Yes, Anime Central, of course!
There are many cons we attended in 2018 but none compared to the organization and professionalism at Anime Central (ACEN). As far as cons go, we have been to many and we would recommend quite a few. As far as Anime goes. You may not find better.
Let’s start with the attendees. The fans are amazing. Admittedly, the members of the team that attended is not the most up-to-date on all thing’s anime, so there were somethings that had sparked our curiosity and all we had to do to know more was to ask any fan walking by. The passion to share knowledge, or was welcomed and went above and beyond with detail so we never felt left out.
Cosplay was everywhere and it was extremely well done. Creative and exact. As many a con-goer, the big attraction is the cosplay and this con did not disappoint. There were so many pieces that left us in awe and we wish we could show you all of what we saw. Below are a few examples of the awesome we saw:
In addition to the awesome fans, the press members were amazing as well. We met with several, one of which, a member of the Crunchyroll team…He goes by Professor Otaku
He could not have been more helpful to our team. It was our first live in-person interview panel at this con and so, we wanted to do everything, perfectly. It as simple. He told us to follow his lead and we would be ok, but, would we? This all seemed a bit more intimidating than we thought it would be. However, The Professor lead the way and the interview was flawless.
We fell in love with artist alley, if we had one critisism here, it would be to expand the space. It is a popular area, and rightfully so. Extra elbow room would be amazing here.
One more thing that we found, unexpectedly, was the fully stocked game room with a ton of games, old and new! It was a true treat to the gamers on our team, as well as the attendees.
If you decide to attend ACEN (and you should) check out this hidden gem on the second level. It is well worth the escalator ride up.
All in all, the organizers of ACEN are amazing, the staff, the fans, the panels, the vendors. It is well rounded and an enjoyable experience. We cannot recommend this con enough. Check it out, get some tickets and get your anime on! https://www.acen.org/