Recap of Yaoi Expo 2019

BURBANK, CA (April 19-21, 2019) - This year, Yaoi Expo opened up in Southern California to a more mature audience with an age restriction of 18+ to attend. Taking over the place of YaoiCon, which has unfortunately been on a hiatus; it gave attendees of a more older generation all that Boy Love action they had been missing. Yaoi Expo was held at the beautiful and spacious Los Angeles Burbank Marriott Hotel and Convention Center. The convention is coincidentally ran by the same organization who host Anime California and Hentai Con.

The Exhibit Hall and Artist Alley had an array of goods and companies like Yaoi Revolution; a renown Boy Love publishing house, and the popular food truck Okamoto Kitchen, who provided fresh bentos to eat! Artist Alley also held different arrays of artwork from SFW to NSFW of course [Safe for Work/Not safe for work].

©Photo courtesy of Jellyfish Tears

Some of our favorite artists such as calenthee (https://twitter.com/calenthee?lang=en) and yova (https://www.deviantart.com/tomoji) were in attendance with shibari inspired charms, and plenty of dakimakura of your favorite husbands in tow.

©Photo courtesy of Jellyfish Tears

During the convention, you were able to attend events like shibari demonstrations, butler cafes, manga lounges, and dating games. BL [Boy Love] Bingo is always a popular super high energy display with tons of entertainment and topped of with their beautiful lineup of boys. They hold an auction and attendees are able to spend a couple hours with a lovely boy by themselves for the right price. Fan panels like DMMD Truth and Dare, or guest panels featuring cosplayer Phunamation were also popular amongst the attendees.

Since YaoiCon had announced its sabbatical with the prospects of returning in the Fall of 2019; there has been a lack of more adult centered anime conventions. This convention allowed its attendees who enjoy more risque content to have a breath of fresh air. We cannot wait to see how this convention is going to grow with this year being its first year, and how everyone will come together to make it a hopefully fruitful convention in the future!