Fort Worth was known for A-Kon, not the singer but a con that has been around for years. However, with Anime Frontier (CEO of Anime NYC Peter Tatara) expanding his anime taste to other parts of the USA, Anime Frontier felt short.
Anime NYC just happened (November), which was dragged at first for the horrible lines on Friday and the first few cases of the Omnicron variant. New York Anime convention by Peter sold out and got 53,000 members breaking its 2019 record. The heads pretty much knew that with Covid happening, Anime Frontier would be small, and it was its first year. Their website said 10k attended; well, I don't think it was that number; it felt like 5k. The gaming room was tiny, with no parties, and it was pretty much dead. But my team wasn't expecting something big or crazy.
People were good at not comparing A-Kon with Anime Frontier; why? The majority of the guest who attended the Texas con brought that up a lot. "Ryan (Cosplaying as My Hero) said, "I know many who are attending this convention, and I know they are about 90% local, and they knew off the bat that this is not A-Kon". Afterward, Ryan mentions who has lived in Texas and cosplayed for so many years is excited to see this convention grow and what it can offer back to the community in the future ahead. Many are hoping this convention does not make mistakes as A-Kon did, having the con in a park that was a disaster. Others are hoping that it does not lose its reputation like Anime Matsuri, which was at its peak and considered number one in Texas, but that didn't work out because of the allegations towards John Leigh, owner of that convention. We are guessing people are tired of big conventions slipping. Anime Frontier did have the budget to make this a big one but was playing smart. With time, we will see this boom if the people who run the con gradually bring more bang and spice to the venue. The park (Garden) will soon be the after-party spot that we all once felt, and the local town streets will soon be busy and packed. Fort Worth is a beautiful spot and worth making that con there again.
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