FanimeCon 2018 is finally behind us and I have taken a few days to reflect on the festivities. The fact of the matter is this year's FanimeCon was pretty weak overall. That's not to say I didn't enjoy myself. FanimeCon has something for everyone, whether it be cosplaying with your friends, going to panels to meet your favorite guest of honor, or even rocking out at Music Fest. So it wasn't that I was surprised there was nothing exciting going on, I was more surprised that they didn't surprise me again. Because they have been full of surprises for the last two years or so. If anything FanimeCon 2018 points to an even more exciting FanimeCon 2019.

Photos courtesy of FanimeCon

Gusts for FanimeCon this year included  Japanese voice actors, Ryotaro Okiayu, Satomi Sato and Chikashi Kubota; English voice actor Caitlin Glass; Japanese American singer and lyricist, Nano; Actor and producer Todd Haberkorn; Cosplay personalities VampyBitMe, Aicosu and Maguma; Hosts Alex Faciane and PokeKellz of the popular show The Dex!; Author Gilles Poitras and last but not least, the extraordinary pair of artists, the Chalk Twins. I have to admit I was a little disappointed with the guest list year and continuing the trend of only having one music guest still doesn't make sense. 

"I was a little disappointed with the guest list year."

FanimeCon continues the trend of blocking off the entire upstairs area accompanying Stage Zero to badge holders only. This is a good thing as it makes the halls much easier to navigate upstairs with fewer crowds to worry about and less overall traffic. On the other hand what about those without badges? Perhaps in the future, there could be something along the lines of a Stage Zero only pass or presumably some sort of a free badge to shop at the exhibitor's hall.

"Halls were much easier to navigate upstairs with fewer crowds to worry about."

Artist alley continues to stay in the same room as the previous years. Overall it does seem like they made a decent effort to make sure there was enough space in between booths for guests to walk around. However, during peak hours, the crowds are massive and I generally found it hard to get around. Perhaps maybe they could move it back to the other room near the exhibitor hall or even explore the possibility of moving it to the outside tent building again.

"During peak hours, the crowds are massive and I generally found it hard to get around."

Panel rooms continue the tradition of being held in the Fairmont hotel with some of the highlights for me being, a Q&A panel staring English voice actor Caitlin Glass and another Voice actor related panel featuring Satomi Sato. Overall panels seemed well organized and the staffers seemed to remain calm and collected during some of the direst moments. Overall the Fairmont hotel is a great area for panels and I hope they keep using this space for years to come, good job FanimeCon.

"Panels seemed well organized and the staffers seemed to remain calm and collected during some of the direst moments.

Unfortunately one of the biggest problems this year would have to be Autograph Sessions. While FanimeCon's autograph policy seems like they have it down pat there is still a few kinks I think they need to work out. Having lined up no later than an hour before the autograph session which is on their rules, I still found myself behind hundreds of people doing something different or perhaps camping creating the one thing FanimeCon does not want to deal with which are fire hazards.

"Perhaps next year FanimeCon should introduce some sort of ticketing system for autographs."

Why should those who follow the rules be punished? Perhaps next year FanimeCon could introduce some sort of ticketing system for autographs to guarantee your spot in line, rather than having to aimlessly hover around the autograph area only to get turned away at the end.

So that's FanimeCon 2018 in a nutshell. Overall I enjoyed my time at FanimeCon and I am very anxious to see what they will do next year, but now the festivities are in our rearview mirror. So let's focus on what's ahead as we have quite a few anime conventions to get through before FanimeCon 2019 arrives, it's exciting to say the very least.