[Zot Con ’23] I Can’t Stop Me

Zot Con is a one day event at UC Irvine located in Orange County. The small university convention is very reminiscent of early anime conventions that used community college spaces as a place to gather in the name of fandom. The event was ran by current students and alumni of UC Irvine. The name, Zot Con, comes from the sound the university anteater mascot makes, “Zot!” The convention branded itself to UC Irvine culture, including having a convention mascot that was an anthropomorphized version of an anteater girl named Ari.

We arrived bright and early to Zot Con. Parking was not too much of an issue; there was still plenty of parking in the structure mid-day. We did some exploring around the student center. If you’re cosplaying from school related series, obviously, Zot Con is a pitch perfect place for photos. There was a lot of greenery outside that could work for almost anything – Demon Slayer, Twisted Wonderland, Genshin Impact, and Chainsaw Man cosplayers roamed around the UCI premises on a Sunday. It was also interesting seeing UCI graduates take graduation headshots throughout the student center while giving us cosplayers compliments (and requesting for selfies too!).

Our panel was called “The Hero’s Journey” with a focus on what makes anime protagonists stand out in contrast to their Western counterparts. Because we were the first panel of the day, we didn’t really have anyone in the crowd. However! We were testing some slides for an upcoming “History of Anime Conventions” panel where we were telling stories about conventions in the early 2000’s – the legend of AniMagic (Lancaster, CA), Disneygate (Anime Expo 2000 when it was at the Disneyland Hotel), AX’s Anaheim days, etc. There seemed to be gauging interest in this topic. While we didn’t present on our original topic, spilling convention tea in real life was fun.

Zot Con comprised of a panel room, performance space, artist alley, gaming room, karaoke, and a maid cafe. For $10 (non-student admission), it was a decent set up for one day of programming if you wanted to hang out with friends. For some, this was the pre-game for Fanime and Anime Riverside which were taking place the following weekend. Zot Con is also next to university square where you could get lunch. We went to Gyutan Ramen; it was a simple ramen place that played City Pop and had manga panels decorated around the restaurant. Just the right kind of vibe for Zot Con attendees!

Zot Con had a few musical performances; a few local idol groups were on stage for the event.

The artist alley was small, but there were a few noteworthy booths. I did see candles and a lot of booths selling stickers. Part of UCI’s campus culture was sharing and trading stickers of anteaters.

There was also a scavenger hunt going around.

And the main hall also had a few photo backdrops for selfies.

I also decided to check out karaoke. The wait wasn’t too long to get on stage and sing.

Basically, Zot Con 2023 is a small, chill event. It’s a nice place for cosplay photos. Sundays at UCI are quiet; you don’t get weird looks from normies. Overall, it’s a good hang out con if you have time right before Fanime or Anime Riverside. Thank you again, Zot Con, for the opportunity to present.