anime conventions - what do you think about them?

[bby]

i'll be honest -- i have never had a good time at any convention i've went to.

i've been in very uncomfortable and unsafe situations at them and met some really abusive people. i know there are good people who attend them, like the other people posting in this thread for example. and there's way more good people in the world than bad. but i just can't ever bring myself to go to one again due to what i've personally experienced. i've even tried thinking about restricting it to only going for one day, not staying in a hotel, going to a smaller one, and i still don't think i could handle it again. 

[Ninaiso]

Oh dude!! Anime conventions are like one of my favorite places ever!! I don't want to just dump my life story here but honestly it's where I made most of my friends in my youth and then met friends of those friends for the social network I have now as an adult. I live in a small rural town in a southern state of the USA so a lot of people here view the world quite a bit different to say the least! So the small conventions around me are kind of the best place to meet cool people in my area lol
Anime and manga as well as cosplay are like HUGE interests of mine, I love animation/cartoons in general so being able to bring that to life in an art form like cosplay is soooooo cool!! I've attended two cons this year and plan to hopefully do a third one yee

I know I'm up there in age compared to a lot of folks here but I don't think I'll ever stop going to them as long as I'm able to afford it! Legit will probably be out there cosplaying all my favorite old characters when I'm wrinkly. They're like the vacations I look forward to the most, and I always have a blast going to them with my friends and partners, as well as meeting cool new people there we've got stuff in common with! It's a lot of fun to support all the skilled artists, buy cool stuff, and check out the events/panels too!! I have found out from attending ACEN though that I really do prefer smaller cons. I didn't have a ton of fun since I'm pretty short and it was shoulder to shoulder! I could hardly check anything out or really talk to people because of how crowded it was lol


It's also neat to see a lot of people having similar experiences, and to those that have had bad ones I'm sending a lot of well wishes to you!! I hope you guys can find a space, con or not, where you feel comfortable and safe!

[MrsMoe]

Tbh I've always wanted to go to one! Or any convention, really.

The problem is that I've been living in small towns for my whole life where barely anything happens, so I've never had the chance to go to one. I used to live near Toronto, but now I'm a whole seven hours away from there 

[AngelEye]

I've only been to smaller conventions once or twice. I would love to go to a big one one day! Or even one dedicated to a certain hobby / fandom like a bjd meetup one day 

Tbh I've always wanted to go to one! Or any convention, really.

The problem is that I've been living in small towns for my whole life where barely anything happens, so I've never had the chance to go to one. I used to live near Toronto, but now I'm a whole seven hours away from there 

Maybe a smaller cons might be more your style or more viable for you? My library also had a "Comic Con" where local artists had their own Artist Alley and the staff sold comics / manga one time Also live near-ish a city that does their own little con every year or so. I don't know what the scene in Canada is like, but I hope there's some opportunities for you

[MrsMoe]

I've only been to smaller conventions once or twice. I would love to go to a big one one day! Or even one dedicated to a certain hobby / fandom like a bjd meetup one day 

Maybe a smaller cons might be more your style or more viable for you? My library also had a "Comic Con" where local artists had their own Artist Alley and the staff sold comics / manga one time Also live near-ish a city that does their own little con every year or so. I don't know what the scene in Canada is like, but I hope there's some opportunities for you

That would be nice, but.....there's no way in hell my city would have anything like that. We don't even have book clubs here, that's how socially barren it is.