Check out our complete coverage of San Diego Comic-Con and Anime Expo. Read Liz Ohanesian's story "Ever Get the Feeling You've Been Conned? The Search for Authenticity at Comic-Con 2010."

For us Southern California geeks, there is no shortage of fan conventions at our disposal. Our two biggies, though, are Anime Expo and San Diego Comic-Con International. Both draw over 100,000 attendees and feature a heavy industry presence, making them the events to hear breaking news regarding your fandom of choice.

Shannon Cottrell

​ Anime Expo takes place annually every Fourth of July weekend at the Los Angeles Convention Center and is a genre-specific event, focusing on anime and manga with some Japanese fashion and popular music added to the mix. Comic-Con is a multimedia, multi-genre extravaganza held at the San Diego Convention Center in late July. They're very different conventions, but because of both the size and the timing, they consume us every July. Here's our comparison.

More >>

Check out more photos in "Anime Expo 2010: Thursday, Day One," "Anime Expo 2010: Friday, Day Two," and "Anime Expo 2010: Saturday, Day Three."

For Fourth of July weekend, tens of thousands of anime fans headed downtown to the Los Angeles Convention Center for Anime Expo. Many of them were in cosplay.

While series like Naruto, Bleach and One Piece spawned the most cosplays, again, there was a good amount of variety inside the convention center. New series were represented, along with video game characters, musicians and live action movies. We've compiled a few of the most memorable below.

10. Hetalia

Shannon Cottrell

​
At Anime Expo, there are always one or two newer series that dominate the convention floor. Last year, it was Black Butler. This year, the honors go to Hetalia, a satire based on world history, and one other that's mentioned elsewhere on this list. Read more in "'Hetalia' Draws Legions of Fans at Anime Expo."

More >>

Check out more photos in "Anime Expo 2010: Thursday, Day One," "Anime Expo 2010: Friday, Day Two," and "Anime Expo 2010: Saturday, Day Three."

Hetalia was everywhere at this year's Anime Expo, from cosplay gatherings to artist alley booths to panel sessions. A satire that started out as a web comic and soon became a series of five-minute anime episodes, this relatively new franchise is a phenomenon within the fandom. When Funimation announced at its Friday evening preview panel that they would be releasing the first season of Hetalia: Axis Powers on DVD this September, screams erupted across the room. The following day, a panel called "Hetalia History" drew a capacity crowd filled with cosplayers.

Shannon Cottrell

​

More >>

Check out more photos in "Anime Expo 2010: Thursday, Day One," "Anime Expo 2010: Friday, Day Two," and "Anime Expo 2010: Saturday, Day Three."

Saturday morning at Viz Media's Anime Expo panel, the manga and anime company reiterated an earlier convention announcement that Adult Swim will begin airing more episodes of Bleach, the anime responsible for many an AX cosplay, on August 28. The popular series will continue beginning with Episode 168.

Shannon Cottrell

​

More >>

Check out photos from Anime Expo in Shannon Cottrell's slideshows "Anime Expo 2010: Thursday, Day One" and "Anime Expo 2010: Friday, Day Two."

One of our favorite cosplays from Anime Expo (so far) isn't an anime character. It's Andrew W.K., musician and host of Destroy Build Destroy.

Shannon Cottrell

Andrew W.K. cosplay at Anime Expo

​

More >>

Check out photos from Anime Expo in Shannon Cottrell's slideshows "Anime Expo 2010: Thursday, Day One" and "Anime Expo 2010: Friday, Day Two."

Trigun: Badlands Rumble will make its English subtitled premiere Saturday at Anime Expo, Funimation representatives announced Friday at the convention. The premiere will take place at 4 p.m. in the Film Room of Los Angeles Convention Center.

Shannon Cottrell

Trigun cosplay, Vash the Stampede

​

More >>

Representatives of Geneon Universal, formerly Geneon Entertainment, made an appearance at Anime Expo Friday morning to announce some of its latest titles, include a new season of Hellsing and the movie Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works, Black Lagoon: Roberta's Blood Trail and zombie series Highschool of the Dead.

Shannon Cottrell

Hellsing is coming back

​

More >>

Early Thursday afternoon, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa appeared at Anime Expo to announce that the annual mega-event will return to Los Angeles Convention Center through 2013.

Shannon Cottrell

​

More >>

Going to Anime Expo for the first time this year? If so, prepare yourself for the onslaught of cosplays. Even a diehard anime-watcher could get stumped trying to identify every character on the convention hall floor. With that in mind, we created a small sample of the titles you're likely to see represented this weekend.

Shannon Cottrell

Alucard from Hellsing

​

More >>