Isekai Empire brings anime to Colton

Attendees gathered on October 15 in Colton to attend the first Isekai Empire, an anime event
held in Colton on Via Lata Street.

Despite showers throughout the day, the event was a success with custom anime designed
vehicles lining the perimeter of the grounds, children trick or treating at vendor booths, food
vendors with lines of customers and full tables at the beer garden.

With plenty of cosplayers walking the grounds being stopped for photos, it was clear that seeing characters brought to life was one of the main attractions of the event.
Among the cosplayers was Jacob Gomez, who cosplayed as Obanai Iguro of Demon Slayer.
For Gomez, the main appeal of anime events is the opportunity to meet new people.

“That’s how I met my cosplay friends, I met them through cosplay events and conventions, it’s a good place to make friends,” Gomez said.

While anime has turned into an acceptable form of media to enjoy, most adults can remember a time when being an open enthusiast of anime could subject you to bullying.
Jacob Loulakis, owner of Jake’s Pins and one of the over 25 vendors at Isekai Empire,
remembers this time in his life.

“I would go to Anime Expo in Los Angeles and I would go on the bus hiding my cosplay because I was worried of being bullied,” Loulakis said. “Now when you’re driving down the street everyone has anime stickers on their car, I love it.”

This acceptance of anime now offers creators like Loulakis the opportunity to turn their passions into full time careers. Loulakis sells apparel, pins, blankets, and key chains featuring his spin on Pokemon. Some of his products include the characters designed as loteria cards on pins or as paletas on key chains. These designs give a fresh take on the universally adored Pokemon characters, but are also a celebration of Latino culture for Loulakis.

“I like to incorporate a lot of my upbringing and growing up in east Los Angeles into my art,”
Loulakis said.

Plenty of the artists at the event create anime merchandise with their own spin. Some designed
magazine covers and ID badges featuring characters, 3D printed custom anime figurines and
others designed license plate frames featuring the eyes and color schemes of characters.
One of the most successful booths of the night was Blood Artisan, a company that sells
merchandise featuring characters that are designed to be heavily tattooed.

The owner of Blood Artisan, Chris Sanchez, is also one of the organizers of the event.
Sanchez was motivated to create the event to offer a close to home opportunity to celebrate
anime.

“I got tired of only seeing events in Los Angeles and Orange County,” Sanchez said. “I feel like
there’s a lot of people here that would love to come to these types of events but just the drive
alone would prevent them from attending.”

As the event carried on attendees took part in a scavenger hunt, had dance offs in front of the DJ booth, and purchased sweaters featuring their favorite characters. Isekai Empire made it clear that there is a community of anime fans in the Inland Empire, and they are eager to support local events.