Dusting make up on her face and fitting her wig perfectly atop her head, junior Michayella Medrano gets ready to attend one of her favorite events of the year. With a bright smile, Medrano enters the anime con entrance, grabs her all access pass, and makes her way towards the artist alley. All the while, she can feel comfortable in the judgement free and welcoming community that anime cons host.
“I like to cosplay and I get to be someone who I’m not usually, like I get to explore other aspects of different characters,” Medrano said, “[Cons are] very loud, but you can tell that everyone is having as much fun as they possibly can.”
(Michayella Medrano (left) poses with her twin sister Mickayla Medrano (right), dressed up as characters from the anime Black Butler)
Comic and anime cons always have something going on-whether it’s the artist alley or a cosplay competition-so you’re guaranteed to never get bored.
“[They] have gaming sections where the people who put [the con] together bring video game consoles and then have people lined up, playing games,” Medrano said, “[Cons] have the artist alley, which is artists all over the area and outstate that come over and show their art and sell it. And then we have dealer halls that sell merchandise, like hoodies and plushies and all that.”
One of the highlights of anime/comic cons are the panels, which feature popular celebrities and cosplayers.
“For the most part, from what I’ve seen [panels are] really fun, because you get to interact with all the people on stage in cosplays, so you get to talk to them in character and ask them questions and stuff,” Medrano said.
Junior Ariana Michaud also enjoys attending cons, but points out that some are better than others atmospherically.
“Wizarding World was kind of awkward, I don’t know how to describe it, but I guess clinical; it wasn’t great. But Alamo City was more of a community and everyone was cosplaying and super nice,” Michaud said, “San Japan felt very hectic, I think the best one I’ve been to is Alamo City, because it is very structured, and it is very like-this is where everything is, this is how we’re going to do things.”
San Antonio alone has many fantastic cons, with prices ranging from high to low, depending on the size and relevance of the con.
Alamo City Comic Con
Date: October 26-28
Price range: $35 to $50 for day passes and $60 for three day passes (VIP/panel passes range from $150 to $1,250)
Guest stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jeff Goldbum, Jim Lee, and many other artists, voice actors, and celebrities
San Japan
Date: August 30-September 1
Price range: $35 to $50 for day passes, $75 for three day passes, and $196.49 for limited gold passes
Guest stars: popular anime voice actors, J-pop bands, and artists
Other popular cons are spread throughout Texas, which are just as fun as the ones in San Antonio.
Fan Expo Dallas
Date: October 19-21
Location: Dallas
Price Range: $25 to $50 for day passes, $55 to $110 for family passes, $89 for deluxe passes (for three days)
Guests: Ben Affleck, Karen Gillan, Jeff Goldblum, and many other artists, voice actors, and celebrities
Ikkicon
Date: December 28-30
Location: Austin
Price range: $35 to $45 for day passes, $50 for Saturday/Sunday passes, and $60 for weekend passes
Guests: to be announced
Wizard World
Date: September 21-23
Location: Austin
Price range: $29.99 to 34.99 for day passes, $49.99 for weekend pass, and $149 to $679.95 for VIP passes
Guests: David Tennant, Peter Capaldi, Ian Somerhalder, and many other artists, voice actors, and celebrities
