You’re probably aware by now but all the big spring and summer nerd events have been shelved for next year. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, for the first time since their inception, we’ll be going without the likes of Comiket, Anime Expo, and even the Hollywood A-List attended San Diego Comic-Con. Not just the big shows either, but a lot of the smaller cons and events in Japan, The United States, and elsewhere have either been pushed back or forgone for next year in the name of safety. Some small relief to be had though; the fine folks at Anime Lockdown have come up with the idea of a streaming anime con complete with guests, industry panels, and DJs, and it’s going down this weekend.
Every few days, Anime Lockdown announces yet another guest or industry partner giving this online event some legitimacy. Like an IRL anime con, the programming includes a whole mix of guest, industry, and fan-run events. You have Veronica Taylor the original voice of Ash Ketchum in attendance, industry reports from Discotek and Nozomi Entertainment, and even a digital version of the cult classic Anime Burger Time panel which I can first-hand guarantee is worth your time. It’s going on for three days too so consider setting some of your quarantine time aside to give Anime Lockdown a chance.
While this event mostly pertains to US audiences and mostly aims to simulate a western Anime Con experience, we feel like what Anime Lockdown is trying to do is a worth-while and interesting effort in these times. We’ve seen a lot of streaming live music events coming from both sides of the pacific and seeing that groundwork scaled up to an approximated con, involving a plethora of different people and types of content, is some community-minded outside the box thinking we can get behind. We’re sure we’ll see more in this vein soon
You can catch Anime Lockdown on the net on May 1 – 3.