Anime Expo is a major draw for cosplayers worldwide, many of whom spend months designing detailed outfits based on beloved anime, manga and gaming characters.
Cosplay gatherings featuring characters from “Chainsaw Man” to “Naruto” are scheduled throughout the weekend.
The packed scenes came just hours after a large police presence monitored an unofficial late-night gathering of Anime Expo attendees outside the convention center following the event’s opening day.
The Los Angeles Police Department said officers were on hand as part of standard protocol due to the size of the crowd.
