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| Cosplayers venturing down the escalators at the main hotel. |
Anime
Central is one of the top 3 largest conventions in the nation. Though just
because it is one of the top cons, does not mean it's necessarily perfect. I've
been attending this convention since 2006, even though I personally am not a
fan of the convention. Despite that I intend to review it fairly - the same way
I reviewed MTAC - with a pro/con list.
One
major advantage that Anime Central has is the way they handle the elevators.
There are staff members who are in the elevators at all time - making sure
they're not overcrowded. It also prevents pranks where people push all the
buttons or refuse to let people in. It makes using the elevators tolerable.
Other conventions should take note of this process and follow their lead.
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| Staff members kindly handling the crowding and elevators to keep things less chaotic. Look at that smile, they enjoy their job. |
Now
despite that - staff was once again an issue at Anime Central this year. They
had way too many IRT members and most of them did not know what they were
supposed to do. Everywhere you looked there were groups of 10 or more of them
just loitering around and bitching about having to work. Some were overheard
saying "I'm not supposed to drink while working, but I don't care".
They had people in training running the registration lines which slowed down
the process of getting people in and out - which was a very bad idea especially
for Anime Central. When you already know your registration line waits are
famous for being terrible, you don't put inexperienced people at the booths.
Acen made the bad decision of thinking "Well our IRT doesn't do their jobs
each year, so maybe if we add 100 more, it'll be better" - instead it was
overwhelming and offputting to convention attendees and became a major topic of
discussion.
Another
good thing about Anime Central this year was the lack of crowding. In previous
years there was so much crowding in the halls, the walkways that people would
rather ride the shuttle to the airport and hop on their hotel shuttle rather
than go through the skywalks. This year, there was a lot less crowding and it
felt calmer. Unfortunately, I can't say if that's because staff did a good job,
or because of what I'm about to mention.
Another
con regarding anime central this year is that a lot of attendees were saying
they were not going to return. In previous years leading up to this year I've
seen so many avid congoers give up on Anime Central and refuse to return. This
year I maybe ran into 3 people I knew, when I used to run into several. People
outside of the vendor hall and hotel were buzzing with saying they're tired of
hoping Acen improves when it never does and that they will not return. That's
not a good thing - and it did feel like there were a lot less people at Acen
this year.
A
really fantastic thing about Anime Central is that there's always food around
for congoers. There's 3 restaurants as well as a food line in the hotel set up
just for convention attendees. The prices aren't too welcoming, but if you're
starving - you have several options. It's a good thing because not many people
will want to leave the convention to get food and some even end up in the
hospital. This is a very smart preventative measure.
This is
only a slight con. Anime Central has become extremely cosplay orientated. If
you're not wearing a cosplay, you will most likely get ignored or patronized by
other attendees. I watched this first hand because my friend I was with didn't
cosplay - and everyone would come to talk to me - he'd say "hi" and
they'd give him this look of "what do you want?" and then go back to
blowing his greeting off. A lot of people were complaining about being ignored
or assumed a creeper for not being in costume. If you don't cosplay, this might
not be the convention for you anymore. If you do cosplay - then this is a
convention for you.
On the
topic of cosplay, as I said before it's very cosplay oriented - which means the
chances of seeing some rare and awesome costumes is very high. There were quite
a few that managed to make me smile. The cosplays that show up at Anime Central
are very intricate - some of them taking over a year to complete. If you wish
to see amazing cosplays, Anime Central is quickly becoming on par with Katsucon
- which is a con that is known for awesome cosplays.
Another
issue at Anime Central was how the staff handled things and how rude they were.
The line for the dealer hall was snaked around inside the common area blocking
the doors to enter the building. Even other staff was complaining about how it
was being done - they should have stepped in and done something productive to
help the new staff who had no idea how to handle it instead of standing around
drinking and complaining. The line should have been put outside like the
registration line. Other staff were bitching at people who were smoking in
areas that were now no longer smoking areas. There is no reason to initially be
rude and condescending to someone who didn't realize the smoking areas had
changed this year. I also caught them insulting congoers and threatening to
take a few out back and beat them up. That is entirely uncalled for.
All
that stated, It's time to rate the convention. My own personal experience, I
will not be returning to Anime Central. Yet even so, there are plenty of things
people would enjoy at this convention, so give it a chance!
Now Lets rack up the points and add a few categories:
Convention Staff and Security: 3/10
Cosplay Variety Range:
10/10
Convention Activity Level: 7/10
Convention Panels: 9/10
Registration Line: 2/10
Attendance Growth: 6/10
Convention Uniqueness: 7/10
Convention Layout: 9/10
Convention Guests: 10/10
Convention friendly level: 6/10
Issues and problems: -2 points
Total Points:
67/100 Points
Overall Rating: 70%
Convention Grade: D
Review conducted by Warkified Chocobo
Overall Rating: 70%
Convention Grade: D
Review conducted by Warkified Chocobo
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