Thank You For Attending Anime & Gaming Con - Photos, Stories & Reactions

[LikkleMel]

also really need to split the competitions between children and adults, it’s all cute to crown a child a winner because they were brave and went on stage but this is then unfair once again to actual cosplayers who spend months upon months and piles of money to make their costume only for a child to win simply because they are a child, most of those children don’t even want to enter the championships while those of us who actually cosplay do but won’t ever get that chance. You either need to have two separate competitions one for adults and one for kids or you need to have separate winners for each category ie one for performance and one for craftsmanship or you need to allow everyone an equal opportunity to actually win, I truly believe that anime league conventions can be very good and fun but there needs to be more thoughtfulness and organisation put into these events, particularly the more bigger and busier ones such as London, tho the cosplay competitions definitely need a complete revamp at all anime league conventions in order to not only be fair to everyone but also to stand on par with cosplay competitions at other conventions across the UK.

Hi there! Thanks for your feedback. Honestly yes, Saturday with the overcrowding for context from staff point of view the crowd was flowing normally as we expected and for the first time in ages something unexpected happen and a huge number of attendees just turned up at once at 1pm and thats when it happened and we were too late to act fast on the overcrowding. We did the best we can at the time, but we know we could've pre-empted this better and already working on a solution for next time.

Regarding the Cosplay Masquerade, I, myself am usually there for running the Cosplay and judging as I do understand your point of view I don't agree just because it is a young person who is there just to get on stage should win. Personally, on Saturday I let the rest of the Stage team run it as I was busy sorting something else out that needed my attention more. I will speak to the Stage team on who won and why those decisions were made as I know the judges for London do usually do pre-judging so a costume may look store bought but it may of actually been handmade.

The reason for choosing your own music and others having generic which we have done for many years. If you sign up online that means you are planning far ahead for the Masquerade and it does take time to download music and is more for timing issues. I can look at refining this in the future, but from a personal stand point on how I personally judge cosplays it comes down to three points:

1. Was the costume handmade (boost in points)
2. Was the performance good
3. Audience interaction

I always stand by if you have handmade a cosplay and you are on stage for 5 seconds at most that is not helpful. You need to be on stage for a reasonable amount of time even if you don't have your own choice of music.

Again I will speak to the stage team and get more information on their decisions for the Saturday Masquerade as personally I wasn't there and speak to them to how we can moderize the masquerade as I do agree we do need to change it. We have been thinking of adding a separate prize just for people under the age of 16/18 so we do have a "Well Done young cosplayer prize" so to speak.

Really do appreciate your feedback and will take it on board. Any of suggestions you can speak to me here or on Discord which my ID is @LikkleMel

[Skylerwalker]

[quote=Skylerwalker post_id=5115149 time=<a href="tel:1740427595">1740427595</a> user_id=137130]
also really need to split the competitions between children and adults, it’s all cute to crown a child a winner because they were brave and went on stage but this is then unfair once again to actual cosplayers who spend months upon months and piles of money to make their costume only for a child to win simply because they are a child, most of those children don’t even want to enter the championships while those of us who actually cosplay do but won’t ever get that chance. You either need to have two separate competitions one for adults and one for kids or you need to have separate winners for each category ie one for performance and one for craftsmanship or you need to allow everyone an equal opportunity to actually win, I truly believe that anime league conventions can be very good and fun but there needs to be more thoughtfulness and organisation put into these events, particularly the more bigger and busier ones such as London, tho the cosplay competitions definitely need a complete revamp at all anime league conventions in order to not only be fair to everyone but also to stand on par with cosplay competitions at other conventions across the UK.

Hi there! Thanks for your feedback. Honestly yes, Saturday with the overcrowding for context from staff point of view the crowd was flowing normally as we expected and for the first time in ages something unexpected happen and a huge number of attendees just turned up at once at 1pm and thats when it happened and we were too late to act fast on the overcrowding. We did the best we can at the time, but we know we could've pre-empted this better and already working on a solution for next time.

Regarding the Cosplay Masquerade, I, myself am usually there for running the Cosplay and judging as I do understand your point of view I don't agree just because it is a young person who is there just to get on stage should win. Personally, on Saturday I let the rest of the Stage team run it as I was busy sorting something else out that needed my attention more. I will speak to the Stage team on who won and why those decisions were made as I know the judges for London do usually do pre-judging so a costume may look store bought but it may of actually been handmade.

The reason for choosing your own music and others having generic which we have done for many years. If you sign up online that means you are planning far ahead for the Masquerade and it does take time to download music and is more for timing issues. I can look at refining this in the future, but from a personal stand point on how I personally judge cosplays it comes down to three points:

1. Was the costume handmade (boost in points)
2. Was the performance good
3. Audience interaction

I always stand by if you have handmade a cosplay and you are on stage for 5 seconds at most that is not helpful. You need to be on stage for a reasonable amount of time even if you don't have your own choice of music.

Again I will speak to the stage team and get more information on their decisions for the Saturday Masquerade as personally I wasn't there and speak to them to how we can moderize the masquerade as I do agree we do need to change it. We have been thinking of adding a separate prize just for people under the age of 16/18 so we do have a "Well Done young cosplayer prize" so to speak.

Really do appreciate your feedback and will take it on board. Any of suggestions you can speak to me here or on Discord which my ID is @LikkleMel
[/quote]

Thank you for the reply, in regards to pre sign ups I tried to do it along with my friend two months in advance and it was apparently full, might there be a way to perhaps have a mailing list or social media post telling people when the pre sign ups for the con are actually going live? I feel that this would be a better way for people to be able to do it, otherwise we’re just stuck checking daily to see when and if we can sign up

[Adryvelenor]

I went to Portsmouth anime & gaming con on Saturday. I had a very good time. Amazing cosplayers, I spent a few hundred on merch, had many laughs. I'll go into a bit more detail on rhe negatives, in hopes it may help future planning.

Large crowd, the sole bar that was open had long queues - I was waiting 10 minutes just to buy a water.

There were *very* limited guest appearances- the sole writing panellist was only there for early bird entrances, iirc.

The merch sellers (I realise you probably don't have much say over their inventories if any) had stock 80% from a few particular popular brands - Naruto, Bleach, Pokemon, One Piece, Solo Levelling, Hatsune Miku. It was impossible to find any merch even for pretty established animes like Black Butler, or newer ones like Hazbin Hotel, Helluva Boss, or Blue Eye Samurai. Diversification (and ideally more sellers) next time would be brilliant.

Overall, I (and the friends I went with) had a very good time, and we have planned to try to get time off work for the next anime & gaming con in our area.

[Burtsbird]

First time attending and wasn't sure what to expect. My child was in awe and felt like they had found their people. They enjoyed dressing up as their character and loved seeing others who had done the same.
However, as the paying adult....was it worth £64 for both of us to walk round what is essentially a market? Not in my opinion.
The stage held no interest to us. The video games room was well layed out and people were generally taking turns. The stalls were a veritable buffet on repeat. The hotel was not prepared for people queuing for drinks and food between 10-12.
Nice to see the excitement on my child's face.... But worth £64 plus the £50 they spent on stuff at the stalls..... Not in this financial climate. We came, we saw.... We won't be going again.

[EAG]

We went to the Portsmouth Anime Con this weekend. My comment here would be that we were really disappointed when going for some retro gaming on the Sunday - as planned against your schedule - the games had been closed down. I asked if one particular game we had been looking forward to playing could be put back on and was told no. This was just before 4 on the Sunday and the gaming was supposed to be available till 5.

[sarah_lou03]

Manchester April 2025
First time at one of these events and I didn't know what to expect. Downloaded the app and logged onto social media for updates but still couldn't see a timetable for the days.
Despite the events team trying to manage the crowds outside it was really busy, getting into the main hall it was overcrowded and full of vendors.
We queued for 30mins to meet one of the voice actors to then get to the front of the queue and be told they were heading off to do their panel talk and would be back 1hr and 40mins later. We returned and queued for another 30mins but my daughter was fed up by then.
Some great costumes, good atmosphere, friendly vendors and my daughter enjoyed it. Just seemed to lack organisation and crowd management. Maybe needed a bigger venue for the number of people coming and going.
We paid for 3 tickets and don't think it was value for money I wouldn't go again.

[LazyBeardedGuy]

I think this year was the worst year I have been to, (I think it's the 7th I've been to in Manchester). The panel for the VAs was poorly done. The room was too loud to hear the panelists properly, there wasn't anything planned question wise just straight into audience participation, which never works, and nothing seemed planned out prior, no equipment setting, no talking to the panelists to tell them what sort of mics were being used, so they're aware how to hold them so we can hear them clearly, and the seating was literally primary school children setup.
The gaming tournaments were dreadful. Instead of having a little stage setup so people could see the screen, you had everyone huddle around a small monitor where no one could see anything going on. In case you are wondering that's the main reason people kept dropping out of the competitions, that and also, every event was running behind schedule, by along time.
Furthermore, it was supposed to be an anime and gaming convention but there were 5+ stores selling guns and furry stuff.
Moreover, the second stage in the bread shed had similar issues. Everything was running late, no information to as of why, nothing setup again. It felt like someone had been told half an hour before the convention this is what we have available and these are the areas we have available to us. And someone went full panic mode and went "ermm... This here, that there ermm... Tournaments oh yeah, you can go here, I think. Panels... Ermm ... Pit them in the loudest room so no one can hear them. 2nd stage, just hang a bed sheet up that will work for a screen. Ahhh!"
Lastly, there was stores selling counterfeit merchandise. The worst offender for it had his stall literally directly behind where the staff were for the "gaming tournaments signups" were. Half a yard away and the let this guy sell figures that looked like the characters had 3rd degree burns to their face.
Overall, this is the first year I have been truly disappointed. I don't expect everything to be perfect, but considering the price to get in to the convention now, I do expect a little bit of competence.
Best way to describe this year is they couldn't organise a fuck up in brothel.

[Lvb]

Manchester.
We spent 45 minutes at the event before deciding to leave, which I feel speaks volumes about the quality on offer.

The vendors present were overwhelmingly selling identical merchandise, much of it appearing to be cheap imports from sites like Temu and AliExpress. The event itself was chaotic, disorganized, poorly signposted, and extremely inaccessible, a major disappointment for a family attending with a pram.

Despite the note in the event booklet encouraging attendees to report fake or bootleg goods, there were no staff visible or available to assist. Realistically, if reporting bootlegs was properly enforced, very few vendors would have remained. Many of those selling items like Pokémon merchandise were clearly scalpers, which undermines the integrity and credibility of the event.

It was so unprofessional. Even down to the entry and queue system. It gave the feel of a primary school fair.

Vendors- terrible
Price- ripoff
Venue- unsuitable
Organisation- non existent

[LikkleMel]

Manchester.
We spent 45 minutes at the event before deciding to leave, which I feel speaks volumes about the quality on offer.

The vendors present were overwhelmingly selling identical merchandise, much of it appearing to be cheap imports from sites like Temu and AliExpress. The event itself was chaotic, disorganized, poorly signposted, and extremely inaccessible, a major disappointment for a family attending with a pram.

Despite the note in the event booklet encouraging attendees to report fake or bootleg goods, there were no staff visible or available to assist. Realistically, if reporting bootlegs was properly enforced, very few vendors would have remained. Many of those selling items like Pokémon merchandise were clearly scalpers, which undermines the integrity and credibility of the event.

It was so unprofessional. Even down to the entry and queue system. It gave the feel of a primary school fair.

Vendors- terrible
Price- ripoff
Venue- unsuitable
Organisation- non existent

Hi there,

There were staff present at the event that you could've reported this to, for example right at the front door. The event is always going to be busy during peak times. I do feel you should've given the event more than 45 minutes as you most likely missed our Second Stage area and many of the stage events and video gaming tournaments. I sorry you felt that way and hope you give it another chance another time.

[Elouise]

I have been going to anime con for 4 years know Went to anime con in Manchester from the 26th to the 27th of April I am very disappointed as there was only 2 rooms with all the anime collectables lined up for 2 hours before it started at 10am people was turning up 10 minutes before it opened and cutting in front of everyone to the front of the queue so I was very disappointed as how much I paid to come

[Chibichuu]

Yoo!
So we went to Manchester Anime and Gaming con this last weekend (26th/27th April and attended both days). This is the first time I have also been to a Anime League convention. In my 13 years of convention goer experience, I have to say this is one of the worst organised conventions I have ever been to. Reading some of the posts above mine, it seems my sentiment is similar to other congoers. Don't get me wrong, I had an fun time, but that was due to being with my friends, interacting with guests, cosplayers and some of stall holders. THAT was fun, but the overall con organisation was incredibly abysmall. I'll go through different points and give positives/negatives for each section and explain my experience.

Entrance:

So when we arrived on the saturday, it was quite difficult to find the entrance and find someone to show our barcode tickets to get in, there were multiple doors, and very unclear signage. After finding staff to ask (staff of the venue, not even con staff), we eventually were directed to the proper entrance, only to have 2 bouncers there to also say they cant check tickets either! They pointed us to a group of people futher away from the entrance. There were 3 staff members, not all  of them were even wearing their staff shirts and surrounded by people trying to get their bracelet and scan bar codes. It was a mess, how were we supposed to find them? There is no area for a line to form and the staff arent even stood near the entrance. On saunday however this problem seems to have been rectified as barriers were pout up near the entrance to make a line

Eventually we get our barcodes scanned and given bracelets so the bouncers know we can come in (it's great you have them there!) However the bracelets were the paper ones that are extremely cheap quality and you can't take them off without ripping them. Sure they are good for a day, but this is a 2 day con! I showered the next day of course like I'd hope most other congoers do and the water obviously ruins the bracelet. ALL cons ive ever been to that have multiple days, you are given a lanyard, plastic badge or fabric bracelets that you can take on and off and last a long time. It's odd that paper ones were given when if you got early bird tickets you were automatically given a plastic badge, but it's not even used to let you into the con and just a souvenir in a way. You clearly have the means to make them, so please provide them to all con goers.

Convention Space:

The con space consisted of 2 small sports halls, connected by a narrow coridoor and a stage/bar room which was across the street in a completely different building with very little signage. I had no idea it existed until others around me pointed it out (they stumbled across it). This is good for a 1 day con, but absolutely not for 2 days, we had explored everything and visited all the stalls in 2 hours and other than the timed panels and events, there's really nothing else to do. Because of the expensive price ontop of this, it really makes the event not worth the money at all! York comic con (York Unleashed) has tickets for £10 and arguably has a larger con space than this event in Manchester.
The convention cleanliness here was frankly disgusting. The toilets especially were dreadful, it's rare I see toilets this bad. The facilities and build of them aren't the problem, but it was the fact no one was cleaning them throughout the day at all. Toilet roll was empty in almost all the stalls, bodily fuilds on the toilet seats and floor. When you have thousands of people entering this tiny con space you NEED to have cleaners throughout the day! Ontop of this, I noticed bins weren't being emptied regularly throughout the day either. They were overflowing, spilling onto the floor and because of this, congoers were leaving their rubbish around the con as there's nowhere else to leave them. When we sat down for a panel on saturday, it made me feel so gross and uncomfrotable as there were cups, dropped food and trash all over the floor next to the seats.

Signage was really bad guys, from the entarance, to different halls and toilets. It was hard to find anything. Please add more and larger signs.

Stalls:

I am half and half on this one. Artist Alley type stalls are ALWAYS the best! You had a great selected and please pick more of them! It's fantastic to see small artists getting the chance to showcase and sell their work, they are extremely talented and are always selling high quality and unique products.
However, I did notice a large abundance of re-sellers. Overpriced aliexpress/temu style products, traced art and bootleg mechandise were rampant in the main hall and it was extremely sad to see. Sure it sells, but they are taking advatange of some of your ticket holders that don't know any better, it's not fair on them.
Food choices were pretty good! I definitely think there should have been more main meal style foods and food trucks outside. But lots of amazing snacks, bakery foods and even a place selling onigiri and curry! Ive never seen that before at a con and the onigiris tasted amazing! Definitely hitting the nail on the head there with including Japanese food and culture into the event! Brilliant stuff!

Event Timing:

Im not sure if the Marathon booked their event before or after you guys.. But regardless man it was terrible either way. Trying to get around on sunday was horrendous, the finish line of the marathon was the next street over to the con! Please dont book it the same weekend as a major event or at least have it far away from the other event.

Guests:

Hit the nail on the head again with this one! Amazing to have voice actors invited, small and big alike. Was great meeting them and they are some of the kindest people I have ever met. They even got to have their own panels, which were incredibly insightful and fun to listen to. It definitely brings me and others to a con like this!

Events:

I think you guys had a wide range of events here and that was great to see! There were lots of things happening on first and second stage on both days and I especially loved the band performances on second stage! I noticed you guys also had karaoke and raves in the evenings, I unfortunately didn't attend them as I went out with friends, so I cannot give an opinion. However, the fact that theres even an event is really awesome to see. Most cons I go to end at like 5pm, and I think that's such a shame because so much more could be happening! If you got to a con for a whole weekend you wanna have fun and party! I even brought my glowsticks just in case we did go as I was genuinley excited that this was an event!

Organisational wise for some events I cannot say was amazing. At the voice actor panel on sunday, when the voiceactors were introduced and they came on stage, there was a line of people inbetween the stage and the seats were people were trying to watch! We wouldnt see anything! It took staff a good few minutes to move the line elsewere and only after the actors were introduced, they had to walk around the line, bless them. It was incredibly unprofessional and awkward to say the least.. I dont think the VA's were impressed either. The line people were waiting for was event sign ups, its great people wanna take part in things but putting it right next to the stage was not a great idea.

Cinema Room? Oh my god this one is hilariously bad. When I looked at the schedule I was excited for this! The idea of a cinema room is great! A nice cosy place to chill and watch anime films. Right? uhhh NOPE hahah. It was a tiny tv screen with chairs lined behind it in the middle of one of the entrances to the convention, its surrounded by walls of people transfering inbetween the gaming room and sports halls. It was a very busy and loud space and absolutely an innapropriate place to have a 'cinema'. Id be surprised if people in the 2nd row could see the tv screen is was so small, let alone hear anything from all the craziness surrounding the seating area.
Definitely have a dedicated room next time!

Staff:

Despite the lack of staff near the entrance on day 1 and some not wearing their staff shirts, the staff were great thoughout the rest con! They were always friendly and engaging, especially hosting the panels and you could tell they were all passionate about the con and being there! I feel like I always ended up talking to them a lot longer after asking them a question/help, which was always fun! They were even helping out the invited guests and making sure they had water which is always great to see as well!

Conclusion: 

I think that covers everything! I really wanted to see this con shine and don't get me wrong there were lots of fun moments, but they were mostly due to being around my friends, guests, other con goers and some stall holders. It's the PEOPLE that gave the con it's positives rather than the convention itself. There really needs to be major improvements for it to stand out in the ever growing list of coventions popping up around the country, I hope some of my points will be taken into consideration! I also noticed you guys are doing like 10-20 cons this year. This is really excessive in comparison to other companies that host 1-5 each year. I understand these cons are small, but hosting so many in one year screams quantity over quality. Maybe tone it back a bit so you can put more time and effort into making them the best they can be! This took me like an hour to write so I hope you can tell im passionate! Looking forward to the future!