So winding back to Christmas 2018 I was fortunate enough to receive a big surprise under the tree – tickets to AnimeCon in Rotterdam! It’s hard to believe the big adventure as already been and gone, as I attended the even last month in June, and got to visit some friends out there too.

While AnimeCon is a three-day event, I went with the hubby for the Saturday only – penned in to be the biggest and most popular day.

It was simple to get there really, being in Norfolk we had to track down to London (which we did straight after work) and stayed over in a hotel near St Pancras International. The morning after (and I mean 5am in the morning – ouch) we got up and caught the Eurostar direct to Rotterdam. It was a simple journey and we arrived before 12 mid day! This was the Thursday, so we had a couple of days to enjoy the sights and foods of Rotterdam (Market Hall, Food Factory etc). Our hotel (The James) was fantastic and was in the perfect location for us, plus we had great views!

Then Saturday arrived, the big day!

Mt first impressions of where the event was held were good – it was a simple Metro ride away and was located at the Ahoy (which has even had the darts there before!). A very spacious venue, quick to check in and get our badges too and we were then greeted by a big food hall, which was separate to the conventions Japanese one further inside!

The main draw of the event for us was just to absorb the atmosphere and see how the convention compared to the UK events. Plus, there was an empathis of the dealers room supporting artists – which I am all for!

Panels: The one panel we did attend was more of a mini show! It was the Lip Sync battle which was pretty fun and the host was really energetic and even spoke English for us few of us that didn’t speak Dutch!

Main stage: Two events were on our ‘must see’ list, the Clara Cow’s Cosplay Cup and a live performance by Myth & Roid. I was quite impressed by the performances, but the China contestants were probably my favourite due to the visuals!

I’ve been interested in the CCCC for a few years now, so it was really cool to watch it all live. So much work goes into both the costumes, performance and set pieces – so well done everyone!

We thoroughly enjoyed Myth & Roid – a popular Japanese music duo who have done music for various anime titles, such as RE:Zero and Overload. It was an interesting take on live music at a con – as we had the option to sit and enjoy it like a concert (which we did) or go up closer. There was even a bar in the main hall at this stage (which a little odd as we were refused entry with our drinks!)

Gaming area: While we were confused by the bag rules, we eventually got into the main gaming area and really enjoyed ourselves. There was lots of retro games, a huge gaming truck, and a e-sports type screen – so plenty to see! There was also a seperate gaming section above the the food hall, towards the panel rooms, which included: DDR, rhythm games, taiko drumming etc.

Food court: Now this was pretty exceptional, there was tonnes of choice for Japanese food and plenty of drinks to go round, only downside was the queuing… Some of the most popular stalls had just one or two staff and with multiple food items the queues backed up quickly (like the crepes, bubble tea). However, we just decided to try other food with smaller queues to not water time. There were also mini maid cafe’s, but I would have preferred this in a separate room with some ambient music etc.

We ate… takoyaki…

And, shared a melon pan…

Plus we shared a creme taiyaki!

Dealers room: Well, there were plenty of pretty things, but I mainly search for figurines at conventions, but I didn’t really find any within the price-range I was looking for honestly. Instead, I went through the artist tables a few times and the kawaii plush stalls, and ended up with some cute key rings, earrings and a hedgehog! (a plush one mind, I didn’t get a real one, booo). Thinking about it, I guess I am much savvier now when it comes to figurine collecting – perhaps I should do a tips blog on that!

Overall opinion: We would definitely go again, the venue is easy to get to, there is lots of space, a friendly atmosphere and fun events! o(≧∇≦o)

If this sounds interesting to you, check out AnimeCon o(≧∇≦o)

Ja Ne!

Contact me here (or via Twitter) @RayeRayeChan – Let me know what you think!