Los Angeles is a pretty weird city, but it’s not every day you walk downtown to find Goku and Sailor Moon waiting at the crosswalk. Before you know it, multitudes of otaku (anime fanatics) are filling the streets. Strangers to the city might be perplexed, but for local Angelinos, the geek forecast is always reliable. 

This Fourth of July weekend, thousands of anime faithful disregarded the normal American traditions of cracking open a beer and firing up the grill. Instead, they made their annual pilgrimage to the Los Angeles Convention Center for Anime Expo. It's considered the largest celebration of Japanese pop culture in North America, and this year was its largest yet: over 200,000 attendees filled up the exhibit halls and lined up for hours to get the latest scoop from animation industry panels.

There was plenty to do at this year’s four-day convention, including the usual cosplaying, dancing, gaming competitions, karaoke, maid cafes and exclusive announcements sharing the latest news in anime and manga. In addition, the Anisong World Matsuri introduced a brand-new music festival featuring some of the best performers straight from Japan.

If there's one thing that makes Anime Expo unique, it might be its vibrant, strange yet undeniably cute fan culture. Walking through the exhibit hall is like walking through the heart of Harajuku in Japan. Everywhere you turn, a colorful explosion of kawaii surrounds you. Pikachu, Hello Kitty, Gudetama, and the simple-yet-cute-as-hell Rilakkuma bear are just waiting for your embrace—and your wallet.

Above all, Anime Expo is the crème de la crème for people watching. Cosplaying has no boundaries: virtually every demographic participated this year by dressing up as their favorite characters from a wide spectrum of entertainment. From the beloved Game of Thrones' hero Jon Snow to the entire pirate army of popular anime One Piece, you were guaranteed to find characters you admired for a quick photo opportunity.

Although Comic-Con is just around the corner, Anime Expo seems to be growing it's own breed of con-culture.

Our photographer Kevin Lara spent his weekend at the expo, snapping photos along the way. Take a look at the cute, weird and fabulous scenes that make Anime Expo one of LA's most exciting geek treasures in our gallery below.