Largest Anime Streaming Service Crunchyroll Announces Its First Convention

SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - Feb 9, 2017) - Crunchyroll, Inc., the leading global destination and platform for anime and manga, today announced the first-ever Crunchyroll Expo, an extraordinary anime event that will be held on August 25-27, 2017 at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Fans are invited to sign up at www.crunchyrollexpo.com for more information, including when tickets go on sale.

Crunchyroll Expo will present three jam-packed days of anime, manga, games, cosplay, and more. Fans can expect everything they already love about Crunchyroll's appearances at past conventions -- unique exhibits, immersive activations, and access to massive crowds of Japanese and American guests. The event will also feature a host of special events, premieres, and interactive features focused around anime pop culture, the latest content coming out of Japan, and ways for fans to connect with each other to share their passion for anime. In addition to anime, Crunchyroll will bring together key partners, exhibitors, and influencers from the video game, manga, and cosplay worlds to keep fans excited and engaged the whole weekend.

"Crunchyroll has always invested in anime conventions. It's the best way to interact with our biggest fans, and with Crunchyroll Expo, we're taking the best aspects of con-life and going next-level," said Dallas Middaugh, head of events at Crunchyroll. "Crunchyroll has a special relationship with our fans and we're uniquely positioned to give back to those fans with an incredible experience."

With over one million paid subscribers, 20 million registered users, and 800 titles, Crunchyroll is the largest online home for anime. Collectively, fans spend billions of minutes per month on the platform viewing anime content, enjoying manga, participating in discussions, and catching up on the latest Japanese pop culture news. Crunchyroll Expo will give fans a new opportunity to interact with the Crunchyroll brand and content they love.

Supporting Crunchyroll in this exciting endeavor will be LeftField Media. "At LeftField Media, we know fans," said Greg Topalian, founder of the company. "Our team has built pop culture events around the world, and our goal with all of them is to create an environment where fans can be themselves and bond with others over shared enthusiasm. We bring this same goal to what we're helping to create at Crunchyroll Expo. By combining our planning expertise with Crunchyroll's anime knowledge, we know we'll create something anime fans will be excited about for years to come."

Crunchyroll Expo will launch in the bright, modern Santa Clara Convention Center, a robust event venue with 100,000 square feet of exhibit space and ample facilities for panels, premieres, screenings, and special events. Santa Clara itself, located in Northern California, is in the heart of Silicon Valley and a short distance from Crunchyroll's headquarters in San Francisco.

About Crunchyroll
Crunchyroll is the official destination for the largest and latest lineup of anime as well as popular drama and manga. Crunchyroll brings hit shows like Naruto Shippuden, Attack on Titan, and One Piece to millions of viewers around the world and allows them to purchase related merchandise through its online store. Through its app on game consoles, set-top boxes, mobile devices and more, Crunchyroll delivers content from leading Asian media producers directly to viewers translated professionally in multiple languages. The service is available for free or through a premium offering that allows users to watch ad-free with access to simulcasts -- top series available immediately after Japanese broadcast. Crunchyroll's majority investor is Otter Media, a joint venture between AT&T and The Chernin Group. Crunchyroll has offices in San Francisco and Tokyo, and is a member of the Association of Japanese Animations (AJA).

About LeftField Media
LeftField Media, LLC is an events company focused on developing face-to-face events in a range of communities rooted in contemporary culture and shared passion. LeftField was formed in 2014 by Greg Topalian (President, LeftField Media) and is now owned by Topalian and Clarion Events Ltd. With a keen sense of the ever-evolving needs of businesses and their consumers as well as new opportunities created by change, LeftField takes a clean slate approach to business. LeftField's portfolio includes Play Fair (playfairny.com), a family-focused celebration of toys and play built with the Toy Industry Association; Awesome Con (awesomecon.com), Washington DC's Comic Con; Anime NYC (animenyc.com), a Japanese pop culture festival presented by Crunchyroll; AXPONA (axpona.com), a hi-fi audio convention in partnership with JD Events; and The Classic Auto Show (theclassicautoshow.com), a classic and vintage auto show launched in Los Angeles. LeftField Media is headquartered in historic South Norwalk, CT (leftfieldmedia.com).