Anime California 2015

 

 

On August 28 the Marriot hotel in the heart of Anaheim opened its doors to the second annual Anime California convention.I was pretty surprised to see a small con like this pop up in my hometown of Anaheim. I missed this convention last year when it was held at the Hyatt in Anaheim. From what I heard from some people it was very small very lacking of content and the hotel staff was a bit rude to some of the guests. Now for a first year convention this left some salt in the mouths of fans.

 

This year however with a new location more staffing and more things to do for me at least it was very pleasant. The size of the convention was nice and had plenty of room for everyone to walk around in I saw various guests sitting down in small groups and having small chats. There was an exhibit hall and artist alley which was very nicely spaced out unlike the crazy packed halls like at Anime Expo. I had plenty of time to interact with the artists and ask them plenty of questions regarding their art. I think it was awesome to see Coke bottles given out for free to everyone I was in drink heaven especially at the end of the night they made for a great chaser!

 

The amount of panels to do was limited due to how new the convention is and that’s fine as many of the attendees had no problem instead making friends and taking plenty of pictures of cosplayers. I myself joined in the fun in my Shishio cosplay which was actually very popular there and got a lot of photos and complements! The hotel and event staff was very nice and had maps and panel information listed all over the place so it was impossible to be lost or forget something. The gaming room was huge and of course was populated with the usual league of legends and street fighter players. On one of the days they had the few arcade machines set to free play to lets people enjoy a round with a buddy.

 

One of my favorite things was the dance and the karaoke room especially at the end of the night it really helped bring all the people together and made things more fun. Water stations were very easy to access I wish other cons had something like this set up as it helps keep everyone cool and hydrated. I ran into lots of my usual “con friends” and had a blast catching up on what’s new.

 

Overall it left a nice feeling and gave me the feeling I was at Anime Los Angles before all the rule changes. The room rate Marriot offered was nice too just a bit over 100 a night was a good deal for the area. I think Anime California did a fantastic job for its 3 day event and I for sure will try to apply for a panel next year! I hope more people go and help make this con bigger and better. Check out some of the photos in the gallery below.