Animanga was held August 2-3 in Pomona, California at the Pomona Fairplex. Animanga is a three-day anime and gaming game convention focusing more to engage the attendees. Engagement is the key word for this convention. Many attendees, fans, industry, and media gather to experience the interaction between guests and cosplayers. You can enjoy panels and performances. However, the biggest thing (at least for me) is the free play gaming. There is something for everyone including Dance, Dance Revolution which is and has been one of the most popular Para-Para dancing platforms in Japan. It was nostalgia for a lot of attendees including myself being a past gaming competitor. It has been a long time since a convention had free play for gaming especially arcades.
Another thing to note is Artist Alley. Artist alley definitely thrives more over the vendors. The work that is created but these artist were beautifully crafted. There were even some people of color venders: Channel Knox – Ink Inc Illustrations, Teal Teacup and Alex Cabel – Acaballz.
Speaking of people of color, there were so many cosplayers of color and this was such a delight to see.
You will have more fun than any other convention. I believe that is how you engage attendees by letting them have fun and not be to focused on the rules. Overall, it was a very fun convention meant for everyone focused on the people rather than the “politics” of an anime conventions.
Leave a Reply