AnimeNEXT holds a special place in my heart. It was one of the first cons I ever went to, and I consider it my hometown con. I’ve seen the convention grow in size, and eventually become too large to stay in their Somerset location. So when I heard they were moving down to Atlantic City, I was so happy, yet I was a bit hesitant. Fear of the unknown and all. However, I was very surprised by everything this year.
First off, the new location, the Atlantic City Convention Center, was HUGE! I managed to get lost just trying to find the registration. The larger space worked very well with the size of AnimeNEXT. It rarely felt crowded, even on Saturday afternoon. My only complaint was the escalator situation. Only one escalator went to the second and fourth floor, while a good four or five went from the first to third. It made trying to navigate very confusing. On Saturday during a photoshoot, we spent most of the time walking back and forth trying to find a way to get down. I can’t blame the con for that, but it made things confusing.