This year at Anime Expo there were lots of people coming together to celebrate the things they love, and there was one in particular that demanded to be seen and heard. They also became a spot to see and spend time with while people were experiencing Anime Expo.
Love and Deepspace (by Infold Games), returned to con for their second year as an exhibitor. This was a huge fan favorite last year with big crowds at all open hours of the convention. To change things up this year to help with the amount of fans flocking to their booth, they set up reservation times and lotteries for people wanting to get photos and interactions with the special cosplayers they had flown in. This seemed to be a great idea to help with crowds and scalpers trying to grab free merch and reselling it for insane prices, but not actually playing or loving the game.
Now, as Anime Expo took place July 2-5 this year. Infold had made a huge announcement a few days before the convention was set to start, they were going to be adding another love interest (LI) to the game (making the total six). Immediately afterwards, there was a mixed bag of upset and excited fans, with a lot just wanting to see the new LI before making any final judgments (but still being fine with the new LI). The upset fans though were very loud with their dislike to the point that the company-this time, only two days before the convention was set to start and after revealing their booth set up/merch reveal/who you could interact with and freebies- they canceled the new love interest and any other one that could come in the future.
How does this come back around to the start of this article? Well, one fan in particular took it upon herself to help the community in its grief by creating an Oshikatsu display. This was basically a shrine to the canceled character, Valko. A place where fans of Love and Deepspace could come and contribute with things they have made, bought, to leave notes (pens,tape, and sticky notes were provided, or just to see and read everything else people had added. It was a touching scene as over the four days people tended to congregate in this section, outside of the main South Hall entrance (off to the side, toward the middle area for the convention) in the tree covered area. The Oshikatsu started at one tree and quickly overfilled with offerings, notes, hand made goodies, and much more. So much more that it spread to another tree close by, which also filled up as well by the final hour of the convention on day four.
The Oshikatsu became even more popular with the Love and Deepspace cosplay meet up taking place right next to it, and everyone coming over to take photos and contribute. Many took the time to write notes and letters in one of the many notebooks being passed around at the display, all were very sweet or very funny. The fans love their memes, even when they are sad. Lots of people hanging around the shrine, cosplayers, fans, and just people there for support also made little trinkets to hand out throughout the weekend to anyone at the display. Lots of Valko buttons, missing posters, little charms, 3D printed dog biscuits, and stickers. It was a very touching scene whenever I went to visit and see how the progression of the Oshikatsu was going (I made sure to visit at least once a day to read some of the notes added).
I also got a chance to talk with @Kurinaaaaaa (instagram), the person behind setting up the Oshikatsu and below is some of our main interview points, the full interview can be listened to on @ladslunch (Spotify and Apple Music/podcast)
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Ali: I am live from Anime Expo 2026. I’m currently at the Valko Shrine with the host who set it all up. If you want to introduce yourself.
Kurinaaaaaa: Hi, my name is Karina and I’m the one who set up the Valko Oshikatsu display.
Ali: Yeah, and tell us about it. Like, why did you have this idea just because we are all so sad?
Kurinaaaaaa: Yeah. So basically, I think like me and many other fans.
When I woke up in the morning and I heard the news that Infold decided to cancel him and not do any more love interests and basically was just like retcon everything that, you know, that they just published. And I was just devastated. And I felt like I needed to contribute to the community to just make my voice be heard and, you know, show some love that we love Valko and we want him back. So I thought that maybe doing a shrine like this would be, you know, one way to create a physical space where the fans can meet and just, awareness for Valko as well.
Ali: So what have been some of your favorite interactions over the four days? Because now we’re on the last day and it’s pretty crazy here.
Kurinaaaaaa: Honestly, I’ve been loving every single time I come back to the shrine, and so many people have just contributed to it. And it’s grown, honestly. We started off with one tiny tree over here, and now we have gone to even a second tree, and just watching it every single day grow and grow, it just warms my heart. And also I’ve been talking to a lot of fans and just you know, where were they when the Valko got cancelled, but also what the lads community means to them. Just hearing all of their stories and how, you know, they feel sad about what’s going on and, you know, wanting to know, you know, how they can help and being in a space that they could talk to other fans is just so heartwarming. And that’s honestly been like such a fun experience for me. I think, like this is honestly one of the best AX just because I’ve been talking to so many people about this.
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This was just a tiny bit of our interview as I stated before, I wish I could share the whole transcript but then this would be a million more pages. As I said above, you can find the full audio of this interview on @LadsLunch (spotify and apple music/podcasts).
Since Anime Expo and this grand display of community and love, many global fans have been making multiple donations to many causes and urging others to as well. Doing this in the name of Valko, and spending money for these great causes instead of spending money in the game. These peaceful displays are making waves among the community and helping it to stand strong during their “blackout” protest of the game (not spending money in the game, not pulling for current or upcoming banners for their love interests and not logging into the game). In the hopes that this will send a message to Infold (the company who makes the game), and hopefully to get a statement from them with a (hopeful) update on Valko (and him possibly coming back to the game). Below I have shared a link to a google document with all the places fans can donate to created by a fan on Twitter (X) HERE.
Were you at Anime Expo? What were your highlights? Feel free to leave a comment below or chat with us on Threads at @theconventioncollective, or Bluesky at @theconcollective.bsky.social
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