What a weekend! Anime Central has always been a great event for the Scarlet Rhapsody team. Though we are based out in Southern California, it is the out of state conventions such as Anime Central that make the trip across the Mississippi River well worth it. There are so many things that hit the mark at this convention. Anime Central is definitely a convention that we always try to attend every year. Each year keeps getting better and better.

What is to be respected about Anime Central is the friendly atmosphere that California conventions had lost. At Anime Central, you can virtually talk to anyone. Cosplay is a great ice breaker. Most of the cosplayers dress up from series that they enjoy and love, as the hobby should be. It is not for attention, but for the sake of expressing creativity to the highest level. I appreciated the diversity of cosplayers. This included different mediums. Every time I attend Anime Central, there seems to be a growing “Dr. Who” fandom present. Though people had complained about Disney and sci fi cosplay at Anime Central, this really adds flavor and variety to the cosplay scene. It was refreshing to finally see a good mix of shounen, shoujo, old school, new school, etc cosplay at Anime Central. Keep up the good work, everyone!

The dealer’s hall was pretty impressive, but I felt that there was a lack of DVD boxsets and there were more fashion booths than anime booths. I understand that the rave culture is very much part of Anime Central, but it would be nice to see more anime dealers – particularly those that sell DVDs and domestic home media. I enjoy meeting with the wig dealers. This market has grown in the past year. The number of wig dealers doubled within the past year. I was happy to see figure dealers sell things I would not normally find in California, particularly the booth that was selling “Sailor Moon” figures.

As a panel hopper, I did enjoy the variety and amount of panels offered. I also appreciated the fact that attendees filled up the room at these panels. Friday’s “Sailor Moon” panel was filled up, so there had to be an overflow for the panel in which a few “Sailor Moon” cosplayers ran a very impromptu panel. However, I did not like the fact that the only way to get to the second floor of the Hilton (main panel hotel) was through the elevator. There were no available stairs to the second floor. It would be nice if Anime Central can have all of the panels on the first floor of each of the hotels – Embassy Suites, Hilton, and Doubletree. In addition, for panels with adult themes, there needs to be more room to accommodate. These have been consistently popular with the older crowd for the past years. For Anime Central 2012, I recommend more room for late night panel programming.

The cosplay gatherings were handled really smooth. I wish there was a printed schedule in the program when and where the gatherings occurred. Not everyone has a smart phone to access the gathering listings on the forums. It was only until after the con that I have heard of the schedule print outs available at con. For 2012, I recommend that the cosplay gatherings and photoshoots schedule be included in the main program book. Not only this would be helpful for cosplayers, but for fans of the series that are being represented so that they can take photos from their favorite series.

The hotel service was just as smooth as last year. This year, the Hyatt Regency was offering an incentive to check out early. If your room checked out before 9AM on Sunday, you were qualified to be one of five winners who would get their tax portion of the hotel room bill covered for. As far as the Hyatt elevators were concerned, I wished all of the elevators were operational. I would recommend Anime Central IRT to have better crowd control of the elevators so that there is no overcrowding in the cramped space.

Restaurants in the area were minimal. Certainly, there was a McDonalds a few blocks away. Yet, I also appreciated the service at the Hyatt for take out meals. I went to my favorite lunch spot, O’H at the Hyatt for their famous burgers. If anyone knows me well enough, my affinity for gourmet burgers rivals America from “Hetalia.” We also tried the Red Bar at the Hyatt, but service was too slow and the food was ridiculously overpriced. $8 for small six piece sushi?! However, the only good point about the Red Bar is that they played episodes of “Voltron” on the viewing screens to create a more otaku atmosphere.

The guest of honor line up was pretty impressive. We had Flow, creative folks from “Hetalia,” h.Naoto, Yoshiki, and a good mix of American industry personnel. It was nice to see a variety of Japanese and American guests. Like many other Anime Central attendees, we are waiting for the day when Doug “Nostalgia Critic” Walker becomes a guest of honor. I also appreciated the press department’s press conference line up.

Overall, I had a pretty good experience. This really did feel like a vacation con, but we still got a lot done as press in one weekend. It was nice feeling a friendly vibe from everyone – attendees, convention staff, hotel staff, and everyone else in between. Thanks to the folks who let us room with them at the convention. This was our first time using the Anime Central forums to find roommates for the convention. It was very nice meeting all of you. To the people I met and reconnected with, feel free to contact me on any of the following social networks:

Until then, I look forward to Anime Central’s 15th anniversary in April. Finally, I do not have to worry about doing back to back major, major conventions!

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