San Japan 2019
San Japan has come and gone as it is another wrap on this years San Antonio premier anime convention! Sir Nick Justice on the spot attending Saturday’s attendance and got an inside look to this year’s review.
San Japan has been held at the Henry B Gonzales center for the last couple of years – making It one of the best locations for the big convention and its ever-growing attendance records. This year they reported over 20,107 attendees, over $5,963 funds raised for charity, and their annual blood donation that raised 137!
One of the best experiences I have had with ticket purchasing, will call, or even press badge pickup has always been had with San Japan. The process is a super-fast walk through line while press has their own section away from the main pickup lobby.
As always, they bring their street car racing showcase with the flashiest car wraps, mods, or more to those that love to express their love for the show and craft. They also in this first hall continued to hold the Misc. booths that included video game demos, robot fighting, food booth, and (my favorite) the free arcade play section that continues to grow. The respect among other attendees always leaves positive vibes in the air as everyone gets their few rounds in before respectfully handing it over to those waiting without issue.
Upon the second hall the layout of the artist alley booths had been re-arranged to allow more traffic volume between isles as last year it had been a body on body experience that hindered viewing each booths display. I am unsure if the number of booths remained the same or not, but it felt somewhat less overall. It was nice to see the continued table support for all those that need a break or bite to eat in the back section – somewhat hidden behind some booths to allow for more privacy.
This year’s entrance to the Vendors area felt a bit overkill with about 3 volunteers checking the rally walkway all asking to see your badge for entrance. Nonetheless it was about the same vendors as last year, but more original Anime T-shirt and accessories seemed to have boom and found myself taking one home.
Overall, it was fantastic seeing such an array of ages, genders, and cosplays continue to grow as the attendance of cosplay to regular ratio was about 5:1 making it one of the most cosplay festive environments this year. We cant wait to go back next year for the upcoming theme… Horror!
