Haven't seen the Texas thread in over a month, so I guess I'll make one since I'm a frequent poster in them

UPCOMING EVENTS (that OP remembered about):
Anime Frontier - Dec 6 to Dec 8
Ikkicon - Jan 10 to Jan 12
Weebcon - Apr 18 to Apr 20
A-Kon - lol

Discuss topics about Texas cons here, such as why Anime Frontier decided to give a bunch of people free Sunday passes

I can see why you'd give people free Sunday passes because it helps the dealers, drives up numbers, panels aren't usually worth a damn on a Sunday anyways, and it might drive return congoers the following year.

Do you think anyone usually buys Sunday only? It's why the 3 day pass is usually the cost of 1.5 days early on.

A-Kon is dead. Why do people think it's coming back? The investors took all of the money left and then bailed.

>>10942301
Honestly I'd prefer Akon stayed dead than hosting at the Irving Convention center again desu.

what's the best day to go to anime frontier?
also is it a good first convention?

>>10942322
I would say Sunday if you just want to shop, but any day seems fine to me.

>>10942303
Will Weebcon be the next con that dies in Irving?

>>10942322
Rule of thumb usually is Saturday for the best experience of conventions, though the other anon is right - Sunday best for shopping and deals and Friday if you KNOW what you want and will pay anything for it.

>thinking about going to Frontier to do some photography and shopping
>check weather forecast
>cold on Friday
>rain on Saturday
Guess I'll wait a couple more days before deciding to buy a badge. Hopefully the forecast changes on Saturday, otherwise I suppose I'll bet on Friday and hope people will be comfortable with doing some shoots outside.

what time should I go to frontier on saturday, is it hard to find free parking?

i live like 20 minutes away from where kalahari does bullshit with ikkicon

>>10942398
kek, it's 5 minutes for me, can walk there in about 40 minutes. Assuming Austinite, at least we still have anime cons in Austin proper with Ushicon coming back and KomoriCon still in its early years, just as Dream Con leaves to be Anime Matsuri's biggest competitor in Houston.

>>10942402
I'm hoping this finally kills AM. It would be a glorious day.

>>10942453
one can only hope

Steers or queers?

>>10942387
Free Parking for downtown Fort Worth is easy. They have three parking garages around it that are free. Free Parking NEARBY the con center? No way in hell. Sorry hoss.

>>10942460
Both, Queer Steer.

>>10942491
what's the go to free parking spot?

>>10942398
ikkicon is so ass now i haven’t been since it changed to a water resort. im going this year but i haven’t been to a con since before covid and the vibe has definitely gotten worse from observation

>>10942492
have yall never been to Sundance Square for real? 401 Calhoun Street in fort worth, Saturday sunday all day free, but Friday only free starting 6 pm. The other two garages nearby actually require payment. This one is WAY THE FUCK out there, 13 minute walk minimum, but at least yall got food nearby

>>10942322
>>10942326
>>10942336
If you're going on Sunday, see if you know anyone who's going on Saturday only since a lot of Saturday-onlies got free Sunday passes emailed to them.

>>10942330
Weebcon seemed like they were doing fine when I went last year, and I haven't heard anything about them being out of money (though I think the funko pop store that was organizing the con closed down). The reason A-Kon died at the ICC is because their finances have been in the red ever since they got screwed over by the FWCC in 2018, they should have closed the convention when the covid lockdowns postponed the one in 2020 and it's a miracle they survived all the way until 2023, especially with how bad the con was at the ICC.

>>10942377
>rain on Saturday
I'd go anyway; I've seen weather forecasts in north Texas being wrong about rain so many times in the past five years that I feel like it's pointless to depend on them. Unless rain is pouring outside your window already, assume there won't be rain that day.

>>10942402
>just as Dream Con leaves to be Anime Matsuri's biggest competitor in Houston
How are they already changing locations again?! I still remember when they were in Arlington for like a year, this might be their third city in five years. Do they just keep getting in trouble with whatever venue hosts them, or what?

>>10942502
>Do they just keep getting in trouble with whatever venue hosts them, or what?

They keep growing leaps and bounds. They figure out how to package an anime con to black people so now people fly in from all over. They sold out of passes last year as they got to be too big for the Austin Convention Center

>>10942502
>How are they already changing locations again?! I still remember when they were in Arlington for like a year, this might be their third city in five years. Do they just keep getting in trouble with whatever venue hosts them, or what?
In the case of Austin, it's because the Austin Convention Center will be undergoing renovations (including some demolition) in 2025, so not their fault they needed to change locations this time. If RTX were still alive, this development could've been what ended them after this year.

I usually park in the free-weekend garage right next to Bass Hall and the Cheesecake Factory. It's about .5 mi from the convention center. Will that be feasible this Saturday?

who’s waiting in line rn?

Nah this shit's too larpy
Plus apparently they don't let realistic gun props in, what a shame

>>10942588

none of the fags here know what azumanga daioh

>>10942594
>what azumanga daioh is

>>10942588
this you nigga?

>>10942594
Oldfag detected

>>10942598
azumanga is more relevant than ever in zoomer week culture

Anyone else pregaming for the after party?

>>10942614
>not pregaming before panels.

AnimeFrontier was pretty cool. This was only my second anime convention. I found the convention center easy to get around and the maps were really clear (except there being a middle floor that is for staff only for some reason? is that common in conventions venues?). The only things I was pretty bummed by were:
>not enough interesting panels/meet-ups
It had some good ones, and I liked that they put the meet-ups in one giant location. That is good planning. I was kind of surprised by some of the choices, like 'Super Smash Bros. cosplays' or 'Trigun cosplays' (is Trigun that popular? maybe I'm out of the loop).
>it felt too coorperate
There is probably a better word for this. The panels were the actual animators and producers came were extremely bland. Like why did you bring them out here just to say they liked this show? Like let them talk about specific stuff they worked on or be more free and personable. The one guy hosting the panel even sounded like he was just reading off a card the entire time. And then one panel they shooshed them off stage to show trailers for upcoming shows that I think were already shown below. Oh, can't froget to advertise the merchandise booth for the second time! Really? Just bring these people out of the country to talk about stuff we already know? Felt very weird and useless. I was wanting some behind the scenes stuff, personable stuff, etc. There were a lot of advertisments and things too. The Gundam base was a let down too besides the giant Gundam statue (which they could have easily just plopped outside the store).
The actuall atendees and staff were nice though. I liked that at least.
Maybe I'm spoiled and/or should have tempered my expectations though. I'm not into vtubers, genshin impact, or love live (which seems like the big focus), so maybe I just felt a bit left out too. It was pretty fun otherwise though.

>>10942682
>AnimeFrontier was pretty cool. This was only my second anime convention.
I personally thought it was mid, but if you thought it was cool then you're probably gonna have a blast at your next con because a lot of them tend to have more stuff to do than what was on display here. This convention felt like the logical extreme of my perception of conventions over the past ten years going from being primarily fan gatherings to being primarily pop-up anime malls where there's also a rave. Compared to the last convention I attended at the FWCC (which was A-Kon 2018), I felt Anime Frontier under-utilized the venue; for example, AFAIK the round section of the FWCC was closed off as opposed to A-Kon using it as a giant area for all the video game stuff.

>>10942502
>I'd go anyway; I've seen weather forecasts in north Texas being wrong about rain so many times in the past five years that I feel like it's pointless to depend on them. Unless rain is pouring outside your window already, assume there won't be rain that day.
Ended up going yesterday and I'm glad I did. Was a little cold out but still plenty of cosplayers out and about and got some alright pictures and did all the shopping I needed to do. A friend even came along last minute and entered one of the game tournaments so it was a win-win, soon as I heard the rain start coming down over in my neck of the woods today I felt even more justified in my choice.
Hope I can go to more stuff next year, I was just pretty lazy this year and only went to weebcon for a day. Need to try going to one or two cons out of town since DFW is basically dead now it seems.

>>10942687
That is good to hear! I only went to SanJapan before, which was amazing. I figured maybe it is because this one felt 1/3 the size smaller in size and scope than SanJapan. I felt like I was missing out on things at SanJapan while this one felt like I was going 'oh I missed/forgot about that panel... oh well'. But I'm not sure if that's the normal convention expeirence or not.
Yeah, I noticed that giant room was closed off too. I snuck a glance into it when one of the doors opened up and saw a big stack of chairs inside. I guess that is where they threw all the chairs in (which I also noticed felt like seating was something the con was a bit short on).

>>10942594
>no azumanga daioh
>no lucky star
>no lain
its over for oldfags

>>10942596
nah I was dressed as one of these niggas from 86

Sunday was pretty fucking busy so clearly giving out those free passes helped. I love the impromptu hallway jam sessions some folks did, and also love that this year they used the hallway for photo shoots.

ALSO FOR THE LOVE OF LAIN THANK YOU FOR MOVING THE DANCING AWAY FROM THE ESCALATOR.

I'm writing this in the hopes that I'll remember next year to not stay at Aloft during Frontier.

>>10942845
What happened?

Anime Frontier was pretty chill this year, Tekken tournament was a bit early for me desu. But there some nice paswg cosplayers.

I'm not seeing much hype for Ikkicon despite it being less than three weeks out... What happened here? Like, I'm starting to get the feeling Kawacon might actually steal Ikkicon's thunder this time, with it being the weekend after Ikkicon and having better guests overall so far. The only lightning-in-a-bottle I see Ikkicon having left is that damned comedy show, which will probably end up carrying the con for me like it had a couple of times in previous years.

>>10943781
Ikkicon seems to remember that they have a con around November. This is not helping on the hype. Kawacon is the little con trying hard to tell people that they exist. People are noticing.

>>10943781
>>10943834
IKKICON IN A LITTLE OVER TWO WEEKS

WHOS ATTENDING?
WHAT ARE U WEARING?
WHAT ARE U EXCITED FORRR????


build hype pls pls pls pls
as for me, this will be my first ikkicon since pre-covid, everything seems so different.

>>10944106
>WHAT ARE U EXCITED FORRR????
I'm excited for **WHEN THE SCHEDULE FINALLY DROPS**. ANY DAY NOW!!!

>>10944112
Seriously, this convention has gone so downhill. Do they even want to make money nowadays?

>>10944112
So the preliminary schedule is actually out on the website under the "Know Before You Go" tab (why they didn't just call the tab "Schedule", like in previous years, is beyond me). The 2 2hu panels could be interesting tho since Ikkicon hasn't gotten 2hu panels in a long time, other than that, it's looking a little underwhelming until more of it is filled out.

Now for a little speculation... it's early so grain of salt pill, but there are weather forecasting models out there starting to show that it could get really cold (temps in the teens in the Austin area) before and during Ikkicon. Got me thinking what a blow it would be to Ikkicon if we somehow got significant ice accumulation right before the con kek

so they finally posted the schedule but they posted it as a link in the discord and it's not on the website yet

https://zurl.co/ev7bK


i made it into a png though so here it is finally

>>10944264
Do you know if a badge is required to get in the con? I haven’t been to Ikki in awhile but it used to be that they only required badges for panels and artist alley. This was pre-Kalahari days though. Does anybody know? Thank you desu

>>10944296
yes a badge will be required and they have all entry points with people sitting to make sure you have one.

>>10944245
Local weather stations are picking up on the possibility of wintry precipitation happening right before the con. It will probably be freezing cold (before and during Ikkicon), but not as cold as I was talking about here. Keep monitoring the weather gulls

>>10944511
I work/live here and it's actually freezing bad. I can already tell it will be like last year's ikkicon where it was so icy cold you start to tear up from how bad it is. I would 100% bring jackets or blankets y'all. better to be prepared...

Between San Japan and Colossal Texas, which is historically better/has more gulls?

>>10944607
San Japan if you actually want to go to a con, Colossal if you just want to party

>>10944648
is there not much partying at san japan or are you saying that because colossal has the rave in the waves

>>10944653
Basically this. You can't party at San Japan hotels unless you go to the Friday night club, Saturday rave or on the Riverwalk. The afterparty at the Kalahari is the only redeeming factor at an otherwise tiny con.

>>10942166 (OP)
are there any txcons left that appeal to weebs or is it all normieshit now. last con i went to barely had anything that wasn't a western franchise.

Man, the hype for IKKiCON has severely diminished compared to previous years... and the weather situation for Days 0-1 certainly isn't helping. At least we're not gonna be facing a burning hell like the Anime Los Angeles people are rn, amirite?

>>10945029
The reason there's no hype as their marketing has mostly disappeared. The staff is barely holding it together. Austin Weebs are mainly showing up because it's the Kalahari who don't want to travel far.

who at ikkicon say holla

I'm going be in DFW during the first weekend of February is anything happening then?

I went to kalahari tonight but I was bummed to learn all the 18+ stuff was on friday night. But I wonder if I actually missed out on anything? I saw some girls trying to drop it low and I told them to stop

i'm the one who did the QC test in the lab for the foundation for kalahari too. I'm glad you guys had a fucking feminist panel about how white men are obsolete. I made the problem guy at work, who was a 60 year old white veteran do the test, because he was annoying everyone by not following commands and they made me watch him for a month. The engineers for the kalahari project wanted a really obscure modified ACI test for the proctor and I made him do it. They could of just had a TXDOT proctor that is made for the kind of limestone in Texas. But they had to have their weird californian bullshit, and you guys got it. So you are welcome once again. Maybe next time you can have your little feminist convention in a fucking shack.

-white man

>>10945365
what are you talking about lol. there were zero panels about feminist or woke shit this year. in fact the con felt like the complete opposite. keep schizo raging ig

Is AM in Houston worth going to?

t. Louisiana

>>10945457
I'd say sure
>inb4 screeching

hey, any anons know when they’re posting the professional con photos from ikkicon? im assuming maybe after a full week, but maybe less? thanks!

>>10945691
Were you in the cosplay contest or idol festival?

>>10945333
To my knowledge, we ain't got shit until Weebcon being hosted in A-Kon's corpse on the weekend of 4/20. Then Dreamhack in May, and after that not a whole lot since a bunch of the major cons in DFW closed. We have a ton of arcades in the area though that are breddy gud, you can even try recreating the con experience by going to Round 1 on a Friday (years ago when R1 was still new, cosplayers used to show up on Friday nights for meetups, but idk if they still do it).

>>10945737
neither, my friends got photos taken in the photo hall with the con photographers. they gave us a google drive link but it’s yet to be updated :(

My fellow Austinite anons, we've got a small batch of cons coming our way in the next month or so:
Ushicon - Feb 7-9
Anime Sunika - Feb 15-16
KomoriCon - Mar 8

All pretty small cons (personally would recommend Ushicon the most of the three), but at least it's something to eat before braving the drought until Colossalcon Texas (assuming we don't care for Weebcon and all the cons in-between that and Colossalcon Texas). Hoping the anime con crash in the Austin area is finally over this year so we can finally start rebuilding with what we have left here.

>>10946488
None of these seem very good brushki. Are there gonna be any burlesque shows or whatever at any of these?

>>10946518
>Are there gonna be any burlesque shows or whatever at any of these?
Probably not, sorry that the Austin area anime con market has gone down the shitter (it's pretty much back to what it was like in 2013 in terms of the amount of cons). Better to venture way out of town for those at cons, or just wait until Colossalcon Texas. You can get free drinks at Ushicon's pub trivia, so there's that.

Captcha: NSAJK

Why do so many BBCs work office jobs is it because they speak ingletere

AM mini came & went without a complaint on the thread, did things go that smoothly or was it just not on anybody's radar?

>>10946653
I knew of its existence, I just didn't care, and I know I'm not alone in this, anon. Whether it went well or not, it doesn't change the fact that it's a first-year con, and there are other, probably better cons in Houston this year that are more deserving of the attention anyways.

>>10946670
100% there are more cons deserving of the attention, but I'm just surprised since the anti-AM crowd is usually pretty vocal when shit goes wrong over there.

>>10946653
My guess is after a decade plus of REE-ing, these gulls are finally coming to the realization that AM is not going anywhere. No matter how much kvetching they do.

They are finally seeing that all those YouTube videos and Twitter posts and email campaigns and slide threads and protests and anti AM panels Etc... ultimately all they did was promote the event and get it seen by more people. DESU, AM should be thanking them for all the advertising lol.

Does it really surprise anyone that a con like AM does well in hyper-conservitive TEXAS, and a con like Akon failed?

>>10946653
>>10946705
There's another thread in the catalog about this, basically /cgl/ currently has just a fraction of the traffic it used to (for various reasons being debated in that thread), so my guess is that many of the seasonal complainers have likely ditched this site for Discord. With how slow modern /cgl/ is, I wouldn't be surprised if this thread survives past its first anniversary.

>>10946788
Do you mean the same con that has lost over ten thousand attendees, according to official HoustonFirst reports based on the past four years? People know it's garbage.

Under/Over about Weebcon? First time going to a Texas con since I moved and finally have the time off to attend. Heard it moved or got kicked out? Staying with some friends close by so not overly worried about hotel BS.

Bringing this one back from the brink (yes, it's still possible for a thread like this to fall to Page 10 within three weeks) to say: One month 'til WeebCon!

>>10948714
Weebcon will shill more expensive useless crap, but that might mean artists could get a leg up over it.

HOWEVER Irvine convention center will eat yet another convention and continue its unmatched anime convention murder spree.

>>10948714
I can't go this year, hopefully hosting it out of A-Kon's corpse works out

>>10948726
A-Kon should have died after the one in Fair Park in 2019, it's not the fault of the convention center that they were handed a con that repeatedly baffled christendom by continuing to live

So I just realized weebcon is in a new location. Has any other anime con been held there? Is it a decent place?

anyone heading to Riverwalk anime? it's my first time and the VA guest line up is actually insane there definitely has to be some catch to it right?

>>10949147
That's because there's nothing else to do besides meet the guests. Everything is in one hall and one room. You will spend 10 hours in line to meet the headliners. You will see everything else in 10 minutes.

>>10949120
A-Kon moved there in 2022 and then died. It would not be shocking if the same happened to Weebcon.

>>10949175
Akon was gonna die after 2020 had COVID not happened. the COVID stuff is the only reason it limped along, with people giving it a couple more tries to get their sea legs back
>>10947833
It's a con for guests. You go to shop and get autographs, not much else. Cosplay had been somewhat discouraged at the old venue, but the new one will likely have more
>>10949120
It's not a great venue for cons, but the Gaylord was far worse.

>>10946953
>Do you mean the same con that has lost over ten thousand attendees, according to official HoustonFirst reports based on the past four years?
If you're talking about this financial report they put out every year
https://www.houstontx.gov/ic/2022invconf/houston-first.pdf

Notice how it says "conventions for 2023" and at the top it says "prepared dec 2022"

Those are projections for budgeting, not actual numbers.

>>10949202
People accessing the HoustonFirst reports with beef with AM have spread around the finalized 2024 report. They had under 20k paid in 2024. A substantial number of photos of those at AM last year corroborate this. You can see in the rave videos how much it is shrinking year to year.

>>10949206
>20k
KWAB

>>10949202
>Cosplay had been somewhat discouraged at the old venue, but the new one will likely have more
You made that up, there was plenty of cosplay at the Gaylord both years that I went to Weebcon.

>the Gaylord was far worse [than the ICC]
The only problem I've had with the Gaylord is that for some reason the last time I went they didn't have any water except for whatever crap they had for $5 in the snack shop that was part of the venue. It was fine otherwise. My only exposure to the ICC being when they had fire hazard con (A-Kon) makes it hard for me to really say how much better/worse it was than the Gaylord, but the Gaylord is mid at worst.

Incase you guys missed the con drama of this past week- yeah, Anime Houston is pretty much cooked because of Ryan Kopf. Lowkey hoping Anime Dallas falls too as I see it's tainted as well (by at least their 2020 con).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXWxaHQr20I

>>10949309
Dang, why is Houston so cursed?

>>10949309
Oh cool some BS AI voice of shit that totally happened about Kopf

Even if AnimeFest is over. The Arlington Convention Center was at was pretty nice, PLENTY of water stations with cups, big areas for walking, photos, and resting. The only thing confusing was the directions to certain panels, but otherwise refreshing compared to other cons. Comparable to the Hilton Anatole where A-Kon used to be. I would love if more conventions were placed at The ACC.

The last con I went to in texas was san japan and that fucking sucked

>>10950178
why?

Anyone going to Okatu Oasis this weekend?

>>10950176
Finally someone posted ITT for the first time since 4chan's little incident, I was worried we were gonna be in page 10 jail soon. I'm surprised you're messaging about AnimeFest so late after it happened, but it is what it is. IMO the ACC was nice, but I felt like it was too big for how small AFest has become in its final years of existence.

>>10950178
Don't know what year you went, but out of all the Texas cons I've frequented it's the best one to me. Last year it was a bit underwhelming, but I think that's just because I've been going to it every time for the past five San Japans (excluding the one that was right after covid because of reasons) so at this point I've not only tried everything but also seen some staples of the con being retired. It should be noted that last year was the first time I attended it drunk, so that might have made it seem more fun that it actually was lol

Did anyone ITT go to Weebcon this year? I missed it because I was out of town, how did things go having it in A-Kon's corpse?

>>10950475
>Did anyone ITT go to Weebcon this year?

The 2 to 3 hours of SKEEE waiting to get inside, and then another hour to get upstairs, it was an expected shitshow. It wasn't as crowded as A-Kon. It was the same mess as 2024, and Weebcon learned nothing. The hundreds shitting on their Discord and TikTok saying they'll never come back... holding you to it.

>>10950475
True, too big a place for a small con. I might just stick to Anime Frontier for the most part, last year was wet which sucked for outside shoots.

>>10950502
May all cons veer away from ever touching the vertical pile of disappointment that is the Irving Convention Center.

>>10950502
>another hour to get upstairs
I always thought it was A-Kon being too big, but I guess it was just the ICC not being a very good building, huh.
>It was the same mess as 2024
Can you tell me what you mean by this, because when I went in 2024 I thought it was fine, except for how there wasn't any free water anywhere in the venue.

>>10950508
>I might just stick to Anime Frontier for the most part
This was the one that sucked for me the most out of all the cons I went to last year. The whole con felt like the entire con was just the dealer room and arcade, there wasn't much else to do besides that. I felt like I could have had a better time just going to one of the local anime stores and then to Round One on a day that wasn't so rainy and shitty.

>>10950529
>Can you tell me what you mean by this, because when I went in 2024 I thought it was fine, except for how there wasn't any free water anywhere in the venue.


It was line after line after line to get anywhere and meet people. You didn't know which line was which. You didn't get in the building if you didn't park at the Gaylord on Thursday. I heard it'll be the same shit again next year back at the Gaylord.

>>10950529
It wasn't too bad, there was nice concerts from Fuwamocco and Phase Connect. Same series cosplayer meet ups were fun to watch and be a part of. Not too boring but not much to see desu.

This thing is this weekend. Anyone know anything about it? I'm considering going because it's only $35 and I don't have any plans.

>>10950553
It's tiny, very 18+ heavy, but it's a pretty good value for $35 if you plan to go multiple days, or really want to buy hentai and lewd cosplay prints and stickers, or get tattoos.
But at this point i dunno if it's worth it just to watch sat night and see the couple things on Sunday

>>10950530
>You didn't get in the building if you didn't park at the Gaylord on Thursday
I remember getting stuck in that line of cars going across the bridge to the Gaylord (I think I went on Friday or Saturday instead of Thursday though). I was in an uber and we were still somewhat close to where that road started, so I just got out and walked to the venue past all the cars stuck in traffic. Now that you've reminded me of that, I do have to agree that it was all a bit mid lol

How was the Fan Expo in Dallas last year? And how is this years looking like?

>>10950529
>The whole con felt like the entire con was just the dealer room and arcade, there wasn't much else to do besides that
Yeah, the way Frontier was described to me a couple years ago is that it's a shopping convention. Which is fine for me. The Gundam Base store is awesome if you're into gunpla and I do enjoy a good excuse to visit DFW.
But you are still right. The panel game at Frontier is pretty weak. Looks like they've already removed the 2024 schedule from their website so I can't go back to review it, but from what I remember the "being [descriptor] in [space]" and "[specific anime] game show" styles of panel made up most of the slots. I'd love for them to get a bit more variety. Maybe even getting access to some more rooms in the convention center could help that along.

>>10951840
Not sure if this is still the case but a few years back a friend hosted a panel there and the slots were only 45min long instead of the usual hour. Maybe that's what discourages people from submitting?

>>10951052
Last year was very very full. They also got emily swallow to come up during the contest, in costume as the Armorer.
It's an autograph con though. You're not there for big photoshoots

>>10951840
As I said in my reply that you're replying to, DFW has so many weeb spots that I'm very surprised a con can last here just on peddling arcade games and weeb trinkets. You can literally come here on any weekend and have your own Anime Frontier. People even sometimes cosplay when they go to Round One so you have that aspect of cons as well (or at least used to, idk if they still do it since I haven't been a regular at R1 in a long time).

What's Anime Frontier like other than being a shopping con? I'm considering going to Anime NYC this year with a friend or two. If I do that and then AF, would that essentially be going to the same con twice in a year? They're both run by the same organization (LeftField Media), after all. Maybe doing Anime NYC and then HolMat would be a better idea?

What are we doing this summer now that both A-kon and AnimeFest are gone?

>>10954114
Out of cons in this list I found that I actually recognize the name of or that are in/near a major city:

JUST ENDED:
Dreamhack - May 23 to May 25
Dreamcon - May 30 to June 1
Fan Expo Dallas - May 30 to June 1

UPCOMING:
Anime Matsuri (>inb4) - Jul 10 to Jul 13
Anime North Texas (they're still around?!) - Aug 1 to Aug 3
ColossalCon - Aug 15 to Aug 17
San Japan - Aug 29 to Aug 31
Anime Impulse (dunno what this one is desu) - Nov 15 to Nov 16
Anime Frontier - Dec 12 to Dec 14

The rest in this list just seem to either be at small cities like El Paso or Odessa or something, or are in major cities but seem to just be a dealer room and autographs. There's also some con in San Antonio named Anime Ultra that's happening at least four times this year that I didn't list. I'm seeing a bunch of touring conventions like Dreamhack and this Anime Impulse thing, I guess the meta these days if you're big is to have the same con a few times a year in different states.

>A-Kon
They made a blog post last month on their website saying they're wanting to come back but only after they fix their finances, so probably in 2027. Make of that what you will.
>AnimeFest
Their Twitter and website haven't been updated since their last con in 2024, and I can't be bothered with joining their Discord to see if they have anything going on in there. When I attended last year, they kept insisting that they didn't want to end the convention but just downsize it, so my assumption is they're looking for a smaller venue before trying things again.

>>10954116
Don't forget QuakeCon on Aug 7-10.

>>10954117
I did forget, sorry dear anon ;_;

The list I was going off of only mentioned cons that are primarily anime, but I included Dreamhack because I went there a year ago and had a good time. More importantly than that, the cosplay there was great and there were many anime-adjacent things going on (as tends to be the case with most nerd gathering these days, for better or worse). In contrast, I don't remember there being too much cosplay at QuakeCon when I went way back in 2019 when they temporarily called it DoomCon, but that was also one of the few times I went to a con with my boardgame buddies so it's possible I just missed all the cosplay because I spent half the con with them in the boardgame room.

>>10954116
AFest is dead. The owners wanted out. The staff got too old for this shit. They said it would be downscaled, but they stopped updating on their social media at the end of 2024.

A-Kon is holding onto a dream, but I don't see it returning. With Uncle Frank out, they don't have the money to bring it back from the ashes. They won't find investors willing to bet on nostalgia. This isn't 1997, when there were two anime conventions in Texas.

>>10954205
>The owners wanted out. The staff got too old for this shit.
They're probably looking for buyers then, otherwise they'd have posted a message officially closing the con. Probably why all this talk about downscaling was going around.

>With Uncle Frank out, they don't have the money to bring it back from the ashes
I heard Frank hasn't been in the picture since they moved to the ICC, might be wrong though.

>Ecchi Expo.

Anyone here have any experience and/or planning on going this year? Never been to an "18+" con before (not counting specific events at regular cons)

So this is how the oldest running convention in America dies

>>10954250
Not all cons sell as they would rather close shop. AFest used marketing speak to soften the blow. Maybe they had other intensions but they said fuck it, were out.

AFest was a sinking ship anyway. They were down by over 1/3rd compared to precovid as Sheraton kept fucking with their dates. They didn't recover after the move to Arlington.

>>10954282
I was thinking about it until I saw they wanted over 100 bucks for a weekend pass. My SJ badge wasn't even that much, thats insane.

>>10954309
>They didn't recover after the move to Arlington
I don't think hosting at the new convention center at Arlington was a hail Mary for them, my guess is they got it at a discount since the venue was brand-new and decided to host the "final" AnimeFest there. The real thing they didn't recover from was FLOW.

Anime Impulse at the Kay Bailey looks pretty good, and for only $50 for the weekend is not bad.

>>10954898
Shill.

>>10954329
Yeah if I go, I'll just get the Saturday pass. Since I live 20 min from the con center, I don't have to worry about travel/food/hotel expenses, so it won't be too bad. Not sure this con would be worth 3 days of my time anyway.

>>10955207
The day prices seem really high too. Like what are they offering because they charge extra for the burlesque show.

I'm honestly curious because on paper it seems like the only reason the price is high is because its 18+

Any cons worth going besides SJ?

>>10955450
Out of the Texas cons I've been to, Dreamhack for cosplay and Weebcon if you're a boomer that wants to meet 4kids or ADV voice actors. Also maybe Ushicon since they're back now; it's worth attending it once but it wasn't anything amazing the one time I went. All of these have already come and gone this year though.

>>10955532
Dreamhack is not a great con for cosplay, unless you want to compete. They have a great prize pool and too many awards.

If you just want to see cosplayers there aren't many.

Anyone know what fashion brands Matsuri is bringing? They still haven't announced anything for it and the con is in 2 weeks.

I'm looking for local J-fashion groups in the DFW area. I heard about Metroplex Lolitas, but the Facebook group page is gone. Did everyone move to Discord?

>>10955558
correct, it's a pretty spectacular competition though. This last time they had some cosplay photo booths as well and overall treated cosplayers better than FanExpo. That was the consensus among myself and friends at least.

>>10955743
>Did everyone move to Discord?
I don't know because I don't do J-fashion, but they probably did given how most community-related stuff is arranged on some Discord server somewhere these days.

Best cons to go too I'm talkin lots of shit to do during and after

Heading down for Matsuri, haven't been to a proper con in a while and figured it was finally time.

>>10956583
The lack of blood-curdling screams, how dare you attend AM, has drastically dropped off CGL. Since the fuckfaces left Twitter who would spend all weekend telling people that the Leighs are horrible people has a lot less screaming going on. The Vic haters are quiet, too.

I am disappointed. I looked forward to the yearly commentary.

>>10956597
I'm going to the pajama party just to see what the fuck it is, lol. My curiosity has gotten the better of me.

>>10956597
>I looked forward to the yearly commentary.
it's the same shit every time
>look how empty the con was
>did you hear X, Y, Z happened? It was a shitshow
>this is their last year, the con is dying for sure!

>>10956600
Nice double dubs. As far as I am aware the con has never been "empty", people keep taking pictures on thursday and sunday.

hello.
what's the best con, texas preferably but anywhere is fine, you've gone to that isn't obnoxiously or overwhelming crowded, but still big enough and a nice city with cool after parties? if anyone's done a con/rave combo, do tell.

>>10945457
Not really. Events always running an hour or more behind. Not as fun as it used to be. Attendance has dropped a lot too. Dreamcon is more fun and growing fast

>>10946788
Or people are seeing that AM just isn’t as big and fun as it used to be and other cons are coming out in Houston that are stealing the spotlight. They had their time.

>>10956615
Honestly, I love collossalcon TX. Its definitely got a party vibe if thats what you are looking for and all the amenities of the resort mean that if the con is slow you can just chill in the pools and day drink.

Its also about 30 minutes into austin depending on traffic.

My other suggestions would be San Japan and Anime Frontier but they are both much much bigger so if you dont want crowds idk if they will do it for you.

>>10956688
>Anime Frontier
I don't recall shit happening at AF as far as after parties or raves are concerned. I think they might have had the usual suspects from Club Kaiju doing the rave (if there was one), I just don't remember it being anyone that caught my attention.

>>10956691
That's fair, their programming in general is a little lack luster but we lost the other two big hitters in DFW and this is all we have left.

Ikkicon has their whole 18+ night and they are also at the Kalahari but honestly the overall con is underwhelming.

>>10956697
>we lost the other two big hitters in DFW and this is all we have left
I'd personally rather have Weebcon become the next big DFW con, it feels like they actually try and just get fucked over with venues. My guess is Crunchyroll promotes the shit out of AF so that everyone who mainly watches anime through streaming services thinks it's the next big DFW con, but for all the corpo money they get it's such a nothing convention compared to the others mentioned throughout this thread.

>>10956768
Anyone that decides that a con that size only needs one point of entry isn't ready to be the best con anywhere. Legitimately I've been attending anime cons for 20 years and that may be the single dumbest thing I've ever seen in terms of logistics.

>>10956688
Collossalcon, huh? I'll keep that in mind.
A little more on San Japan?

>>10956616
Well, I do like my ebony kweenz

Anime Matsuri posted many "we're not empty" and "look how full we are" videos this weekend. Fuck off, AM; TikTok shows otherwise.

>>10956832
I was there, it was pretty full. Pajama party was ass though

Ecchi expo is this weekend. Who's going? I'm still on the fence.

This year was my first year at Anime Matsuri. I'm honestly dissapointed. I had my expectations high when I heard they were the biggest convention in Texas. I bought the 4 day pass and didn't even go the last day. I had already gotten into a fight with my friends, and I had discovered the controversy behind Matsuri.

A lot of empty tables where artists were supposed to attend, overpriced everything for the vendors and the people attending, and not that many special guests due to its controversy.

I had fun while I was there though. A few pros were.. Taking photos with cool cosplayers, buying figures and posters despite the horrific price, pickleball, wrestling show, and the FLOW concert.

But overall, it really isn't the best. Yes there was a bunch of people but it just didn't feel right. Tokyo X and AnimeVerse Fest was much more fun. Will I go to AM next year? Yes. But only for 2 days.

>>10956939
>when I heard they were the biggest convention in Texas

It's not even close.

>>10956941
yep. and how silly i was to believe them

Anyone go to day one or two of Ecchi Expo?

>>10956930
>>10957442
Sorry, anon. I know you want to talk about Ecchi Expo, but I didn't go since it's not the type of thing I'm into :(

Is anyone actually going to ANT? Thing is in a couple of weeks and theres barely any info out.

>>10957597
It’s in a little over 1 week
I’m on the discord server and honestly, it seems like it’s going to be a disaster. They’re still hastily trying to get everything together
They don’t even have volunteers yet