Anime Onsen 2022

This was the first year of Anime Onsen in Colorado Springs and I got to cover the con only on Saturday. When we first got up to the hotel it was on this massive hill. Even trying to get from the handicap parking to the front doors was a challenge for Mommy Geek since she was in a walking boot and it was a bit steep. We got there about 2 hours before the con started. The dealer's area opened at 10am for VIP ticket holders and 10:30am for everyone else. Then the actual programming didn't start until 12pm. This con had a very late start when compared to others. I'm used to programing starting at 8am and video rooms having even more extended hours. 

Since we had time even before the con started we decided to grab breakfast in the hotel's restaurant. The best value for the price was the breakfast buffet at $18.99 which was only a few bucks more then their other food that were really small for the price.

Our first stop of the con was the artist alley that led to the dealer's room. There was a good mix of different products in this area. This area also had the space for other cons to table, like COAF was there. Inside the dealer's room was also the area for special guests.

One of the interesting booths in this area was what I think was a LARPing group that actually also had a side room where people could go in and learn some moves/get some steam off. This group also had had at least one panel, more on that later, and also did a diner theater show later that had an additional charge.

After this I explored the hotel to see how they had things set up. On the second floor was one panel where we decided that Mommy Geek would focus her time so she wouldn't have to walk around on a broken foot. This turned out to be a bad idea and we found a major flaw with the hotel. They have no public bathroom on the 2nd floor even though they had it open to the public. The only bathroom on this level was in the pool area and you needed a room key to get into that area. This was poor planning on whoever built the hotel and makes this place not friendly for ADA accommodations. This was actually such a bad setup that I also included it in my Google review of the hotel. Besides this there was one other panel/other room on the first floor and then an outside area. The outside area had a tent with giant fans in the back of it. During my first panel in this "room" it was so hot I nearly passed out. Later when I went back for more panels I had to sit further back in the room to try and stay cool. The fans just did not have the power they needed to get the cool air to even the middle of the room.

Outside, Colorado Itasha Allience also had an area set up where they were selling car stickers and had some of their cars there for show as well.

Panels

Cosplay AMA

Hosts: J'adore, Lexxamex, and Peachy Sweet.

Notes: J'adore's favorite costume that she did was from Kill La Kill. If you are having doubts about your cosplay, they said to stay with it and to understand that you will make mistakes. If you feel good in your cosplay, own it. Other people's opinions don't matter. Check the weather and adjust your cosplay accordingly. For the most part the panelists preferred machine sewing or liquid stitch. One of the interesting things they talked about is how people have been toxic to them online or have attacked their cosplays. They said that one of the best ways to deal with this is to just delete those comments. J'adore has even posted the link to her Paypal account so they can donate money to her to make it better. J'ador said that she has learned how to pretend to be an extravert. It is this appearance that is needed to be big in the cosplay world. If you want to be a cosplay guest someday you have to put yourself out there. For wigs to keep them from tangling you can soak them for 1-2 days in a mixture of water and fabric softner. 

Overview: This was the first panel of the day for me and it was on their Main Stage which was the panel room outside in the hot tent. The panel wasn't really structured, but it was nice when they had the audience ask them questions about how to improve their cosplays. The one question though that stumped them was on the best way to transport cosplay. It seemed that they all just hoped for the best. I actually had a hard time paying attention to this panel due to the heat. I had tried to sit near the front, but that turned out to be a bad idea since that was the hottest part of the tent. I felt that the panelists did as good of a job as possible with it not being structured. 

Heroes of Loremaster

Overview: This panel felt a lot like those knight dinner shows. It was put on by the same group that had the LARPing room/booth. It was kind of amusing and they did get members of the audience to take part in the fun.

My Mero Academia (Special Guest Panel)

The panelists said that one of the nice things about voice acting is that they don't have to memorize lines and they just come in and record. They don't have to worry about makeup up or what they are wearing. They also said that when they audition, they don't have to worry about looking the part. Also from their interactions it seemed like it is a really tight community and getting into it is hard unless you are friends with someone. They even admitted that the key to getting into the industry is to be in the right place at the right time while being someone people want to work with.

The Con Overall

For the most part the con was over by 6pm. There were a few things later in the evening, but not enough to make it interesting. This meant that if you bought a ticket for Saturday, you only got about 6 hours of real stuff to do. That is one of the overall issues with the con, they just didn't have enough for people to do to make the price of the ticket worth it. After the con I saw a lot of complaints about everything from the venue, to the cost of the ticket, to it just being boring. I can understand all of these things since I had many of the same issues with the con. At the same time I will also give them some credit since they had to change venues due to the hotel they were supposed to be at due to new ownership not wanting to honor the contract. Getting this place was last minute in the terms of trying to put on a con so I can understand so mess. At the same time I expected more since this con is part of a large group of cons so they should have lots of experience handling the issues that can come up. This was also the con's first year, so they were also still trying to get their feet under them. This year I would let things slide, but next year I will be expecting a lot of improvements. We'll see what happens.