Bringing a Purikura-Inspired Enclosed Photo Booth Experience to Crunchyroll’s Anime Press Mixer
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When the Crunchyroll team reached out to us again, we already knew it was going to be another incredible activation. This time, they were hosting a Valentine’s Day and Anime-themed Press Mixer & Brunch at The Delphi Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles for the release of several highly anticipated shows, including Hell’s Paradise Season 2, Hana-Kimi, Frieren Season 2, and You & I Are Polar Opposites.
From the start, Crunchyroll wanted this experience to feel immersive, interactive, and heavily inspired by the popular Japanese-style Purikura photo booth experience. Their vision was to bring that concept to America while incorporating the themes and visuals of the featured anime shows into every step of the guest journey.
This wasn’t just about providing an enclosed photo booth - it was about building an activation that felt playful, personalized, and true to anime culture, while still fitting seamlessly into the elevated, Valentine-inspired setting.
Key Goals That Shaped the Experience
After connecting with their team, there were a few key goals we needed to hit:
Create an enclosed experience inspired by Japanese-style photo booths (Purikura)
Fully immerse guests into the four different anime shows being promoted
Give guests the ability to customize and personalize their prints in a creative way
Everything we built stemmed from those three ideas.
Building Our Take on the Purikura Photo Booth Experience
To bring the concept to life, we introduced our white enclosed photo booth, which fit perfectly within the Valentine-inspired color palette of pinks, reds, and whites. The enclosed structure instantly created a more intimate and immersive environment while helping replicate the feel of a traditional Purikura booth experience.
Inside the booth, our team programmed the experience so guests could select from multiple templates themed around each featured anime show. Each show included 2-4 custom-designed layouts, ranging from 2x6 strips to 4x6 prints, allowing guests to choose the format and style they connected with most.
To stay true to the Japanese Purikura style, We also incorporated several anime-inspired beauty effects, including skin smoothing and the signature enlarged anime-eye look, giving guests that signature, polished anime-inspired look while still keeping it natural and flattering.
Once they selected their template, the experience became even more interactive.
After selecting their template, guests could then use our background removal technology to choose from multiple digital backdrops themed around the event, the featured shows, and Crunchyroll’s overall branding. This added another layer of personalization and helped bring each concept to life in a way that felt dynamic and engaging.
But what really elevated this activation - and stayed true to the Purikura inspiration - was what happened after the photo was taken.
A Fully Interactive Sharing Station
Instead of simply receiving a print, guests proceeded to a custom sharing and editing station, where they could digitally apply anime-inspired stickers and props, draw on their photos, and fully customize their final design. This step turned the experience into something much more hands-on. Guests weren’t just receiving a photo-they were actively creating it.
This transformed the activation from a simple photo moment into a creative, hands-on experience where guests became part of the design process themselves.
Once finalized, the final step was simple: print and go. Guests printed their customized keepsakes and walked away with something that felt uniquely theirs while still being fully aligned with Crunchyroll’s branding and the anime shows being promoted.
What Made This Activation Stand Out
It wasn’t just a photo booth - it was a fully immersive, Purikura-inspired activation that combined customization, interactivity, and intentional design from start to finish.
From stepping inside the enclosed booth, to choosing templates and anime-inspired filters, to decorating their final print at the sharing station, every part of the guest journey was designed to keep attendees engaged and immersed in the experience.
We always say the best activations are the ones where guests don’t need to be told to participate, they naturally want to. And this was exactly that.
We absolutely love working with Crunchyroll because they truly understand how to create experiences that connect with their audience in a creative and memorable way.
And honestly, we can’t wait to see what we build together next.
