When it comes to talk about anime conventions, a lot of complaining happens. I’m guilty of this myself on numerous occasions. So to combat some of the general negativity that comes with convention talk, I want to talk about the things that make anime conventions good, possibly even great.

1) The Ability to See Other Fans

Now, this point actually applies to any convention be it anime, fantasy, carpet-racing, etc. One thing that’s said about conventions in the internet age is that they’ve lost some of their utility, as conventions used to be about meeting people you couldn’t otherwise, whereas now you just head over to your favorite chatroom/messageboard/whatever and talk it up. One thing that hasn’t changed though is that it provides a common gathering point for fans, only now instead of meeting total strangers you get to meet people with whom you’ve chatted, and once after you’ve bonded over fine anime and cola, you can then continue your friendship online. On a personal level this has worked out quite well for me. Quite well.

2) The Growing Population of Younger Anime Fans

Some might call this a serious negative, but you have to look at this in comparison to science fiction conventions, where they’re having continued trouble bringing in new blood and the mean age for sci fi con-goers continually rises. In contrast, what this means for anime conventions is that there will be a new generation to take up the order once the current generation of leaders retires and then probably the next one after that. There’s a good chance that the conventions you love will undergo drastic changes at that point, but at least they won’t be dying off.

3) It Lets You Experience a Tangible Anime Fandom

This relates to the first point in that I want to reiterate that the internet, as wonderful and convenient as it is, is still not a perfect substitute for real-world fan interaction. At an anime convention, you really get to see fans expressing themselves however they can through their physical presence. Now keep in mind that I did not say you could experience an accurate anime fandom. Only a portion of the fandom ever attends cons, and there’s a very silent majority out there, but at the same time you probably couldn’t experience that silent majority anyway unless you actually knocked on their door and told them to come out.

All points after that are more or less related to the above three, or are things like “totally wicked concerts” or “seeing people run panels as best they can.” It really all boils down to the fact that people are able to gather under a single banner of passion for anime and manga, damn the differences.