Hi, all. I’m back from my break feeling refreshed and re-invigorated (at least as much as is possible considering my generally poor sleep habits and what-not). This past weekend I had the chance to head to Chicago, Illinois for Anime Central, one of the first anime conventions I ever attended and definitely one that’s worth popping back into every few years if you have a tolerance for big conventions.
The past couple of years the convention has been on a hiatus due to the pandemic, but like many other similar in-person events that had smaller online components in the interim, this year marked a (possibly financially obligatory) return to a more typical setting and format. Like my local convention, Anime Detour, Anime Central was forced to cancel its in-person aspect two years in a row simply due to the timing of when the event is scheduled (mid-late May), so I was curious to see how things were going to shake out – especially since ACen is something like 5 or 6 times as large as Anime Detour (in a normal year).